One World One Heart ** Blog Giveaway **

Over the last two years I have participated in this fantastic Blog Event! Sadly this year it will be the final One World One Heart Event, it will have been running for five years and has grown to be an International gathering of wonderful Bloggers who wish to share their amazing blogs with the World! This Event is the brainchild of Lisa Swifka (A Whimsical Bohemian Blog), whose Blog you can reach by clicking the OWOH banner above. I wish to take a moment to thank Lisa for organising OWOH for the past five years, it must take an enormous amount of her time to run and it is because of Lisa, I, and many other Bloggers, have been able to connect with so many readers out there in Blogland... Thank you Lisa from the bottom of my heart!

Now, on to how this Event works; I will be giving away these items (shown above and below) to one lucky winner, all you need to do to participate is leave a comment for me on this post and you will be automatically entered into the draw which will take place on 17th February 2011. Once you have entered please take a moment to click on the OWOH Banner at the top of this page, you will then be taken to the OWOH Main Blog where you can see a listing of all the other Bloggers taking part all of whom have lots of lovely Blog Giveaways just waiting for you to enter.
If you have your own Blog and would like to take part in this event, then please visit Lisa's Blog using the Banner link at the top of this page, where you will find all the information on how to get involved. Happy Blogging!!

My First Upholstering Attempt!!

You may remember from a previous post that I had purchased an Art Deco Chair for my new Studio space. It was in need of upholstering and brightening up so today I set about changing the fabric on the seat. It is the first time I have attempted anything like this so I was prepared for anything to happen!!! lol! I had a selection of gorgeous "Cath Kidston" style fabrics to choose from and in the end went with the Roses pattern.
Removing the old fabric was tricky to say the least, firstly I needed to raid hubbies tool box to find the right tools to remove the tacks and then had to work out the safest and quickest way to prise them out without causing injury to myself, so eventually after one hour of cussing and tutting and several tacks and staples later the old fabric was off and discarded to reveal an old foam insert and a very fragile wooden frame, which looked like it had been re-upholstered several times over many years, so I knew moving forward I had to work carefully with this. But I soldiered on, replaced the old foam with some deeper new foam and then tightly wrapped the new fabric around the frame and secured gently with tacks. The finished result was by no means perfect, but it was good enough to give the chair the uplift I wanted without any expense....

From a previous post you may remember I was also waiting for my new studio table, this arrived earlier this week, and I'm over the moon with it. It is now in place along with the chair, here's a first glance of it all together (below)...

I've brought down all my art supplies from my old mezzanine studio and packed them away in the new downstairs cupboards and have also set up my beloved vintage typewriter on an upturned crate next to the desk, this will be used to store my vintage books in that I work from and eventually I will get a new ink ribbon for the typewriter so I can use old typeface in some of my creations.

So today was a successful day, even though no crafting is yet taking place... much to my dismay!! I still got a creative fix. I'm looking forward to settling down in my new chair over the weekend and getting those creative juices flowing!!!!

Bottled Friends & Family!!!!!!

My Vintage Bottled Fairies & Mermaids have always been very popular, using vintage images I bottle the person as a fairy or mermaid and create the final image into a card. A few years ago I started "bottling" images of my friends kids as fairies or mermaids and this really took off, and now it is one of my best selling products! So why not give it a go?? Send your friend or family member a greetings card with them on the front in a bottle as a mermaid or fairy, I can guarantee they'll be shocked and pleasantly surprised when they open the card!!!!
The images are just a few examples of some of the commissions I have done in the past. All that is required is for you to send me a high resolution photograph of your intended recipient and I will alter it adding wings or a mermaid fin and place in an acetate bottle with lots of sparkle. A tag is tied to the bottle that has various slogans such as "Bottled Mermaid, Do Not Tap On The Glass"; "Bottled Fairy, Handle With Care"; Bottled Sprite, Do Not Shake!" and so forth...

Prices start at £5 for a standard 4" x 6" greetings card with envelope. However, some clients request that the images are created onto cardstock for framing, these prices start at £10.

Bottling a friend or family member is a really fun gift to give for a celebration, I have had lots of wonderful feedback from clients who say they are thrilled with the results. My last client sent an email describing the moment she received the cards; "Cards have arrived, I was nearly sick with delight, they are wonderful!". This comment really made me laugh, I have never quite had the receipt of one of my cards described in this way, but was flattered all the same. If you would like more information on the Bespoke Services I offer then please visit my website.

Nice Goodies from the Postman....

I had a disappointing start to today, was meant to be going to the Ardingly Antiques Fair with friends, but as the weather was so awful this morning we decided to give it a miss, it's not much fun browsing round antique stalls in the pouring rain!. But my mood was soon lifted with the arrival of the Postman; Two large parcels arrived addressed to me, I knew instantly what they both were, and took my time opening them so I could enjoy every minute. The first parcel contained this gorgeous embroidered Cushion by the very talented Lara Sparks. I met Lara back in November when I attended "MADE" in Brighton, Lara was showcasing her stunning cushions and I just had to have one, and here is it "Bird on a Line". Thanks Lara I love it!The next parcel was much larger and took me a good while to rip off all the packaging, but once inside I was ecstatic at it's contents, take a look at the stunning Art Deco Chair below! I made this purchase a few days ago on Ebay, I have been looking for a chair and table to put in my new Studio Space at home and this is the chair I decided on. The table is equally as gorgeous and should be with me in a week or so. The chair will need upholstering, I am going to use a lovely Cath Kidston fabric on the seat, as soon as it's done I'll post pictures.

My new Studio Space is going to be in what was the kids Playroom, we are in the process of renovating our current study as the new bedroom for the boys, this is a split level room which will be a fantastic room for kids, so as the boys will have more room for their toys in their bedroom we no longer need a designated Playroom so this will become a kind of Family Room with an area for my Studio... so excited!! Because of the renovating we have been having a bit of a clear out and during one of these sessions I came across an old hook shelf that we were not using and decided it needed to be on show, so good ol' hubby put it up for me in the Garden Room and I'm so pleased with how it looks (below):

With all this clearing out I was on a bit of a roll and had a change around of several things in the home including my treasured 1920's bust (below), adding some vintage books and silk orchids surrounding her....

Recently I purchased a gorgeous lace bolero that had a real vintage look to it, to be honest I'm not sure where I'll wear it, but it looks fantastic hanging up on my old wardrobe, so I think that's were it will stay.....

The renovation wont be complete for several weeks yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted and blog about it when it's all done.. so watch this space!

Published in Somerset Life!

What a fantastic start to 2011, in the last few hours I have become an Auntie to my sisters first child, a daughter born yesterday evening, little Isabella Rose and my lovely Sister Julia are doing well. And this morning I received my regular subscription to Somerset Studio in the post, along with a complimentary issue of Somerset Life, I was surprised to receive Somerset Life as I was not expecting it, and then my eyes fell on the printed A4 sheet attached to the magazine that read Congratulations you have been published!
I was so excited as I thumbed through the sumptuous pages to then find my Whimsical Bookmarks sitting there looking back up at me, it's a wonderful feeling and I thank the team at Stampington Publications for placing a piece of my art in this amazing magazine. I am a huge fan of all the Stampington magazines and just wish I could afford to subscribe to them all, but as they are printed in the US it is a little pricey to subscribe to all of them so I receive Somerset Studio regularly and then have my Mother In Law pick up other copies when she visits her holiday home in the US. Each publication is so inspiring with amazing artist photos and their stories, the magazines are all thick and sumptuous and are a real feast for the eyes. So I am very thankful for a super start to 2011!