Correction...

I've just heard today that 'BBC Homes & Antiques' magazine will be printing a correction in the next issue with regard to them giving the wrong address for my new shop, which accompanied our home's photo shoot in the June issue . They do admit that it was their fault, so I had hoped for a little more, but this does seem to be all that will happen.

It's a shame, as Nicky Owen and I spent a long time working through everything to make sure the report was spot-on…
I’ve had customers in Nostalgia at No.1 (after them reading the magazine article), asking if I have another shop, as they haven’t connected ‘Nostalgia at the Stone House’ with my shop in Shepton Mallet…

But being positive, at least I haven’t had anyone that I am aware of, turning up at our house looking for it… (I did once have a shop at home but that room has been our kitchen for the last 7 years!)

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Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine,

Niki x

Chelsea it Aint...But I do my Best!

In honour of the great Chelsea Flower Show which starts on Tuesday -
Here are some of my favourites blooming in our humble garden just now:

The huge clumps of lilac that you just want to sink your nose into...

And not just in lilac, but white too!

The daintier, but just as fragrant, lily of the valley spikes.

Nodding heads of the columbines...

In an assortment of shapes, colours, and sizes,

Proving they have been just as promiscuous as last year!

My new lavender coloured foxglove has begun to flower, with the other three that I bought not far behind.

But just now, perhaps the star of the show, is the heady scented wisteria winding its way around our raised deck.

It swathes the banister rails with its cloak of cascading flowers a little more each year...

And we can enjoy breakfast, or an evening barbecue with our fragrant friend surrounding us, and at just the right height now to see the abundant blooms at eye level.

In fact, seeing as the weather forecast is so good for tomorrow, I think a barbecue could well be on the cards.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, what ever you have planned.

Niki x

Market Day

Today was the second Friday for the new market in Shepton Mallet...There has been some talk as to whether the stall holders would keep coming back and visitors too...so it was very good to see it well attended by both again this week...
It was a beautiful day and people were enjoying their lunchtime in the sunshine.

I've been thinking that I need to extend my stock to outside my shop, to entice some more of the market goers inside...but there is one slight problem with that...and that is these guys...

An old man comes every morning without fail to feed the resident flock of pigeons with cake! Once fed, they then go and sit on my shop's roof...and doing what come naturally, one thing leads to another, and certain things fall to the ground that are not particularly welcome! - Especially on to freshly laundered linens etc...:(
So hubby and I are working on creating a canopy to put up over my shop's entrance on a Friday, to create a 'poop-free' area! I've bought some checked oilcloth, hooks and eyelets for it, but now have to work on making it...Watch this space...

Recycled vintage hand embroidered linen handbag.
Have a lovely weekend,
Niki x

On-Line Shop Update.

Hope you've had a good day! Mine started with a rearrange of the shop...

The lovely French sofa that I had become accustomed to glancing at during my day has now gone to a new home. It was bought by a lovely blogger that we all know...Hopefully I will be able to tell you where it has gone next time (if she doesn't mind) - as I think she may be mentioning it on her blog soon...

The big empty space was soon filled with the Lloyd Loom chair and summery cushions that I showed in a previous post.

The painted chest of drawers were shuffled along the wall...

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With an old chippy painted chair next to that.

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I've also been busy sewing again and will try to post some pics of my latest makes on my other blog later this evening.

For now I leave you with news that I have started adding items to my on-line shop, including the cushions that can be seen in the sofa photo of this post. I hope to find the time to start listing some of my handmade bags later this/next week too.

Have a lovely evening,

Niki x

Bottling Things Up...

I do love antique bottles..the shapes, the colours, the embossed lettering, the frostiness they sometimes acquire through being buried in the ground for years and years...

But just sometimes this isn't enough...

I've been selling old bottles in my shop for a while now; some sold as they are and others tied in a length of ribbon and a brooch or buckle attached, to be removed and worn if wished.

Nothing is glued, so all can be returned back to how things were if necessary.

That is until today...I finally plucked up the courage to do something I have wanted to do for a long time. I'm all for recycling and up-cycling in order to make something useful or beautiful... but just occasionally I feel a pang of guilt when I take the scissors to old fabrics and lace for example, just in case what I have planned doesn't turn out how I imagined. I am to be found regularly sewing in the shop and am often asked what I am currently making...one lady was horrified to see me chopping into a vintage hand embroidered tablecloth, until I showed her the huge tear in the middle of it and the countless rust spots which would have made it unsaleable as is. She could then see the merits of salvaging the good bits to be seen and appreciated on something new.

So, my latest handmade items include these, where I used some roughly torn fragments of antique lace which I applied to the surface of some shapely old bottles in my collection.

I suppose if someone where to take offence, then the bottles could be soaked in some clear water and eventually the lace would slip away to reveal the unscathed bottle beneath!

I know there are lots of bloggers and craftspeople out there using various vintage and antique materials in their craft work and so there shouldn't really be this sense of guilt that we are altering these things for ever, more that we are giving them a new lease of life to be loved and enjoyed for a long time to come.

That said, I would have a problem with scissors being taken to an old quilt for example, without it first being assessed if a repair were possible to prolong its intended use. Or a linen tablecloth could be given the boiling method of laundering to possibly remove some unsightly stains.

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I bought a few more bottles at a flea market on Sunday, which still had their original stoppers in place.

These I gave a decal label in an antique style, which would make them perfect for storing bubble baths and oils in a traditional style bathroom.

And a broken china posy earring was fixed to the top of each as a sweet decorative touch. Done!

Two simple little projects that didn't cost the earth :)

Niki x