St Ives - no not the Cornish one!

Not far from where I live here in Cambridgeshire there is a market town called St Ives which of shares the same name as the very famous and beautiful St Ives seaside village in Cornwall. You can find out more about it's history here if you are interested.

So last week my sister, my mum and I decided to take ourselves off there for a good old fashioned girls day out. Luckily it was one of the only days where we had no rain so managed to get some good shots of the town and thought I'd share with you all what the 'other St Ives'' looks like.

It may not have the stunning seaside views of it's Cornish sister but it does have the Great River Ouse running through it and a very beautiful old bridge that crosses it.

When you get to the other side of the bridge you are greeted by the view of this beautiful old building which houses the quaintest english tea room with views onto the river.

Once in to the main part of the town you will find little narrow streets like this.

Where you can find some unique boutiques that sell cute little frocks like these, very CK but without the price tag!

Or some delicious looking choccies and handmade beauty products, yummy!

Or an old english pub to quench your thirst.

Lots of painted narrowboats travel up and down the river providing lovely eye candy whilst you sit with your afternoon cream tea.

They really do make some amazing scones here, and just look at the view you get!

And the other great thing about our St Ives is they have 9, yes 9, different Charity Shops. What more can I say! xx

I've been a thrifting again!

Good afternoon bloggers. Although not sure what is good about it as the heavens have opened up and it is thundering in my part of the world. I want my summer back ;o(

Did manage to pop out this morning before the showers hit and thought I'd share a few of my purchases with you all.

Anyone for baking? Couldn't believe my luck with all this lot, brand spanking new as well!

Hmmm I'm seeing a heart shaped victoria sponge full of cream and berries!

Ooh this looks intriguing. Normally hack at mine with a large knife!

I could also use these stencils for my cardmaking too, very thrifty.

A few other bits of decorating equipment.

Oh no another flash of lighting, it's getting closer now, a bit scary! And there are giant hailstones again! Don't think my bizzy lizzies can survive another bashing.

Couldn't resist these matching glass bottles and trinket boxes. Not quite sure where they are going to live yet, may put them in the bathroom.


One of my fave snacks is humous and pitta bread. Now I can serve it in this lovely glass dish instead of balancing the plastic pot on the edge of my plate. How very posh!

And lastly I spied this lot hidden in a box on the floor. Just had to have them because of the colours.

Storm seems to have passed over now thank goodness. Not going to get my washing dry today am I! Definitely a play inside afternoon me thinks ;o) Thanks for popping by xx

Its' a Sign

Just a quick post. Saw this sign in a boutique the other day and it just made me smile!

Man should know that women will always have an answer, especially when it comes to retail therapy! ;o) xx

Tutu loveliness!

It's all about the netting for me. Especially that super soft drapey kind. Everytime I see one you will find me oohing and aahing and longing to be young enough to prance around in one again! Now that would be a scary sight ;o)

You can imagine my delight when I saw this little number on Ebay recently, it's a Monsoon one that no longer fitted the little girl it belonged to. I couldn't imagine how she could part with it but luckily for me she wanted to.

I bid 99p and lo and behold a couple of days ago it became mine, cue big grin! It is the palest of green colours with absolutely loads of sequins sewn onto the netting on both back and front and has a super soft underskirt out of co-ordinating cotton. I just need to sew some ribbon inside the skirt so that I can hang it from a padded hanger. Then it will hang next to my mannequin who also happens to be wearing a wedding skirt made out of netting! xx

Craftroom - a peek before I make it bigger!

Good morning bloggers!

I've been meaning to post piccies of the place where I play for a long time now. That has been mostly due to me being a tad untidy and it not being fit for photographing! How is it sooo easy to create havic within about 5 mins of crafting eh!

Anyways it is fairly tidy at the mo so took the plunge and did some photographing. Here we go.

Here is a view of my room from the doorway, it measures about 6' x 8'. The tables are from Ikea's office range. My PC is at one end and on the right you can just see the area where I craft. My Quickutz Revolution is always out and there is Making Memories paper trimmer under the crap in the middle.

I got this pink shoe organiser from Tchibo and it is perfect for all my tools and large punches.

Those pretty pink cake stands came from Homebase a few years ago. Pink floral boxes from Tchibo. The pink and brown craft tote was a xmas pressie from my sister.

This is a walk in cupboard at one end of the room opposite my desk. I put up the laundry shelving system from Ikea and the rails on the door are from their kitchen range, great for hanging things from with their hooks.

Am sure all you Cath Kidston fans will recognise the book bag! The little quilted red one was from Ikea kids section, you can just see my ATG tape gun poking out which I use a lot!

12x12 paper and card stored in Cropper Hopper folders, really love these and not too expensive.

More 12 x 12 paper!

Cute little red polka dot lunch case in the corner was from Tesco. Store all my A5 and smaller bits of paper in these CD boxes from Ikea, they do come with lids but don't use them.

Boxes and boxes full of diecuts, ribbons on pegs and jars filled with buttons.

My growing collection of cuddlies! You'll recognise Ella from my earlier post. The other 3 were won by my OH at fun fairs in Spain ;o) The folder organiser on the left is by Anna Griffin, I keep all my plastic large templates in here.

Ikea's Benno CD Towers are brilliant for storing all my alphabets on. I sorted them all out into plastic boxes from Tesco, they are dirt cheap and the perfect size for the shelves. Took ages but worth it I think as so easy to get to them.

And finally the bookcase I got from 'freecycle' and have already stuffed it full of my fabric stash. It's a bit of mess at the moment but once I move into the bigger room it will all be beautifully organised.... yeah right ;o)

So there you have it, a grand tour of my crafting space as it is at the mo. However all is about to change! As I am getting more and more into my sewing I need more room. So the back bedroom which has up until now been a dumping ground is in the process of being transformed to make one huge craft space! Yep my family think I am a bit nuts although secretly they can't wait to come and play in it! I'll end up with a room 9' x 14' with a dedicated sewing area. It'll be sooo much fun ;o) Just need to make my mind up on wallpaper for the wall behind my desks.

Well I think I've kept you all long enough now! Thanks for popping by and have a lovely day xx

Blog Candy from Vikki The Scrap Junkie - Wow!!

Oh my gosh it arrived today! And just look at the amount of goodies in there! Vikki you are such a generous lady ;o)

I've always wanted a 7 Gypsies album to play with

Loving these Heidi Grace embellies! Especially those flourishes which are flocked.

I've seen Cloud 9 but never had any of it myself to play with, just look at those jelly numbers.

Those Bo Bunny metal embellies are really heavy. Love love those bottle tops too!

And lastly some Pebbles Inc beautiful stickers. I did rotate this picture the right way round on my PC but blogger has turned it back again! Get this all the time, anyone know what I am doing wrong ;o(

Thanks again Vikki. I'll be sure to post up piccies of things I make with them. xx

Look what my Nan knitted me!

My nan has been beavering away knitting loads of animal characters for my sister to use for her story telling sessions at the nursery. I commented that I really liked the elephants and voila she gave me this one.

Isn't she just the cutest! I've named her Ella and she is going to sit in my craftroom along with my other cuddlies.

She's even got white bloomers on!

Happy Sunday everyone! xx

Freaky Weather! - 2nd post today

Oh my did any of you get the storms we got here in the East?

This was the sky outside my house last night, you just knew bad things were to come!

It was rather freaky, giant hail stones, torrential rain, very loud thunder and fork lightening! Good job I was round my sisters as would have been a bit scared, never liked thunder since I was a child.
Her garden looked like a snowy scene from winter. The hail stones were these perfectly formed little smooth balls of ice which lay on the ground for ages before beginning to melt. Mother nature is truly amazing! Nothing on earth can challenge her power.

We were reflecting on how thunder storms were explained to children. My mother's generation were told it was the coalman delivering the coal. My sister and I were told that god was angry with somebody! My neice and nephew were told the truth, hot air meeting cold air and all that. What were you told as a child, fiction or fact? xx

Next Sale - Ideal Home Magazine and furniture

Don't know if you already know but the Next Sale starts 5am tomorrow! Have been having a look around the items and noticed they have all their magazine subscriptions reduced.

The subscription to Ideal Home is showing as £15.00. The only thing I can't see is how long the subscription is for? I shall be trying to get this one in my basket!

They also have this gorgeous Pink Flower Canvas bedroom set reduced to £60.00 which would look great in any little girls room!

Oh and if Ionly had room for this coffee table with drawers. It's not cheap at £130.00 but it is rather lovely.

And this Amelia bookcase at just £35.00 would go great with the coffee table.

Sadly the Cath Kidston stuff is not in the sale, which is just pants!

Speaking of pants, I want these boyfit jeans reduced to £20.00 and they have my size, which is not the size zero of the model I might add! Oh how I wish my tummy looked like that :o)

If you want to take a peek at the sale stuff just visit here.