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….

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?

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….