One and a half projects...

...best laid plans and all that...I made this apron to hold all my bits and bobs at Vintage Fairs and used the Graphics Fairy's 'Carte Postale' image and 'Script' image combined with my I Love My Home logo on a homemade apron of French ticking with some toile and vintage lace. So far, so good. I got through all the sewing, printing on fabric without destroying my printer etc and felt really pleased with myself. Then I decided to photograph it to show you. Well, apart from the peculiar angle I had to use to show all the elements, it was all going well until I downloaded it and realised that taking a picture in the mirror gives you.....you guessed it, a mirror image....Duh!!

hopefully you can get the general idea!

This next photo is a project that's halfway through but it will feature a Graphics Fairy image so pop back in a few days to see the finished article.......

the next photo is the original, rather ugly, brown table with a few other goodies that are due for 'the treatment' and I'll show you those as I go along...

...so finally...drum roll please!  Here is the finished article, my Italian table painted, waxed, distressed and embellished with a lovely shell design - thank you Graphics Fairy!

...and here is a view of the top showing the design in detail...

...hope you like it, let me know...

Lazy days.....

...well, we have finally had a warm, sunny and dry day here but, whilst I had to wait in for the gasman, Symi took himself off to a rather nice French shabby chic painted crate and snoozed in the sunshine....

...and, from the look on his face, I'd say he was enjoying it, wouldn't you?

...and here is his brother, Raffy showing the same commitment to relaxation...

...jealous, moi?...non!...

What a hoot!...

...well, here we are again, some of the gang from the MK Handmade and Vintage Fair, this time it was a Street Bazaar with street entertainment, music etc and we all had such a good time, so much laughter and not like work at all! Bandannas in the hair have become the official fashion along with home made pinnies for all our bits and bobs keeping everything close at hand....

..next Fair is September 8th and 9th and I've been shopping already! Lots of lovely new items to lovingly restore and refinish, now I just a little bit of free time to get started!

EXCITING NEWS....!

...This week I have been able to take I Love My Home into some new retail space!

I'm very excited to announce that I have joined many other crafters, makers and doers at

 Wollaston Home and Garden

In the beautiful Northamptonshire village of Wollaston 

it's set in an old stable yard and with many interesting shops plus the all important tea shop for a break in the retail therapy and my furniture will be in the interior design and kitchen design shops.

if you're looking for a gift or something for yourself or your home, spoil yourself and take a little trip out to see what's on offer. 

You'll find us in The Yard, High Street, Wollaston, Northants, just off the A509, quite near to Olney, so come and say hello to the lovely Clare and Sharon and have a look around!

It's a tough life.....

....we just don't know what to do next...chase mice...eat...play...or...

...oh that's right...sleeeeep.....zzzzzzzzzz....

SAVE THE DATE!!


July 10th/11th/12th (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) I Love My Home is at the Street Bazaar in Middleton Hall, Central Milton Keynes. Lots of unique, one-off items, not just vintage but allsorts.
Come and say hello - I'm there from 9.30am to 6pm every day!

Travelling Trunk Coffee Table....

... and, as usual, I got over excited and forget to take a 'before' picture - duh!, anyway, this trunk was in a neglected state when my friend Jo gave it to me. I set to, and polished it up with metal polish (lots of elbow grease), sanded back the wooden parts and waxed them, added some feet and waxed them, lined the interior with vintage sheet music in a lovely creamy shade, repaired and refinished the handles, and.....

Ta Dah!

 ... pretty as a picture and really useful. These old trunks seem to have become really popular lately and this one has become a coffee table with loads of storage inside - perfect!...

...here it is with the lid closed to show you how perfect it is as a coffee table. I do love it when I can turn something unwanted into something I want to keep! What do you think of it?

Unloved into lovely....

..... don't you just love turn something unloved like these old drawers.....

into something lovely like these shelf units........?

I was given the drawers so that I could use the pretty gilt French style handles (they will no doubt turn up somewhere on the blog in due course) but I can't bear to throw anything away and these drawers were in a really good, solid state so.....

....I got out the Annie Sloan Duck Egg and some Laura Ashley paper and went to work. A bit of work,  and some imagination later and here they are - pretty as a picture and no waste!....... My favourite kind of makeover.....let me know what you think?

Seventeenth Century Sinner.....

....check out this wonderful website: www.amberbrabant.co.uk! for lovers of the romantic, historic and downright beautiful, this will be right up your alley. Amber produced a short film to show the costumes she made for her degree, the sort of beautiful outfits that make you gasp when you watch historical films and period dramas on TV. It's called Seventeenth Century Sinner and is absolutely stunning. 


On top of everything else, this very talented young lady also wrote all the gorgeous script work that you can see in the film, please watch it and then, if you're working in film or TV, please give her a job - she's soooo gifted!

Vintage Vixen....

..... recently I decided to start adding vintage clothes into the mix at my retail space and it's worked really well, so I decided to create a sign for that area. But what imagery to use? Well, of course it had to be the Graphics Fairy to the rescue again! I used three of her images to create this sign.....

.....what do you think? too much?!!! I'd love to hear your comments.......

Living the High Life....

I am a very lucky girl.....my husband headed up a big conference in London a couple of weeks ago and this was the setting for the final night's gala dinner. It's the Banqueting House, an incredibly historic building not least because Charles I was executed here - luckily they've mopped up since....

The ceiling was painted by Rubens and you can just see the large red velvet covered throne at the rear of the room...and yes, I did sit on it and have my photo taken....Queen for the night! 

I don't think I'll ever get the chance to do that again....

What you can't see very well in the picture is that the flower arrangements were all blue and white hydrangeas and cream roses with eucalyptus foliage - absolutely gorgeous! I adore hydrangeas and grow them in the garden to dry and use indoors as decoration. They always look fabulous.

Woohoo!!!

....what a great time we had at the MK Handmade and Vintage Fair over the weekend. It was a total riot with Suzy keeping us all laughing, Sharon looking after us all and the lovely Di and Katie joining in the fun! It was perfectly organised by Jacqui and, although the sunshine kept some people away, we all enjoyed ourselves and look forward to next time - see you there.......