Hellllllooooooooooo

Sorry I've not been around much lately.

I have had a busy time at work and then a weeks holiday at home to relax.

Although I seem to be busy every day!

Watching the Royal wedding on day 1, in my PJ's on the sofa.

I got up at 8am and watched it all the way through till 3pm, it was great, she looked beautiful and he looked very handsome. Much more personal than I thought it would be and a real moment in history.

I have worked at the CS twice, entertained 10+ people for dinner, shopped in Chichester, Gun Wharf Portsmouth & Worthing. Did a CB and made some pennies & Made Raspberry Jam!

Gardened & Gardened, the veggie patch is looking fab, Gav has been on a major gardening mission (the play station network is down!!!) which means loads of jobs get done in the garden, yippee. New planters built & a new composter, I will take some photos and show you soon.

I have also been spending quite a lot of time in here.

Making these.

They were custom orders, which is fab as a little word of mouth advertising is always great.

I have also been making these to sell at my next fair on the 21st May.

Lot's still to make so I have a nice full stall. 

So back to work today, Should be a busy week!

I'm off to catch uo with you all now, and see what you have all been up to.

Luv

A Delicious Mission

I woke up this morning feeling foggy, with little motivation until my Mum phoned from her holiday to say are you getting you pressie today!!!! And then I remembered that I had a mission for the day and I started to feel a whole lot better.

I had to pop to the post office first to pick up a parcel, and surprisingly it was from CK, I'm not opening it though encase it's for my birthday. I the mooched round the town popping into TK's to see what they had and I picked up a bargain dress to wear to my Friend Rachael's wedding this Thursday. I don't often wear dresses, but I felt really good in it so it came home with me.

I then walked down one of my favourite streets, it has lots of little one off shops down it so it's always good for a mooch. I stopped outside this shop.

The Wool Bar, they had this beautiful hanging basket of knitted strawberries outside.

As I peered through the window I noticed a sign about classes that were being held there and low and behold there was one for crochet flowers. I have been so inspired by everyone's crocheting here in blog land, I can crochet basic granny squares but anything else and I am in a complete pickle. So I popped in and booked myself on the course, £12 for an evening course 7 till 9 and they provide a hook and yarn, not bad I thought. The course isn't until June but I love to have things to look forward too.

So then I went to complete the mission of the day.

Can you guess where I am yet?

Yes this amazing little cook shop had my mixer waiting for me at a great price.

So Gav now has it and is keeping it away from me until the day,

I have also done a shift in the CS, made chicken curry, Bombay potatoes and Chocolate marshmallow brownies and now I am pooped!

A bit of Bond on the Telly then bed me thinks.

Don't forget to turn your clocks froward.

Luv

PS The lady in the Wool Bar told me that they had knitted the Strawberry Hanging Basket for Cancer Research, and that the pattern had come from Cancer Research. I have found the pattern for the strawberries online click here for it. xxx 

Thank You for the Chickens xxx

I just wanted to show you the lovely gift's I received from the Lovely Penny at The Hen House, for her caption competition. Pop over and find out all about the caption competition here.

Penny sent me these 2 lovely Chickens.

The lovely chicken mould is currently adorning my dresser top & the hanging chicken is hanging in my kitchen watching my every move.

Thanks again Penny xxx

Still cold here at Chez Sophie, the boiler is dead!!!

So hopefully we will get a new one fitted next week? fingers crossed.

Have a lovely weekend, I'm off to the CS now for my shift.

Luv

The Quote............

On Wednesday evening the lady came to quote for the reupholster of our wing back chair and the little chesterfield sofa I got last week. She was very nice and discussed all the options, told us that both pieces were in good sound condition and would not need any structural work, good.

I asked if she did the upholstery herself, to which she replied that she had people who did that for her!

I could see the pound signs going up as really she was just the middle man and would be taking a cut!

Considering I have the fabric for the chair a beautiful vintage linen, the chairs quote came in at over £500! & the sofa, well I'm sure you can imagine! £900+..........

So we will be getting a few more quotes from people who actually do the upholstery themselves.

We have also decided to try and re upholster the chair ourselves, we got a book for Christmas from Gav's Mum & Dad called "Mend It" In it there is a whole section about recovering & upholstering.

The chair was given to us so cost us nothing so why not give it a go I say.

Yesterday was manic, I was desperate to visit Gun Wharf Quays Outlet park in Portsmouth as CK has opened a shop there!!!

Yippeeeeeeeee, I was not disappointed. With at least 30% off everything it was a dream, I limited myself to a few little bits and I got Mothers day presents. I also go a fab coat in French connection, by Great Planes for £10 reduced from £100. That was my bargain of the day.

Then it was home to eat a quick bacon & egg brunch to then rush to the CS for my shift.

We were absolutely inundated with goods, the back room was soo full when I arrived I could barely see Linda sorting though it all. I got some more vintage fabric, a vintage handbag & 2 books one on lampshade making and one on curtain making. (sorry no pic's yet)

When I got home I was shattered, but the evening was not yet over.

We were baby sitting for a friend, the cutest little boy, nearly 2 years old.

It was great fun but I feel like I have done a days gardening, we were wiped out when his Mummy came to get him at 10pm.

Hats off to all those Mummy's & Daddy's out there, how do you do it!

Today we had a well deserved lie in, Food shopped & I will admit I had a nap on the sofa during the football this afternoon.

So the week starts again, and it's another busy one. Hopefully at some point I will get some crafting done.

Have a good one everyone, see you soon.

Luv 

Where did the weekend go?

Gosh, well that was a quick weekend!

Where do they go? Can you beleive we are in February on Tuesday.

I'm sure time gets faster the older you get!

Well anway lots to tell you, a Jam packed weekend in the Chez Sophie Household.

Saturday morning I was up with the lark to go and pick up this little baby from a lovely freecycler.

I have been after a little chesterfield style sofa for ages, I have been scouring ebay, the Friday ad & freecycle in the hope that someone had one at a reasonable price that they no longer wanted.

And then on Thursday a message popped into my inbox offering a small chesterfield sofa in need of some TLC for Free!

Well needles to say it is now mine, it does need some upholstery TLC but it is sound otherwise.

I have an upholstery lady coming round on Wednesday to see it and the wing backed chair we were given to give us a quote.

Hopefully it wont be too expensive!!!!

Then it will be beautiful.

I then went to work at the CS, where I got these beauties.

I have become quite taken with tea sets and these little odd cups and saucers are so pretty.

I made some Tea Cup candles for Christmas presents so I think I will be making more as they went down really well.

I also found this little perfume bottle which originally would have had a puff on it, but no matter it is cute without and will look lovely on the mantle in the spare room.

I also gathered together some pretty vintage linen which I will make into some little gifts for the birthday swap. Which may I say is going really well and is great fun, Thanks Laa Laa.

And lastly these little broaches had to come home with me as they sparkled soo nicely.

Last night we went out for Gav's work Christmas party bowling.

We attempted to go out for an early dinner at Pizza Express only to be turned away as they were full, as were Ask and all the other decent restaurants in town.

We ended up having a McDonalds!!!!

We were running out of time before the bowling started and needed food so needs must!

Not quite the romantic dinner a deux I had thought but better to have eaten than to have had a grumbling tummy all night.

So today has been a regular Sunday, Food Shop, House Work & Laundry.

I'm now sat in front of the fire relaxing, ready for the new week ahead.

Have a lovely week.

Luv



Capsule Collection

I was inspired today by an email I received today from Joules.

It had these Tweed Jackets featured on it.

I have to say I have been thinking a bout it all day & about how much I really like the look of Tweed.

Now Autumn is drawing in & I have managed to loose 19lbs I think I may deserve a few pieces to make an Autumn capsule collection.
Here are a few pieces I'm Loving at the moment.

We are off to New Your in less than a month, so I am saving myself for the shopping there!!!

But I really want a tweed blazer, I can't stretch to the Joules version so I had a thought.

I am going to get a Men's blazer from the CS and tweak and customise it.

Now I'm no seamstress so any ideas or tips let me know.
Luv

Chaity Shop Withdrawal...............

I have had serious CS withdrawal this week as I didn't do my CS shift last weekend as my cousin was staying. So today I was super excited to get to work.

Now you might think this a bit odd but my favourite task in the CS (apart from dressing the window) is sorting in the clothes room. It can be a bit hideous when you get a yucky bag!!! Why oh why do people think we want their worn knickers I do not know!!! but when you get a good bag that you know you can hang almost everything in it, it's a fab feeling. 

Today I got some wonderful goodies.

Freda showed me this fab Le Creuset Cook Book Stand, I have been after a cookbook stand for ages so I knew this was going home with me today.

Especially as I also found this lurking on the book shelves in the shop.

Some yummy recipes in here, can't wait to try some out.

This lovely blue floral vintage biscuit tin had been put in the bin! so you guessed it it cam home with me too.

Looks nice on my kitchen shelf, don't you think?

My shopping didn't finish their, I also go 2 pairs of shoes.

These red ones are Spanish leather and soo soft and a perfect fit, we probably couldn't have sold them as there is quite a lot of wear on the soles.

These tan leather pumps also probably wouldn't have been sold as they have a slight mark on one shoe, and also have wear on the sole.

I know some people are funny about wearing other peoples shoes but I'm not.

I always give them a good clean and anti bac the insides, a little polish and voila.

I also fell in love with this beautiful pashmina, it's a green & gold paisley pattern.

I don't normally post pictures of myself but I thought you might like to see my new hair cut!!!

My final purchase was a white candlewick bed spread for my spare room.

So that when those naughty cats of mine manage to get in there for a snooze they won't leave hairs on the duvet cover. It s currently in the washing machine.

I hope you have had some lovely CS finds lately.

Luv

PS. I didn't get the Kenwood mixer on Ebay as it was broken!!!

So I'm still on the look out xxx

New Bike for me.........

Along with my new Slimming regime (have lost half a stone in 2 weeks!) I have also decided to try and do a bit more exercise. I deiced I wanted a bike ages ago so that I could cycle to work at the CS on Saturdays.

I have been looking out for one on freecycle, Ebay, free adds etc for ages with no luck.

Gav said he would do up an old / second hand bike for me as he used to work in a bike shop when he was a teenager as his Saturday/part time job.

I can't afford to pay the earth for a lovely new Pink one with a wicker basket, so I have been keeping my eyes wide open for one every where.

Today when I popped into the CS first thing there were 3 bikes at the end of the shop, a child's one & 2 ladies bikes. I really liked one of them so I took a photo on my phone and showed Gav when he came home from work before I started my shift. He said go for it we can fix anything that needs it.

That was lucky as I had already put a sold sticker on it!! 

So I worked my shift this afternoon at the CS, I dressed the window & sorted loads of stuff.

Then home time with my new Bike, yippee.

Here it is, what do you think?

It needs a clean and the tires need a good pump up, but apart from that Gav says it good to go.

I am now in love with the wicker bike baskets on Ebay!!

Well that's my news.

Have a lovely weekend.

Luv

Window Shopping

Today I have the day off work to go on a course at the Eternal Maker in Chichester.

How to make a Professional Cushion!!! 

But more about that when  I get home.

I wanted to show you my CS window from last weekend.

Boy it was soo hot and I was in the window for ages.

I went with a summers day theme, as we had some lovely vintage summer stuff in the shop.

Tea on a tea trolley, man going fishing, ladies in summer dresses, a writer tapping away on her typewriter on the lawn. You know real Miss Marple stuff!!

So here it is, sorry the pictures aren't great the glass shows the glare of the parked cars.

This was the 3rd tea set I put on the tea trolley as the first 2 sold as soon as they went in the window one after another!!

Have a lovely weekend, I will update you on the course tomorrow.

Luv

Goodies Galore

I've had a really weird week, I have been to 2 funerals & had a major product launch at work but I made It thorough and I have also had lot's of lovely goodies come my way too.

Firstly a big thank you Steph from Mon Petie Poppet in Australia who was my Apron Swap partner.

I received this beautiful apron when I returned home from Mum & Dad's which put a big smile on my face.

It is soo beautiful and the hand embroidery is amazing.

I think I will only be wearing it on special occasions as I don't want to get anything down it.

Thank you Steph for a great Swap.

Now whilst at Mum & Dad's I did take a day off from family duties and went to a massive car boot sale in Needham Market with my Auntie Sue.

I got some great bargains, an Emma Bridgewater photo album for £1, an old Enid Blyton book for 50p, a hexagon patchwork cushion kit for £1.

But my bargain of the day was a bolt of Sanderson Rose fabric with 13 ft on it for £2!!!!

Yes £2, it is perfect for my deckchair project and the lady seller was lovely.

I was so chuffed.

We also popped into a couple of charity shops where I bought these wooden coat hangers which I have already started covering for gifts and to sell.

 This fabulously funky 70's curtain great for my fabric stash.

Getting out for the day with my Auntie Sue & cousin Lucy was great, I have such a large family that spending quality time with them all is often difficult.

Finally I wanted to show you my CS find from my shift a couple of weeks ago, you might have spotted it throughout this post??? 

a gorgeous pink eiderdown.

It isn't feather but tereline, I took it round to the in laws and my MIL to laundered it for me.

Thanks Penny, it is lovely and clean now.

It now has a new home on my spare bed in my sewing room.

Pickles has taken a real liking to it and sleeps on it all the time, Treacle doesn't get a look in.

Thanks for all your lovely comments and emails, I'm not sure how I managed it this week but you all helped me through it.

Well the week is over and I'm glad a new week is here, I hope you all have a lovely Sunday.

Luv

Pink Window Display

Another Gloomy Grey Cold weekend here again!!!

But I still had a lovely time.

Yesterday I worked at the CS and dressed the window.

Before I dress the window I wonder around the shop and see what lovely stuff we've had in during the week.

I then start collecting pieces, I start with clothes as I have 4 mannequins to dress, I man & 3 women.

This week I chose a pink theme.

I also decided that we don't display some of the lovely children's clothes enough so I incorporated them in to the display.

I would love to have more props & a backdrop so I could do some different things but I have to make do with what we have. I have taken pieces out of the shop and now deemed them Window props not to be sold, like the little book shelf. It's great for displaying china tea sets & books.

So my window consisted of pink pink pink.

Here it is.

2 beautiful dresses.

I had to remove the long dress twice on Saturday as people wanted to try it on.

I'm sure it will be gone by next week

Lovely shoes & a tower of accessories.

Here I have a casual man with jeans, white shirt & cord blazer.

We had this wonderful prom gown brought in & as its nearly prom season I thought it should go in.

A tower of the prettiest little girls dresses only £1.50 each, bargain.

Shelves with lovely vintage china.

A vintage sewing box with some funny slippers & dressing table jars.

& finally a closer look at my accessories tower, hopefully this will show that we have some wonderful things for sale.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, I have been busy with swap's and I'm nearly ready to post a couple of them.

So back to work tomorrow, where do the weekends go??

Have a lovely week.

Luv