Maybe I do have green fingers after all?

The gold roses as they started the weekend.
They are filling out nicely!

Its Vintage Sunday!

This week I am awaiting delivery of my new Dinette. I love that word (we don't have it in England) It conjures up images of 1950s housewives, with big hair & prim aprons serving a meat & two veg dinner to a husband in a sharp grey tweed suit on a check tablecloth with cutesy Japanese imported condiment servers. Ok, so mine is just a simple small dining table with 4 chairs to fit in our small kitchen to help improve my cooking/dirtypots/clean drying washing up 2 ft square worktop area but hey! So I was looking at quirky cute vintage salt & pepper shakers to furnish this new dining set with a hint of my imaginary 50’s housewife.

Possibly the funniest kitsch find, a big ole turkey on some scales, perfect for Thanksgiving.

And they come apart for the individual shakers.
From Susantique

A shiny toaster, where the shakers are the slices of bread.

And depressing the lever actually POPS the toast!
From mrsItfry

Perfect miniature coffee pots on glowing red burners.

Although wouldn't they be better as sugar & creamer?
From SASSYspaces

And now for the super kitsch all-in-one everything you would ever need, and all set in a picnic bench!
From Thegoodgranny

A little something I couldn't resist….

I’ve been lusting after this hat for a few weeks now & although it maybe half an inch too small, I bought it anyway. Well, what else are hat stretchers for??

Its just the redness & the height of the crown & the cute short brim – yummy!

The last picture shows Julie from ScottieinaCanoe model the fabulous little hat in her etsy store.

It’s Bridal Season Baby!

It is…no really! This week has blown up with requests for custom orders & quotes throughout both stores, and its only January! People are starting early this year, and they are looking for a sweet deal. In this downturn market people are turning to handmade for quality & to have their dream realised by someone with the tools, rather than run to the big bridal stores & just make do with the readymade stock that they have.

I’m currently working on a large order for some Gold & Ivory silk roses (as well as several others)
Here is where I was up to first thing this morning with the gold roses a.k.a layer 1.

Roses are red….

Since the sinamay Calla Lilies, I’ve been working flat out, but I have managed to develop some more faux flowers.

First off are Roses using two different construction methods, both are proving popular.
 

Handfolded & twisted Silk dupion rose head, have been bought & used by fellow milliners.

Whilst these roses formed with heat tools from individually cut petals are popular with bouquet makers.

Meanwhile I have put some of the sinamay lilies to good use

Sinamay Lilies

I have been working with manipulating my own Sinamay this week. Today I have been testing out making curved Calla Lilies.

Sinamay is great to work with like this because it is soft & flexible, but it also hold shapes & twists and turns into interesting forms.

They’re not finished yet, but you can see how the shape is holding up.

I have used a curled green biot goose feather as a stamen in the large one.

I think as well as using them on my hats I will sell them individually in my supply store too.

The small collection of hat blocks I have amassed just this month

I already have several, but this month there seemed to be loads of hat blocks floating around eBay and Etsy at really low prices. Of these I managed to get my hands on 4 – shhhhh!

Left – 22” flat sided with asymmetric crown dome.
Centre back - 24” regular crown dome.
Centre front – 6” mini beret.
Right – Large beret. (this one arrived just this morning)

Cant wait to get working with them.

The mini beret turns out great -

And right now I’m working on the flat sided one after blocking a buckram base from it.