Brown Paper Packages Tied up with String...

What a surprise I had yesterday when Postie brought in a parcel to my shop for me to sign for. I wasn't expecting anything...

Inside the package was something lightweight and squishy, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. The sweet little Christmas card said it had been sent by Krissie.

And inside? Oh, my!

This gorgeous handmade boudoir pillow, made from exquisite antique French fabric - I'm not sure how Krissie could bare to part with it! (And I'm certainly not sure what I've done to deserve such a beautiful gift, lavished with such skill and love!)

I am amazed that someone I have never met would know me so well and send such a treasure.

Thank you again Krissie. x

I have placed the little pillow on a painted French chair in our master bedroom. Krissie wrote a lovely post all about her latest creations here.

Have a lovely day everyone!

I have a day of painting and crafting ahead of me as I put the last finishing touches to the items I shall be taking with me to the V&H Fair on Saturday.

And you may have noticed in the first photo of this post, that the Christmas tree has been put up on the Market Place - I shall be open later on Friday when the tree's fairly lights will be switched on by the Carnival Queen and there will be a few festive treats going on in the town.

Niki x

Daytime TV?!!

Now I'm not usually a daytime TV viewer (not much of a TV viewer full-stop), besides, I'm usually at work during the day, but today, whilst babysitting the littlest member of our family, I sat down to give her a bottle and switched on the box...

I discovered this fun programme called 'May the Best House Win'. I think many of us love visiting the blogs which show areas of their owners homes...so I thought perhaps this show might be of interest to some, purely as a guilty pleasure, you understand?! ;-))

I particularly loved Christine's cottage. Her artistic style shone through, throughout her pretty home and her handmade touches were everywhere. It didn't seem to go down particularly well with her house-guests and fellow competitors, but I for one loved that her home reflected so much of her personality.

If you'd like to visit, the episode can be found here for the next 30 days - you may need to click on 'Part Two' for Christine's cottage. (For copyright reasons, the programme is only available to UK viewers.)

Niki x

That was the Week That Was...

Last week was a busy one...

Our youngest daughter turned 18...I'm now adjusting to the fact that all my children are officially adults...

But my daughter did announce to me on Thursday, "It's OK Mum, I don't intend to be an adult until I'm 21, like they did in the old days!"

I guess she'll be wanting me to do her laundry etc for another few years yet then?! ;-))

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Her Birthday celebrations were all a bit of a rush, as we had to get her back to school (an 18 mile round trip) each evening for her to perform in the school cabaret, which ended at 10.30pm each night...I don't know how she managed to keep going...

She was a compare...

Was in several comedy sketches..

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And is a member of the girl's choir.

This was the finale where they performed several songs from Grease.

Saturday evening we took her into Bath for a meal with her friends to celebrate her 18th and the end of the cabaret.

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Whilst home life has been full throttle, I've also been busy in the shop making things and keeping the festive feel going.

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I've made some Christmas tree decorations from the old keys that I showed on my previous post.

And there's some more made from dusky pink chandelier drops.

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I've made a new collection of brooch pillows too.

My doll making has also been at full production and I have a big line-up to show you when they are all complete. These I am saving for the Vintage & Handmade Christmas Fair next Saturday. I shall be upstairs near to the tea rooms this time - Hope to see you there if you can make it. I shall give a preview of the dolls that will be coming with me later in the week. I also have a new design to reveal too! ;-))

Have a great week,

Niki x

More Trinkets and Treasures

Good morning!

Thank you for your feedback to the question in my previous post...I'll carry on posting about the treasures I find on my travels... :)

Coming up are the goodies I discovered at the weekend...

Vintage brooches and pretty necklaces.

A lovely old sewing basket (love the floral fabric cover) full of useful sewing equipment and supplies.

Colourful Christmassy baubles in time for the festive season.

Baby gowns in need of recycling...I've started working with these, so will reveal all when the items are complete. ;-))

These cute doll-sized knitted items are going to be used on Christmas cards to friends.

Adorable miniature flue-cover. (Sold yesterday)

Tactile sea shells and an urchin.

Rusty keys will become Christmas decorations with the addition of a few twinkling trinkets.

A fantastic old Good Houskeeping Cookery Book.

Love those colour plates!

Metal flower frogs, always a useful find for displaying postcards and such. Pretty glass cologne bottle, that I have since tied with lace and an old millinery flower, which I'll show towards the end of this post.

A baby's portrait on milk glass, dated 1896.

Two beautiful Victorian photograph albums...

with plenty of delicious illustrated mounts inside.

A large pile of linens and lace...

Now freshly laundered and waiting to be pressed this morning.

Chippy painted garden spade.

And a standard lamp to provide extra lighting in my shop.

A wonderful over-mantel mirror, which I feel needs painting (another for the to-do list! ;-))

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I also moved this gorgeous chest of drawers with its fab original paint into the shop yesterday, as several pieces sold last week.

It makes the ideal base for my Christmas display.

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I'd just like to thank Belinda for her post about the goings-on outside my shop recently, which she has posted on her Somerset blog here.

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Thanks for dropping-by Nostalgia at the Stone House!

Enjoy the rest of your week,

Niki x