Hidden Treasure

Before heading for pizza on our first night in Florence we stumbled across the most amazing shop And Company. Whilst looking around we oooed and aahhhed at everything in sight, but our tummys were really grumbling so we soon headed for some food.

On our last day in the beautiful city, we packed our bags and popped out for a walk before our train to the airport. When Harry asked if I fancied another mooch around the shop we discovered a few nights before, my eyes lit up! 

We were welcomed in by the lovely Betty who owns the shop with her husband. It's a wonderful space filled with antiques, modern art and crafts all hand picked and handmade/designed by the owners. 

Betty is Italian but lived in London for several years. We talked to her about the items in her shop and how she and her husband source items to bring back to Florence as well as finding pieces locally. The shop has been open a year and is progressing wonderfully. They have also opened a pop up shop within the large Replay store in Milan.

She is also an amazing Calligrapher and her work is used by Waitrose... I thought it looked familiar and now I keep seeing it every time I go into Waitrose... see!

I wish I could go to her classes held in the shop. I'm a bit of a handwriting and Calligraphy geek and would love to learn properly... Next time!

So after a lovely chat with Betty, we bought a couple of items, said our goodbyes and headed back to Gusta Pizza for a farewell Firenze pizza...

Betty & I...

I would recommend you check out the website and if you ever go to Florence, be sure to go and visit And Company. I'm pretty sure you'll be just as excited as I was...

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Simply having a wonderful Christmas fayre

After lots of planning and running around like mad women, my friend Julia and I opened the doors to our first festive fayre earlier this month!

We had stalls from some amazing local sellers and something for everyone!

Vintage inspired jewellery from Little Treasures

Cards, crafts and gifts from Miss Rose

I adored these photos from Lucy Schorn 

And I fell in love with Lucy's dog amazingly called Stevie Nicks. So bloody cute... 

Leather bunting from Heather

Gorgeous glassware from Clare

Incredible prints from Paul Parsons at the Urban Gallery (we bought top left for our flat)

These prints and beautiful wooden toys from Artisanat were really popular

Amazing jewellery from You Flaming Brute

Some vintage bits and pieces from my stall

Ceramics from Kelly Loves

Elsbells jewellery

Along with great stalls from Ooh La Lapin, Mia Mai, Alice McWilliams and Gamble and Gunn...

As well as the craft stalls we had a craft workshop... children could come an make a tree decoration and adults could experiment with fabric wreaths.

We also had the lovely Emma and Sarah doing festive nail painting and of course there was some delicious mulled wine along with beautiful cakes, minced pies and gingerbread men.

The lovely gents from Snout Crackle Trot were there with some delicious rottiserie Turkey, Cranberry and rocket baguettes...  They were so tasty I had one for lunch and one for dinner!

Snout Crackle Trot

And for a bit of cheesy festive fun we had a photobooth upstairs...

We both really enjoyed it and are already thinking about next year! But in the meantime, I need to wrap some presents... oh and listen to this a bit more...

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Good Excuse

I've been absent from this little old blog for a few weeks but I have a good excuse or 3, I promise.

First off was a little trip to London for a dear friend's Birthday. Lots of dancing and some sore feet & heads the next day...

The following weekend, Harry and I drove up to see my family and the gorgeous puppy Boo. There was also a trip to a lovely Vintage fair and a good old fashioned Barndance. Yeehaaahhhh.

So in-between the weekends away and work, I was crafting away on bits and pieces for the Love Southsea show. Myself, Julia and Heather had our own stall yesterday and it was great fun...

Aside from the odd downpour and wet feet all day, we met some great people and sold lots of our items! 

Some of my handmade items for sale

A selection of vintage items I was selling

Awesome jewellery from Julia of You Flaming Brute

Heather with her unique leather bunting

I was really pleased at how the day went and we've now signed up for another show in 2 weeks time. You can find out more here We're all looking forward to it... If you're in the Portsmouth & Southsea area then come down to Castle field in Southsea on Saturday 21st July and say hello! 

Have you been to any good craft fairs or shows recently? x

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DIY Inspiration

I bloody love DIY. Decorating, fixing things, making things and of course arts and crafts. Every now and again however, I hit a bit of a crafty lull... sometimes it can't be helped... So I find an evening of reading some blogs and browsing Pinterest always help.

There are some great DIY projects out there at the moment and at different levels of difficulty so there is something for everyone. Here are a few that I found. They're simple but lovely.. give them a go!

Make your own notebooks - from designlovefest

Really easy and you can have fun mixing different coloured paper and card. 

Print your own Heart Blanket - from the girls at A Beautiful Mess

You could do the same with some cushion covers or if you're feeling adventurous, buy a plain and cheap duvet cover set and print that instead! Fabric paint would work just as well I reckon, especially for things like duvet and cushion covers. (Definitely going to try this one day... )

Mini Jubilee Bunting - from the lovely B & E at Make Do and Spend

Such a cute idea and can be used for lots of occasions this summer... not just the Jubilee!

My DIYs...

Last weekend I bought some cheap pencil erasers from Tesco and made some rubber stamps to add to my collection. I just drew some rough shapes onto the eraser with pencil and started slicing and chopping with a stanley knife. I also tried a simple triangle shape on a cork. I've made cork stamps before but they take some persistance as they can crumble all over the place.

Ok, so a couple of them aren't perfect but I actually like them that way! I like that the star is a bit quirky and the envelope is a bit wobbly. I've got a few ideas swirling around using some of the stamps and will have another go at some more shapes over the next couple of weeks.

I also tried my hand at a necklace that I'd seen on Pinterest last week. It was pinned from honestlywtf.

I already knew how to knot this style so I got going quite quickly, but the instructions are really easy to follow if you're not sure. I made a few bobbins out of an old cereal packet as they're easier to work with than the original thread packaging. Instead of taping to the table, I safety pinned mine to the throw on the sofa and worked from there... it was quite a nice DIY over the past few days as I've been feeling a bit under the weather. 

I added a few washers that I had in my jewellery kit and there we are. 

I'm going to make a few more and layer them up, they're so easy to just throw on to brighten up a plain t shirt or top. 

What do you think? Have you followed any projects found online recently? How did you get on? 

x

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Sunday Crafternoon

My week seemed to go on forever... so when 5pm on Friday arrived I was out of that office pronto. The most amazing sunset greeted me on the journey.

When I arrived home I was greeted with the amazing news that our Bathroom was FINISHED!!! I spent a good 15 minutes in there just looking at how pretty and shiny it was. Sad? Yep, probably but I don't care... I love it. Stay tuned for some proper photos of my new favourite room and not just the grainy ones from my phone. 

Yesterday was mostly spent cleaning up the mess that was our flat. There's been a layer of dust over everything whilst the builders were here so it was lovely to have a chilled out Saturday night in a clean and tidy space. As for today, well after a lovely lazy Sunday morning and a few dull chores I finally got to sit down and make some bits and bobs this afternoon. I made some cards for my first ever craft fair that I'm doing at the beginning of March. They're notecards that I'll be selling as a pack of 4. 

So the next couple of weeks I'll be busy making more cards and other bits in preparation for the Fair... And hopefully there'll be a few more of these beautiful sunsets on the drive home from work... x

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Let's start at the very beginning...

This is a big step! Being one of the most indecisive people on the South Coast, this first ever post on my first ever blog has taken some time.

I'll be sharing my love of arts & crafts, the seaside, music and whatever else takes my fancy.

View over the Solent at Sunset.

So hello...this is my crafty life by the sea.

Back soon...x

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