Author Archives: sam

Well hello 2013

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Cannot believe it is Jan 1st already! What a busy bee I’ve been….Christmas lunch went without a hitch (there were nine of us in all) My positivity didn’t work on the old health front and I’m still on the anti-biotics BUT never fear….I have ordered a heavy duty juicer and plan to blast my health with a January full of liquid goodnes (and terrible wind no doubt!)

Poor Pauly’s approach to good health involves a dip in the sea every Friday with his pal Nige.  Not a wetsuit between them, they brave the freezing waves…..here they are joining in the annual Maidencombe Christmas Day run into the sea

Now, I know what you’re thinking……

How did Helene and I manage to end up with such gorgeous, muscular menfolk in our lives?

Well……Lady luck shone down on us didn’t she?

Here are all the other mad folk of Maidencombe who ran in and then ran out again rather swiftly whilst PP & Nige just swam off into the distance (them being used to it and all) like it was the middle of a hot August day (not that I can remember what one of those is…!)

My girls – trying to look happy sitting on a rock in the rain on Christmas Day, I don’t think they would have joined us if it wasn’t for their new Jack Wills umbrella being able to get an airing! Then off we went to Shaldon on Boxing Day for the annual 3 legged race and guess what????  It rained!

We spent the 27th watching all the things we had recorded (in our pj’s – yay!) On the 28th we went to visit Granny Valie in Hardwick Village for a sleepover. Popped over to visit mad neighbour Deb’s (and get my coffee fix) on the 29th – imagine not having real coffee in the house Granny Valie…..epic FAIL (heehee) then off to Brum to visit the in-laws, drink Champagne, see Life of Pi in 3D (Fantastic and just as good as the book!) a bit of retail therapy in Selfridges and it was time to come home to Devon!

This is my gorgeous nextdoor neighbour (and great pal) in a rather fetching wetsuit,  what d’you think….?  And to get her back for buying a new house and leaving my side in 2013 I’m putting her dashing gorgeousness on my blog, heehee! Wishing you all love & laughter in the year ahead,

Sam x

(and I didn’t even mention candles!)

The Biotic Woman….

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…..had to steal that from my friend Ben who called me it when I told him that I was on my 3rd course of anti-biotics! Haha!

Feeling so much better than I have done since the beginning of October, my little cold turned into a chest infection, which turned into sinusitis, which basically ended up as chronic sinusitis as the anti-biotics failed to work. My 3rd course were a load of huge white tablets, three times a day, plus decongestant, ibuprofen and steroid nasal spray! Nice! Last tablet tomorrow morning so fingers crossed for me as Christmas quickly approaches…..

Through my snotty haze I have managed to see Mumford & Sons (in Torquay of all places) Florence and the Machine (at Westpoint in Exeter) all down to my lovely friend Lucy who sent me free tickets to both. I took my girls to see Florence (& a few friends) it was great to see them bopping around, singing along – it’s just a shame it took us an hour to get out of the car park (well – field) at the end….worth it though!

I’ve managed (with a lot of coughing) to do all my fairs this Christmas (4 in Nov & 7 in Dec) the Craft Hub fair at The Castle in Exeter was brilliant. It was the busiest day I have had – ever! I nearly sold out of candles! Fortunately I had taken my trusty assistant (& great pal) Helene, who held the fort – especially as I had a surprise visit from a London friend who was down in Devon for the weekend and managed to drop by (lovely to see you both Val & Deb’s)

I had a stall next to the talented Kirsty Elson (been next to her before in Portscatho so we know each other) I had to buy this Christmas card holder, isn’t it fab?? You can’t really see  but there is a long string hanging down from the centre with a large red bell attached to the end so you can clip all your cards on, I love it!

I also ordered some gorgeous blocks from Fee at Chipper Nelly. I sent her an old book from a collection I have and she created these so I can use them as a decoration year after year. She must have tiny little fingers as she manages to work so intricately. We were messaging away on facebook like we were old friends, she’s a real sweetie – check out her blog….

Getting ready for Christmas in our house always involves a hug slab of Rocky Road so you can see that the prep for the big day is underway! I stupidly decided to start moving the house around as I wanted the tree to go in the bay window in the lounge…why oh why did I do this? So the rest of my week now includes painting a cupboard, putting up shelves and emptying boxes to add to everything else!

The tree is still on top of the car (been there since the school run yesterday!) and I am still in my PJ’s (it is only 9am) so I had better go and start crossing things from my list (a blog post was one of them so I’m not doing too badly am I…?) I might do another when I get the tree up. Thank you all for your support with my little business, I had the busiest Christmas yet with loads of regulars returning for candles & full of “peagreen” praise, it was heart warming, not to mention inspiring. I love what I do and have let it grow slowly and naturally over the past 3 years. I’m thrilled that it is pretty much a full-time job now and is encouraging people to reuse old things in a way that maybe they wouldn’t have considered in the past……

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone

Sam x

Sick of being sick!

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AAaarrggghhhh….my busiest time of year and I’m sick of being sick! At least I work at home and have been able to potter around making candles (at a greatly reduced pace though!)

You may remember that I did some candles in unwanted Cath Kidston stuff that I had hanging around the house, well they are back for Christmas by popular demand (more pix on my facebook page) I have been cracking on with my orders….

These are for my postie who knocked with parcels the other day while I was making creme brulee candles…”what are you cooking?” he asked and then ordered four! Bless him.

I have been messing around with candles in 1950’s pottery, as vintage teacup candles seem to be popping up everywhere now and I don’t like to be doing the same as everyone else (unlike some people in Birmingham I could mention!) The trouble with programmes like Kirstie & her vintage home, is that things become more expensive and increasingly difficult to source. I am fortunate to have lots of vintage contacts now though, having been doing the shows for the last few years. They often let me know if they have jelly moulds etc. Don’t think I could survive without them now! Thanks gals!

My lovely friend Emma is organising this Christmas Craft Fair in North Devon on 29th November, it is in the Carriage House of a friends property and sounds lush (haven’t seen it yet) There will be various artists and makers, mulled wine and mince pies plus lots of festive goodies if you want to shop handmade and local this Christmas!

I have just found out that I am doing another local fair on the evening of November 27th, 7pm at The Crab Shack, Teignmouth (on the back beach by The Ship Inn) this is in aid of a fishermans charity. There will be lots of local goodies including driftwood & my candles…more info to follow..

I am in Portscatho on Sunday 10am – 3pm at The Memorial  Hall. This is always a fab day out run by the artist Jane Winton and Gertie, who runs the gorgeous shop “The Sea Garden” in Portscatho village. Free entry, great local crafts, vintage homewares and yummy cakes!

I’m getting quite excited about Christmas now and hoping I’ll be lurgy-free….. I made my Guinness Christmas pud during the week and have my Christmas cake fruit soaking in Cherry Brandy in the fridge – yum! Today I’m making Amaretto candles, the whole house stinks and it’s making me feel extremely hungry. I should be trying to shift a few pounds in the run-up to festive over indulgence but I’m too ill & have already nearly finished the jumbo tin of Celebrations I bought for the hol’s and told the kids to leave alone! Fortunately MadMen 5  dropped through the letter box the other day so I have had Don Draper etc. for company and I’m reading a great book “The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year” very encouraging, think I may take a leaf out of her book! Can’t wait for The Killing III on Saturday night too but for now I had better go and make some candles x

yuk….and candles!

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I simply cannot believe that I am still feeling yukky and into my fifth week of this lurgy! Having downed nearly a whole bottle of Floradix and two tubes of Berocca, cancelled numerous “engagements” and hit the sack every night before 10pm it is still keeping me company! And it is unwanted company! At my most hectic time of year I have no energy and a comedy cough, thankfully I work from home and can plod around my kitchen in my pj’s fulfilling my candle orders or I would really be in a pickle!

I have dragged myself to the last couple of fairs that I had booked, Exminster Contemporary Craft Fair on October 27th was brilliant, vibrant and buzzing with a great atmosphere, loyal locals doing their Christmas shopping and a great cafe adjoining Victory Hall. Well done Kay and everyone involved.

Above is my stall at Tavistock Vintage & Textile Fair last Saturday with my new sign, made from an old Fisher Price farm which I glued scrabble letters on to – I think it’s quite effective don’t you? It was another really busy day at Tavi and I am now madly making again for Portscatho Homespun fair on November 18th.

I love these huge Victorian ceramic moulds, some of them hold up to two pints of wax and will keep the room feeling festive and scented for up to 150 hours – I think they are a bargain at £25 when you think what a tiny designer votive costs (£30-£40!!!) I don’t sell that many though and would appreciate your thoughts/feedback….

 

Since the “candle scandal” I have been blocked from my “friends” facebook page, where she is happily copying every single aspect of Peagreen and thinks that it’s acceptable, as she is “halfway up the country”.  Everyone obviously loves a scandal as I had 200 hits on my website that day and 3 big orders, heehee! Good luck to her and her lack of imagination! Speaking of orders I have just had one come in for 10 jelly moulds so must dash…and I feel a bowl of Heinz tomato soup coming on…

Still ill….

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this week I have been mostly

a) Getting cross with this cold, which is into it’s third week…most annoying!

b) Having my artistic integrity compromised (by a so called friend who bought a load of candles from me then 2 months later decided to start her own candle business, pouring soya candles into vintage items such as jelly moulds!)

c) Sleeping (in an attempt to get rid of my cold)

d) Eating (no change there) in an attempt to get some energy from somewhere other than huge hits of caffeine from too strong black coffee!

e) Sulking – because “Revenge” has finished and I was loving it! Got to wait until 2013 for the next series….

and

f) Making candles – surprise, surprise!

I found these gorgeous old spice jars in a charity shop for 50p each – yay! My lovely Christmas ribbons arrived from The Netherlands…..

the picture is slightly blurred, sorry about that. And I have been making my jam-jar candles look a bit sexier. What do you think? They have not been on sale for a while whilst I devised a way to get the tags to stay on (they were tied on with string and kept falling off!) I think the operation was a success, with some nice 1950’s ribbon purchased at The Nostalgic Mix Fair in Totnes last weekend…

My next fair is on Saturday in Exminster, I haven’t done it before but it has been running for a while and is supposed to be a great day out… see you there?

ill……..

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yet again I have proved myself to be too old for the party lifestyle, having spent Friday night out in a bar in Teignmouth to see my friend’s band Bad Mojo – they were very good btw, and then had four couples for dinner on Saturday night (lovely – but the last guests left at 3am!) I have spent all week with a yukky cold, that’ll teach me!

Up to my eyes in orders and Christmas fairs this is not a good time to be feeling unwell & my poor friend (lovely Lucy) who drove all the way here on Wednesday for a 24 hour visit had to endure me slopping around in my p-j’s…not a good look!

Anyway, I have managed to get some crates full of Christmassy scented candles ready for the Vintage fair in Totnes tomorrow, complete an order of teacup candles for Claire at Good Golly Miss Molly in Exeter, to be delivered next week & have nearly finished a Christmas order for my friend Charlotte up in Scotland so don’t think I’ve done too badly considering….

Plymouth, Plymouth & more Plymouth…

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I have decided that Plymouth needs to become a bigger part of my life as being situated halfway between Plymouth and Exeter I always “pop into Exeter” rather than “pop down to Plymouth” and having spent the weekend there (Saturday at a vintage fair in the Guildhall)

and Sunday on a family adventure which involved much exploration of The Barbican, a boat trip along to Devonport, pasties (yum) ice creams (yum) and childish giggles from my 11 and 14 year old girls everytime we mentioned Plymouth Ho! (I don’t need to explain do I?)

If I had any spare cash (lol) I would invest in a little flat by The Barbican as one day it will be the place to go. It has undergone a transformation and is full of lovely restaurants, shops & bars, as we wandered around I couldn’t help thinking that if it was in London you wouldn’t be able to move – let alone get a waterside seat to eat your lunch. Beryl Cook would have a right shock if she could see it now.

One of the best sights that day was this 1950’s Morris ice-cream van, I wanted to steal it and drive it home….

As you can see we were not blessed with any sunshine (other than the sunshines that we took with us!) It was good fun though and well worth the trip, must return to my “Amaretto” candles now & pick up the monsters from school.

The Vintage Bazaar, roast chicken & Christmas candles…

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…my favourite day is the kind we had on Sunday, when it poured with rain and I got to indulge myself with my favourite things.

Snuggling under a blanket on the sofa in front of a roaring fire with a roast chicken in the oven watching films with the family, an early night (after Downton Abbey) in clean sheets with a tummy full of crumble & cream, yummy wine and that satisfied feeling that comes with knowing everything is prepared for the manic Monday morning that lies ahead.

I love this time of year. Enjoying crisp, cold, sunny mornings and the smell of my Christmas candles permeating the house as I prepare for my busiest time of  year. Lot’s of baking, eating and early nights. Visits to deserted Devon beaches and dinner parties with pals.

I have a studio full of gorgeous bits and pieces waiting to be filled with gingerbread, amaretto, snowball, mulberry and frankincense and myrrh candles. The Vintage Bazaar was brilliant on Saturday in Hampshire and not only did I nearly sell out,  I managed to purchase some gorgeous sets of china. This rare 1950’s coffee set from Sophie at fading grace is one of them…

Each cup and saucer in this coffee set from France (which I bought from a lovely lady called Kitty) is an exquisite delicate pastel shade.  I am about to fill them with snowball scented candles, a kind of milky, hot toddy scent – yum!

A lady called Elise, who has a shop in Pangbourne selling vintage furniture, linens and accessories, nearly cleared me out of jelly moulds (she bought 10 for her shop!) The lovely Ali from Betty & Violet invited me to stall at a Vintage Christmas Boutique which she is organising at Woburn Abbey on November 15th. Looks like it will be a gorgeous day out, but such a trek for me from Devon so I’m mulling it over. My next fair is All things Vintage & Lovely on Saturday 29th September in the Guildhall, Plymouth….see you there x

Cath Kidston Candles…

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One of my pals bought me some Cath Kidston enamel beakers which I didn’t really need and it seemed a shame to keep them just for camping (especially with the weather we’ve been having lately!) Anyway, I decided to make them into candles (still up-cycling I feel…?) I popped a little picture of them onto facebook and low and behold……within 2 hours I had sold all six of them! Everyone loves a bit of Cath obviously!                                                                                            

I have been madlly making candles ready for the Christmas rush. Crikey was busy in Exeter on Saturday, this Saturday I’ll be in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire to do The Vintage Bazaar and on September 29th I’ll be at Plymouth Guildhall to do All Things Vintage and Lovely.  Sara, from Honeysuckle Homes Interiors in Torquay, has ordered 30 candles to be delivered this week and I’m in discussions with “Kiss the Frog Again” in Bath (a gorgeous vintage emporium) about a possible wholesale order!

I love this little old mustard pot (with spoon!) which I couldn’t resist filling with a “roses” candle. I forgot to unpack it at Crikey so I’ll be taking it to Hampshire with me on Saturday (bet it won’t be on the stall for long!) I have just ordered all my Christmas scents and will be doing a new one “Cherry Amaretto” along with my usual favourites (Gingerbread, Snowball, Mulberry, Frankincense & Myrhh, Coffee Caramel Cream and Creme Brulee) alongside all current best sellers. I will now start to phase out the Summer scents but all are available to order.

I have been collecting old ceramic moulds as they make gorgeous candles, although they are more expensive to buy than the glass ones I think for a special gift they would be perfect. I’d better go and do some work now, I’ve got a bride in St Marychurch waiting for a delivery of vintage cups & saucers to give as gifts at her wedding on Saturday, I’m doing my voluntary shift in our village shop from 1-3pm and I have to get to the bank, buy some food and make a lasagne (not to mention finishing off the Mulberry candles which are setting all over the kitchen…..