… feel good friday :)

Dec 7th, 2012 2 Comments
Posted in: Made by hand, Out and About

Without any doubt the highlight of the past seven days was having my nephew stay over at the weekend ~ he is nine, and he is a bright, loving, funny and charming young lad ~ and he likes fun and things which make him happy ~ so we ventured out in search of ruined castles, big sticks and flooded lanes …

Balancing and stick waving

flood wading

Happy Jake

… happy boy? I think so!

Other good things this week include …

~ making sales in my shop … still plenty of cushions and other goodies to go round though ~

lemon loves cushions

~ finishing this skirt ~

hand made skirt

~ being in a warm home while it is cold outside ~

~ a sewing afternoon with my neighbour ~

~ making Christmas presents ~

~ listening to Emeli Sande sing Imagine ~

 

 

Wishing you all a warm and welcoming weekend.

 

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… feel good friday :)

Nov 9th, 2012 8 Comments
Posted in: Home Life, Made by hand

Another Friday ~ another week flowing into another weekend ~ and another opportunity to gather up all the good stuff and say a little thank you!

This week I have been most enjoying …

~ this cushion … I am as pleased as punch with it … and will be adding it to my shop very soon ~

hand made cushion

~ this beautiful tea-trolley with it’s elegant mid-century lines … a gift from our neighbour who is having a clear out ~

mid century style tea trolley

~ ooh … and that sweet little turquiose case underneath … which belonged to my Mother in Law ~

~ and this ‘made in England’ stamp on the castor of aforementioned tea-trolley ~

made in england

~ this pretty 1970′s style vintage fabric … a charity shop bargain ~

~ beautiful sunrises ~

sunrise over Leominster

Other things which have brightened my week include …

~ a successful photo session for my online shop ~

~ watching the excellent White Heat on DVD which I missed when it was broadcast earlier this year ~

~ a phone call from a busy busy friend (she knows who she is!) ~

~ hot chocolate ~

And as if all of that isn’t enough … this weekend it is My Birthday … oh Yeah! No clues as to how old I am … but lets just say I am optimistically thinking of it as being ‘half way’!!

Forty five

Photo: Unknown Source: If this is your image, please contact me so I can credit you.

Bring on the celebrations!!

Feel free to raise a glass to me ~ I’ll raise one back for sure!

Happy weekend folks.

 

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… shopping!

Sep 10th, 2012 12 Comments
Posted in: Made by hand, News

Oh my goodness ~ I do love shopping very much indeed ~ but who knew that one day I would be opening my very own shop!! I know!! And it is happening TODAY!

It may be modest, and it may be online, but to me it is a moment of huge excitement and success. And I am very excited to share with you that it can be found right here! Dive in and have a little rummage, and I would love to hear what you think!

This is what it looks like … I keep popping back to check it is really real … with my lemon loves name and my actual photo and everything!

folksy shop

And here is a little peek at a few of the goodies on sale … I have been stitching up some lovely shoulder bags …

Hand made shoulder bag

… which are all fully reversible ~ a whole two bags in one scenario …

Hand made shoulder bag

… follow the link to find out what the reverse side looks like! And I have been working my stitchy magic on some cushions too …

… a bit of retro, a bit of modern, all mixed up in a lot of goodness.

I would love you to pop over and have a look, just click here, and have a little browse. And I will be adding more goodies later this week, so remember to check back.

When I left my last retail job in 1998 I swore I was never returning to a life behind the till ~ isn’t it funny how life sometimes shows you a whole new perspective.

 

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… waving hello :)

Aug 22nd, 2012 2 Comments
Posted in: Home Life, News

A big shiney WELCOME to my new subscribers ~ I am so appreciative that you have chosen to come along on the lemon loves journey with me … and it is proving to be quite a journey too! Following the launch of my facebook page a couple of weeks back, I am meeting new makers and creaters online who give me constant inspiration and drive. I am also taking gradual steps towards setting up my online shop ~ lots to do yet but it is getting nearer and I am getting excited!

If you want to keep up to date with all the news and developments, remember that you can subscribe here just at the click of a button, for updates and my free monthly newsletter … or come over and join my facebook page.

In other news … my fabric collection has been boosted over the last week by some rather gorgeous bargains and finds, and by one brand new full price fabric (I very rarely buy at full price, but this is for a specific project and I have been searching for the perfect stripe for weeks now!) It is by Tanya Whelan, and is very pretty indeed!

Tanya Whelan ticking stripe fabric

This beautiful blue linen woven tablecloth grabbed my eye in a local second hand shop, it is destined for cushion covers I think …

Blue linen tablecloth

… this pretty 1970′s floral print is only a small scrap, but will compliment a number of fabrics I already have …

Yellow floral vintage fabric

… and keeping with the vintage theme, this gorgeous barkcloth, probably 1960′s or 70′s was impossible to ignore and found it’s way into my ‘shopping basket’ just the other day …

Vintage flowers barkcloth

… so cheerful!

Finally ~ my favourite local craft shop came up trumps again ~ they sell reclaimed, donated and unused fabrics for wonderfully reasonable prices, and I found this …

Orange and Green print fabric

… I don’t usually go for silky shiney fabrics, but the colours and print have a glorious 1950′s vibe which I am loving right now, and I see this working beautifully for bag linings or cushion backs … I am very much in love with it.

My sewing maching time over the next two to three weeks is going to be very limited due to other commitments … so I am going to spend my time staring at these little beauties and dreaming of what they may become …

… anyone want to join me?

 

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… a scrappy cushion

Jul 19th, 2012 3 Comments
Posted in: Made by hand

Remember this …

scrappy patchwork block

… one of the scrappy blocks I stitched up a couple of weeks ago ~ I felt it was time for it to grow into something new …

scrappy patchwork block

… so after a little bit of measuring …

scrappy patchwork block

… some stitching …

red trims

… and some trimming ~ it looked like this …

scrappy cushion

… which I’m feeling rather pleased about! Edged with linen and backed with some larger pieces of fabric …

scrappy cushion - back

… and a bit of pom-pom trim. Not a bad little transformation at all. Even if I do say so myself!

 

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… a sewing day!

Jun 13th, 2012 6 Comments
Posted in: Made by hand

Oh yes! After the trauma of having a plumber under my feet all day Monday, I couldn’t wait to get the sewing machine out yesterday … and I had a plan of action … first was to complete my June Block of the Month ~ for the month by month quilt I am making, tutorials by Jeni B, right here.

And here it is …

June HST Block of the Month

… and here it is with its five companions ~ looking all coordinated together …

HST quilt blocks

… half way folks ~ six blocks done, six to go ~ then of course stitching them all together, making up a backing, sandwiching some wadding in the middle, then the actual quilting … well, maybe not quite halfway … but it feels good to see them all sitting side by side like this!

Second sewing task of the day ~ remember this …

yellow and grey fabric

… well it became this …

Hand made cushion - vintage and new fabrics and linen

Hand made cushion - back

… and I am very pleased with it ~ the fabrics are a combination of new (dotty fabric from here), vintage 1960′s flowery squares, and second hand grey weave from a local craft shop. The ribbon (and I have to say I am particularly proud of this) … is the cut-out shoulder loops from a top I bought some time ago … oh yes … reclaiming – upcycling … whatever you want to call it, lemon loves is all over it!

Hand made cushion - detail

I love love love the textures together.

And of course, why stop at one cushion when you could have two …

Hand made cushion

Hand made cushion - back

… this one is crafted from the same dotty fabric as before, a vintage pillowcase cover (I would guess 1970′s) and some re-purposed linen curtains … with a bit of broderie anglais trim I think I am a little bit in love with this one!

Hand made cushion - detail

Oh yes, a very productive day indeed!

Of course, if I hadn’t been distracted by the ‘need’ to untangle and organise all of my ribbons, lace, braids, binding and trims, I may well have found time for a third cushion …

… but that will wait for another day!

 

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