Studio progress...

There has been some shuffling in the studio!
Oh yes! *rubbing hands in excitement*

Shelves!
We have shelves!

They still smell of fresh paint... (actually no, that's not pleasant, the excitement got the better of me there...)



I love the curves of the brackets.
I found them in my local antique shop in need of some loving care. They had probably been there for years. They are enameled cast iron sink brackets.
The top ones are my favourites. I was so excited when, peeling off the old paint covering them, I found a 'made in Scotland' mark.



The shelves were a good excuse to do a little woodwork outside in the sunshine.

Did I ever tell you that when I was floating between my old job and starting up Three Red Apples, I was looking into traditional boat building courses? I went to visit one of the few schools in the UK which happens to be not far from here. Their workshops were amazing (right on the sea front), the smell was amazing, and the people so friendly...
I couldn't afford the fees in the end, which is just as well because I would never have met you all! I also looked into building wooden playhouses... but I decided it would be much easier to start with what I had, a big pile of fabrics and the sewing machine Ade had bought me as a Christmas present.



Now the last important bit for my studio to be fully operational, you know, so I can get into a prolific state :), is a cabinet for storing my fabrics. And last night, the shelves of ebay delivered!! It was a very long seven days wait, but it seems I was the only one who wanted it. I feel like the cat who got the cream, with a big white grin, might even have reached the end of my nose...

Can't wait to go and collect it...
There will be more sanding, priming, painting, and maybe even some gluing. You will be the first to see it!

x

How things change...

It's my birthday today!

This time two years ago was a low point which came out of nowhere...
What a change two years, a new direction, and the support of your close ones can make...

We're off climbing on the Cornish cliffs for the weekend. Well, once the bonnet is back on the car (!), I've got my shelves up in the studio, and we've got ourselves sorted out... could be a little while!

Hope you all have a fab weekend!

x

No technicalities here...

I found out on Saturday I can get up early and actually enjoy it... even if it isn't to climb up a mountain or go on holiday; although I need A LOT of food to get me through the morning (adding to my money saving schemes: sleep longer = buy less food ;)

Encouraged by my wall of happy, I got working on something new, well... technically not new... I'd made some before... but let's not let technical technicalities spoil my new product announcement.

I'm the kind of girl who doesn't really know what to do with a girly handbag, on a day to day basis anyway. I have to have my hands free when out and about, plus you never know when some quick grabbing action may be required. That's why a messenger bag is so perfect for me. Being French, you may have thought a rucksack may have been more fitting... (just for the record, I also like my trousers long). But no, the messenger bag is the one for me, the perfect bag for thrifting.

So I got working...



Happy with how my 'love life' bag turned out, I made another...



And then because I had a bit of spare time, since I'd got up so ridiculously early, I also made a little wall hanging of my Citröen 2CV design...



PS: the bags are now up on my shelves, and the wall hanging will be soon.

PPS: Things have come to a stand still on the studio setup/re-furb front, as I desperately search for the right cupboard for storing my fabrics, but I'm hopeful that the right one is waiting to be rescued just around the corner...

what the...?

I got out of bed at 4:30 am this morning.
This is unheard of for me, unless it is to go on holiday...
No, I'm a 8 or 9am riser normally. In fact I am pretty sure I was a marmotte in a previous life, as each day I go into a near state of hibernation.

But this morning, my man got up to get ready for his early shift, and normally I only just wake up enough to say "good morning, are you tired?" (I always worry he doesn't get enough sleep, you know since I sleep so much...).
This morning though, impossible to go back to sleep, for my mind was preoccupied with this "time to be more prolific" statement I made yesterday.

So I got dressed; put on my red clogs thinking they would alert my man I was strangely up, saving him a fright; went straight to my studio; nodded a bit; had double my usual portion of toast with my morning hot chocolate (which is probably 4 times more than an average person eats, but it's 4:30!! how am I going to last till lunch time?!); did a few chores; and came back to the studio to gather my ingredients of the day...



I think I might even go for my first ever 6:00am dog walk in the lovely morning light. I should make the most of it, it may never happen again!

x

A couple of little additions...

to my little shop shelves...



I am busy sketching, humming, thinking, scratching (just my head!), etc etc... for I have decided the time has come...

Time to be a little more prolific with the making.

Oh yes! (she says hoping she can deliver!)

Wishing you all a lovely weekend...

x
PS: I am aware that my wallpaper appears in all my photos at the moment, I will take a couple of pills to cure my addiction I promise!

Going... going... gone...

Ah... the first strawberries from the garden... :)

Wishing you a lovely Sunday...

x

And it's up...

I have calmed down a little bit now (only just), from my new levels of giddiness experienced yesterday after finally receiving *it*, the holly grail of studio happiness, my long awaited wallpaper arrived! (a little over dramatic here but I'm not the most patient of people)



It took me a little longer than it should to open it, partly because I couldn't get into the packaging with bare hands, and partly because of said new levels of excitement.

You've guessed it, I wasn't disappointed!
The colour is perfect! Who said green is a cold colour, no way josé! It's just perfectly perfect.



I wasn't going to wait any longer to put it up. I took Jack out for his walk to give me a chance to think about how I was going to attack the job... gathered my tools, changed the blade in the stanley knife - which I didn't use in the end, scissors are the way to go, got everything ready before getting started (unlike me).
I was a girl on a mission :)



It went in a treat :)))

A few more things to do... put some shelves up, new cabinet from my sis for my fabric, lampshade... and the studio will be finished.



Off to get on with some real work ;)

x

Waiting impatiently...

for my vintage wallpaper to arrive...



I've been stopping myself from showing it to you until it's on my studio wall,
but the waiting got the better of me... :)