Pearl Lowe's Vintage Craft

I first met the very beautiful Pearl Lowe when she came into my shop one day. A gentle soul, so friendly and easy to talk to...She told me of a book she was writing and how she wanted to include my shop in it. I was quite surprised at the time, but then didn't really think about it again until she got back in touch with me to ask to borrow some vintage items for the photo shoots.

Pearls lovely book Vintage Craft has now been published and is available to buy. 

(Visit Pearl's website here for a chance to win a signed copy - You have until June 7th.)

Inside are craft projects to add vintage style to a home.
Here are some of my pieces that made it into the book...

Wallpaper covered drawers.
You may have seen these before in my workroom...I've had them for years.





Antique Ghost Mirror

Here it stands in our living room....

I also lent this one to Pearl, but she chose to use the pretty one with the rose painted panel on it.

Quilted nursing chair cover. 

I showed this make-over here.

Its similar to the linen cover I made for our arm chair. 

 A few more pieces made it onto other pages in the book...

Including one of my angel dolls which Pearl must have bought from Susannah Decorative Antiques and Textiles, who I used to supply...

In fact the back cover of the book (below) shows Pearl standing in Susannah's. 

(Isabelle once showed a lovely tour of this unique shop on her blog here.)

I know its not always appropriate to name-drop, but Pearl is a great advocate when it comes to promoting small independent shops local to her. Her book isn't just full of London stockists and big names, but suggests independent shops, such as those in small Somerset towns as well. (Click here for a YouTube clip which shows Pearl shopping in Bath.) 

I am very grateful to Pearl and Abbey for including my pieces in this lovely book. 

One of my favourite photographs is this one of her bedroom. Pearl has a confident style, where she uses a lot of black in her décor (Take a YouTube tour here.). I always struggle to sell any of my handmade cushions if they are predominantly black, so perhaps her new book will spark an appreciation for more dramatic, gypsy style schemes! :) 

I first saw Pearls home featured in Rachel Ashwell's book Shabby Chic Inspirations. ...There's even a place for black accessories in a shabby chic interior!

So many pretty touches and lots of beautiful French antique fabrics that I love. 

OK, enjoy the rest of your day. I'm in the middle of making loose covers for our sofas. I'm using velvets, so the project is driving me slightly insane! Hopefully I'll get there by the end of today and will show the results on a future blog post...A little black may feature! :)

Love Niki x