A Little Piece of Paradise.

Some of you may know that I ran a little shop situated on the side of my house a few years ago...

Whilst I have been sitting in my basement workroom this week I have been thinking about it a lot - I'm such a nostalgic person and am always wearing my rose-tinted spectacles! ;-))

But in many ways it was easier to run the physical shop that it is to run my on-line one.

When I didn't have any customers in the shop, I could beaver away at my sewing machine making lots of pretty items from vintage fabrics.

When each piece was complete, it was just a case of writing out a price tag, adding it to an attractive display somewhere in the shop and then waiting for a lovely customer to come through the door looking to buy.

I do miss the interaction with customers too. Whilst I am very grateful for all the emails that I receive now, it isn't quite the same as actually talking to someone and seeing the look on their face as they walked into my shop for the first time - it was rather full!! - But these lovely ladies rarely walked out empty handed!

This week the RSI in my wrist has been giving me some problems, so I have had to leave my handmade dolls to one side and work on some smaller items that require less stress, for the V&H fair. It will be lovely to actually talk face to face with like-minded ladies again there, as I said, this is something that I miss. I'm hoping that some of the old customers to my shop will be coming. Many of them don't have the internet, so are no longer able to shop with me on-line, so it will be great to catch-up.

Anyway, enough of my whingeing - the photos on this post are all from my archives from around 2004 (when I had my first digital camera - so I used to take lots!)

Please indulge my look back over some of them...they serve to remind me how many items I have made over the years, so I should perhaps expect my poor wrist to object sometimes!

The photos also remind me that I am settled; in that my look hasn't changed over the years and I am still enjoying making a wide assortment of treasures from the beautiful vintage floral fabrics.

The fact that over 5 years down the line, I would still like my bed to be dressed in this way, is testament to that.

And I can't beat fiddling with even the tiniest of fabric scraps to make feminine boudoir style pieces to beautify the dressing table. (I'll be making some of these cuties for the fair.)

So I hope you will enjoy my small selection of photos of the goods I used to make to be placed in my own little piece of paradise....

Lovely lace and cherubs...

Useful shoulder bags fashioned from the good sections from damaged quilts...

Small items of furniture were revamped...

Bold 1950's fabrics added a colourful statement to the mix.

Piles of patchwork cushions were always for sale.

Along with boudoir bags for the vintage-loving girls.

Peg bags to make the chores a little more enjoyable...

With the more mundane utilitarian items receiving a floral beauty make-over too!

Garden gift sets...

and vintage stock was constantly being sourced. Mountains of floral eiderdowns were laundered and dried, along with piles of linens and curtains.

sigh....I do miss you little shop...

Have a lovely weekend.

Niki x