News — Craft School

1/1/16 - A NEW YEAR - A LICK OF PAINT

A new year brings many changes here at Lovingly Made and our Vintage Boutique needed a New Year lick of paint!  Great idea we thought and after what seemed an absolute age of days packing up the furniture, treasures, china, glass and packing away all our other stock items, we were set to get painting!

   Starting to pack a few things away...

Alas, the human body would say other things!  John pulled all his lower back muscles and I fell very poorly with flu! A-ha - being married for nearly 30 years has its benefits.  It doesn't matter if you look terrible with a red nose and hair pulled back and paint everywhere! Between us, we have however, managed to clear the carpet, paint all the walls with two coats of paint and repainted the floor with two coats of rather lovely grey paint.  

Charlie looking on...

Then the weather decided to get involved, and we are now trapped between dry and incredibly wet spells!  More rain than we bargained for!  So, we have now to be patient for nature to be kind, and allow us a little window to return our glorious goodies back to their new places.

It has however allowed to strategise a few thoughts and decide what goes where, and how we now use our buildings to their best abilities.  As well as having a plan to give the Craft School 'A lick of paint' in the Spring!  Yes, we are completely bonkers.  It is important to us that Lovingly Made Vintage Boutique is loved by us and you and that means keeping it lovely for you to enjoy visiting and enjoy making and creating in our Craft School.

So, we are nearly there.  A New Year lick of paint has been painted, and a lovely newly look awaits the Vintage Boutique.  Pop by, and hopefully by the weekend, we should be ready to go, go, go!  Lots of exciting events planned, lovely new classes and fabulous offers await you!

Happy New Year - wishing you good health and happiness for 2016
Best wishes,
Trixie, John and Charlie of course - because he really helped with the painting!

 

22/12/15 - AN AMAZING YEAR, AMAZING CUSTOMERS!

An amazing year! Where has the time gone? The year seems to have flown past! Lots of changes here at Lovingly Made.

We sadly had to say goodbye to our beloved Greenhouse, which was beautiful but beyond repair.  We really tried to save her, yes she was a girl greenhouse!  So sadly, we had to demolish her.  

The polytunnel had a facelift with a new covering and new lighting, which was a fabulous job done.  We would never have managed either without my Dad and John.  Working all hours on both projects and clearing up and recycling as much as we could.

The Craft School had new curtains made, by my mum and they look fabulous. Small little tweaks here and there continue to make it a wonderful Hobby Hub and our classes go strength to strength.  We hope to bring new classes, floristry, furniture painting and some new sewing classes too.  Watch this space!

During the Christmas Break, John and I are refurbishing the main Vintage Boutique.  I cannot believe where 5 years have gone.  The walls and floor are due for a new lick of paint.  We have started moving all our furniture and wonderful treasures.  A mammoth task, but one which are funnily enough looking forward to.  

An amazing year, amazing customers! Yes YOU!  Without you, there wouldn't be a Lovingly Made.  You are what make it so special.  We thank you so much for all your support, friendship and affection. 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!
Best wishes, lots of Christmas love,
Trixie
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19/12/15 - LATE NIGHT SHOPPING A LOVELY SUCCESS

This is will now be our third and last late night shopping evening and we have had some fun and some awful weather to coincide too!  The weather has been wintery, but our customers, friends and family have been warm, happy and delighted with not only their purchases but also the hot Chocolate and a glass of fizz or two!

We have had some great unique finds from France, Belgium and here in Britain, to entice you to buy something quite lovely from us, super ideas that certainly won't be available on your local High Street.  

We really have tried to source unusual, lovely curios and treasures to feel the true meaning of Christmas.  From beautiful French candlesticks, gorgeous candles, luxury soaps, rustic hanging decorations, up-cycled drift wood wreaths and heart shapes to handmade wooden signs and boxes.  

 

I have also tried to make a few Christmas Decorations myself for our Boutique and they have been really successful too. I am hoping to really get this concept of making and creating into our Vintage Boutique with the help of our Hobby Club Ladies who come to see us each week in our Craft School.  I feel a Spring Craft Sale coming on...

Thank you to you all for coming to see us, we hope you enjoyed your homemade Mince Pie from our local and fantastically talented Bakers here in Forest Row, Sussex.

Thank you to Lesley, who is just a super star beyond super stars and an incredibly dear friend too.

Thank you to John, whom without, the evenings would not have been possible without his organisational skills and all his incredibly hard work.

Merry Christmas everyone, and we wish you all, happiness, good health and good fortune for 2016.

Love and best wishes,

Trixie x

14/12/15 -  I MIGHT MAKE MY OWN CHRISTMAS WREATH!

What started of as a little idea, blossomed into something just a little bit bigger!

I have made lots of Christmas Wreaths in the past, together with swags and garlands for Christmas time for customers, friends and family.  

This year, we decided to utilise our fabulous Craft School and have a few Christmas Wreath Classes - so we had 6 fully booked classes within days of popping them up onto our website!  Fabulous! What an absolutely wonderful start to the Christmas festivities.

 

A traditional Christmas Wreath is made on a moss framed base, wired in, then greenery foliage wired in again, and then lots of lovely ivy, holly, confirm and well, anything you like really! Adding in your accent flowers or decorations too.

We had such a brilliant time with all our ladies who came along to the Craft School and what was so fabulous was the imagination and creativity of all of our ladies.  It was truly inspiring to see such wonderful Christmas regalia!

 

This is the starting point of a Traditional Moss Based Christmas Wreath.

This was a lovely wreath made by one of our fabulous ladies.

One of our lovely classes, with fabulous Christmas Door Wreaths.

So, I think after 6 classes and lots of moss, foliage, cinnamon sticks, oranges and lemons, I might make myself my own Christmas Wreath for my own front door!

Merry Christmas to you all.

Best wishes,
Trixie x

20/11/15 - CHRISTMAS IS GETTING ALL CRAFTY
Yes, I feel that Christmas is nearly upon us, especially if our Craft School activity is anything to go by.  I have heard the whirrrrrrrr of sewing machines, the tuts at dropped knitting stitches, the ooooooohhhh, aaaaaaaawwww, of something beautiful being made, and the ouch of when the needle goes in someone's finger!

This beautiful Etuil box was made by Chris, who is extremely talented and has taught some of our ladies to make Etuil Sewing boxes.  This Christmas tree Etuil box opens magically to reveal the hidden treasure of sweets inside.

 

Then we have had Liz teaching our ladies how to make a Christmas Tree Skirt, the work and skill involved has been quite staggeringly beautiful.  I am overwhelmed by the ladies who undertook this sewing task, as it looks like one of those things that 'anyone' could do - I think not.  The results were simply exquisite.

   

Then we had stockings, and more stockings and even more stockings being sewn, 6 ladies, 25 numbers to be cut out, designed, sewn together, I must admit I lost count...

Then lastly and by no means least as the classes are all fully booked and we are raring to go. The Christmas Wreath classes start in earnest first week of December and we have 6 full classes, so Jenna and I have a lot of greenery to freshly cut for each class.  

 

So, keep in touch with us about all our classes in The Craft School - there are going to be some great classes in the Spring, watch out!  We might just catch you learning a new skill very soon!

With the warmest of Christmas wishes to you all and your family,
Trixie
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