Catching up…….

October 19, 2013 by sam

I don’t mean to sound negative (PP says I walk around with a little cloud of negativity hanging over my head) but I’ll be glad when 2013 is over! Although a good year for Peagreen my little family has been in tatters since June 18th when my lovely Mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer. We lost her on August 30th…

Nobody loves you the way your Mum does and it’s a terrible feeling when she is no longer around for kisses and cuddles and phone-calls…..if you are lucky enough to still have your Mum make sure you do all three, regularly! The photo below is of me and my Dad the following day (August 31st) also my daughter’s 12th birthday, putting a brave face on and hiding our puffy eyes behind matching Aviator shades!

I think we pulled it off don’t you?

So, needless to say, I have lots of catching up to do. I managed to fulfill a huge wholesale jelly mould candle order (40 – yikes!) and did a very busy fair in Hampshire (The Vintage Bazaar) and another in Plymouth (All things Vintage & lovely) during September. I am now cracking on with Christmas stock & have some lovely new scents (pomegranate – yum) and being a fan of all things nutty, have overdone it a bit with Cinnamon Toasted Almonds (gorgeous) Amaretto (just like the alcoholic version) and Oats, Milk & Honey (which I haven’t gotten around to making yet but it smells fab and a bit like marzipan)

These are some “gingerbread” candles in little retro coffee cups which I rather like, but customers never seem to go for this kind of stuff – why is that? Answers on a postcard please……

This is my next fair which looks to be a great day out and means I have three weeks to get cracking with the candle making! One of the things I really need to do is get myself on Twitter (having finally got my head around pinterest) I will set myself that task to do by the time I next blog…..

My two with their gorgeous Grandad on Meg’s birthday at (Pier Point in Torquay) People say that during troubled times you find out who your real friends are and I have never felt more loved and supported than I did this Summer – you know who you are, and thank you x

a new car, candles, Cornwall (& the rest…)

August 16, 2013 by sam

It’s been over two months since I last posted anything but I’m afraid that all has not been rosey in the “Sunshine” house! Killerton was loads of fun, Shelley did a fantastic job and got over 6000 people through the door, I sold lots of candles and there was a cocktail caravan there too – perfect!

This is my stall at Littleham fair (near Exmouth) on July 6th. How appropriate that I should be in a Pimms tent. It was a gorgeous sunny day & great to see a traditional country fair in full swing. One of the visitors to my stall worked for a big candle company (Yankee Candles) in Bristol and said that I had the scents of my candles just right! Praise indeed.

After many requests I finally ordered the boxes and got some tealights made up. Each box contains 12 candles (in refillable cups) each one has a 5-6 hour burn. 72 hours worth of candles for £12.95 can’t be bad. Anyway, they’ve sold out (mainly because I delivered a huge amount to Rocombe Valley Retreats) but I’ll take that as a good sign! I had to enlist the help of my pal Helene for a frantic clean-up operation as a photographer and journalist descended on my house a few weeks ago. I’m going to be in a magazine called “Style at home” in Spring 2014 – exciting!

We managed three nights in The Lizard at the end of July (one of our fave places) the weather was glorious, the beaches were pretty empty (Praa Sands above) and the Roskilly’s Ice Cream Cafe held as much interest for us as ever. On the way back the clutch went in the car so we ended up in a tow-truck back to Devon, there was so much wrong with it that it wasn’t worth fixing so we’ve bought a big, beautiful, beast (in my fave colour) mpg is hideous though so not sure how long she’ll be around……did I mention that my phone crashed too? And I lost all my contacts? If it’s not one thing…….

Unfortunately I had to pull out of my two August fairs (Portscatho and Tavistock) but I can confirm that I will be at the next Portscatho fair on November 17th and the next Tavistock fair on November 24th. My next fair will be The Vintage Bazaar in Hartley Wintney on September 21st and until then I have a few weeks off to prepare a huge jelly mould order (40!!!!) and start to think about the “C” word (Christmas obviously!) Don’t forget my candles are available at Porters of Station Road, Bovey Tracey, The White Approach, Exmouth & Honeysuckle Homes, Torquay if you need to get one for a present. You can also contact me directly through facebook or my website. See you soon x

Salcombe, sun and tealight candles…..

June 12, 2013 by sam

I’m feeling slightly guilty about not having written anything since April but I’m here now so I’ll begin….

…..quite frankly the sun came out and the Sunshines’ went out to play! We had a night camping in Bantham, dinner in The Sloop (lovely) a visit to Kingsbridge for ice cream (even lovelier) and a day in Salcombe (not so lovely as I got dragged into Jack Wills and found myself parting with £50 for a bikini for the teen!) We have had a walk on Dartmoor, a picnic by the river before a visit to Castle Drogo, a gloriously lazy day on Mothercombe beach with BBQ, wine & good friends. We went to see Overbecks….

What a view……………?

I have painted my shed (Willow) bought a new sofa (Laura Ashley sale bargain) and done fairs in Portscatho, Frome, Hartley Wintney & Tavistock (phew!)

I also have my candles in two, new, local business ventures “Porters” in Bovey Tracey & “The White Approach” in Exmouth and have delivered a huge candle order to Honeysuckle Homes in Torquay. I have been asked to produce some tealight candles for a friend with a glamping/yurt business in Rocombe which is exciting. I’ll see how they turn out, but I will probably start to retail them in boxes of 12. Each tealight will have a 6 hour burn time AND, in the spirit of recycling, I am going to dig out some beautiful old china (with hairline cracks) to house the tealight candles in “yurtsville”. Citronella for outside & various summer scents for inside! Yum!

I took this picture on the ipad whilst lying in the dunes at Bantham…I thought it was rather good….

walking to the beach…

we arrived at the beach but it was too windy so we ended up sheltering in the dunes where Meg amused us, singing in her goggles!

Here at Peagreen HQ I have also been experimenting with some new scents. Champagne and strawberries, Raspberry fool and Coconut & lime are my faves. I went to visit my local vineyard, Old Walls Vineyard in Bishopsteignton, they give me with their old Bonne Maman jars (good excuse) & have wonderful views from the enormous deck outside the cafe, produce a few gorgeous Devon wines (the Bacchus in particular) & is well worth checking out if you live near Bishop.

Had to post this picture of my cats who I found chilling in the kitchen in their baskets earlier – aaaggghhhh! I have had a visit from an interiors journalist and a photographer about a possible article but will wait for more news before I start to WAX lyrical (hahaha – get it?) My next event is the “Crikey it’s Vintage Weekender” at Killerton House near Exeter on June 22/23, which I’m really looking forward to………..hopefully see you there…?

Royal Candles (of a fashion…)

April 11, 2013 by sam

Apologies for not blogging since the end of Feb (!!!!) but it’s been a little hectic here at Peagreen HQ. Into my fourth year and used to having Jan & Feb as a quiet time to catch up and get sorted, I had no such luck this year and was straight into orders & busy fairs!

Saw this gorgeous Morris Van in Exeter the other day whilst out bargain hunting and had to post a pic! My busiest fair this year was The Vintage Bazaar in Devizes, a new venue for Lizzie & Clare and to be honest a bit of a treck for us (3 hours) but it was worth it. Thank heavens I took my trusty helper Helene with me ‘cos we were flat out all day. We met some lovely folk and did lots of shopping – perfick!

My friend Kat was 30 in March and we secretly met up at a huge holiday cottage in North Devon, which we frantically decorated and piled the kitchen high with supplies (mostly of the alcoholic variety!) A great weekend was had by all – and yes, we did even make it out for a walk!

Love this picture of Kat and Amy (and Amy’s hat!) On March 12th Helene and I went to a brilliant lampshade making workshop run by The Craft Hub – always good to learn a new skill me thinks! (Especially when one is slightly obsessed with collecting vintage fabric!) An old 1960’s sheet makes a great lampshade don’t you know?

On March 16th I did “All things vintage and lovely” at The Palace Hotel in Torquay. Great venue and a busy day slightly marred by someone on the stall opposite who has decided (yawn) it’s a great idea to make candles in jelly moulds! Why can’t people be a bit more creative?????????? I’ve been making them since 2010 so it’s NOT a new idea…..think of something else!

On March 18th I had my little meeting with Paul Burrell – we had decided to rendezvous at Pip’s (The Craft Hub) as I haven’t seen her properly for ages and he was staying in a village nearby. Of course I was late (we were meeting outside) and by the time I turned up he was parked up and inside having a nice cuppa and a chat with Pip! He told us lots of juicy goss. and we both thought he was a very nice chap (and my candles are now available in his shop in Cheshire!) La-de-da!

I have also squeezed in a cold visit to Agatha’s “holiday home” (alright for some…………….?)

The Boat House at Greenway – all good homes should have one! And I even managed a girlie trip to Cornwall where the four of us, child-free and full of energy, consumed our weight in food and wine, danced around the house and LAUGHED…a lot

This was our house for the weekend (oh the joy of having a rich relative!) The sun even shone for a few hours on Saturday morning so we all rushed out in our pj’s armed with fresh coffee to make the most of it….

Even when it slipped behind the clouds we had a glorious view (below) and didn’t dare complain…we popped into Looe instead for coffee, cake and shopping!

Portscatho Homespun Fair was on April 1st and although it was rather chilly, it was great to catch up with everyone – next fair is The Vintage Bazaar in Frome on April 20th 9am – 3pm which I have never done before and am really exited about (apart from the 5am start!) x

candles, cars and feeling cold…..

February 26, 2013 by sam

…it’s freezing! It’s March on Friday and I am back to carb overload and the heating on full whack!

Last Friday my kids had an inset day so PP took the day off and we went to The Eden Project. As usual (too much coffee) I needed to stop and use the loo in Lostwithiel where I encountered this furry car….I have since found out that there is one in our village too – covered in astro turf…WTF? (am sectretly planning the recovering of my Citreon Picasso – I’m thinking tin foil…?)

I love Eden, the kids went skating & I did some herbal candle research and took some pix…

I particularly like taking pictures of doorways through doorways….what d’you think?

It was lovely and empty before the half term rush & we got “local” passes which were £7.50 each for the year – bargain! I sniffed my way around the herb garden and decided that thyme, orange & geranium would be a nice, new candle scent and I have come up with a satisfactory concoction today (actually, I had decided upon thyme & mint but Helene was here earlier and we made a joint decision to not produce a candle that reminded anyone of a toilet cleaning product!)

My next fair is The Vintage Bazaar on Saturday in Devizes, although I’m beginning to wonder why as it appears I will have to exit my bed at 5am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only blog I read religiously (I waste enough time already!) is that of the lovely Fee (of Chipper Nelly) and what did I spy with my little eye last week? She did a blogpost called “Another place” and I get a little mention don’t I? A little mention AND a little pic of the Pip Studio candle I made her! Bless….

it’s a Peagreen vintage jelly mould candle giveaway…..

February 12, 2013 by sam

Candle giveaway

I’m excitedly planning my first candle giveaway here at Peagreen HQ and the lucky winner will be chosen at random from all my facebook likers who share the “giveaway” post on their wall and all the readers of this ‘ere blog who add a link to Peagreen on their own blog or simply leave me a lovely comment…..

On April 1st I will notify the winner and send them (free UK P&P) a gorgeous vintage one pint jelly mould (rrp £20) made to order in a scent of their choice…..easy peasy!

this week I have been mostly making candles…

February 6, 2013 by sam

…..and I had forgotten how time consuming it is! I now have 8 full crates ready to take to Tavistock (Devon) Vintage Fair on Saturday, an order of 10 jelly moulds packed up and ready to go to Berkshire, and I’m a quarter of the way through my order for Paul Burrell. I even managed a Saturday morning walk in the sun with PP (poor Pauly)

Just look at that lovely blue sky… where’s it gone?

This is the beach at the end of my road – how lucky am I? I just need to remind myself to get down there once in a while…..

I have been getting to grips with my izettle, it all seems very simple but I’m sure I’ll manage to mess something up when I have to use it to take an actual credit card payment.

I did a swap with lovely Fee from Chipper Nelly who took a candle rather than payment for some baby boy blocks she made for my friend Nikki. As she has just finished a bathroom make-over at her house and used some gorgeous Pip Studio wallpaper, I bought a Pip Studio sugar bowl from John Lewis and filled it with a relaxing Lavender & Sage candle (she’s just messaged me on facebook to say that she loves it – phew! – breathes sigh of relief). Another great swap I did with Trixie Hewlett was for a fab 1950s lamp, she in turn had 6 of my jam-jar candles. The lamp looks perfect on my G plan desk!

This morning I received another order from Claire (Good Golly Miss Molly) for some candles in vintage trio’s so I really should go and do some work!

But can I just say that one of the best things about life at the mo is that I’m back in touch with my best mate Shazza who I met aged eleven as she got off a bus in Beaconsfield. As a girl with lots of brothers she really was like a sister to me as we went through the highs (and lows) of growing up, drinking, dating, clubbing & flat sharing in Kentish Town (blimey – so long ago!). Anyway for one reason or another we lost touch when I moved to Devon in 2006 but 2012 saw us sorting it out & now we chat away on the phone as though time stood still for 6 years – it’s never too late to look someone up and so, so worth it….

Sam x

ipads, sewing machines and brain-cells…..

January 30, 2013 by sam

……or lack of them in my case!

I refer to my recent purchase of an ipad in order to be able to plug in my izettle which will enable me to take credit card payments during a fair. This issue comes up much more regularly than in the past, especially as people tend not to carry cheque books anymore. This great little gadget is £19.99 and needs an iphone, ipad or a more up to date version of an android phone than mine, to turn it into a credit card machine – genius! Due to my failing eyesight an ipad was the obvious choice.

“It’s idiot-proof” claimed my other half (maybe so for the youth of today, who don’t consume their own weight in red wine every night!?) for me, of course, it’s a different matter entirely!

And to top off my feelings of inadequacy I decided to dig out of its box the sewing machine which my Mum bought me for me birthday (July 2012) also supposed to be simple – yeah right!

Just look at all that stuff above the dial….I don’t have a degree in ancient Egyptian (will keep you posted on progress – or lack of it) I have also booked myself onto The Craft Hub lampshade making workshop in March, something I have always wanted to learn how to do but may be an aspiration too far judging by this weeks failures!

I found this in a charity shop for £7 (bargain!) “all the gear – no idea” as my neighbour would say! Anyway, I cleaned it out and hope one day to be able to put it to good use…

I have two big orders on the go at the moment, one from Paul Burrell no less, who has a flower and gift shop in Cheshire. He bought a couple of candles from me at The Exeter Cathedral Flower Festival last summer (I have to confess, I didn’t know who he was & was chatting away, boring him to tears no doubt) He seemed like a nice chap to me and got in touch to say that he loved my candles and has ordered 20 for his shop – quite exciting me thinks!

I’ve been stocking up on pastels for Spring, mixing up some of my own scents (Apricot & Orange, Bergamot, Geranium & Orange) and booking some of the best vintage fairs for 2013. The Vintage Trading Co. in Marsh Barton is proving to be a great place to pick up reasonably priced vintage and meet customers to do candle drop-offs (and pick up jelly moulds – thank you Delia & Karen!)

I’m really looking forward to my first fair of 2013 in Tavistock on Saturday 9th Feb in The Town Hall (above the pannier market) hope to see you there x

I love Devon….

January 21, 2013 by sam

I love walking on Dartmoor with friends…..

and fantastic charity shop finds…….

I love long, lazy family meals, celebrating birthdays in country pubs (my Dad’s 75th and my daughter’s 15th) and having my Mum around the corner, looking after us all…..

my lovely dad…

my gorgeous daughter…..

I love walking along the beautiful South Devon coastline……

and feeling humbled by nature…..

I love being able to potter around my house, making candles in my kitchen, chatting to my friends, fresh coffee, homemade cakes and red wine…….

Having time to make things for people, do things for people and listen to people……

and most of all I love my gorgeous (long suffering) Pauly, who looks after us and makes us laugh….

a lot….

sometimes it’s good to stop & think & be thankful and today is one of those days!

Sam x

Keeping some Christmas….

January 11, 2013 by sam

…it is a source of amusement in our house that each Christmas, Mum (that’s me!) leaves something displayed that she can’t quite bear to pack away. In previous years it has been strings of fairy lights, a giant wreath (which I have managed to sguidge – is this a word? – my Kirsty Elson tree decorations into this year)

Hmmm…pic looks a little blurry, oh well. This time it is a white wreath which remains hanging on the lounge wall…I think I can get away with it don’t you?

and some red berry lights which are draped over a mirror in the dining room (the mirror hides a huge hole waiting for a log burner – when we find some dosh!)

in twenty years time the house will be permanently decorated for Christmas! Heehee! My lovely pal Helene got me this vintage towel for Christmas (from a Chazza of course) for the princely sum of £1.49 (she told me the price as she knew I would get as much pleasure from the bargain as the gift itself!) It was in it’s original, faded Christy packaging & must have been loitering in someones bottom drawer for 60 years!

I have just excitedly ripped open another package from the talented Fee (Chipper Nelly) but can’t post pic as it’s a pressie for my mate Nikki, who has just had her first baby (Harvey) & I’m not sure whether or not she reads my blog…don’t want to ruin the surprise…pic to follow shortly. Congratulations Nikki & David (just in case). Candle orders are coming in thick and fast and I am booking a few fairs for 2013, my first one is Tavistock Vintage & Textile Fair on Feb 9th followed by The Vintage Bazaar at Devizes on March 2nd and “All things Vintage & lovely” at The Palace Hotel, Torquay on March 16th.

I have managed to get my cupboard painted, add to my collection of pickled onion jars and find a pair of 1960’s white cats (chazza bargain…99p each!) and it’s only January 11th. Get me! So nice to be feeling well again after 3 months of sickness, I’m ready to conquer the world, well…maybe not the world, think I’ll start with my house!

Ending on a sad note I have just had word that the (wonderful) Craft Hub is no more…..boohoo…….(feeling like middle onion) I’ll miss the lovely Pip & Han and big respect to them for raising the profile of many talented crafters in the South West, thank you ladies x