A day off and a visit to Vintage Squirrel

Today I managed to blag a whole day off....just for me! No guest breakfasts to cook, no sewing and much as I love the wee darlings....no children!
I headed off to Inverness to get some much needed clothes for the girls (why do they have to keep growing so fast?!)

The sun was shining and, with the excuse of needing some more Annie Sloan paint, I took the opportunity to call into the most gorgeous studio shop, near Munlochy Vintage Squirrel 

Kate is just lovely and really helpful.  She runs Paint Techniques Workshops from the studio (I'm hoping to do one as soon as I get a chance), until then I've treated myself to a tin of Paloma which I will be using on a wee occassional/coffee table.

The coolest floor ever, I love the blossoms....wonder if I could find a bit of floor to do this on?....

Loads of lovely natural light :)

I'm in love with the hare lamp...would go so nicely in my living room...hint hint....

I do think I need one of these shades!

 And...the best news is....not only can you get some really unique, quality bits and pieces for your home, you'll also be able to pick up a wee Jennifer Carr purse, wallet or bag as Kate will be stocking some of my products very soon :)

Why I love what I do......

As most of you who follow me on Facebook will have seen, I recently recovered these rather bleurgh cushions in Harris Tweed for a friend.

The chair looks absolutely stunning back home, I love this house so much, it has the most gorgeous light, views and homely feel.

The owners were delighted with the chair and I got a lovely message saying that his wife had been stood admiring the chair and just smiling away for the last half an hour.  
I can't tell you what an absolute luxury it is for me, in this day and age when people are so busy being stressed and rushing about, to be able to make someone stop for a few minutes and just take pleasure in a simple thing.
I love what I do.
I think that when you take pleasure in what you're making, some of that must pass into whatever you are creating. 
I know that some people (family and friends included) don't think that what I do is a "real" job. Probably because to most people "work" is by it's nature laborious, tiresome and something only done to pay the bills.  Now I know I'm not likely to become financially rich, but I don't long for shiny new cars, a big house or a boat (sorry Ian!) for me making and creating is a way of being, and a quality of life that comes from job satisfaction and the pleasure in making people stop and smile. 
Of course, job satisfaction doesn't pay bills. We have three daughters and I don't want them to feel like they're ever missing out on anything. It is this that motivates me at midnight when I'm still out in the cabin, or when I'm up at the crack of dawn sewing while everyone else is tucked up in bed.  It keeps me going on the gloriously sunny days, when I'd love to be out for a walk but instead I'm sweltering in my wee cabin to get orders finished.
I feel I am very , very lucky to be able to work around my family, and to be one of the few who loves what they do....real job or not ;)

Playing with paint

 I've been busy working on some wholesale orders, getting the B&B rooms ready as it's that time again already and also trying to build stock for online. It's hard to not get caught up in a restrictive mind set that because time is so limited, it must be used sensibly and that everything we make must have a "value". After a good talking to from a really good friend I've decided to have one day (or at least evening!) a week to just play at anything creative. I'm desperate to try fabric designing and we have fun and exciting plans for over the summer :) until then, I've had a wee play with some printing blocks we picked up on our honeymoon in Dubai (4years ago!!) xx

Wallets?....

I've had lots of requests for men's wallets made in Harris Tweed. I always planned to do them but just never found the time to experiment and come up with a good design that I was happy with. I didn't want them to be too chunky but they needeed to to have enough pockets and space in them to make them useful.

(I love that quote and it's my rule when designing.....it has to be completely useful...and hopefully beautiful!)

 Anyway....my husband is currently road testing this design and if it get's the thumb's up I'll be making some up in Harris Tweed and you will be able to find them Online or follow me on Facebook :)

The Painted House Patterned Rollers

Oh my goodness..... Have you tried these patterned paint rollers from The Painted House? They are amazing! You can use them on walls, paper, fabric (which I can't wait to try out).
Originally, I had planned to paint our back hallway with the Tussock roller, but with all of the "real life" that the area undergoes.....wet children in dirty waterproofs, husband in welly boots, 2 year old with dirty hands etc I'd be constantly worrying about if I could clean without the pattern wiping off.
I opted for 3 square panels of pattern instead, which gave me the perfect opportunity to have a play with my latest obsession for Annie Sloan paints ;)

After having a wee play mixing Provence with Old white, and Empires Silk with Old White to get the colours I needed (I wanted them to tie in with the colours in our kitchen as the hall leads into the kitchen).
I masked off 3 squares with Frog Tape (amazing stuff that stops your paint bleeding under the edges like normal masking tape).

And the finished hallway....

First play with Annie Sloan paint

My husband and I have very different taste....I used to think that he would like to furnish an entire room in one hit by opening the Next catalogue and buying the entire range (plus co ordinating soft furnishings!) Whereas I'm a lot more eclectic and love old preloved items which look like they have history.
Well....it's taken 4 years of marriage....but I've finally worn him down to the point that not only is he coming around to my way of thinking but he's willingly helping me make them over :)
I've seen so many fab makeovers on Pinterest with Annie Sloan Chalk paint so was desperate to give it a try and see what all the hype was was about.  I was lucky to get a gorgeous chest of drawers from our local Facebook free ads, it's a fantastic size and really solid. My husband is super practical and great at wood work, so he fixed the bases on a couple of the drawers and removed the hardware which we kept and reused as it was.
I didn't get a proper before pic...

but as you can see it was pretty old school, and although there was nothing majorly wrong with it, it definitely would not have suited our house.....
A couple of quick coats of Annie Sloan Old White and I absolutely love it!!!

The paint really was as easy and lovely to use as people rave on.  My husband sanded back the top and pedestal - the wood isn't perfect but it has a warm homely worn look to it. I didn't want to go to mad with the distressing as this was my first attempt and I didn't want to over do it so just rubbed over all the edges and natural "wear areas" with some fine grade steel wool.
Now we just have to manoeuvre it upstairs to our bedroom!

Urchin Jewellery

I just had to share some pics of my gorgeous new rings! 

Since having our youngest daughter, my wedding and engagement rings have become really loose and I've been unable to wear them for fear of losing them. My very lovely and talented friend over at Urchin Jewellery has made me a wee collection of stacking rings which I can wear with my wedding band. I'm a total fidget when it comes to jewellery and these are great for switching about, I usually have 2 with my wedding ring and 2 on the other hand...I think I need at least 2 more..... ;)

Here are a couple of my favourite pieces she has available at the moment...

Silver Starfish Necklace

 

Silver Croft House Necklace