Eye Candy!

Since putting together my book back in 2008, the feedback I have received has always been along a similar vein...The book includes my own home and three of my friend's. We all share a similar passion for nostalgia, so it was easy to combine the four homes throughout the pages...Readers will always have a favourite though and very often I've been told theirs is Maggie Neale's Dorset home. 

Maggie has a huge talent for hand-making, embellishing, or discovering new uses for old things. This has always been the case and her taste has remained little changed since she was a child. The easygoing style is in evidence throughout the whole of her home and is a look that's simple to add to over the years.    

When I visited Maggie's workroom on the day of the photo shoot, it had been newly built in the attic space of an extension. Old apple boxes lined one wall, stacked up to create a display system. Each had been painted a pretty pastel colour and then lined in the back with a patchwork of vintage wallpapers and greetings cards. 

She had started to display some of her prized possessions inside, alongside some of her own creations. 

Since then, Maggie's workroom has developed and she tells me there is now enough to fill another book!

I would dearly love to put together another one, but with the only option I'm aware of, being to self-publish, I don't feel it's a viable option. The self-publishing website's pricing structure for a reasonable sized book, make them extremely expensive...And that's before the author puts a bit on top for themselves. There's usually a P&P charge in addition for the customer to pay, so the books become virtually unsellable. At the beginning, my blurb book started off at a high, but just about doable price, and then the recession hit and the on-line publishers ramped up the price. I've always been very grateful to those who still purchased it. It took me about a year to put together, but in the end I had produced one that I would be happy to buy myself, as it included hundreds of photographs, which I felt still represented good value for money.

Disappointed by many craft related books on the market at the moment, I would love to write one showing what I and my friends are capable of...I'm sure many of us have at least one book inside of us...be it a novel, a collection of poems, recipes, tutorials, or perhaps research we've amassed over time. Such a shame this plethora of knowledge and passion will never be shared. I realise a blog fills the gap a little, but I think they will eventually become redundant. When we are required to pay for storage every year, and with a falling number of visits from blog readers, many will turn away from their space on the www and the posts will be lost for ever. 

I've meandered now and got away from the point I wanted to make...Maggie's home is cheerful and pretty - I don't want to go off on a tangent that's depressing! ;-))

Maggie works full-time, so as a consequence has always said she wouldn't write a blog, as her free time needs to be her crafting time! But...

I am VERY happy to announce that Maggie has started a Pinterest page...and very beautiful it is too!

Her boards sum up her style and what inspires and influences the things she makes, the way she dresses, and the style she chooses to decorate her home. She has said that once she has bought herself a better camera, she will start to include a lot more photographs of her own home and craft projects. For now, here's one of Maggie's photos that show how her workroom has moved on...

Photo Maggie Neale - Pinterest.

I've been extremely lucky over the years, to receive some wonderful handmade Maggie creations as gifts. All with her cheerful signature style that can only be hers. Maggie doesn't sell her work, so I feel very fortunate to own some of her unique pieces. 

Hope I've wetted your appetite! - She's been pinning like crazy, so if you haven't visited already and would like to sample her Pinterest boards, then hop over to here for some serious eye candy! ;-))

In the meantime I'll leave my blog with a few more photos that I took around Maggie's home back in 2008...

Image: Lucy Neale

And following in her Mummy's creative footsteps, daughter Lucy Neale has become a successful children's book illustrator. Her work can be found here on her website. 

Such talent in one family! - It shouldn't be allowed, should it?! ;-))

Photo Maggie Neale, Pinterest. 

Hope you enjoyed your visit,

Niki x