Well, my homeware sale Chez Beccy was a great success! 

It was great to show off all my products in situ, and fabulous to meet local customers. 

Here are some photos I took on the day. It was a bit windy so the bunting was really flying!

I hung the aprons in the hall on the coat hooks...

My new wicker chair with cushions...

Only 2 days to go until my Pop Up shop opens in my home in Bampton, please come and visit. 

I'm right in the centre of the village. I've been making lots of preparations, the blackboard is out, even the front door has been painted!

And tomorrow I set up! I can't wait to display all my gorgeous country cottage style homewares for you too see. All made from beautiful quality fabrics for my discerning customers. Lots of lovely presents ideas for Friends, Sisters, Mums, Aunties...or just a little something for you. 

Why not treat yourself!

I have been making these lovely zip purses which are now available in my shop. They can be used as a coin purse, or great for cosmetics, make-up, jewellery and other bits and bobs!

Approximately W16 x H12.5cm, they have the same pattern fabric on both sides, a cotton lining and a zip to keep your belongings secure.

My new personalised place settings! 

Order your place tags from my online shop here. Below you can see how easy it is to create your own pretty individual place settings.

Collect together some pretty leaves and flowers. Here I have used bay leaves and gypsophila, I also added in some rosemary.

You will also need some string, small wooden pegs and the napkin.

Wrap the string around the napkin at least twice before tying a knot first then a bow. Place two if the bay leave underneath the string and put a small sprig of gypsophila on top. Finally peg the name place card to the string just by the bow.

In this image I also added a small sprig of rosemary.

New Year, New Photos

Last year for me was a year of making, this year I think it's going to be the year of photography!

I felt I needed to give my etsy shop a bit of attention. It's has always taken rather a back seat, up until now I've always prioritised doing events and fairs.

 I thought I'd begin by looking at the photographs I had. I really didn't like my napkin photographs, these were the weakest images I had out of all my product shots. The table that I had used as a background had looked very orange and even after I had edited the photos I wasn't happy with them. I did some research and looked for images in magazines and on the internet for inspiration.

I have some lovely wooden crates that I use to display my products when I do an event, so I thought I'd try using those. I also wanted to try and take overhead shots but I don't have the right sort of tripod, but I thought I'd see what I could do. I have found using natural light is the best, so I need to  use a slow shutter speed, hence I use a tripod.

So here are the results of the first photo shoot! I just used some rosemary from the garden and natural string to add interest to the image.

Then these are from the second photo shoot. Then I thought of adding a simple sprig of gypsophila to the place setting.

Then I tried adding a couple of bay leaves behind a small sprig of gypsophila. See the images in my etsy shop here

I think my napkins work really well when they are mixed and matched together, especially the china blue range. So I also photograph a couple of combinations.

At the start of the New Year, it's time to get back to normal and try to be healthy too. For me the best way of doing this is not going on a diet, that's just never going to happen. I like eating too much for that! So instead I try to up my intake of fruit and vegetables. Breakfast is also an easy meal to over look, so starting the day with my Raspberry Bircher Muesli makes me feel really good.  Here's the recipe, it's very easy and quick to make.

Beccy's Raspberry Bircher Muesli

Inspired by an article in the Country Living Magazine called 14 Overnight Mason Jar Breakfasts,

I created this Bircher Muesli with all of my favourite things!

Ingredients

1/2 cup porridge oats

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/2 cup natural yoghurt

1/4 cup milk

1/2 an apple -grated

1 1/2 tbsp runny honey

2tbsp chopped almonds

1tbsp pumpkin seeds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation method

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together thoroughly. Cover the bowl with cling 

film. Leave in the fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours. Remove from the fridge, stir and

eat as it is or with extra fruit, honey and nuts on top.

Enjoy!

A few months ago I decided to take the plunge and take a stand at the 

Christmas Country Living Fair London 9th-13th November. I have always been rather daunted by the scale of the show and wondered how on earth I could possible make enough stock to do a show like this.

So for the first time I am getting some help making my stock. This is a big development for me. Scary and exciting all at the same time!

Last week the samples arrived for my Christmas Aprons and Tea Towels  

I'm still making all the napkins myself. 

Also available are Christmas Cafetiere Cosy's! 

Come and visit my stand

It will be lovely to see you!