Opening the tin......

A green ( I know... it looks blue in the photo ) painted pine shelf has been the first piece of furniture to get the Annie Sloan "French linen"paint treatment at Chez Cloth Shed...

Sanded back to reveal the underneath green colour....then polished with clear wax.

A small, gold convex mirror and little tray also received the A.S. treatment too...

Now.... it could be that I was painting in sub zero temperatures in the garage yesterday....not good.... but I did find it too thick and gloopy straight from the tin and also it started to drag and clump as I brushed  over previously painted areas. Consequently I diluted it with a little water.... which obviously helped the application.
I will persevere with it of course, but I think for small pieces it is fine and for larger pieces of furniture... I will be sticking to my eggshell or emulsion and wax Farrow and Ball.

A pretty single eiderdown and two quite different biscuit barrels from Tuesday complete the new stock pictures.

And finally, I just had to buy this battered tin sign for the stall....my secret is now out!

Have a good weekend, and stay warm,
Julie x

Antique birthday....

The Antiques, Vintage and Retro Fair yesterday at Hexham, Northunberland was the 250th consecutive event, with not one missed since 1991...quite a feat considering, snow, floods and extensive building work at Wentworth Leisure Centre  have caused a few headaches over the years.

For a midweek Fair it is always extremely busy with both trade buyers and members of the public...

And as a way of thanks....complimentary cake and sherry were provided for everyone and three lovely, long standing lady exhibitors were invited to cut the cake....

.
Julie x

Cotswolds break....

A few days away in one of our favourite places....The Cotswolds,  took us to the pretty town of  Northleach
Gloucestershire.

And a visit to a lovely shop called The Perfect Whimsy  run by the equally lovely Joasia, who has recently started a blog..here.  She is so gorgeous and great fun too!

The shop is a treasure trove of decorative loveliness and of course I was tempted with everything.
But finally I came away with this French La Poste mail sack.

With great repairs,

Hand stitched, rolled edge,

And a label telling me the history of these vintage mail sacks....

I love it!

Other finds the day before included this vintage coat hanger and handbag,

A Laura Ashley chintz cushion, Tole planter, decorative picture frame, salmon mousse tin and a hand painted Susie Watson strawberry bowl completed my purchases.

A visit to the newly refurbished  Station Mill Antique Centre  in Chipping Norton yielded a pot of Annie Sloan paint which I have been wanting to buy for a long time now and keen to see how it compares to my beloved Farrow and Ball.

Chalk paint..."French linen" and surprise, surprise.... I have a piece of furniture ready and waiting in the wings especially for it....a "Georgian" reproduction pine cabinet.

Keep you posted.....
Julie x

Pictures.....

All ready with some new additions for this weekend's Fair in Carlisle, Cumbria .....A pair of chintz curtains, a rosebud and spot cloth, kitchen jugs and a large embroidered picture with the most detailed work.

A village scene done with a variety of stitches and plenty of patience....I love the naive quality and the perilous angle of the church!

Not particularly old ....unlike these two 1940's embroidered pictures....

But the skill, time and effort would have been exactly the same.

Two vintage, Scottish mohair lovelies.....a scarf and a shawl.... in pretty pastel colours.

And my little favourite....

The cutest photo of a baby in a vintage photo frame,

So sweet....

 Hope you all have good weekend,
Back soon,
Julie x

P.S.Thank you for all your lovely comments and a big hello to my new followers too! 

Found them.....

A quick wander through a village churchyard in Northumberland yesterday on the hunt for something white.

Plenty of frost on the grass, walls and gates.....

The gravestones too.....

The stone roof on an exposed out house with little trees of frost....

Then, poking their heads through the path....still camouflaged in a frosty blanket.... I found them.....

My first snowdrops!

It must be the child in me, but I love the search for the first sight of these little plants, knowing that in a few more weeks the woods nearby will be carpeted in white as they were last year....

Have you found yours yet?
Julie x

All change.....

It is three years now since a lovely journalist and a photographer knocked at the front door and set to work.

Asking questions and taking great photographs.

My favourite room in the house.....the kitchen....which hasn't really changed much.

The glazed extension has pushed the kitchen into the garden....taking advantage of the inherited canopy of mature beech, oak and larch trees which  provide welcome shade in the Summer.... and in the Winter, a great room for sewing as the light is so good. 

 The hall with a light, airy Nordic / French feel... is much the same....no real change.

As I look at the photos again.....new things have arrived and old things have now moved on to someone else.

I suppose that is the beauty of what I do.

Somethings of course will never go..... like my "Cloth Shed" straw house box and the old laundry basket rescued from the local tip.

It has been with me for many years and is so useful for hiding pieces of  fabric for future Cloth Shed projects.

In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw a nice old laundry basket.

The wool blanket on the side of the sofa in the sitting room was given to me by a friend whose farming family in the 1950's used to send the wool from their sheep to the local Woollen Mill at Otterburn, Northumberland. 

What a great idea....not sure if they still do personal requests these days.

 The sharp eyed amongst you will probably remember the "tidy" pictures from a previous post....yes, things have changed slightly here too.

Finally the blue bedroom is no longer..... and is now a confection of old pink/red toile and French linen sheets for curtains.

All change....I think this is going to be my motto for 2012.

New projects afoot....

Keep you posted.
Julie x