A handmade cottage

Monday, 21 July 2014

GIVEAWAY: Win 2 tickets to the 2014 Alexandra Palace Knit & Stitch Show

Morning lovelies! Well today I am super excited because I'm giving you crafty lot the chance to ...

WIN TWO TICKETS TO THE ALEXANDRA PALACE KNIT & STITCH SHOW!!!

I'm so pleased because I love the knit and stitch show and attend every year. If you love craft you will LOVE the show. It's a great day out and is full of demonstrations, workshops and wonderful stalls selling everything to do with craft. To see photo's and read my review of last years show you can do so here. The competition will run for the 3 weeks and expire on the 10th August. The winner will be announced soon after ... see below to enter (it's easy and everyone has a good chance of winning - no favourites!)

Friday, 18 July 2014

An interview with artist Brian Seymour

I love surrounding myself with beautiful scenes and images that move me in some way. I don't pretend to know much about art, but I don't think you need to know anything in order to love, and appreciate something. Today I have a super special guest to share with you. His name is Brian Seymour (Uncle Titch to me) - and he's an artist. He is my uncle, and the man responsible for our beautiful 'wedding tree' (which you can view below). Today I'd like to share his work with you, some of which I'm lucky enough to own myself.

Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Laura Ashley's blogger of the month!

Well I am pleased as punch, because this month Laura Ashley are featuring me as their blogger crush - blogger of the month! Their feature includes piccies from my blog, plus a Q and A with yours truly, in which they asked questions like; how did it all come about? what inspires me? what do I love about blogging? and what blogs do I follow? I've always had a soft spot for Laura Ashley; their floral dresses, their soft furnishings and not to mention their blankets (hubby knows he can't go wrong with one of Laura's blankets.) So for them to like my little blog enough to share it with their followers makes me feel very humbled indeed. Below is a glimpse of the feature but should you like to read it for yourself just click this link ...

* Laura Ashley's blogger of the month - A Handmade Cottage *

JM x

Friday, 11 July 2014

The making of my antique lace wedding dress - Part 2

My antique lace wedding dress - The making of

Stage 1 - Sourcing the fabric.

So in part 1 I told you all about my search for the right dressmaker, how I went about designing my dress and finding the right fabric. Now it was finally time to make the dress! As we were using my Normandy antique lace bedspread to make this dress, our fabric needed to be supplemented with some more 'tulle' (very fine netting) as the bedspread alone wouldn't be enough. So I sourced some 'point d'esprit' - which is a tulle with tiny dots on. Adrienne, my dressmaker from Bridal path then dyed the tulle to match our lace with ... Nescafe coffee! It worked perfectly (though always do test run first!) We then sourced some lovely shimmery satin to use underneath the lace.

Friday, 4 July 2014

Cider with Rosie

I picked up this lovely fabric-covered edition of 'Cider with Rosie' by Laurie Lee, from a second hand bookshop the other day. I'm only a few chapters in but already I can tell you with confidence, this is a wonderful book, and I can't believe I've reached the grand old age of 35 without having read it before!

It's such a lovely story, and this particular edition also contains some beautiful illustrations and images that bring the story to life. It also includes a handful of precious photographs of that time and place, preserved by the author for over 50 years.

Tuesday, 1 July 2014

Beautiful handmade beauty gifts + harvesting lavender

Would you like to make these little bathing beauties for yourself, or as a gift for loved ones? I made these to feature in a craft magazine that's due on the shelves in the autumn / winter. They're so easy and cheap to make, and make beautiful gifts. I can't tell you how to make them now, as the instructions are going to be published but what I can tell you is; harvest your Lavender when it's ready (about now - July) and dry it out! Or if you don't have any growing keep your eye out for dried lavender, so when the time comes in Autumn you can make these (and the pretty labels too) for loved ones at Christmas! though if you do make them I suggest you make a few as some won't be leaving your bathroom ... x

Friday, 27 June 2014

How to make natural wedding confetti: with dried flower petals

Photograph by Binky Nixon

A friend bought me these beautiful roses the other day. It took me right back to drying out petals to make our natural wedding confetti. It was so easy to make, and my friends and loved ones enjoyed helping us too. This was our basket of confetti on our wedding morning - we wanted dried rose petals in red, pinks and orange for our guests to throw. It didn't cost us any money to make, as 6 months prior to the wedding day I simply asked my close family and friends to dry out any roses they were given / or had growing in the garden ... and whenever I, or my gal pals bought ourselves flowers (as we girls like to do) we simply chose roses! Then on my wedding morning, my friends all popped in to see me, tipping in their confetti offerings on the way, it was such a lovely joint effort. Here's a simple guide to making your own dried petal confetti.

At the end of our wedding day, Mark the lovely caretaker had swept the confetti into a heart for us ...

Awwww : ) Photograph by Binky Nixon.

How to make dried rose petal confetti:

I used mostly roses but there are some others in there too! Lavender, Delphiniums and Hydrangea petals all make lovely confetti too ... and a mix of colours really brings it all to life. IMPORTANT NOTE: Air dried petals can stain if wet so I suggest you use freeze dried petals if you plan on throwing confetti in the rain! otherwise they work perfectly. Also note that while fresh petals look beautiful they can also stain, and wouldn't look as pretty in pictures as they're much heavier and will wilt quickly.

When you've enjoyed your vase of flowers and it's looking a little tired, pull all the petals off at the flower head in one go (where they attach at the stem) As doing this petal by petal will take an age!

Lay a piece of kitchen roll (paper towel if you are Stateside) on a large plate or tray and lay the petals out, making sure they're not too overcrowd or overlapping too much as the air needs to get to them.

Then put them somewhere warm and dry - an airing cupboard is perfect. That's it! When each batch is completely dried out, empty them into your basket (keep somewhere dry) and stick a fresh batch in the airing cupboard!

Photograph by Binky Nixon.

To read more, or see more pics from our handmade wedding click here.

JM x

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Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Transforming and upcycling your clothes

You don't have to be a super seamstress to update your existing clothes. Here's a few simple changes that will transform your clothes and give them a new lease of life ...

Beautiful buttons!

Change them. If you've got a pretty-but-plain shirt or cardigan, update it by swapping it's boring old buttons for some pretty colourful ones ... or even some rustic wooden ones! (which also compliment chunky knitwear).

I love collecting buttons ... and I felt these complemented this shirt perfectly.
They turned this regular shirt into something special and original.

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

The AHC guide to clothes shopping ‘vintage’ style

I've had this tea dress for years, its one of my firm
favourites and works for almost any occasion.

Entering the world of 'vintage' can be daunting for some. We long to look as elegant as the 'Audrey and Jackies' of this world but where do we start? many would argue that fashion is reserved for youth, well flimsy fashions that might be, but timeless elegance and classic style is not ... heck and blast no! My 83 year old neighbour Ros still dresses with elegance and vintage style, and never leaves the house without her silk scarf. 98% of my clothes are from charity and vintage shops ... (the remaining 2% are undies as one has to draw the line somewhere.) My love of vintage clothing started when I was a shabby student in Liverpool. It had some fantastic vintage shops and opened up a whole new world of shopping and style to me. Now I simply can't pass a charity / thrift shop without being tempted inside and I always manage to find something lovely ...

Friday, 20 June 2014

Vintage tins + vintage tin flower pots

I love vintage tins. They're colourful, have vibrant images, and are built to last. These are my tins and they come in handy for a variety of tasks. From left to right they hold pens, dressmaking scissors, fresh coffee, loose leaf tea and Ralphy's bones!

Pretty as a picture vintage tins. Ideal for housing not-so-pretty things.

Pages

Monday, 21 July 2014

GIVEAWAY: Win 2 tickets to the 2014 Alexandra Palace Knit & Stitch Show

Friday, 18 July 2014

An interview with artist Brian Seymour

Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Laura Ashley's blogger of the month!

* Laura Ashley's blogger of the month - A Handmade Cottage *

Friday, 11 July 2014

The making of my antique lace wedding dress - Part 2

Stage 1 - Sourcing the fabric.

Friday, 4 July 2014

Cider with Rosie

Tuesday, 1 July 2014

Beautiful handmade beauty gifts + harvesting lavender

Friday, 27 June 2014

How to make natural wedding confetti: with dried flower petals

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Transforming and upcycling your clothes

Beautiful buttons!

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

The AHC guide to clothes shopping ‘vintage’ style

Friday, 20 June 2014

Vintage tins + vintage tin flower pots

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