putting things in boxes

Since Mr P started working from home, our 'studio' or spare room has become increasingly full of STUFF. A couple of weeks ago he said 'why are we keeping the sofa bed in this room, now that we've got so much in here that we can't open it out?' Good point.

Sometimes it takes ages to change things, and sometimes it all happens suddenly- within three days a friend had claimed the sofa bed, and three sweaty men in lycra manoeuvred it out after Mr P's weekly Tuesday cycle session.

Suddenly, wow! Room to move around!

Then we decided that we needed a cupboard to swallow up all my bags of fabric, art supplies, etc which were lurking on the floor in carrier bags. This involved a visit to IKEA, which for Mr P is second in popularity only to having his fingernails pulled out.. but he managed to Man Up, and we decided on the very storage solution.

Flexible storage space with lots of lovely big boxes to conceal things better hidden, and to display things we like to look at.

Of course one thing leads to another, and the old curtains came down (next sewing project- make a new blind) and new spotlights went up. Now we just (just!) need to give the walls a fresh coat of paint...

The only members of the household who aren't pleased with the new arrangement are the cats, who did enjoy the occasional snooze on the sofa, and of course now nobody can stay overnight unless they bed down on the inflatable mattress. But we need the room every day, and one day when we're rich (!) we'll be able to convert our old wash house into a studio... well we can dream!




ps. The Handy and Divine exhibition went well, and my teacup pincushions proved popular, and now (once I've made the new blind) I'll be able to get back to more creative sewing. I love the feeling of having lots of ideas in the back of my head (and sometimes on paper or half-finished bits of sewing), and looking forward to picking them up again.

hand made

Following our success with pop-up shops in Midhurst, the Handy and Divine creative group 'pop up exhibition' at the Oxmarket Centre of Arts in Chichester is now in full swing-we have managed to fit a lot of different beautiful hand made things into the gallery.

Here are some of my teacup pincushions, looking dead posh in a glass cabinet

and sharing the same case is this delicate silver jewellery cleverly made from real leaves and seeds

I love these colourful wallets in supple leather and suede, made by Jeanette Sutton, especially the one with the foxes inside!

http://jeanettesutton.co.uk/wordpress/

Somebody asked me which item I would buy if I could only choose one, and it couldn't have been an easier decision- this magnificent journal, made by Gaynor at the Blue Door Bindery:

http://handyanddivine.co.uk/wordpress/?p=154

It has a wonderful organic look, as though it could get up and trundle away. (Maybe that's why its tied up?). Anyway, I'd love to own it but would feel obliged to think of something very special to write or draw in it.

Its equally beautiful on the inside:

These slightly less prehistoric ones are lovely too.

And this intricate bowl just takes my breath away!

Its inspiring to be part of such a talented group, and its fun to meet the people who come to admire, and hopefully to buy too.

The event continues this week, Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4.30pm.