Friends, Ibiza and a new logo…

July 2, 2015 by sam

My old friend Simon Heale used to say “no man goes like a mango goes” whenever a mango came into sight and it always made me giggle. Another good one of his was “I think therefore I am – I’m pink therefore I’m Spam”

I’ve been thinking a lot about friends, old and new & how important they are are for fun, laughter and general well-being. I’ve recently been on my friend Nicole’s hen-do in Ibiza and it was a blast.

I managed two all-nighters (I know right? At my age!) Quite frankly I was shitting myself about going to Amnesia (I can say that ‘cos it’s my blog) which doesn’t open until midnight & a vodka redbull will set you back 26 euros (eeek) but we did it & wandered home at 8am, along the beach, looking alright compared to some…

We did the obligatory sunset at Cafe Mambo (can’t believe these guys have marketed a sunset..?) It was an experience though, especially afterwards as we ate our supper with a Hen party on one side, a Stag “do” on the other and a lady playing with fire on the beach! The entertainment was constant from the moment I got in the car on Wednesday ’til returning home on Sunday morning and I would definitely go back. Especially to the beautiful beach at Calla Basa, a half hour boat trip from San Antonio, where the sea is warm & turquoise & I had the best lobster paella & sangria I’ve ever tasted and listened to live sax on the beach!

Back to reality with a bang I then raced up to Beaconsfield (where I grew up) as my pal Sally (who lives in Spain) was back visiting her Mum. I caught up with Val (for lunch) had dinner in Bourne End (thanks Michael) spent the following day with Sharon, Sally & Lucia in the glorious sunshine and managed a quick trip to my childhood home (now worth a ridiculous £800k – my parents bought it for £28K 35 years ago!)

Unsurprisingly it looks awful, the front lawn turned to gravel parking, the clematis ripped from the roof, which it used to cover in a veil of pale pink every spring. I’d choose Devon every time & getting to spend a few wonderful years down here with my Mum before losing her is much more valuable than bricks and mortar.

During the 200 mile drive home I found myself giggling away at the events of the previous week and realised that I have emerged from the gloomy mood I have been in since 2013. I have resigned myself to the fact that life will never be the same again without my lovely Mum BUT I have some amazing friends & family who have encouraged, supported, cajoled & put up with me. Thanks for hanging on in there everyone, I’m nearly there!

PP managed to get the new logo sorted incredibly quickly for him! What do you think? I love it and have ordered stickers from moo.com for my bags, boxes and wrapping which should arrive today. It’s going to take a bit longer to sort out the website and email stuff so bear with me. At the moment traffic from peagreencandles.com will be redirected to peagreenfurniture.com as both are live.

My first pots made it safely through their glaze firing and I took three of them to a fair in Dartmouth at the weekend, sold two and left the other with a shop I supply there (The Crafted Emporium in the Old Market Square) It was a busy weekend and for the first time I paid my daughter to come and assist me, she was a natural of course!

My next fair is an evening of Craft and Vintage in Uplowman Village Hall (4 miles north east of Tiverton) on Friday 10th July 6pm – 9pm. This fair is being run by Holly who is working towards her Gold Arts Award.

Come and see me if you require a smelly, spotty candle or two….

peagreencandles.com

June 12, 2015 by sam

I’m so excited to be taking my little company in a new direction and as I no longer up-cycle old furniture and spend most of my days making candles (& pots) I have (after thinking long and hard) decided to rename it peagreencandles.com

These are the pots that I really want to focus on, hence my Monday afternoon classes with Ron, who I mentioned in my last post…

He’s so lovely, seriously, he makes me a better person…

Here are my first pots, hand-thrown & decorated by moi! He encouraged me to make my own mark on the base and gave me a pad to sketch out a funky logo but I thought I’d just keep it simple….

I have now decorated the sixteen pots I have made during the past few weeks and am waiting (on tenter-hooks) for them to be fired. I’ll be back there on Monday to throw some more shapes (Mighty Boosh reference for my kids!)

So, feeling motivated (for once) I bought a huge cupboard from the lovely Jon Pearce (Vintage light & Shade) and tidied up my studio. I also sketched a new logo…

which needs a bit of tweaking and the new name added (PP is doing this so don’t hold your breath)

I ordered some posh boxes from The Tiny Box Co. and will be ordering some nice stickers from Moo.com with the end goal of sorting out a proper shop page on my website – I know, get me! It must be all the inspiration and support from the wonderful group of Creative Women I have been meeting up with…

One of the members runs Jolley Cupcake – check out this fab Rolo cake which was for sale at the Artisan Market last month, serious yumminess!

My next fair is on Sunday at the magnificent Cotehele National Trust property in Saltash, Cornwall. It should be a fun day out, maybe I’ll see you there?

Peagreen candles in peagreen pots!

May 14, 2015 by sam

Well Christmas has been and gone and I was so busy I didn’t get to post this photo of my rustic Devonmoor pottery collection, decorated with various handmade pieces purchased from friends – I think the colours work really well together. I’ve always loved pottery and did an “O” level whilst at college (showing my age!) but life didn’t take me in that direction until now…You will recognise these spotty pots, which I have been developing with a lovely old potter (he’s 86!) called Ron Jackson. He lives locally and we have become firm friends over this past year. Full of interesting tales, he has spent his whole life in the area. As a boy he lived in “Garston” in Shaldon, a beautiful, prominent cottage on the main street.

After leaving school he got a job at Watcombe Pottery, got married & lived briefly in Maidencombe (where I live) in a tin roofed chalet, overlooking the sea. He settled with his wife in Teignmouth and spent years cycling to Watcombe & back along a very hilly coast road while she brought up their six children. Meeting such a character has enriched my life and when he offered to teach me to make the spotty pots myself I jumped at the chance!

So off I trot now, once a week, to throw pots on a wheel in his garden shed – interestingly he also makes his own clay, which he does in the garden by using some weird filtration system using various buckets and sieves! He’s going to show me how to do this too ‘cos, as he would say, “why waste money when you have the free raw materials on your doorstep?”

My crazy puppy Betsy is still at the centre of our lives, can’t believe I spend so much time dog walking – hard work but SO worth it & so many beautiful beaches to visit..

This is me and PP at Billie’s 17th birthday in January (blimey I’m old!) We had a scrummy meal at Bill’s in Exeter joined by my Dad, also celebrating his 77th (now HE IS old) Only joking Dadski!

Who has heard of Helen Bottrill from Kindred Rose? She is a talented textile artist from Devon who runs a brilliant Artisan Market in Blackborough Village Hall (where I shall be on Saturday 10-2pm) AND now runs a forum for creative women to meet up and inspire/support/motivate and share skills in a warm, friendly environment (with biscuits!)

The last meeting was on April 30th, I took Helene (my trusty sidekick & top candle salesperson) and we listened to brilliant talks from Kirsty Elson & Rachael (Grace and Favour Home) where they shared tips, advice and experiences. Helen is a natural for connecting people and uses her great sense of humour to put folk at ease, if you are creative and local take the time to research this worthwhile venture!

And try to pop along to the market on Saturday x

Product recall: Geranium & Orange candles

February 17, 2015 by sam

If you have recently purchased a geranium & orange candle from me, or bought one in the past, can you please contact me to arrange returning it for a full refund. Also, if you have purchased one and given it as a gift I would be grateful if you could let the recipient know.

Many thanks,

Sam

Christmas pudding candles, a new puppy and my summer…

October 3, 2014 by sam

…well where did that three months go?

We had a lovely, sunny couple of days in Swanage with my Dad, catching up with the Kirby clan, then a long drive up to Scotland to visit old pals (long overdue as we’ve not been for 7 years!) now an entirely different story as the “kids” have turned into “teens” (or is it tweens?) and they left us alone to do strange things like relax, chat and please ourselves! Weird!

We walked up a hill, slept, ate, caught up with old friends and celebrated my 45th birthday at an amazing restaurant http://www.timberyard.co/ (thanks Lou & Jackson)

but most of all we felt welcome & had such a laugh. We returned to Devon completely relaxed, wondering why we’d left it so long to go up there…?

Nobody really wanted their photo taken, can you tell? Meg (below) celebrated her 13th birthday in August…

We watched a film on the beach, bought a puppy whilst away stalling at the amazing Love Lane Vintage Summer Brocante in Wisborough Green (I broke my record for my busiest day ever!) and did fairs in Tavistock, Portscatho and Dorset.

I’m off to Wiltshire tomorrow to do a vintage jumble & get rid of loads of things which I really don’t need. Having ignored the house for pretty much all of 2013 I’m having a long overdue sort out and it is very cathartic (truthfully though, guests coming during October half term may have something to do with it)

I have perfected a new festive candle scent called Christmas Pudding, it took me ages to get it right so I hope you like it…

Don’t forget to keep an eye on my calendar so you know where to find me. You can also buy my candles in The Crafted Emporium in Dartmouth Market Square & Honeysuckle Homes Interiors in Torquay x

Ascot, Crikey at Killerton, candles & a new website!

July 3, 2014 by sam

Well Saturday is nearly here and I’m madly making candles for Selina Lake’s Handmade & Vintage Summer Fete and book signing in Guildford, 11am – 5pm. I’m honoured & excited to be asked to stall there (mainly due to my friend Kitty who gave her one of my candles last year & she loved it!) Kitty will be there too, serving the all important teas and coffees – come and say hi (especially to her – she’s nuts!)

We managed a family trip to North Devon where we visited a wonderful Sculpture Park and Art Hotel (Broomhill House near Barnstaple) I (obviously) loved this teacup! Difficult to find something that suits us all now and doesn’t involve shopping as girls are 16 and 12, but this ticked all the boxes!

We had our own Ascot Ladies Day round at a friends house & the sun shone, bets were placed, the BBQ was lit and plenty of Pimms was drunk! The cheapest charity shop outfit was supposed to win a bottle of fizz BUT Mel drank it all.

Killerton weekend was fantastic, again the sun shone down on us, I sold loads of candles & had a stall next to Kelly Rowe from Blueberry Hill Vintage we had such a giggle!

PP has been messing around with the website, still not done but looks much better and easier to navigate, fresh candle deliveries have gone off to The Crafted Emporium in Dartmouth Market Square, Good Golly Miss Molly (in Bunyip Beads, Fore Street, Exeter) and Honeysuckle Homes Interiors, Castle Circus, Torquay. Must dash off now though to get some candles made for the big day on Saturday x

Sun, sea, Style at Home, Selina Lake (& candles of course!)

May 20, 2014 by sam

Well, May is upon us and I didn’t even manage a post in April which was so busy! Mainly because we went to Spain to stay with my lovely pal Sally and her daughter, a very necessary family holiday in the sun which was our Christmas present from my lovely Dad. We took lots of silly selfies on the plane,and messed around with the panoramic feature on the phone. We visited the Dali museum in Figueres….and Cadaques, where he lived with his wife and loved to paint, due to the beautiful light – a bit like St Ives I thought. We went to see a couple of Medieval forts, Pals, now inhabited by artists…and Peratallada, so beautiful & hardly a tourist in sight. The benefit of having a friend living in Spain is that you get to visit secret places.The article about my house was in the May issue of Style at Home magazine which was quite exciting (and gave my Dad something else to think about for a while) He told all his friends to buy a copy and a couple of the local shops had to restock! Although I wasn’t in a great place when they came to take the photos, you can’t really tell and I’m glad I did it as it’s a nice keepsake for the girls.I haven’t had many orders since, so have made the decision to smarten up the website and my friend Mike Evans spent the day here last week taking some wonderful pictures – he’s so clever with lighting, watch this space…

My next fair is Miss Ivy‘s Revival at Cockington, Torquay on Saturday May 31st where you can find me in the main house, my friend Justin has just opened up a new company called “Gaff” based in one of the old barns by the playpark there, so if you are visiting the Miss Ivy event make sure you go and check out his newly upholstered, mid-century furniture for sale (there are a few smelly candles there too of course, in mid-century crock’s like Hornsea and Midwinter)

I was very excited to be invited to stall at Selina Lake‘s Fair and book signing in Guildford on July 5th where I get to catch up with crazy Kitty and our good friends in Woking. If you live “up-country” (as they say down here) make sure you go, it’ll be a great day out.

I need to go and get on with some candles (orange & ylang today) but must mention that I got a bit carried away at the auction the other day and bought loads of old pottery from Devon (Sandygate, Babbacombe, Watcombe, Torquay) produced between the 1930’s – 1960’s and depicting seagulls and spots. It really is gorgeous, so if you are a collector keep an eye on my facebook page as I fill them for sale….

Mags, bags and Mr Burrell…(& candles of course!)

March 27, 2014 by sam

When I started my little candle journey in 2009, selling a few prototypes in my friend Teresa’s garden at a charity fundraiser, I didn’t expect it to turn into a full-time job, but this is undoubtedly what has happened. Now I’m not complaining, and having done NO marketing, NO promotion & NO advertising (other than attend some of the best vintage fairs around) I am proud that my candles have sold themselves and this year Peagreen was featured in the wonderful “My London Lifestyle” magazine as the perfect Mothers Day gift.

I also get a write-up in the “Homes and Antiques” blog (thanks Alice) and get a mention in an interiors magazine (Style at Home) due out on April 2nd (as it includes a little article about my house).

I hadn’t realised how busy I was until a pending visit from our old friend Charlotte last week sent me into a candle producing frenzy. In order to have enough stock for three big fairs (Crikey it’s Vintage, Vintage at the Village Hall & The Vintage Bazaar) all taking place within eight days, the day after she left, I had to be seriously sorted. Silly selfie with Charlotte…..

I had also had an email from Paul Burrell, who was spending a weekend in Devon and wanted to buy ALL my candles in Royal cups & mugs, so I had to rendezvous with him at A La Ronde (great NT house near Exmouth).

I met the lovely Helen (The Upcycled Home Co.) with a few candles for her new venture – a beautiful shop in the heart of the Mount Edgecumbe Estate in Cornwall, which opens on April 6th. I popped into “Odds & Suds” with some candles for Jenny, which I had hand-poured into vintage french jars for her. They looked gorgeous actually so if anyone has any that they want to off-load…..?

I had an email from a lovely lady in Torquay who had received one of my candles for Christmas, loved it, and wanted to invite all her friends to a candle party at her house….would I be interested? Yes please said I and it was fantastic! I have since done another one for my gorgeous pal Kat (whos birthday we celebrated in style during a 12 hour session!) this was taken at midnight & I think we look rather well considering we met in Torquay at 1pm, don’t you?

Kat’s friend Janet has also booked in a party for April 4th. I’m thinking this could be the way forward, mainly because I can drink wine at the same time as selling candles whilst PP does the driving! Below PP (and Billie) yes, he’s driving again!

As (for once) my business account is looking healthy I treated myself to an iphone 5s (which I am not using to its full potential according to my kids!) I’ll get there…it would help if I had a minute to sit down and have a mess around with it! I also treated myself to a new Mulberry bag (a terrible addiction of mine) I have three already but have sold one to help fund the purchase & ease my feelings of guilt. I figured after the year I’ve had I deserved it…yum…I love it.

I’ve been doing lots of walking in order to stay positive since losing my Mum in August. Every day is a battle between my sad and happy feelings, easier to get them into perspective whilst walking in beautiful surroundings. Watcombe beach is a favourite, & almost always deserted….

I walk with my lovely friend Lou every Monday & however we start off we always return smiling!

If I’m going for a rare coffee in Shaldon with my pal Tracy (my sister Mabel) I get PP to drop me so I have to walk back to Maidencombe….

….we used to meet up all the time but it has turned into a bi-annual coffee now, we are both so busy!

Halfway home there is an entrance to a field where I get a clear view of Teignmouth across the estuary & I imagine my girls working away at school. A few metres on I get a view of Bishopsteignton and can see my Dad’s house, I often stop and wonder what he is doing & hope he isn’t feeling sad….

I had better sign off now as I’m picking him up at 1pm and taking him out for lunch (as usual I’m still in my pj’s at noon) I’m really looking forward to my fair on Saturday as I get to catch up with the gorgeous Kitty who is always good for a giggle. We get to spend the night before with pal’s in Woking & stock up on our favourite wine in Hartley Wintney. I’ll end with a picture of our rescue chickens who are now healthy and HUGE x

January 2014….candles, chickens and Seth Lakeman

January 24, 2014 by sam

We started the Christmas festivities off with an “Abigail’s Party” party on December 14th. Everyone had to come in a suitably disgusting outfit (embracing polyester) and bring something for a 70’s buffet. Consequently all the men looked like 70’s porn stars and we consumed far too many calories in the form of curried eggs, trifle, vol-au-vents, Coronation chicken & quiche….*pukes*

Not to mention Snowballs, Babycham, Cherry B & lots of fizz (the red wine went in the fridge) Helene (style guru) managed to pick up this dress for 50p from a local charity shop…. I has to stay well away from any naked flames!

PP just wore one of his normal outfits & nobody could tell the difference! He loves a bit of cord….

See what I mean….? Pure porn!

Well, we all managed to get through Christmas without too much upset, caught up with lots of friends and I managed trips to Buck’s, Brighton and Cornwall. Get me! Little Miss sociable! Christmas Eve was spent with pal’s in our village, Christmas morning at Maidencombe beach for the traditional run into the sea, then chilling at home with Grandad & Boxing Day off to Shaldon to watch the annual three legged race (visiting each pub along the way – them, NOT us) & catching up with the family!

My Christmas crockery got a wash & an airing……….

But is now back in the cupboard, Christmas just goes by too quickly don’t you think? Now I am back to reality & had my first show at Exeter Uni. yesterday (a bit quiet but always a good opportunity to catch up with everyone) I already have an order for 20 jelly moulds and am doing a new range of candles in vintage tins (easier to post around the country) I’ve been booking fairs and writing cheques and re-stocking my crates with some lush new concoctions (Lime & Pomegranate, Oats, Milk & Honey, Orange & Ylang, Caramel Latte)

What do you think?

My next fair will be the wonderful Tavistock Vintage on Feb 22nd in the Town Hall (free entry) always a good one if you want to catch a glimpse of the gorge Seth Lakeman (swoons) and his equally gorgeous wife! On March 22nd I’ll be doing “Crikey at The Castle” in Exeter, an exciting new venue for this well established fair.

And on March 29th I’ll be at The Vintage Bazaar in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, & will get to catch up with the lovely Kitty – always a bonus! Back to my chores for now then….I’m on a mission to get my kitchen tidy and sorted….always! Check out all the eggs from my happy hens, who look a bit different from the day PP brought them back from the battery farm and have laid all winter!

Christmas Candle Craziness…..and new hair!

December 2, 2013 by sam

Oh blimey, it’s been ages since I’ve done a blogpost but it’s that crazy time of year again and as I couldn’t start building up my Christmas stock during the Summer I started off on the backfoot…..

this is my stall at Crikey it’s vintage in Exeter on November 16th where I practically sold out! Thankfully I had Helene helping me that day as I was a tad hungover!

These beautiful dolls were for sale on the stall opposite mine, made by a talented Russian lady, each one was intricately decorated with a handpainted face and its own character. It was her first fair and she deservedly did really well (I bought four!)

This is an order ready to post to my lovely friend Kitty who gave one of my candles to her friend (the stylist Selina Lake) who consequently mentioned it on her facebook page which resulted in an Etsy order – yay! Thanks Kitty! Check out her NOTHS shop, she makes fab cards…www.notonthehighstreet.com/kittys

Above is a selection of pretty candles I made for Christmas, all now sold! I had nine fairs during November and sold 245 candles – wow! I’m off to Ashburton in a minute to discuss stocking The Vintage Emporium and drop off an order, then back home for more candle making in preparation for my last fair on Saturday 7th December at The Guildhall, Plymouth.

Before The Carriage House fair in North Devon on Thursday evening we had to pop into Illfracombe to see Damien Hirst‘s “Verity” which now adorns the harbour, and very impressive she is too! I even had time for a radical new haircut…..what d’you think?