Candlesticks

I forgot that I was trying to finish some baby knitting for my sweet Henry when the post arrived today. My ornaments from Bindels arrived and I dropped everything to make up the candlesticks. Here is one of them in the Gift Shop.

 They are really quite easy to make, just a bit fiddly and the hardest thing is getting it all straight before the super glue dries!

Tonight I'll get back to the knitting.

Online Fair Purchases Arrived!

Another blog so soon because I would like you to see what arrived in the post today as I've been waiting impatiently for my purchases from the online fair. here
Easter is my favourite season - the sugar colours, the spring weather, lambs, rabbits and chicks. I've been working on an Easter scene for a long time and when I saw this lamb and cart by Tower House Dolls I just had to have it!

These pretty tea pots also arrived. They were made by Lory They will look perfect in my Tea Shop.

 Obviously I shall be playing today!

Back to Work on the Sewing Shop!

I have darted back to this project again. As paint dries on one I work on another. Several days ago I made loads of thread cards. I thought I'd get bored, winding all the thread but I found it very relaxing.

I have a collection of vintage haberdashery so scanned some, changed some of the names and copied others to make a pretty shabby set.
Now I've finished making some wooden boxes to display them. I painted them with acrylic in pale grey/blue and I'm really pleased with the colour.

Sonya of http://minisonja.blogspot.com.es/  contacted me and kindly gave me some really good links and printies for more haberdashery so I can feel a few more sets coming along yet. She has a really lovely collection of minis so take a look at her blog which is full of tips and links which she very generously shares.

Now I just have to vent!!! I've tried to leave a message on a really nice blog tonight and failed 5 times to copy the secret words to prove I wasn't a robot. I know I've mentioned this before but life is too short to waste on this so from now on I'm not going to leave messages on these blogs, sorry but it's SO frustrating!
Ok. Now I feel much better!
Have a good night,

Bakery Update

As you can see I switch from one project to another all the time. I recently bought this lovely cake, fresh from the oven, and nicely risen. It came from Ana Correia .

I managed to fill some jars with flour, sugar etc without making a mess.
I used a narrow straw that fits inside the jar.

Dip the straw into the powder you are using and hold your finger over the top when removing it. The powder will stay in the straw, just like at school when you use a pipette for lifting liquid, yes, even I remember that far back. Mr Saunders, my science teacher would be proud of me!

Lower it over your jar and tap gently if you need to. Here are the jars, one with semolina, the other with flour just waiting for their labels and you have a nice clean table!

I hope you're having a week of sunshine!

Sewing Shop Expansion

Combining the crafts and sewing departments didn't work. The shop was too small. Today the crafts have been moved out into a box to wait for new premises.
There will now be space for the fabric chest.

The magazine rack is moving out.

So, space for more fabrics and trimmings!

More to come - watch this space!

Beautiful Floral Gift from Cristina!

Girls love to receive flowers and even better if they are not real as they will last forever!
Even better when the gift is a complete surprise! Not my birthday, not a swap, just from a dear friend because she wanted to.

Here are Cristina's beautiful hydrangas standing in their urn outside the Victorian Shop. Never mind the customers can't get in! Thank you Cristina, your generousity has made me very happy!

Bags with Bling!

Just perfect for the summer! Three pretty bags.

These were fun to make with some beads and bling.
Have a good weekend!

New Bags at Jilly's

It's been a little while since my last post partly because Oly and I have started something knew - I'll show you when we've finished, and because I have been swamped with cushion making but I did make time (with one eye on the Olympics) to create a few bags.

One of the customers in Jilly's Tea Rooms and Gift Shop was interested straight away and didn't mind being photographed.

It's been extremely hot here (41C in the shade) and difficult to concentrate! I hope you're having a good summer too!