Beach Life

It has been a busy old half term. I have taken time off this week to spend some time with my 3 winkies. The weather hasn't been wonderful but it hasn't stopped us from having fun. The beauty of living here is that we can 'pop' to the beach. When the sun comes out we sit on the beach and if it clouds over we do something else. I remember living in London and what a palaver it was to get to the beach. It involved a whole day and usually meant lots of equipment and getting stuck in traffic.


The children have enjoyed being together. Jasmine is still a real family girl and loves spending time with her little brother and sister even though she is 17. Here they are playing 'it' on the beach. I'm not sure if Lizzy really knew the rules but she was just happy to run around laughing with Jazz and Alf. These pictures are going to be the inspiration for my next Janet Bolton naive applique workshop which is coming up in a couple of weeks.









I have made 2 beach pictures with her, the first when Lizzy was no more than a twinkle in her Daddy's eye so the second one (pictured below) featured her and I on the beach together. This new one will be all 3 of them. I am so excited that I have started the background already! The problem with starting a new business is the time it takes up. My 'creating time' seems to have all but disappeared!






Big Brother started on Wednesday evening which means my life as I knew it officially ends until the whole debacle is over. Every year I tell myself I am not going to be sucked in, it's rubbish, but I am weak and am addicted already! Pin It

Seven

I have been tagged several times to do the Seven Meme but I am going to cheat and just post a picture of my little man who was seven yesterday. Here he is with his cake (note cat in background cuddling a Pokemon toy!).

Happy Birthday Alfie.

Here are all three of my lovelies. I can't believe how they are growing. They are now 17, 7 and 2 and I am constantly amazed that they came from me. I think they are my finest work!




The last few days have been crazy for me. Since the Sunday Times published my phone number I have had loads of phone calls from fabric people, mostly wanting to sell ME fabric! Luckily I have also had a few sales. I have had to list lots more fabrics to replace the ones sold. Business is looking good and the feedback I have had from customers has been wonderful. It makes it all worthwhile.

Well it's Bank Holiday Weekend here again so I guess that means more rain. Last weekend was lovely, bright and sunny. We spent the day at the beach with Paul's brother and son, building sandcastles, crab fishing and watching the sunset.








Whatever you do this weekend, rain or shine, have a good one. x Pin It

Sunday Times

(click on photo to enlarge)

How exciting to open my Sunday Times today and find a piece about my website. It was very unexpected and a real thrill!

'Chic', maybe but I'm not too sure if I am happy to be described as 'cheap' though, hehehe! Pin It

Ruskin

When I saw this little embroidered picture in an antiques centre I couldn't resist it. Anyone who knows me knows that this is my way of dealing with things anyway!




I will be listing a few quilts and crocheted blankets on my website this week. Just thought I would give you all a sneak preview. They are so sweet I would like to keep them all!











I have a huge amount of eiderdowns to sell too but I need to launder them first. This I will do when it stops raining. Will it EVER stop raining?!


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Milly Molly Mandy

I am currently reading the books of Milly Molly Mandy to my little boy as his bedtime story. I wasn't sure if he would like them as he is a biff, bang, pow, boysie-boy who is into Pokemon, Star Wars and all things Raaaaaargh! But he loves them. The wonderful stories of MMM, Billy Blunt, Little-friend Susan and Miss Muggin's niece Jilly. I am also enjoying rediscovering them. This copy is from 1946!




I used to trace my finger round this map plotting little journeys for MMM and her friends, lost in their magical innocent world where you could wander down to the village without fear of being taken away.

(click on photo to enlarge)






I think this picture may have been the early inspiration for my shop!


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Back to Life?

You know you are all rather lovely. Thank you so much for the words of support, the lovely emails and for giving me the feeling that there are those of you who really care. I do appreciate your comments. I very rarely reply to them in my own comment box but be assured that I do read each and every one of them and find time to visit your blog or email you back. I didn't mean to sound as though I needed sympathy but rather to show that although my life can look as though it is perfect I too can have the usual bumps in the road that everyone else has. I am not immune but I do believe that what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger and I am feeling strong and happy folks.

This week has been a week of trying to get back to normal (whatever that is?!). I travelled down to see Celia to finish the interview for Period Living, sent off some fabrics to Marie Claire and World of Interiors to be used in their upcoming features. I have been getting to grips with my laundry, adding beautiful fabrics to my website, helping my little boy prepare for his SATS. I have been spending time nibbling my 2 year old's toes and feeling blessed that I have my beautiful children safe and sound by my side unlike this poor poor family. Please let her be found soon, safe and sound.

With thanks to Julie for the button, that she has designed and shared with us, in my side bar.





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Whirlwind

Thanks for your comments on my last post. I will let you know when the Period Living feature is out. For those of you who wanted to know, my dress was made from vintage fabric and came from Topshop in Oxford Street.

This week has really been a whirlwind week. We started off with Period Living coming out to photograph the house, then, a few days later, I was visited by two people from The Times. The lovely Vinny Lee and charming photographer Paul Raeside, who arrived in his convertible classic Mercedes, much to the delight of my other half. They were a breath of fresh air and very professional.








Then Devon Life sent a photographer round, a sweet, bumbling old chap who was utterly eccentric. We shared funny conversations about space travel, global warming and how he met his wife 6 years ago at a school reunion. He couldn't have been more different!

It has been a fun experience. I learned a lot and loved seeing my home through the eyes of other people. If I wasn't so busy with my website and the children I think I would love to be a stylist. The weather has been perfect, big blue sky and plenty of sunshine. I also had telephone interviews with The English Home, Irish Tatler and Junior Magazine. This press has come to me through my hard-working PR company who I can heartily recommend.

I also attended a Textile Fair in Honiton this week and picked up some delicious textiles including a pair of 1930's French floral curtains, that are just to-die-for, and a pretty paisley quilt. All of these will be appearing on my website soon as I have decided to be very strict with myself and stop collecting. I met up with lovely like-minded women and spent a sunny day shopping and catching up, perfect!





We finished the week with a fish and chip supper on the beach, skimming stones and watching the sun setting.





Along with all the wonderful goings on there has been down side too, nothing I want to go into detail about, some big stuff that has rocked my world and has made me realise that changes are needed in my life. Just in case you thought my life was perfect it's not all hunky dory you know!

Have a happy, sunny, Bank Holiday Weekend wherever you are x Pin It

Press

What do you think this photographer is doing peering over our hedge with her camera?




She's photographing the house for Period Living magazine. Niki, the photographer, came, to capture images of the house, with the wonderful Celia Rufey, a fellow fabricaholic and journalist, who talked to me about the house and my business.

Here I am with the lovely Celia looking at her gorgeous fabrics that she has printed onto linen. See her website here.




We had loads to talk about and as she only lives a mere 45 minutes away from me I think we will be seeing more of each other, in fact I will be meeting up with her on Tuesday when I visit a textile fair in Honiton.

It was such a fun day but I'm far too tired to talk about it now. I'm off to bed, all this press malarkey is exhausting! Pin It

Easter Egg Hunt

Well I warned you in the last post that there would be Easter Egg hunt pictures and so here they are. This is a picture heavy post!

Every year we do an Easter hunt with the children with clues taking them round the house and garden finding little eggs and clues on the way until they find their baskets of booty at the end. They start off with pictorial clues when they are very little but progress onto written clues as they get older. Alfie just loves this. He was very quick to work out the clues and amazingly still believes that Easter Bunny put them all out for him, marvelling at how Easter Bunny could have put clues in his playroom while he was just nearby on the computer! Ah don't you just love a child's imagination? I remember my mum and gran doing the Easter Hunt for me in my gran and grandad's flat where they lived above their shop. The place was tiny in comparison to where my children live but the magic was still there, the hunt still very exciting. Children find magic in the tiniest things. Lizzy followed along behind with her tiny basket, scoffing mini eggs as she went. She was delighted with the whole thing. Jasmine feigned an aloofness but was secretly quite interested, especially when her basket was found with the others.

Alfie reads the clue

Hmmm what can it be?

Lizzy looks in her basket

Alfie asks the chckens if they have seen any eggs

He spots the clue (can you?)


Lizzy helps

Down by the gate

Lizzy helps (but is busy eating her eggs!)

GOW helps

Come on Lizzy

Alfie finds the baskets in the garage

They enjoy discovering their booty

Alfie is delighted to find a Little Cotton Rabbit

Little Miss Easter Bunny

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Hope it was as sunny and enjoyable for you all as it was for us. Here are our Easter decorations this year

The Easter Tree

Gorgeous egg cosies from Max

I will be back with Easter egg hunt photos soon (you have been warned!) Pin It

The Fabric Room

The Fabric Room
Originally uploaded by thefabricofmylife.

On Sunday night I was very sick. I haven't been that ill in years. Monday I spent most of the day in bed, sleeping, recovering. I NEVER go to bed. I HATE going to bed because I always think I am missing something, but this time I had no choice. I was proper poorly!

On Tuesday I hobbled out of bed to clean up my fabric room as I needed to take some high-res photos for publicity. It was no mean feat believe me. This room was filled with bags and bags of fabrics that I had bought and just popped into the room thinking that one day I would put them away. The problem with that was there was simply nowhere else to store them. All drawers, shelves and cupboards were full to bursting. So after lots of effort I removed all the bags to be stored elsewhere so that now I have an organised, useable and (I think) beautiful room to work in. My Sylko dispenser is now right at home on the counter. So here, for your eyes only, is the fruits of my labour. Come on into my shop, pull up a chair, let me get you a tea and enjoy rummaging around the shelves. (click on the photos for close-ups) Pin It

Lizzy's 2nd Birthday

Lizzy had her 2nd Birthday this week. She had such a busy day with presents, bubbles, sand, balloons, cake and all her favourite people round for tea. Happy Birthday my little pickle x

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