Birthdays & Beads...

Does everyone else have days and weeks that go by so quickly or is it just me?

The scary thing is, it's not just the days and weeks, it is also the months and years that are whizzing by my nose at an incredible rate. My gorgeous girl celebrated her 3rd birthday this weekend (how did that happen?) The years before gorgeous girl arrived seemed to stretch on forever and I sometimes struggled to believe that we would ever be blessed with our own family ~ it took a long time; fertility treatment, lost hope and then a miracle ~ our gorgeous girl.

Everyone says that when you have a child time seems to pass much more quickly and it is so true! Those years before she arrived now seem to melt away and she is 3 years old already! Caring for her is the hardest work I have ever done, but without doubt the the most rewarding, inspirational, funny and lovely. Today she said 'you're my friend, mummy' and I forgave her for emptying all my cosmetics onto the beige carpet, drawing a 'rainbow' with crayons on the kitchen floor and pulling the cat's tail ~ again!

Last week, in preparation for her birthday I ordered a wooden doll's house which; due to the weather still hadn't arrived by 6pm on Friday evening. So I decided that 'just in my spare time' I should stay up half the night to make a little quilt & pillow for her dollies cot. The miniature cot is a vintage wooden painted cot from the 1950's ish that my Dad re~painted in a creamy colour and was just waiting for this little set to be made.


I used a vintage printed pink (of course) floral cotton from the 1930's and backed it with a new cream pure linen. I filled the quilt with a natural cotton wadding to give a lightweight but tactile feel and stitched simple straight lines down the length for added texture. I also made a mattress that I covered in calico. The finishing touch is a feather pillow (I have these small feather inners bespoke made for me as I love tiny cushions on chairs) and it just fitted perfectly into the cot. I trimmed the pillowcase with vintage lace and new ribbon. I'm glad to say that gorgeous girl loves it and carried the quilt with her (and teddy) to pre-school today! All well worth the loss of few (more) hours sleep...


I have also been sorting out more stock to photograph from the collections I have accumulated over the years and bought recently from my antique textile dealer friend who always seems to have a great selection of treasures that I just can't resist. I have a lot of gorgeous glass beads of all shapes and sizes that have taken ages to put together in little bags and co~ordinate in colours ~ it has been driving me crazy picking up teeny glass seed beads that I keep dropping! I've taken some photos to include in a flickr group that I have joined organised by the lovely Sara at Sadie Olive (who designed my website for me) and this week's theme is hearts, which are my absolute passion in life! So here are a few examples (I will try and save some for Valentine's Day!) The flickr link is on the left sidebar of my blog page if you want to see the full selection so far...

Ceramic heart with monogram A bought in France ~ I'm mad about collecting things with initials on!

Finished handmade hearts in my workroom...

Mini lavender filled hearts in a bowl...

1950's diamante scatter pin with a Victorian mercury glass dish and vintage glass beads...

Until next time...