Rainy days

Hello again!

I'd love to say I've been out and about all over the place as usual, frollocking in the sun with my gorgeous boys, but sadly the sunshine seems to have packed up his bags and gone somewhere, erm... sunnier?

Never mind! With the rainy days indoors, my much neglected shop on Etsy Here finally received some much needed attention and I've had some time to stock it up with handmade goodies like this;

Lavender heart with a patch of Vintage embroidered linen.

I've been brave and chopped into some of my favourite fabrics to make some patchwork cushions;

And I've tried out something new for a friend's daughters birthday;

I

I'm still trying to make lots of little bits for the craft fairs coming up, so I've sewn up some of my favourite jewellery wraps too.

Plenty of time indoors has given me a chance to read some new crafty books too, and I'm just in love with 'Pearl Lowe's Vintage home'. The book shares Pearl's advice on adding Vintage chic to your home in her cool, unique way. There's plenty of stylish makes such as luxury lace cushions and tips on decorating with mirrored furniture, as well as hundreds of gorgeous pictures of Pearl's own vintage home, complete with an amazing gypsy caravan in the garden. Visit the blog http://www.pearllowesvintagehome.com for lots more tips and behind the scenes shots! A must for all Vintage lovers!

Photo from http://www.pearllowesvintagehome.com

With any luck, the next time I see you, I'll be bursting with sunny tales to share! I'm not sure I can keep my cheeky monkeys indoors much longer!

Ted and George have got cabin fever!

See you soon,

Kelly xx

Wartime tunnels, Gong baths, and the search for the perfect tea tray.

Hurray, I made it back here again and I've had a great time over the last few weeks.
 As soon as the sun come out, my two little lads are just itching to get outside.

George and Ted having fun in the garden.

We've been all over the place trying to make the most of the sunshine, and I think we've nearly seen and done it all.

Miniature train rides at the park, safari trips at the zoo, first tastes of candy floss at the funfair, big flumes at the swimming pool, baby lambs at the farm, pepple skimming at the seaside and even secret underground war tunnels at Dover Castle. Not a day has gone by without one big adventure or another.

Who doesn't love a big stick of fluffy pink sugar?

A new experience for me last Sunday was a Gong Bath in a local village called Harrietsham. It really was as strange as it sounds. We all walked in to be greeted by the 'Gong Master'! (I'm not sure now if that is his official title or one i made up, but it has a good ring to it!), we took up position in a big circle on the floor, snuggled under our blankets, closed our eyes, and listened for the next 45 minutes to the sounds of the gongs! There were meant to be some healing properties in the sounds of the gongs and I was told to expect some profound thoughts in my head but to be honest I think I just fell asleep. Either way, it was a fun experience and we all had a nice chat over tea and cake afterwards so overall not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning!

The Gongs!

I mentioned before that we visited Dover Castle. It really was a fantastic day out. I'm really interested in World war 2 and the whole 'Make do and Mend movement, so the underground WW2 tunnels were a fascinating insight into the war for me. I was particularly pleased to come out the other side of the tunnel into the gift shop, packed full of wartime memorabilia. I managed to snatch up a couple of cards with wartime posters and a copy of 'Make Do and Mend' based on the leaflets handed out during the war to encourage and teach people how to care for their clothes and make them last longer. The lengths the families went to during the war to reuse and recycle so that precious resources could be used to help the war effort, were extraordinary and really do put our throwaway society to shame. I'm going to use the book to perhaps pick up some new skills that Mable herself would have used in the 40's! 

As well as all our fun trips out, I have managed to do some creating and some thrifting. I've been looking for the perfect vintage tea tray for a while now. Just something to make me smile when I carry my cup of tea and cornflakes into the living room. Well, I finally found it, hidden under a pile of old frames, in my local RSPCA shop. I think you'll agree it's quite pretty!

My little piece of happiness.

My other thrifty finds include this lovely vintage, hand embroidered tray cloth i found in a 2nd hand shop.

I found myself an embroidery hoop, some beautiful floral fabric and some lovely wooden buttons, and turned the tea tray into this:

I've also made this wall hanging for a  new born babies room:

Thats all for now. I'll be back soon to share some more sunshine and craft adventures. For now I'll leave you with this, just because it's cute.

 See you soon, love Kelly xxx

It's been a while!

Oh dear! So in my last post, I made a promise to myself that every Monday, I would sit down and write a new blog post. That was about 6 months ago so I'm guessing that was abit of a false promise. I haven't been completely lazy though, I have done plenty of updates on my Facebook page HERE, and I've been doing plenty of making and creating, like these little bits:

 


I guess it's just one of those things to be done when I've got a spare moment, not something to get too stressed about.

In the last few months I've been building up my collection of Vintage pieces like these:

 
 






I've started collecting Vintage embroidered linen:

 














And, I've taught myself how to crotchet with the help of some online tutorials!

So the next thing for Mable's Loft is to start making up lots of pretty things in time for all the summer craft fairs. I'm hoping to do lots of cushions, aprons and lots of lovely bunting. Lets just hope the sunshine turns up soon as I don't fancy standing out in a muddy field!

I don't know the next time I'll be back, so I went make any silly promises but hopefully I will see you soon. K xxxxxxx

Mable Mondays

When I started this blog and launced Mable's Loft just over a month ago, I had no idea how difficult it would be to find the time to write it. I guess I never realised it would all take off so quickly. I've been so busy making things for people since the launch, and inbetween that I have been trying to make the most of the summer (whenever the sun makes an appearance!) with my two little boys and our ever growing group of friends.

George and Ted playing choo choos in the sunshine

There have been numerous trips to the park, farm, zoo, seaside, friend's gardens and cinema and soft play on rainy days, hundreds of bbqs, not to mention the potty training, which is so far going well.

George and his Grandad at the beach

SO, I have decided that Mondays will be Mable Mondays. We will take a day off from all the rushing around to focus on Mable's loft and to let the boys actually spend some time at home playing with their own toys! I'm sure I will cave in by the afternoon and pack them off to the park. But at least my intentions are good! My sewing projects will still wait until the evening when the boys are tucked up in bed, but I will dedicate Mable Mondays to writing my blog, and updating Facebook and Etsy.

On this first Mable Monday, I want to share some thing I've been making since the launch and some little things I've found during my recent tours of the loft and my favourite thrift shop.

One of the most popular items has been my personalised name cushions. I make them using my favourite scraps of pretty fabrics, felt flowers, motifs cut from old baby clothes, buttons, ribbons and anything else I can get my hands on. I just love the effect of the applique lettering.

I've also made this cute caterpillar bunting, which I believe has taken pride of place on baby Edith's cot.

And I've been having a go at some patchwork for a friend's Christening.

A pretty handbag for a friend.

I'm now working on some personalised T-shirts, a Mable dolly, and some Christmas project ideas. I can't

believe Christmas is just over 4 months away! So little time, so much to sew!

A recent trip up to the loft uncovered these lovelies.They all belonged to my Nan and Grandad and they were found tucked up in the loft just waiting for me to bring them home and give them pride of place on my kitchen window.

And these little beauties were uncovered in a recent trip to my favourite second hand shop in Maidstone - Trash Or Treasure, it's an Aladin's cave crammed full of dainty china teacups, cake stands and teapots, gorgeous vintage dresses, boudoir style furniture, colourful glass wares, jewellery, ornaments, teddy bears, old trunks, in fact you name it and they've got it. Most of my visits end up in a toddler fit from George after I've let him have a rummage through the toy box to pick out a little car. Not only does he want to keep every car and truck he finds in there, but he also wants to lie on the floor and play with them there and then. But despite this, I usually come away with a bargain I'm very pleased with.

Many many cups of tea made in this for Mable Monday!

Not my usual taste but looks great now hanging in my  husband's pub in our Garage (more on that at a later date)

                                  

 Well it's been a lovely Mable Monday. The fact that both the boys are taking a nap at the same time and the weather is abit pants today has meant that I've done what I set out to achieve. Lets just see if I can say the same next Monday. I'd love to hear from you, what you've been making, what you've been thrifting or where you've been taking the little ones!

Don't forget to visit me on Facebook as I'll be doing a special handmade prize giveaway once I reach 75 Likes!

Have a great week.

Love Kelly xxxx

Mable's Loft Grand Opening

This is just a quick (late night) post to announce the grand opening of my very own Etsy shop Mable's Loft Etsy Shop. Hurray! It feels like things are finally happening.

I'm still working on a few items to add to the shop as stock, and I have a few personalised commissions on the go at the moment which I will photograph when finished and add as made to order items.
But I have decided to go ahead and launch with my pretty handmade jewellery wraps as they are one of my favourite things to make and I think they make such lovely gifts.

And just a quick note to say thankyou to everyone who has taken the time to visit my blog and facebook page so far. I will be working on spreading the word about Mable this week.

Good night. Kelly xx

Welcome to Mable's Loft

I am slightly (read very) excited about my first ever blog post, as it marks the official launch of my own little business 'Mable's Loft'.

The name comes from my lovely Nan Mable and my childhood love of climbing into her loft and searching for wonderful forgotten treasures. Her real name was Grace but she always wished she was called Mable, and although we all miss her everyday, she is a constant source of inspiration to me.

Nan

I've been working on Mable's Loft for some time now. It began as neglected childhood hobby which I picked up again after having George, my first baby.
I started off making little Tshirts for George in my 'sparetime', (somewhere between 10pm and midnight).

Me with baby George

Before my maternity leave, among other things, I had worked as a letting agent, restaurant manager, marketing manager, dancer and children's bowling party hostess. All the time wishing I could do something creative like my incredibly talented mum.



My Mum

 My mum is one of those clever people who can turn her hand to anything and make money from it. Pottery parties, wedding planning, hair and beauty, her own cake business (check out her fb page Ace Cakes http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ace-Cakes/172706056120392) All Alongside being a wife, a mum to me, my 2 sisters and her 4 dogs, and working full time as a manager for a ladies fashion label.

I guess I would have returned to work part time and dropped my hobby again, if it wasnt for the arrival 19 months later of baby number 2, Ted.

Ted

And so, it was decided with my husband Paul, that I would not return to work for now, and would be full time mum to my lovely little boys. Which means that although I am still chasing that ever ellusive 'spare time' to indulge in my love of sewing and creating, it does mean I can finally persue my dream of a creative job.

After making my first few handmade gifts for friends, a couple of orders for one off commissions started coming in. So that has been keeping me busy along with a few craft fair tables, but now I am excited to be opening my own online shop on Etsy. Hopefully people will like my vintage inspired home decorations and personlised children's gifts, but however successful my shop may be, I am just grateful for the opportunity to be doing something I love.

The start of something exciting

On the Mable's Loft blog, I hope to share my creativity and inspirations with my family, friends, and anyone else who might take an interest in what I am doing.
Another hobby of mine is a love of collecting and thrifting. Im always sticking my head up in my Mum and Dad's loft or rummaging through my local antique and 2nd hand shops for vintage treasures. So watch this space for my latest discoveries and feel free to share the treasures you have found in your grandparents' lofts with me! 

A recent thrift shop find. A set of 3 mini cases for £5. Now being used to stash ribbons, buttons and fabric scraps

Thanks for visiting me. Kelly xxx

Mable's Loft on facebook