whoops....not quite managed to post everyday......but then again i am so busy...saturday i was knee deep (not literally...but it makes it sound like i was very busy !!) in concrete having the fireplace put in, which looks fantastic, i cannot wait to share it on here...and i equally cannot wait to have our first real fire, which we have to wait a week to do so, which will be nice as that will coincide with the putting up off the christmas tree !!!!

oh.......... and sunday i was knee deep in paint...as i will be again today !!! but i shall leave you today with some of my new makes.......some are already on folksy...some have sold....and some shall be put on folksy sometime this week !!!!

i am so exited..........i shall tell you for why !!!!
last year this is what the lounge looked like..............please note: horrid gas fire ( sorry if i offend anyone who has one, and loves it ) and the horrid textured wallpaper....when we moved in almost 3 years ago we decided just to paint over it for now....well for now came to an end 4 weeks ago, i was eating my breakfast one morning and decided i can no longer live with this wallpaper or that gas fire.................so after hastily eating my porridge (still in my p.j.s) i decided to strip the walls........ i rang my other half at 3pm (still in my p.j.s) and told him of my adventures with a fish slice....(yes a fish slice makes a great wallpaper stripper) and i have arranged for someone to take out the gas fire......... after the shock...he was very happy with the hard work i had done (well so he says)........
so this is what it looks like for now............................................................................but come this weekend the fire place is going to be put in, we have a bought a lovely original cast iron fireplace and surround which matches the house perfectly our house was built in 1900, we know this has the house has a plaque on the front that says 'clarence villas 1900' this is very handy to know when you are putting original features back into a property, we are lucky as most of the house hasn't been changed over the last 100 years, we still have all the original doors and the fireplaces upstairs, and the original skirting boards.......the fireplaces upstairs are what did it for me with this house !
and walls are going to be painted.....more shelfs are going up....and ornaments and mirrors are being moved around........

and as you can see in the above pic..........fabrics and a box of tricks have arrived from cath k.......(please note matilda the whippet has to sniff and inspect anything and everything that comes into the house) yes i shall be making new curtains for the lounge...that will be sometime next week, when all the painting has finished........

we also had a very successful visit to ikea....we purchased a new rug, lots of cushion pads, new throws... well really too many things to name.......new pics of these when they are all in situ !!

p.s. did i mention i am very exited !!!!!!!!

wow... that was a long unintended blog break............thankyou for your comments, can't really say alot about the troubling circumstances on here....they are kinda still there.......but things are definately looking more rosy !!! it is a case of just ignoring it !!

st. ives was a tonic as always...and the fact that a cath kidston has taken up a residency there....well so much the better..............

tomorrow i will post more pics....as i literally am out the door on the way to ikea......... and yikes december 1st already....where might i ask has this year gone ???

i have so much to share....and i have made a promise to myself that i will post everyday this december......i will be back with ikea purchases, and tales of renovations...oh and some of my crafting.........

cornwall is calling...................

tomorrow i will be taking in in this view... i think my most favourite view in the world, and i shall be revelling in the delights that is st.ives.........
a whole week to be spent in my spiritual home....and it really doesn't hurt that there is a cath kidston shop there !!!
to be truthful with you my dear readers....never have i needed this break more than i do now.....
i know i am not a great regular blogger but i have found it so difficult to craft and be myself just recently...this is down to a huge stress that has been put on my family and our home.........
but fingers crossed it will all be over soon...........
and i shall see you soon with tales of st ives !!

a much wanted kitchen table.............

well this is the tale of the much wanted kitchen table............for some years now (6 yrs to be exact, and how fast they seem to have passed !!) i have wanted an old farmhouse kitchen table.. i have looked and seen and have been rather shocked at how much they seem to go for.......me being an old hat vintage buyer ( since the late 80's when vintage cost pennies) i begrudge paying too much for an item when i know that i can get it cheaper if you look hard enough........i kept holding out for a reasonable priced one....yes i had looked on ebay many times over the years and yes there have been bargains, but they have been many miles away and would have cost a small fortune in petrol.................

so little did i know on a warm sunny sunday morning....a few fields away from my house sat my new table.......yes.....a carboot sale....i try and get to them has often has possible, but it takes some effort on our part, you see me and man are night owls by nature, so early mornings are usually a no-no for us.......yes in the week the daily grind forces us up........but the weekends are for us...we can potter about at our own pace....so why oh why are carboots so early in the morning ???? an afternoon one would be excellent for us....but alas there are no such things ........

anyway getting back to the table.......after 1/2 hr of pushing and shoving, not by me might i add, and lots of lovely little buys...... i spotted it dirty, worn out and covered in old tools, i didn't want to appear too eager... i asked the man.... is this table for sale ? his reply...what this old thing.....yes i sweetly replied.....well i only chucked it in the back off the van to display these tools on it, but i guess i can sell it, if you want it..........not wanting to sound too crazy, i calmly said how much do you want for it ? gimme a fiver he said and it's yours..........and this is what i love about vintage buying........ a bargain !!
after getting the above table home............it was sanded by me for 5 hours....yes a real labour of love....and a very good workout !!!! we then went to homebase and got another bargain.... i originally wanted 'dix blue' eggshell by craig and rose....but i picked up an 1/2 price laura ashley eggshell paint in 'eau de nil', which i much prefered......bargains all around............

so that is the tale of my much wanted table................and the moral of this story is 'never give up the hunt'

SALE...........

pink melrose cushion £5-

vintage fabric cushion £4-

blue melrose cushion £5-

just a quick post today.............i have decided to have a good clearout of old stock.......i have so much i haven't put onto my website...etsy or folksy.....items that i have made and taken along to craft fairs etc.......that have stayed bagged up for sometime now.....so out it comes......and on sale it goes...so grab a bargain and keep checking my folksy page for bargains this week..........
www.folksy.com/shops/blossomdesign

blue melrose and aqua corduroy cushion £5-

tomorrow i will return with tales of a farmhouse kitchen table...............and more sale goods !!

(please note.............whilst writing this post the pink and blue melrose cushion have sold)

a normal day resumes...........................

peace at last...................the children are back at school and college.....and a more normal routine can be put back into practice.......don't get me wrong i love the school holidays and i love having the children at home....we get up to some great adventures.......but i also love getting back into the swing of things.......

i have done so much over these 7 weeks........vintage buying.........camping.......lots of days out......harvesting our vegetables........so much fun.......this i will be enlighting you with over the next few days !!

today i shall start with our little harvest....seriously this was very exiting for us......from the little patch we have...it really seemed like an abundance of veges and they all tasted so good.........

please note........new vintage tablecloth and new plate..... i buy alot of vintage ware but don't always get round to sharing any images of my purchases on here.......i must make more of an effort........really... i hear you say !!!!!

on a final note...this is a proud mother moment....a big whoop for my eldest who got an.......A* two A's and a B in her AS levels.........

folksy........etsy ???

i have had a folksy shop for a little while now and haven't really done alot with it......recently i have found that etsy is a little over-run with sellers, and sales are not great....so i have been loading up my folksy shop today.....sorted out a banner for it......and away i go.....i will be adding new items to it all week..... so if you fancy a peek go to.......

www.folksy.com/shops/blossomdesign

let me know what you think........ i will also be giving my website an overhaul later this week......all work and no play.......

mad dogs and englishmen......................

last week was too hot to do much at all..........i don't like to moan but heatwaves are not for me !!
whilst relaxing in the garden........seriously that is all i could manage.....it gave me lots of thinking time......mainly creative thinking.......and i have some new crafty work in the pipeline....very exiting...amongst the relaxing and creative brainwaves i did manage to craft three new cushions for the sofa........all made from my stash of vintage fabrics, i love the 50's orange roses fabric, it was a great find 7 metres in total from a local charity shop...........
although.... without moaning though heatwaves are great for getting your washing dry (uk readers will understand this exitement!) i washed almost everything in the house......just because....i could !!
and i love to see clean washing hanging in the garden.....it's so pretty............................................

mary mary quite contrary how does your garden grow.....part 2.....

today the village that i live in had its annual open gardens.......being an extremely nosy person coupled with my new love of gardening.......(yes i think i am growing up.....well it's about time as i am 39) it was ideal for me....so.....armed with youngest child my friend and her youngest child we set off....... 4 hrs we walked around our village and a lovely time we had......it is so fascinating to me as i often walk past some houses (whilst walking matilda) and fall in love with them and their front gardens and always wonder what their gardens look like at the back....well i was so exited when 2 of them had their gardens open......and let me tell you they were just as magical has i expected them to be...if not better.......i took lots of pics with the kind permission of the owners, but i won't post any here...as that is probably invading their privacy.....but i have taken away some fantastic ideas and lots of advice......in fact me and my friend are thinking of joining the gardening club !!! wonders never cease........

we rounded off our afternoon at the local band hall (which is where they hold the gardening club)

we had tea and cake.......very much needed !! it is a fantastic old little hall which is victorian built and has not been touched since the 1950's seriously i was in heaven..... this i have taken pics off for your perusal.......i wish i had taken one of the outside.....in fact i will and i will post the pics.....

and lastly i will leave you wth some more up-to-date pics of our little veggie patch..............

mary mary quite contrary how does your garden grow

again i have fallen off the 'i will try and blog on a more regular basis' ladder.........but eh.......i think i'm the only one who is beating myself up over this......we are our own greatest critics........ so i have taken the attitude that i will blog as and when i have time (and time.... i do so wish i had more of that ).....

but on to more exiting things.........the garden......these pics were taken a few weeks ago now with the intention to share them with you then, but eh.... better late than never !

it is so exiting growing your own vegetables......i feel like neil from the young ones !! does anyone else remember that ?.....i plant the seeds, nature grows the seeds, then we eat the seeds.......so funny, a tv must for 80's teenagers......getting back to the growing of veg. ( i do ramble on, go of subject and can't remember what i was talking about !) every morning i take a walk down the garden, matilda hot on my heels... tending to our little patch, we are growing...potatoes( which are in flower right now , and getting extremely out of hand )...carrots...parsnips...brussels....cabbages...peas...green beans....onions....beetroot...lettuces...and in our little makeshift green house we have tomato plants and lots of chilli plants (24 in total !!?? yes i said alot ) we also have gooseberry bushes which were kindly donated to me by my aunt, a blackberry bush....and 9 raspberry bushes... well raspberry canes..... which surprisingly all have some raspberries growing on them !!.....strawberry plants...garlic and last but not least pumpkins which have been lovingly reared by our youngest ( whom might i add has flown the nest this week...she is on a school pgl holiday... take care our little one, your presence is greatly missed ) and to add to that list our little herb garden.... which has been going for a few years now..... to add to this 'good life' all we need now are chickens.... which have been on the back burner for sometime now... although we are needing a house move and will probably wait till then.......

looking at what i have wrote i feel rather proud of what we have acheived in the last few months....and hats off to my man who has contructed the raised beds and lovinly tends to the veges every night !!

p.s. looking back at these pics..... i really must take some more upto date ones, as they have grown so much........

and finally i couldn't post without a pic of miss matilda...........

two birthday girls.............

it has been a while since i blogged...................not sure where the time goes........but another birthday has been and gone 2 in fact but the first it was a biggy .......18.......and the lovely girl had a great day, it is so hard to believe that i now have an adult child, a strange feeling..........
we are so very proud of her and the amazing young woman she has grown into ................

for her birthday she went to new york to stay with our friend (thanks josh for looking after her.....i can't wait to visit myself)........... i made her a 'i heart NY' bag for the occasion, which was greatly loved........

i love the other side of the bag which i embroided the big apple, it gives me a great idea for a new bag design.............

and of course no birthday would be complete in our house without a homemade cake.....

and yes the icing was quite perfect this time..............

myself i had the most perfect birthday.......i am 1 year off being 40 yikes

the weather was so beautiful and i had lovely gifts and a lovely meal, i forgot to take any pics.......

only this one of my birthday dress.........it is so yellow and flowery a combination that you cannot go wrong with........

vera................

i am so exhausted i have been a whirling dervish today.................spring cleaning the house...............and gardening, the veggies are starting to really come on now..........

so due to my extreme need to rest........... it is mainly a picture post !!!!!

.....meet vera, i made her a few weeks ago now, using some of my much loved vintage fabric collection, i will get around to putting her on etsy sometime this week..............................

birthday girl...................

within a space of 3 weeks..........it is both my daughters and my own birthday, yes may is an expensive month for our families !!this is my youngest daughters birthday..............the pic is a little blurry.....but i just love the expression on her face when she sees all of her gifts..........on her birthday day she had friends round after school for a tea party and games..........i just love that she is so much into my eclectic china taste, to her it is quite normal to have tea and cakes on fancy china..................her friends thought it a real novelty............

not sure why but my frosting was runny................never mind it still tasted good !!!!and at the weekend she had a camping sleepover in the back garden....... matilda joined in too !!!

much to the girls amusement..........................................

and then i got this lovely card made by her to say thankyou for making her feel so special...........