Thoughts in the garden

Love these double pale pink poppies, still coming up each year from seed brought from my last garden, 10 years ago.

A David Austin rose called Queen of Sweden 

A new delphinium I am trying to protect 

 Sophie's wedding is this month and I realise that even if my garden was bursting at the seams with flowers it still could not provide enough to fill 80 jam jars, make 10 buttonholes and bouquets for bride and bridesmaids. I have to buy some of the flowers and find greenery and the occasional wild flower in the local hedgerows. It's fun as well as challenging!

Last night, armed with my torch and thickest rubber gardening gloves I looked for slugs. Shop customers tell me they cut them in half but I couldn't do that. Dozens of them had congregated on one poor daisy plant, and I put them all into my lidded pot. I found the odd slug on other plants but luckily the delphiniums were slug free (so far). I put wool pellets around my prized plants because slugs don't like to slither over wool apparently but it doesn't kill them. That seemed a humane deterrent. However puting them in a pot with the lid on wasn't humane and if slugs had any sort of a brain they might have preferred the quicker fate of being cut across the middle...

Today I was watching the birds in the garden taking food from a neighbour's bird tray and flying down to eat it in peace in my garden. I notice that lots of shops sell 'fat balls' to feed the birds all the way through the year.

 I remember when feeding the birds was something you did in cold winters to get the birds through when natural food was in short supply. But natural food is plentiful right now. Slugs and snails are ideal food for larger birds like thrushes and blackbirds and the soil is full of worms and insects. Perhaps we have so many slugs in the garden right now partly because birds have got used to having most of their food laid out on bird tables for them and it seems like too much effort to search soil and plants for more 'natural' food...

Handmade Happiness makers featured in magazine

Justine Jenner is featured in the new issue of Life in Petersfield

The first feature about Handmade Happiness appeared earlier in the year.

 This week the third Handmade Happiness article is in the Life in Petersfield magazine. Previously there was a feature on Kate Box who makes the wonderful, soft knitwear and also a feature about why I started the shop and support local makers.
Over the coming months I hope to write more features on makers whose work is sold in Handmade Happiness. They are an interesting and very talented bunch!

In response to the people who have asked for workshops, this Friday morning from 10.30 to 11.30 there will be a free workshop on making and painting paper birds. It's easy, it's fun and it's sociable.  

Time to Play

A box for a medal

A medal for the box made by Jenny Stacy

A felted crochet button, bit of ribbon, a flower button I like, in a medal by Jenny Stacy

Bits of bling created this medal by Jenny Stacy

Do you find time to play in your busy life?

One of the most blissful things I can think of is to sit at a table and 'play' with the bits I've hoarded over the years and a needle and thread, paints, scissors, sellotape, paper,glue and bits of fabric. Even more fun to 'play' with a friend or friends who enjoy experimenting with puting things together as much as you do. 

It's interesting how suddenly there are all these colouring books in the shops, encouraging people to switch off and 'play'. Who would have imagined that colouring books for adults would be so popular?

Visitors to Handmade Happiness often express their frustration that there is no time in their lives to create things. With children to look after and jobs to go to, any time for themselves feels like self indulgence. I know, I've been there, but we all feel better for a bit of 'me' time, even if it's only fifteen minutes. Just enough time to splodge some paint on to paper, draw a quick sketch,or make a collage with pictures from a favourite magazine, all of which can be done with children once they get past the stage of puting everything in their mouths.

One of my earliest memories is of 'sorting' my granny's button box. I really enjoyed that. My mum used to let her grandchildren do 'mixing' with wooden spoons and big bowls and the contents of her kitchen cupboards. They loved that. So what sort of Granny will my generation be? I hope we'll be successful at inspiring children to enjoy activities that don't involve looking at a screen...
jigsaw puzzles, card games, but above all, playing with bits and pieces and making things from them...!

New! Nature artist cards by Louise Money

Hare and cowslip cards by Louise Money. £2 each

Large card £2.50. Bullfinch and coaltit cards £2. All painted by Louise Money

Blue butterfly; sparrows, bluetit and Canada geese cards all painted by Louise Money.

When Louise Money emailled me pictures of her cards I knew they were just right for Handmade Happiness customers.

Living in the countryside, as we do here, everyone easily identifies with these birds that we see in the garden and in the hedgerows. Louise has painted them with a sensitivity and talent that I haven't come across before and I am delighted to offer 13 of her designs in the shop.

There are also notebooks for sale with the British Bird design pictured above on the cover. All cards and envelopes are made from recycled paper and would suit any occasion.

Handmade Happiness has a large selection of artist cards to choose from, most of them exclusive to the shop. If you want quality and something different you know where to look!

Needlefelting

Experimenting with needlefelting different fabrics and wool together

For two days I've been needlefelting during quiet times in the shop. It's such fun to see what combines well and what doesn't. I love the orange golds with purple on the left above but don't like the wispy bits of silk waste which I'll pull out today. 

I've made lots of strips of needlefelting and think they may end up as long bags for specs/i-phone/passport, that sort of thing but the gold looks a bit evening-y so maybe some kind of evening pouch to be carried under the arm. What do you think? Any ideas welcome.

Today is voting day here in the UK. I've always known which way I'm going to vote. It seems obvious that if Britain wants to have any say in world affairs we've got to come from a place of strength and being part of a large body of countries - the EU - gives us more influence than we would have if we stand alone. So I'm IN. Whatever your views please use your vote otherwise the vote may not go the way you want it to.

In the shop now...

In the window of Handmade Happiness now. Details below.

In the window at Handmade Happiness now. Details below.

Lindsey Agostinelli's charming mohair teddy bears. £60 each.

Carol Smith's bird brooches. £6.50 each.

New pottery made by Jeremy Moore. In the shop now.

In the top picture the boxes contain:

Carol's bird brooches as above, Kate Hackett's new jug £18; bracelets by Jenny Stacy £9.50 each; 
Sue Inglis' sheep £6.50; Samantha Robertson's coaster tile £5; bird brooch £18.50 by Bee Mellor and Jenny Stacy;
Justine Jenner's dimple jug £19.50; teddy by Lindsey Agostinelli £60;  Kate Box's wrist warmers £25;
Kate Hackett's chicken £8; mug by Samantha Robertson £16.00; teddy keyring by Lindsey Agostinelli £15.

In the second picture are:

You deserve a medal by Jenny Stacy £9.50 each; cat keyrings £7.95 each by Sue Inglis; three heart decorations £3 each by Kate Hackett; 
Elizabeth Eveleigh's beeswax hive candle £4.50 and teddy keyring £15 by Lindsey Agostinelli;  dimple jug by Justine Jenner £19.50; little fairy £9.50 by Jenny Stacy;
two decorated mugs made by Kate Hackett £16 each either side of a star card £1.95 by Sue Inglis.

This week Jeremy Moore bought in his latest work. A range of celadon and white glazed mugs and jugs. Prices £16 for mugs and £18 for jugs.

Juggling

Give yourself some flowers! 

 Are you juggling a job, a family, friends and looking after your home? Sometimes I feel I am only capable of doing the minimum to keep everything afloat - or should I say in the air - and I'd like to spend more time on each individual area but unless we are suddenly given an eighth day of the week there just isn't time...

People who are very organised have strict time slots for everything and sometimes I wish I was more like that. But it must take the spontaneity out of life a bit if you have to say, 'Sorry I can't come for a coffee with you because now is my time for doing the ironing'.

At the moment I love to be gardening. In theory I'd like to write more and make big necklaces but no time for that.I need to get ready for work and call in at the market en route to work to buy some more plants for the garden to grow enough flowers for a wedding. It's only next month now and no, I don't know what this mother of the bride will be wearing. 

Are you trying to juggle too many balls at once? If so you have my very best wishes and why not buy yourself a bunch of flowers as I did? You deserve them.

Pots and beads

Niloo's beautiful pots on Katrin Eagle's woven scarves

Bead bracelets 9.50 each by Jenny Stacy

C lose up of pretty bead bracelets by Jenny Stacy

Some while ago my little daughters bought a bag of beads each when we visited Brighton Bead Shop. They tired of stringing them together quicker than I did. I loved experimenting with different colours and textures to make a pleasing piece of jewellery.

I graduated to making my own beads and painting wooden beads in a bid to make my jewellery really individual. Eventually I incorporated fabrics as well - velvet, cotton and hand-made felt. I sold these one-off pieces to shops and through the Country Living magazine show. I'd like to go back to making some 'statement' necklaces now. I seem to have got caught up in other things lately.

For example tomorrow I'm interviewing Justine Jenner, whose wonderful mugs, jugs, bowls and cups and saucers sell in Handmade Happiness. Hopefully the article will appear in the next issue of Life in Petersfield.

New in Handmade Happiness today are three mohair bears made by Lindsey Agostinelli. Lindsey has also started making tiny, articulated bears attached to keyrings. The stitches are tiny, as you can imagine...pictures to come. 

Cards, bags, dolls and pricing

Collage card by Jenny Stacy

Collage card by Jenny Stacy

Collage card by Jenny Stacy

Clever bag by Carol Smith that folds down...

...to this handbag friendly package. Bag by Carol Smith

Individual paper dolls with button joints by Jenny Stacy £3 each.

'The price is what people will pay' I remember being told.

 It's complicated. What sounds expensive to one person will sound reasonable, if not too cheap to another person. Sometimes the price of something handmade seems more to do with the confidence of the maker than with any actual rules.

 Take my cards (pictured above), for instance. Although they take a long time to make as I fuss about it looking right to my eye, it's a card, therefore I don't feel I can charge more than £2.50 or £3.50 tops. Yet when someone asks for something personalised it should cost them more.

I just made a special wedding card with a fancy insert and the customer insisted on paying me £10 for it. She felt it should have been more and suggested I charge £12.50 for any personalised cards in the future.  But are people happy to pay this? I've just taken an order for a personalised engagement card...I'm planning it in my head. Then I'll make a sketch and then I'll start playing around with colours and papers. If it was larger and had a frame round it, it would cost a lot more.

When visiting an art exhibition I always wonder at the prices. A large canvas showing two painted lines could cost thousands and an exquisitely drawn little watercolour landscape. framed, could cost £40. So maybe the price is not about what people will pay, more about what the maker/artist is prepared to charge.

Flowers at home

My beautiful peonies are in bloom right now

Love these violas. 

My daughter wants peonies at her wedding at the end of July. But the peonies in my garden are out now. It is their season. Does anyone know whether or not peonies can be dried successfully - I'm thinking of decoration, not for bouquets. Also where is the best place to go for fresh peonies out of season?

Do you like the blue glass vase the peonies are in? I was lucky enough to find it on the bric a brac stand at Harting Village Day last year. Yesterday I had a stand at Harting but following a drama with the car - flat battery- I arrived two hours late. It was a good opportunity to promote the shop. I gave out countless business cards. The weather was not on our side with lowering skies threatening rain all day and cruel gusts of wind that kept blowing things off my stand and into the road. However it was good to meet people and to see old friends.

Upcycling - do you do it? Last night I saw something on the tv when a man split apart a wood chest of drawers and made it into floor to ceiling storage. I'm not sure about this. A bit Emperor's New Clothes. It's fashionable but that doesn't mean we've got to like it...

New Bags

Large, soft, Liberty fabric bag £29.50

Smart linen bag, fully lined £10

Cotton lined bag by Carol Smith £19.50

Here are three new bags in Handmade Happiness. 

Now that we have to bring our own bags to shops I thought it would be a good idea to stock a range of attractive bags to avoid ugly plastic ones.
Carol Smith is making some clever fold away ones to take up minimal space in your handbag. I am continuing to make strong carrier bags from magazines and thank you to all of you who have brought in old magazines for me to use.

In two weeks time we will have a new shop neighbour. The dark purple paint has been replaced with fresh pale blue and a new interiors shop (painted furniture) is about to open.

I am making bunting (mostly for daughter's wedding) new style necklaces, lots of holding hands paper dolls (partly for an order) and I wish there were more hours in the day...

Happy weekend everybody!    

Fairy Friday

Large fairy by Jenny Stacy £15

Fairy by Jenny Stacy £9.50

Large fairy by Jenny Stacy in the window £15

Fairy by Jenny Stacy £9.50

 Today I made fairies in the shop and finished off 6, 4 more to finish off tomorrow. In the afternoon I made new style necklaces. Experimenting, having fun and building up stock. Hope you enjoyed your day too. Have a great weekend!

Roxana Giles

Bird painting on a large tile by Roxana Giles

Parrot by Roxana Giles

Dream-like ship by Roxana Giles

Hand-painted tiles by Roxana Giles

 Roxana Giles was trained to paint on china in the factories of Minton and Worcester. She then taught her art to countless others. She showed me a picture of a commemorative plate she'd painted of Nelson and a battle scene of modern day soldiers and airplanes.

 Roxana is a versatile and extremely talented artist. I feel privileged to be now selling her work in Handmade Happiness.

Loving one another...

Collage card by Jenny Stacy

My mother, who died earlier this year, always said I was lucky with my friends.
Recently I have really appreciated friends. 

2016 has been a tough year so far. Not just for me, talking to other local shop keepers, it feels as if the recession is still with us. People would rather not be spending money they don't absolutely have to spend. So they buy food but they are not buying gifts, at least they are not buying gifts to anything like the extent they have bought gifts in previous years.

Friends dropping in to the shop keep me company and it's lovely to see them.
Two friends have told me they are growing flowers in their garden and allotment for my daughter's wedding. How kind and thoughtful is that? Laughing and chatting with people we get on well with is one of life's greatest pleasures.

Handmade Happiness offers an enormous range of handmade gifts (many priced at under £5) and a large selection of cards priced from just £1.95. If the shop was positioned on the High Street I really think that everyone would buy all their cards here. Nearly all cards and gifts are exclusive to Handmade Happiness and they are selected for quality as well which makes them even more special. 

I know that it's an effort to walk round to Dragon Street which is on the other side of town to Waitrose where many people park, do their food shopping and go straight home. But it's worth the walk. And you can stock up on lovely cards and gifts when you visit.

This week we are seeing what was neighbouring Wild Damson being painted pale blue and evolving into what apparently will be a painted furniture and interiors shop. I'm hoping that once the new shop opens in two weeks time an awful lot of people will be tempted to shop in Dragon Street with three interesting shops in a row to browse in.

Opening hours

 More medals by Jenny Stacy 9.50 each

This week I decided to change Handmade Happiness's opening hours. From now until November the shop will no longer be open on Tuesdays. 

So it will be open from 10am to 5pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Since the shop opened I have experimented with various opening hours. At the beginning I only closed on Sundays but then I realised that Mondays were consistently the quietest day in the week so I decided to close on Sundays and Mondays.

 And now comparing takings for each day I am open, Tuesday seems v. much the quietest day and it will be nice to have another day on which to see the grandbabies or to tend the garden or (yawn)to catch up on the housework! 

New in Handmade Happiness!

Justine Jenner's jugs £39; mugs £16 and £18 on made in Hampshire table £40

Welcome back to the ballerina bunnies made by Sue Inglis! £7.95 each

It's party time for Sue Inglis' mice! £7.95 each

Cotton bunting £22.50 by Brenda Tilbury and lovely ceramics just in by Samantha Robertson.

New stickers showing felt, buttons and beads made by me and strawberries from my garden.

 Today the deliveries kept coming. I am pleased with these stickers from my photos made by www.moo.com. I see them sealing tissue paper packages for customers. I get my business cards from moo but this is the first time I've tried out their stickers.

Local potters Samantha Robertson and Justine Jenner have both brought in more, lovely work. Nice to use and nice to give as gifts.

A while ago I stocked bunny ballerinas by Sue Inglis and now she's making them again. I love them. The perfect gift for the little dancer in your life.Also her mice are ready to celebrate in their new party hats!

I like the fresh, clean look of this bunting which Brenda Tilbury brought in today. As you may know Brenda makes wreaths and cards as well.

The shop is looking full of stock. Do come in and introduce yourself!

May blossom

This tree near where I live is a riot of flowers right now. A wonderful reminder that spring is here and we have the whole of summer in front of us. 
It's been a good day for gardening and I've also sorted out some cotton fabrics to be made into bags for the shop. 

Regular readers will know that I write everything down in my 'design notebooks' and I've got dozens of them going  back to 1998 complete with sketches and photos and torn pictures from magazines. I looked at a couple of them today and was reminded that most ideas don't actually see the light of day. They seem like a flashbulb moment when you have the idea but then another idea supersedes them and the first idea is forgotten. 

For example I wrote about dried flower petals on pale pink tissue wrapping a gift with cellophane over the top. That would be pretty. Or at Christmas you could do the same with chopped up silver tinsel and sequins on white tissue all trapped under cellophane. I was reminded of how many cards I used to sell and one of my inspirations was the artist Klimt. I think I'll revisit Klimt inspired design now and maybe translate the gift wrapping idea into some sort of card too. But I mustn't blabber on. You might want to be outside, appreciating spring.