The Royal Wedding True Love....

Oh my, what a magical day it has been for me to watch the Royal wedding of William and Kate....

The utterly adorable dress...

( Courtesy of EPA )

And like others have mentioned too, perhaps a little influenced by the bridal gown worn by Grace Kelly for her 1956 wedding to Ranier III of Monaco, and like Catherine too, she was a commoner who married into royalty.

                            ( Courtesy of Sipa Press/Rex Features )

 

 

And I thought the maid-of-honour, Pippa's dress looked so elegant, understated, and very upto date and modern. 

 

( Courtesy of Reuters )

 

 

And after the lovely service, HRH Duchess of Cambridge looking stunning, as did her charming Prince emerging from Westminster Abbey.

                                                       ( Courtesy of AP )

 

 

And of course The Kiss....

 

 

 

 

Being an olde romantic, yes my mascara did run a little, I think it was the way William looked at Kate as she arrived at the altar, with such love in his eyes. My heart tells me that they have a genuine love for one another and I truly wish them all the very best for a happy and healthy future together.

 

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Take One Plate, One Candlestick....

Even on holiday I like to have little play at mini makeovers and crafty stuff. Back home, I enjoy making up pretty cake stands using old vintage plates, cups, saucers, candlesticks, and the occasional glass or two. I like to create that vintage garden party vibe, and of course love cake!! I find inspiration everywhere, and especially like this cake stand that was featured in a magazine....

And whilst mooching in a second hand shop, couldn't resist these bargain candlesticks, that came as a pair....

For this cake stand I just wanted one plate on top of the candle stick for the cakes, and I fell in love with the in perfect condition Limoges signed Fragonard courting couple plate I spied on the shelf in the same shop, I thought it would be perfect and at only £1.50 a bargain price too.

I really am rather a fan of Limoges, and love the romanticism of this plate.

So with a little glue these two items soon became one....

And with some jam tarts for the children and a little almond slice or two....I had made in my opinion a sweet little cake stand, perfect for every occasion.

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A Little Louis Vuitton Bargain....

Before marriage and children I was somewhat of a shopaholic....

Alright, hands up!! I am still somewhat of a shopaholic, but nowhere near to the extent I used to be. These days a shopping spree is a quick in and out job, perhaps one or two housey shops and the occasional clothes shop. All seems a very brief affair, not the hours and hours I could spend mooching round the shops laden with bags pre husband and without two lovely little Poppins' in tow. Of course priorities change and I just don't have the time, money or even the energy to shop shop shop like I used to.

I, like many women have a thing for shoes and bags, and fell in love with a particular little Louis Vuitton Pochette Accessoires bag  I yearned for it and as I was in a decent job, and earning, I treated myself to it. Oh boy, I loved it, and certainly got much use out of it. I had noticed the strap was looking a little weary after many years of use, so popped it in it's little bag and packed it away, and bought out my next favourite bag to play with. Though was a little sad to leave the lovely LV behind in the drawer.

Well here I was today, on my holidays, with the husband still busy working and at home. As I had a little time to myself, couldn't resist a little moochy round a couple of second hand stores, and look what I spy amongst all the other bags, I couldn't grab it quick enough....I recognised this little beauty I thought....

Oh my....and the inside in perfect condition.

I recognised the infamous LV on the zip...

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It really is just the perfect little size for those essentials on a night out....

In fact I couldn't wait to get socialising with it across my shoulder....felt like the olde days had come right up to meet me to say hello....

I love it all over again, and before anyone thinks how frivolous of me to purchase two identical and very expensive designer bags ( albeit one with a weary strap ) here, look at the price I paid for my second one....

Yes, £3.50! Not too bad considering the rrp is £215....

 I doubt the CS I bought it from realised it's true value, otherwise, it would have been in *the cabinet* along with the other expensive stuff. I simply popped it on the counter, very politely handed over my £3.50 to the lovely assistant, though couldn't belive my luck as soon as I left the shop. It could of course be a fake, I need to check linings and all, but to be honest, I don't really care, I love it fake or not, and is a rather high end fake if it is, looks exactly how I remember my own one at home, tucked away in it's little bag. I shall of course have a little compare with my other purchase I bought all those years ago, but at least I now have a decent spare ;0)

Oh I do love to grab a bargain, don't you....

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Giveaway Winner And A Little UJ Love....

Well done to Sue from Vintage From The Village who has won the Rosie Flo Fashion Show I wish you could all have won but alas there can only be one winner. Well done Sue, I shall pop it in the post for you very soon.

Seemingly there is some royal wedding coming up ;0) I had wanted to handmake an array of UJ beauties, but time just flies by and I always seem to be chasing my tail, so thus far, have only got round to making one UJ cushion. Though she is quite a cutie I think....

I love the use of bobble trim on cushions, though it is not the cheapest of trims, so I do tend to use is quite sparingly, but just love the effect. The London inspired fabric is pretty cool too I think....

Oh and I did make a little UJ ring cushion for the soon to be Royal couple....

Well alright, not for THE Royal couple, but was handmade by myself to be popped in a wonderful Royal Wedding ebay charity auction that has been organised by a lovely crafter. Many other ladies have got involved and each has knitted a member of the royal wedding party. You can see the Archbishop here Prince Charles here and William and the Queen here Not being the bestest of knitters, I plumed for making the ring cushion, and thought I would give it a UJ twist. I can't wait to see the auction up, hopefully today at some point, and all money raised is going to the Japan Earthquake relief fund, so all in a good cause too.

Is holiday time here, so hoping for one or two family jollies. Goodness I have got so confuddled with half term, everyone has seemed to be breaking up at different times. So if you have had your half term hope it was a good one, and if, like me it is coming up to holiday time, enjoy!!

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Rosie Flo Fashion Show Giveaway....

I adore award winning Rosie Flo products aimed at children and I occasionally get sent an item to try out with my cherubs. So I was delighted when I received Rosie Flo's Colouring Fashion Show A beautiful catwalk kit that enables children ( ideally above 7 ) to create, colour and stage their very own fashion show. There are 18 glamorous models to colour in, and 8 cheering spectators, a lovely old fashioned camera and even a cute little pooch.

Rosie Flo's creator, Roz Streeten explains " Children love to put on a performance, they also love colouring and dressing up. Put this all together-and you've got the inspiration for Rosie Flo's Fashion show. "

The Fashion show is ideally recommended for anyone over 7 years, and can also be purchased here, along with other lovely Rosie Flo items on Amazon I have to say my four year old enjoyed helping his big sister do some of the colouring too. There is no need for scissors or glue, simply press out all the figures, colour them in, stand them up and then it is time for the Fashion Show !! It also comes in a delightful and very pretty keepsake box, which can also be used to keep the lovely Rosie Flo colouring books in, of which over 300,000 of the pioneering colouring books have been sold. Famous for ' just draw on heads, legs and arms' and are top sellers in gift shops worldwide. So, of course my little Miss. Poppins couldn't wait to try out the fashion show and with a little ( sometimes unwanted ) help from Master Poppins, this is what they ( mostly Miss. Poppins ) created.

And the good news is that the Rosie Flo team also sent me one extra Fashion Show to offer as a giveaway, and for me to send out to one of you. It really is so pretty, and a truly wonderful idea to spark children's artistic and imaginative young minds. So if you have a child, who you think would love this, or indeed you could give as a gift to someone ( over 7 ) please feel free to comment. I shall pop you in the hat, and get one of my little Poppins' to choose a winner on Thursday 14th April about tea time. Hopefully a little time to get your name in. No need to be a follower, to tweet or to mention on your own blog, just a simple little comment to let me know you would like to go in the hat is fine. I shall of course pop in one of my handmade pretties too. Good luck and open to international readers too.


Thank you for entering....Giveaway winner has now been chosen
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Easy2name Craft Label Review....

Thank you for the deckchair love, and your lovely comments. I have made a little start on the other one too, I think it is the sunshine, it just makes me want to makeover everything in sight....I can't resist.

As you may know, I love to handmake many items for the home and for gift ideas. For a nice professional touch I like to pop on pretty woven business labels, I think they are a lovely finishing touch to the item and of course a little advertising too. Not all my items are geared to just women or just men, some are for little boys and girls, and so a pink label on a boy's boat cushion for example really wouldn't do. I would think the new owner wouldn't be very impressed with a pink girly label on his new funky cushion. So I have many labels in many colours and pop the one I think best onto any one particular item. So, pink for the girly girls, blue for the boys, and a lovely neutral and silver for the grown ups. I was just about running out of all these labels when easy2name approached me and asked if I would like to try out some of their Designer Woven Labels.

The company appreciated I love to craft, and as I was on the hunt for some new ones anyway, I emailed back and said I would be happy to try some out, all I had to do was pop my personalisation details over, and then await the labels. I thought I would plum for red stitching for the personalisation as these would suit boys, girls and the grown ups. I quite like the fonts and motif's that I normally use so thought I would stick with those. Everything was straight forward and I have to say the service was quick, friendly and efficient.

 I haven't used easy2name before, who also do stickers, shoe label covers, bag tags and iron on labels amongst many other items, so I was looking forward to seeing what the labels would be like. They arrived very quickly, are lovely I have to say perfect for my crafting projects.

They even sent along some examples of other labels.

I was quite taken with the Bumble Weed one, very cute I thought. Of course, I couldn't wait to make a pretty to pop one of these lovely labels on and so made a cute patchwork style boxy tote bag....

Normally I pop one of my woven labels on the inside lining, or occasionally, sandwich it in the sewn edge so it is like a little loop on the outside. These new labels were to nice to hide away so I popped one on the back, for all to see.

 

So, I look forward to using up these labels and sewing them onto lots of new pretty items for the spring/summer, and before long shall probably be ordering some more. You can pop your details here if you would like to request a brochure.

Happy crafting!

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Vintage Deckchair Makeover....

Thank you so much for the lovely feedback on my crossroads post, I aim to get back to you and say thanks too. I am slowly putting the wheels in motion which would enable me to get out, work with others whilst also doing the crafting which I love so much. I have really appreciated your excellent advice, tips and comments.

To keep me busy, and whilst the days are getting lighter and sunnier I thought I would get on with a makeover on one of my vintage deckchairs that I picked up for a song at the car boot yonkees ago. Here they are looking lovely as they are are, but I wanted to make them a little more girly and prettier.

The original canvas was in really good condition so after some super advice about keeping the canvas on, which would make a good support for the new fabric, I decided I wouldn't untack it. The original canvas is tacked on so I simply took some measurements, hemmed the edges neatly on the new fabric, and tacked it on top. Now if I was selling these, I would pop a cover under the canvas also, so you could see the pretty fabric from the back too, but as they shall be for my own use I just used a top cover.

These vintage deckchairs also have a a wooden shade that you can just make out in the photograph at the back, and swings over the top. I think at some point I shall cover these too, as would look quite pretty, though I haven't quite worked out how to do this yet, as they didn't come with any canvas on, am not quite sure how they would originally have looked. I simply unscrewed them and put to one side for another day. Being a girl who loves her paint, I popped a little undercoat on and then got round to choosing some fabrics....hmmmm not an easy choice, as I have so many I love. I had a little practise run to help me choose the perfect one.

All very nice, but just not doing it for me. Hmmmm I thought, I shall just try out this one. Voila!! Perfect. I promptly got round to hemming the edges and rooting in the garage for some upholstery tacks.

Here it is as a work in progress....  

Looking good I thought, I popped another coat of paint on, though I am actually looking forward to it getting that weathered in look, so I was a little slap dash putting the paint on really.
Just needs a finishing touch I thought.....Ah yes, a sweet little coordinating handmade pillow, ah, that's better.

All I need now is a Pimms and I shall be happy as Larry.

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Crossroads....

For many different reasons, I have been doing alot of thinking about work, the many years it has been since I was in the work force, and after being at home to bring up my family, I am feeling it may be the right time to search again....I do so enjoy my handmaking, though am beginning to think I may actually see more of my family with a 9-5 ;)  I really wouldn't want to give up the crafting altogether, it is a passion of mine and after not long ago spending quite alot of money on a new computerised machine, would think it quite impulsive to just give it up without proper thought. Setting up Polka Dots And Posies has been very rewarding, and selling my pretties is something, ideally I wish to continue, especially due the the lovely feedback I receive. I enjoy the online interaction in my Facebook page and a lovely friend not long sent me a link to a Folksy Blog post which goes on to say my Folksy Shop was one of most visited in the month of February, she thought it may cheer me up to see that, as I was going through one of my crafty wobbles as I call them. I am not sure how I come across online, but I know I am a down to earth person, don't tweet and link to my items for sale all day every day, and certainly do not give it the big I am. But I do know it takes alot of networking and online interaction to get ones little business seen and heard and there are so many others of course doing the same, does it all just become one big competition of who can shout the loudest, something I am not very good at and actually don't particularly enjoy. Yes, I like to share my successes, though deep down am never truly comfortable as there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance maybe. I would not want to appear an arrogant show offy type person at all. I love to create pretty items using cheery, colourful fabrics and have in the nearly 3 years I have been doing so, had much encouragement from family and friends as well as inspiration from many blogs and crafty forums, and love to create these handcrafted items I call pretties....

Though ultimately I am a people person and thrive in an environment where I can interact with others, face to face, build friendships, relationships with others. I love the already interaction I have with people online, but for me it just isn't the same as being able to interact face to face. I would describe myself as a bubbly, warm creative individual yet wonder if ones true personality can come across via a computer screen. It has been suggested by friends of mine that perhaps I could somehow incorporate the crafting with another passion of mine, media and the arts, something  I trained in for 4 years,  I think my dream job would be to present a little crafty type show on the television, or teach crafts to the youngsters of today....

So, for now am having a good thinky....I am certainly not getting any younger either before I possibly become unemployable. If you can think of any job suggestions where I can keep handmaking, goodness knows I have mountains of pretty fabric that if anything needs using up, whilst also getting out of house and interacting with others, am all ears....

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