A quick Hello

Things have been very quiet around here of late, the Easter break has passed by in a flash and it's now back to business as usual.
We didn't have much time off together this holiday so didn't venture very far, besides the weather here in Sheffield has been dire, feeling more like winter than spring, much like everywhere I suspect.
 Little H is at an age where he wants to spend time with his friends, doing what typical 12 (nearly 13) year old boys want to do, it seems me and the Mr have to fit around his plans these days!

We did have a run out to Matlock and had a lovely walk around the park followed by a mooch around the shops (much to little H's annoyance) Vintage Living and Rewirks are two 'new to me' places, I knew I was going to love them before I had even set foot inside.
Rewirks is a lovely little place filled with lots of interesting bits and bobs, it's a perfect mix of vintage  and hand made, just the kind of place I daydream about owning one day.
Vintage Living is packed to the rafters with everything you could ever want in your home......

 including the kitchen sink

No day out for us is complete without lunch so not wishing to break the habit of a lifetime we headed to the Old Smithy at Beeley for lunch, followed by ice creams in the car (it was far too cold to eat them outside!!!)

Fast forward a couple of weeks and at last Spring seems to have found it's way to Sheffield and our little plot has finally come to life.

Mr. H  dragged out the deck chairs and we enjoyed a well earned cuppa in our secret garden.

taken last year round about this time

Hope you are having some ☀☀☀ where you are

Rewind

HAPPY NEW YEAR ONE AND ALL.
I'm hoping by now any sore heads are a distant memory and everyone is feeling wide awake positive for the new year ahead.
Although I don't want to tempt fate, the Hotchpotch household has managed to steer clear of the dreaded sickness bug and apart from the odd cough and sniffle we have stayed relatively healthy.

I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU to followers/loiterers old and new and to anyone who has left a comment or kind word. I never realised how addictive this blogging malarkey would become, and I for one am more than happy to be an addict!
Through blogging I have realised that there are plenty of like minded people out there and this has given me the confidence to be happy in my own skin, doing my own thing.
I have done vintage/handmade fairs and opened up an etsy shop (o.k I might have only sold one thing but we will gloss over that!) but I have sold things at the fairs to people who return time and time again to buy purchase my wares.
I have met some fantastic, kind and generous people and Iv'e even met a 'real life' friend through blogging and to say she makes me laugh out loud is somewhat of an understatement (you know who you are!)
Anyway that's enough gushing for now.

2012 brought it's ups and it's downs.....I'm pleased to say mainly ups.

Here was my 2012 in pictures

Of course who could forget the amazing Jubilee Celebrations and the Olympics which I absolutely loved.
As you can see, I am a girl of simple pleasures and I can't see this changing any time soon.

So here's to lots more blogging in 2013 (hopefully I might learn how to take better photographs but don't hold your breath!!!)

: )

.....and breathe!

Phew, finally the last craft/vintage fair of this year over with and everything packed away.
To be honest, I have only done a handful of fairs this year as Iv'e not had much spare time, but the ones I have done I have really enjoyed and met some wonderful people both customers and fellow crafters.
Speaking of which, a fellow Sheffielder/blogger and thoroughly crafty lady dropped by St Mary's on Saturday and handed me a little package.
I had planned to take it home and open it as a treat after a long day but curiosity got the better of me and before I could contain myself I had taken a peek inside.

I was so deeply touched by this gorgeous button and why Anna had made it for me. I am always amazed how kind, thoughtful and generous people can be.
Anna has recently opened an Etsy shop selling her beautiful hand made buttons so pop over and take a look here.

I didn't manage to get any photographs from Mary's Marvellous vintage and craft market yesterday. I don't know why it takes me so long to set up, maybe it's because I didn't have the chance to do a trial run but I only finished with 5 minutes to spare so I didn't even get the opportunity to have a look at the other stalls (although I did manage to buy another two vintage glass baubles despite having a basket full of them for sale on my own stall!)
Nevertheless here are a few little snaps from today's fair where I shared a table with the lovely Adele.

Despite the lack of customers and poor sales we still had a giggle and picked up a few bits and bobs for ourselves along the way. We had some lovely comments about the stall and how pretty it looked which sometimes means more than a sale, although I was a little disappointed I didn't manage to sell any of the paper stockings I made.

Well another week over and another busy week ahead but hopefully I will have time to catch up with my favourite blogs with a huge cuppa and a mince pie or two!

I'll leave you with a picture from the Hotchpotch house, which despite being the bathroom it still hasn't managed to escape the Christmas fairy!!!

: )

not quite a Tah Dah

Remember this?

Well no big reveal yet but work has finally started. Mr. H has worked his magic, scraping and flattening the old paint ready for the fun part and after much deliberation, paint has finally been chosen and purchased.

I normally go for an eggshell finish (I know chalky finish is a big favourite at the moment but I'm not a fan, sorry) but over the last couple of years I have fallen back in love with gloss... not for everything you understand but certain things and especially in the kitchen.
This is a cupboard that I rescued from a skip a few years back that has had the F&B full oil gloss treatment.

I love Farrow and Ball emulsion, house White being my favourite colour for walls
but I have to say I'm not a big fan of their water based gloss, I much preferred the oil full gloss not very eco friendly I know but it's as tough as old boots.
So Iv'e opted for good old Dulux this time.
This will be for the cupboard doors with white for the framework.
I'm also going to give my tea trolley a much needed makeover while I'm at it, also giving it a coat or two of the yellow.

This is to line the shelves with, I thought it would be a perfect match for the woods ware that will be living here when it's eventually finished.

Oh well off now painting to be done!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Time has been a little tight over the last few weeks but I have managed to put a few new bits and bobs in my Etsy shop (blatant self promotion I know) just in time for dare I say it....Christmas!

If you look at this picture from a distance it looks as though the cheeks are evil eyes hehehe!

how cute are the little envelopes containing the beads and buttons.

Speaking of the C word, I spotted these at a local antique centre a couple of weekends ago for £4, they will adorn our tree along with our ever growing collection.

It doesn't half feel strange talking about Christmas when we have had such glorious weather recently. I found these photos on the camera that Mr. H took a couple of weeks ago

As you can probably see our garden is seriously lacking in colour at this time of year, (this is something we are working on) but boy you should see it in Spring.

My longest post so far

Brace yourselves girls as I'm guessing this could end up being quite a long post, it might be wise to go and put the kettle on and grab the biscuit tin!
As promised I have finally got around to uploading the photos I took while I was at The button Tin workshop a couple of weeks ago. As predicted they don't really do the place justice so I suggest you pop over to Gemma's site  and check it out for yourselves, or better still if you live close enough hot foot it over to Rotherham and see it in the flesh.
 I hadn't been to Rotherham for years (anyone who is familiar with Rotherham will probably understand why) BUT I was really surprised by how much it had changed and the Imperial building and the surrounding areas were really beautiful, apparantly they have been boarded up for the past twenty years and have only recently been uncovered. For more info and great pictures of the imperial building check out Heart Shaped blog
I will definitely be returning in the very near future as there was a fantastic tea room my friend Adele and stitching partner in crime and I wanted to try but sadly it was closed the day we visited.
Back to The Button Tin I am soooo easily distracted!

The place itself is in the centre of the Imperial building so it's completely enclosed which means you also get to enjoy the outside space in complete privacy. It was so peaceful you wouldn't believe you were in the centre of town.

If you think the outside is special wait until you see the inside.

The tiny space is absolutely packed to the rafters with beautiful vintage items from aprons and haberdashery to sewing baskets and machines, even the practical pieces of equipment like the glue sticks were kept in a pretty tin! (I notice these things!)
I could have happily sat there for the full six hours just looking, everything looked so beautiful.
There are a few of Gemma's items for sale but most of the things you see are the materials she uses either every day for her workshops or for her commissions but Some things are there purely for your viewing pleasure.
When it's not being used for workshops it's Gemma's private studio so you can't just walk in, which I think makes it all the more intriguing and special.

After telling us a little about herself and her work Gemma invited us to rummage through her enormous suitcases (vintage obviously) which were overflowing with fabulous pieces of fabric... as you can imagine I was like a kid let loose in a chocolate factory, I just couldn't decide which fabrics to choose but in the end I went for a green/yellow sort of theme.
Gemma showed us how to make the most beautiful flowers from our chosen fabrics that were actually much more simple to make than they looked. When we had mastered the basic flower technique we got to make them into pieces of jewellery or a hairpiece/fascinator.
I opted for a brooch but to be honest there was plenty of time to make two or three pieces. Most of the girls made rings and brooches and hair clips and a couple of the girls made fascinators.

Gemma served tea mid morning while we carried on stitching then we popped out for lunch. When we returned we had tea again and at 3p.m we had tea and cakes all served on pretty china.

This is the brooch I made, I do like it but I feel it's slightly too large for my liking and I'm not entirely happy with how I stitched it together so I think I'm going to unpick it and make three smaller brooches... what do you think?
I also made a ring and a hair clip.

Sadly the day came to an end all too quickly and we said goodbye to the wonderous place that is The Button Tin.

You may remember in my last post I mentioned that Mr. H was collecting something very special..............

well here she is in all her filthy glory.

Obviously she needs a little massive amount of T.L.C not to mention a bloomin good scrub.
Admittedly she's not a Rolls Royce model but for £30 I think she was an absolute steal and will be perfect for housing my growing collection of Woodsware and pyrex.
At the moment I am drawn towards yellow and white but I am open to suggestion so feel free to comment!

I also had a fabulous day at Mary's Marvellous vintage and Craft Market on Saturday and an equally fabulous morning at the car boot yesterday in fact I'm still giddy from just thinking about the haul I brought back home with me. I am just about to take some snaps but the weather is so dark and miserable here in Sheffield I'm not sure it's a good idea.

Mr H spent yesterday repairing the garden gate that the scummy chicken thieves wrecked last week, the plan is to get the roof on the chicken run replaced and get ourselves 3 new girls, the garden is just too quiet without them.

I just want to say thanks to all my lovely friends both bloggy and none bloggy for your lovely comments and for your kindness and understanding.
My mojo is slowly returning and I have lots to look forward to.

Off now to polish off the last piece of my mums delicious carrot cake.

Hope you all had a great weekend
: )