The kindness of friends

Hello!
Had a rough time of it lately but the kindness of my friends have put a smile back on my face and has made me realise How Blessed I am.

I made these for my friend Nadine who has recently got married....

 She looked amazing in a vintage dress so these clips made from Vintage brooches and glass pearls from an old vintage necklace seemed appropriate!
So in the post this morning I was delighted to discover a box on my doorstep with some Beautifully wrapped packages in it!

It was a shame to open them but of course... I did!!!!

 GORGEOUSNESS!!!!!

Some yummy Cherry Green & Black's ( I'll have you know!)  chocolate bar, a pack of floral napkins that I actually stopped myself from buying the other day!, a cute cherry ring binder and a pretty teacup candle from her wedding that Nadine had made herself!! 

Did you notice these pretties?

Nadine made these herself they smell all lavendery ( yes its a word!) and are in all my fave colours!

Keep a look out soon for her blog and website launching soon with her all of her sewing pretties! 

Thanks so much for the present hunny, it put a big smile on my face this week xxx

Friends are the family you choose x

Until next time

Annie x

Catching up!!!

Hello!!

Well its been a while! Please excuse my absence...I have no excuse though I'm afraid!! Just been enjoying life really, with all of its highs and lows it really does keep you busy! Although I really could have put together a post I feel it would have been half hearted and that's not good enough for my friends in blogland really now is it?

Well firstly A HUGE thank you to all of you who read and also commented on my vintage blocks post...I had such great feedback and orders!! I also had a lovely lady Susan Ashman
Enquire about wanting a set to go into the Children's attic playroom for a place that she is currently involved in the refurbishment of. It's a beautiful country house in Somerset that's grade 1 listed...make sure to visit her blog for more info, Its an interesting read!!

I taught a crafting class on Sunday and had a lovely afternoon with them...there are preparing for a wedding with a vintage style ( a girly after my own heart!!)
They made some Cupcake cards and did a fantastic job of them! Heads down all working hard!!Chloe making the smallest paper flowers..fiddly!!!!WE also made some paper flowers and threw around some wedding decor and invitation ideas! Can def see some production lines being started in time for the wedding next September!!
Thank you all so much ladies it was lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon...you were all a pleasure to teach!

As you can see from the 1st pic of the card It was my nephews 13th birthday this month but I always seem to struggle with designs for males whilst keeping true to my style!! So I came up with this design as He ALWAYS seems to win anything we play..especially cards!!!
Lots of monopoly money signifying the masses of times he has whooped us at games!!

Also I have a friend who teased me to say that no one would read my blog! He is now eating his words HA HA but has said to me that if I get close 100 followers he would build my website Birdcages and Butterflies for me! I hope to open a shop on there so I can sell some of my products online. SO I'm begging you who hasn't already please please please please please with tons of cherries on top so I can get my website up and running!!!
As a little thanks, here's the layout I used for the game card for your personal use!
This was made to fit an a5 card but of course feel free to add cut and use as template for your own patterns papers etc. Will be doing a giveaway when I hit 50 followers too...feel free to send me suggestions as a prize..was thinking a set of blocks maybe? Let me know, as always would love your feedback!! Oh and some pics and a link if you do make it too!! TA!
Enjoy!!
Annie xx
P.S Next time I'll tell you all about the giant Birdcage I'm transforming!!!

Vintage Sparklies and New Starts

Hello!

Not much work has been completed in the house of Annie this week as I've been spending time with my lil man before he starts reception at BIG school!! Have been celebrating as Husband has started a new job too..It will mean that we get a much more better quality of life as he will be at home at the weekends and working much better working hours too!!
Here's a picture of a vintage tiara and clip that I have made for my good friend as a present for her wedding. The diamantes are around 60 yrs old and the brooch about 50 yrs old.The clip is made from another vintage brooch with a gorgeous pair of earrings from the 20's!

This end of the year of my most fave, you still have some sunny days here and there, the evenings still hold lots of daylight but allow you to snuggle and get cosy in a blanket! Hence why Ive started to keep mine about to hide my feet under to avoid turning the heating on Just yet!! ( by turning the heating for me means summers officially over!!) And although the hats and scarves haven't quite been necessary these floral pretties had to be bought to wear with a cardie or light jacket! ( Matalan and Primark bargains!!)
It also does tend to influence my designs too...Colours are muted, olive green, burnt orange & sometimes even purple creeps its way in somewhere too...This is my display in my space i rented, from Last year...Of course a pumpkin naturally finds its way into the scheme of things!!
Basically this Thomas Kinkade painting sums up this time of year...the summer bedding plants are still in bloom but the leaves are orange and everything is hazy....(oh to live in a Kinkade Cottage!!)
Until next time...have a great weekend!! I'm off to enjoy our first weekend together in a long time!!
Annie x

Celebrations!

Hello!
Well sorry have been missing in Action for a couple of days now, its been a Busy busy week what with my Birthday on Thursday and the Wedding at a manor on Saturday that I was working on I haven't had a chance to post!
So first a catch up!!
I did show you some pressies that I opened at my birthday BBQ in my last post but I did save some to open on my actual birthday ( whom I share with the lovely Debs from Home thoughts from Vintage wants ) so here's the rest that I was so blessed to receive

These gorgeous bags are made by Anna Chocola They are SOOOO cute!!
and her business cards are Gorgeous too!! Apparently these were delivered virtually the next day, how professional is that?!! You can find more of her products here
some more goodies follow.....YES I am a walking Cath Kidston advertisement!! LOL! did you notice the Birdcage necklace and Birdcage umbrella? I can feel the roll of the eyes already!!! Tee hee!!
Here's also a little collage of the birthday cards I got too..My friends are always complaining that I'm hard to buy cards for because i make them...but I always think they do a Fab job...here's a few of them!!
After receiving all of these Pretties my Darling Hubby took me to London and spoilt me rotten!! I got clothes, books and the most gorgeous purple Anna Scholz autumn jacket too...oh and a country living subscription!!! WOW!!! I GOT SPOILT!!!!!
SO back to business....
This Saturday was the wedding I had been working on, it was held in this lovely place

The Bride looked amazing

AS did the setting

a few finishing details made by moi ...Handmade paper roses on a birdcage you might have seen somewhere before....

and it was complete!...It was a great success! Wishing the happy couple many years of happiness x
SO now my big job is to try and get my lil man ready for school next week...He starts reception!! and then my poor neglected house! ( Well with 4 part time jobs somethings gotta give!!)
Thank you to all of you in Blog land who sent me Birthday wishes too..I'm touched xx
Annie x

Lessons, Wish lists and Weddings

Hello!
Bit of a mixed bag post as, as you know if you have read previous posts I do multitask my work Quite often!! So this weekend has been a bit of a hectic one really..My Mum came down for a visit which was lovely, she lives a couple of hours away from me and with her she bought some lovely fresh homegrown veggies and a few more of her handmade sewing pretties too! Unfortunately the Batteries in my Camera ran out before I could snap them all...but managed to get my fave pretty though!
This is waiting for the right button to be sewn on in the middle but is still lovely as it is and doesn't it look fab on my comfy chair?? I was secretly hoping Mum would 'forget ' to take this home with her!!This is a double bedspread made with the same vintage rose fabric, a gorgeous duck egg blue and beige linen too.....LOVE IT, the bedspreads have a nice weight to them too, so snuggling under it whilst reading my book would just be heaven!!
There was lots more including some great Union jack cushions and more heart cushions one with a nice pocket in to store your fave book or P.J's or the remote control too!!
Lorraine ( mum) Will be selling her handmade pretties at the vintage and homemade fair on 7th November ( see the link in the sidebar for more info)

Also on Saturday I had one of my lovely brides visit for a make-up trial in readiness for the big day in September, she has a colour scheme of Ivory and Claret and is having her wedding in a lovely Manor house...so all that's left now are the Order of services and the Table Plan and then those fiddly little bits! She has chosen one of my birdcages to hold her cards and it will be adorned with claret Paper roses! Here's the invitation she chose ( excuse the poor quality of pic) It was A5 in size and Hammer effect Ivory card with Dark red wired organza ribbon
I obviously blanked out the details as I'm sure she wont want any gatecrashers HAHAHA!!
SO then on Sunday I went to the Craft haven ~Fantasy Crafts in Barton to teach a tiara class. It was great fun and we had 2 lovely ladies who were taking a beginners class but were absolute naturals! I had the Lovely Lisa who wanted to make a Tiara to go with a Red Ball dress that she has hidden away in her Wardrobe! As you can she she chose different shades of Red CrystalsThen after laying them out on the bead board and after some guidance and practice of wire work and some techniques Lisa started the assembly of her Tiara!After actually a short time the tiara had finished and Lisa made her first pair of earrings and pendant too!! Modelled beautifully in the pic below!! ( thanks for being a great Pupil Lisa, looking forward to booking the next class)
Fantasy Crafts is such a fab place to work, Its different to other craft shops as there is room for you to drop in for a cuppa and a biccie and play with any type of crafts you can think of! Each area has a table to sit and try something out and there is always a talented person who can show you a few tricks too! Its also a great place to take the kiddies when they wanna experiment, There's aprons and the mess doesn't end up in your home!! For more details just contact Yola on 01582 885727/ fantasycrafts@hotmail.co.uk
Here's a few pics of a few of the rooms including the party room ( which I would have Loved to live in!)
Well this post has already got far too long already So I'll leave you with this request for some advice!!
Its my birthday on the 3rd September and have been asked to make a wish list but for some reason when I have an opportunity like this my mind goes blank!! I'd love a handmade bag, retro vintage style of course!! I love a bit of Laura and Cath, and Crystal jewellery...so please please can you send me either some ideas or some websites for me to have a look at so I can compile some ideas!!!
Thanks oh gorgeous ones...until next time
BYEEEE!
Annie x
P.S Love Love Love all the comments it really makes my day to read them...and Carol your comment really touched me thanks for talking the time to share it.xxx