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?

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….

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?

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…?

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….

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