Cupcakes & Bunting

Good Thursday Afternoon to you dear friends & readers,

When I took part in my local craft fair way back in November of last year,  Maria wandered by my stall & took one of my leaflets home with her .  .  .

It was early December when I received a lovely email from her, telling me about a new website she was starting featuring artisans & craftspeople .... & would I be interested in her doing an article about me & my little Cottage?

Her website was to be called by the delightful name of Cupcakes & Bunting.

We agreed to meet up just prior to christmas, & I experienced one of the most pleasant mornings I had in a very long time ... just sitting & chatting with Maria & eating the delicious yummy treats she had bought along with her.

I think it is fair to say that since Maria's visit I have been well & truly hooked on salted caramel lava cakes !!!

Life - as it often happens - got in the way of Maria launching her website early in the New Year as she had originally planned.

She finally managed to launch it early this month & I am her second "conversation" which has featured on her website today.

If you would like to read a little about what I do here & how it all began, do pop along to Maria's website & have a read 

You can view Marias website here, & her facebook page here

And you can read my interview here

I love the simple, fresh look Maria has given her website, she has done an amazing job of putting it all together, & I look forward to reading future "conversations with crafters" as she plans to feature a new artist each Thursday fortnight.

Do pop along & pay Maria a visit & perhaps leave her a comment .  .  . I found her new website really easy to navigate my way around also.

This has been pretty much what my "new lounge" has looked like this past week

You can do these sorts of things when you have no carpet or floor coverings down !!!!

I have been painting various articles in differing states of disrepair .  .  .  the mirror in the foreground was shiny gold . . . the small wrought iron rack in the middle was rusty, as was the upside down half-round table in the background.

Although I forgot to take a "before photo" the table was well rusted & required a good sanding to remove this before giving it 3 coats of paint .... though it is appearing white in my pics, it is in fact, "cottage cream".

We lit our first fire 3 nights ago & I have been sitting by the fire in the evenings stitching small yo yo flowers in various shades of pink, to make a table runner for my new/old table.  

I think it's fair to say that it can't grow quickly enough for me !!

The Mr has been continuing with the clearing out of the farm sheds & I have been there assisting him in my capacity as Steptoe.

A large box of old books was unearthed & I wondered what I could do with some of the ones in better repair.

Last week I decided to make a Book Bundle  .  .  .  in Pink !!

Do you like it & would you be interested in making one for yourself ??

Because I was thinking of doing a simple tutorial in my next post ??

Do please let me know what you think . . . it seems such a shame for all these old books to not be given another chance at life.

Thank you all SO much for your birthday wishes for little Alec in my last post.

I am on the mailing list for Alec's Daycare & often receive emails with photos of his "adventures" whilst there.

I loved this one that came through this week .  .  .  it was his first experience with painting & I especially loved the way he had "taste tested" it first !!!

I must confess that when I receive these emails, I smile all the way through them with my face about 3 inches from the screen !!!

We really are a pathetic lot in this household you know !!

The Mr has had lots of evening paperwork to do lately with regards to the farm & also his Moto X Club.

While the house is in such an upheaval he sits at the dining table to do his paperwork .  .  . he was worried that the overhead light might be disturbing Miss Pippi so I noticed he had built her a "little tent" so it was not quite so bright !!

Well dear friends, I am off to make the delicious looking feijoa muffins featured on Maria's website in her recipe section

Thank you all so much for stopping by today & I do hope you will all pay Maria a visit.

Please tell her I said "Hello".

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones  x0x0x0