return to the past

I first called myself hellish designs many years ago when making greetings cards to send to friends and family
So it seems ironic and a little sad that I've rather neglected this element of the business of late
It's probably down to commerce in that the cards are a relatively low earner and take up more space than can be justified at fairs but also lack of inspiration I'm afraid.
Its easy to make cushions and bags when presented with fabulous vintage fabrics, less easy to start designing a card from scratch.  However I was fortunate enough to buy some very old (1849) French legal documents at the Manchester fair on Sunday. This fair always delivers the unusual!
The beautiful copperplate handwriting is tiny, the perfect scale for a card and there are some interesting seals as well. I've used it as a background in a collage of family photos and fabric scraps

With my daughter's wedding in mind I've designed a wedding day card using my parent's wedding photo
They look so young! What a fabulous lace veil although not at all what Imogen has in mind for her wedding outfit

Had to even things up with a photo from my husband's past; his father with his 2 boys
Love the blue linen fabric which is actually a photo torn from a magazine, wish I had the real thing

My lovely grandma and her brother, Percy are, somewhat unbelievably given their clothes, sitting on Scarborough beach
I've now run out of documents, typical, just when I was really enjoying making the cards. Still hopefully it's got me started on card making again.

One occasion when I do sell a lot of cards is at my open house when I have plenty of room to display everything I make. Hope you'll come along next week..Friday and Saturday..do leave a comment if you need more information. I'm selling several larger pieces of furniture; photos to follow early next week.
The blogshop is now full of cushions, click on the link to the right to take a look.

a new perspective

We're having a wood burner fitted so the contents of the living room are dispersed around the house. I'm rather taken with the sofa in its new spot in the bay window of the sitting room. It won't work in the long run but a nice spot to perch in today's sunshine or to use for today's photos

Of course any photographer could tell me that sunlight shining straight into the lens is not a recipe for the perfect shot and must admit cushions are clearer when placed on a sofa to the side of the window

The quilt looks soft and inviting slung over the sofa; sure a cat will find it before long

Its a pretty traditional eiderdown with sweet rose print.

A slightly larger example which sits nicely on a double bed.  Measurements and prices of all the quilts and cushions are on the blogshop; click on image to right of the post

I have 3 very nice Durham quilts at present. I love these simple handstitched quilts which lie beautifully over a duvet or can be used as a throw or even curtain. Even the white underside with handstitched quilting looks good in a minimalist contemporary setting.
This quilt has some lovely florals and I particularly like the cherry red against the denim blue patches.

This quilt could work well as a hanging or maybe the strong colours would be good in a teenager's room.
 There is some damage to the edges and to a few of the patches but such a lot of work has gone into the design and stitching that it is well worth saving.

Finally a lovely floral quilt which is completely reversible; the warm pink for autumn and winter and the soft blue for the warmer months maybe. There is no patchwork here but lots of lovely hand sewing and 2 lovely prints, turn the underside down for contrast if you can't choose between the 2 prints.

I've taken more images so if you're interested in any of the eiderdowns or quilts just take a look at the blogshop