SPRING IS IN THE AIR!
Hello again everyone, well Spring does finally seem to be in the air, with the sunshine peeping through the clouds. One of my favourite things are the little spring lambs bleeting and jumping around the fields. They are the cutest things ever. What a lovely time of year.

Speaking of lovely times I can reveal the secret I mentioned in the last blog.
One of the local residents in Hebden Bridge is a lady called Joan, and she really is a lady, always dressed immaculately from head to toe, she has wonderful hats that she embellishes herself plus lots of gorgeous scarves and outfits. Joan has a sunny outlook on life and always lifts your spirits when you meet her.
She makes pretty greetings cards as a hobby and we sell some of them in the shop for her. Jackie and I thought she might be in her late seventies or early eighties. We were amazed when Amber from the Copra Cafe came and told us she was arranging a surprise birthday party for Joans 90th.
Amber worked very hard in getting it all ready, making a real english tea party with dainty sandwiches, tea and scones with yummy cream and jam, the best had to be the Birthday cake Amber made, it was a scrumptiously moist sponge caked packed with strawberries and cream. Delicious! Amber worked wonders!
We supplied her with some of our collection of vintage china, union jack and happy birthday bunting and some fresh rose buds for sprinkling on the tables.

Amber had also tied a red ribbon across the door for Joan to cut on entering and her daughter and friends were all inside waiting to greet her.
We had closed an hour early on the day of the party and joined Amy from Ribbon Circus haberdashery and other shopkeepers there for the celebrations.
It was a wonderful party with some lovely memories and stories shared from her friends. One lady had written a lovely poem entitled "ninety words at ninety" to describe Joan, Jackie and I were wiping tears throughout the reading, it was very touching.
Joan was overwhelmed and absolutely thrilled and thoroughly enjoyed her day.
She came into the shop a few days later with a lovely card for us and thanked us for our present. We had given her one of our china cups and saucers filled with loose summer tea all wrapped up in cellophane complete with a pink ribbon, we also gave her a Nina Campbell writing set as she has friends all around the world and is always passing on the way to the post office. She truly is the Queen of Hebden Bridge!
We will try and get some photos of the party for the next blog.

I have added a few new photos of the shop. Featured is one of our pretty rag dolls, a polka dot peg bag, one of our recent interior books, (some new one soon) and a shot of a recent window display.

Another exciting event on the not too distant horizon is our shops first birthday. We are planning celebrations and will keep you posted.

I have had two new sewing requests lately, one for a victorian pinafore and mop cap, for a lovely little girl narrating a play at school and another for a bicycle basket cover. I think I will have to get a sewing machine for the shop soon.

Jackie has been busy getting our website organised and putting things in place for a few new ideas we are looking at to add to our collection of goodies.
A few people have been asking after Colin the Cockeral and he has become quite a talking point in the shop. In fact we have had people coming in and asking Jackie advice on keeping chickens and ducks.

We recently had a lady with a St Bernard dog come into the shop she couldnt believe we let her bring him in. We have now put a sign on the door saying "muddy boots and paws welcome in this shop".
It is rewarding to see people smile when they read it and we now have regular little four legged friends coming in.
So if you wish to pay us a visit you can always bring your dog too!

If I can get Jackie to sit still long enough, I will ask her to post another update from her favourite holiday spot, the views are amazing and her wellies will be on again very soon!

Have a Happy Easter!

Denise xx

Freeeeezing February

Hi all
Can you believe its the end of February already. I know its a short month but it has gone so quickly. I have just got back to the shop after having had a week off to catch up with some sewing and buying gorgeous fabrics ready for new ideas.

The results of my time off have now arrived in the shop, our own rang Heart to Home which includes tablecloths, aprons, vintage hair ties all in pretty floral fabrics along with reversible throws which are so soft and snuggly. My favourite tablecloth features a little bird and butterfly, I almost could'nt part with it!

As requested we will be having more Duck and Chicken oilcloth soon, as its our best selling design.

Jackie has been holding the fort, battling the elements and trying to keep warm, it really is freezing at the moment. She is also considering doing a rag rugging course, when she will find the time is another thing, she meets herself coming backwards as it is with all the paperwork at the shop besides looking after her chickens ducks and Colin the cockeral.
We have just had a delivery of Heyland and Whittle hat box soaps and room diffusers which are stunningly packaged. The fragrances are beautiful a favourite has to be the Neroli and Rose. It has been a busy week for our crafters too as they have been bringing in new stock. Mothers Day and Christening cards from Miss Millie her cards are so pretty and very popular they sell out very quickly.

More raggy hearts arrived from Indigo Heart, a lovely cream one which would be fantastic for a wedding gift.

Absolutely stunning were the new cushions from Jaygo along with her ever popular purses. The best as far as I am concerned were the absolutely delightful mittens that are her latest design. They are reversible and so snuggly and warm I just wanted to keep them on all day! They really do have the feely factor!

All our crafters are so lovely its a pleasure when they come in, we get so see all the lovely new designs and catch up with a good old chatter.

We have also risen to the Totally Locally Challenge, Jackie must take the credit for this one, it was her idea to put together our Tender Loving Care package of a wonderfully fragranced bag of loose lavender combined with one of Naturaleighs soaps finished with a little pink ribbon for a fantastic price of £5 and they look so pretty.

Totally Locally as the name suggests is a project aimed at encouring people to buy from their local shops in Calderdale and as there are so many lovely shops its not to hard a feat.

We will have a lovely story to share with you in the next blog. I cant say to much at the moment as its top secret!

So until then keep warm and have a nice cup of tea.

Denise x

Christmas Bliss!

Hi everyone, Jackie here and this is my first attempt at posting on the blog, but it is lovely to be telling you about my recent holiday. For a few years now we have followed our lovely family Christmas with a break in our favourite spot in the heart of the brecon beacons. Letting in the new year in this mystical place is really special to me now and we have got to know so many lovely people here. Cordelia and Colin who own the cottage we rent always make sure that it is well stocked with logs for the fire and there are beautiful flower arrangements in the vases. There is a lovely deep free standing bath which is great to relax my muscles in when I have been out walking the dog, or our daughter Sally has had us shopping in Hereford or Abergavenny. Our dog Noodles enjoys it so much that if we say Wales now he thinks he is off on holiday.
As you can see in the pictures we did not escape the snow there this year. It did not stop us getting out for some good walks and there is always a warm welcome at the local hostelry with some hearty food and a good cider.

I will be blogging again soon or why not pop in the shop for a chat.

2010!

Happy New Year!
We are really excited about this year as we are introducing lots of new lovely goodies for yourselves and your homes.
Our dove hearts have sold out again but don't worry we have ordered some more! I managed to get a photo of one before they all went as you can see. How pretty is the stationery too. Its so nice to receive a letter in the post instead of emails and texts.
I am busy making more shabby hearts especially the pink ones to keep up with demand. They are proving popular for weddings and make an ideal valentines or Mothers
Day gift.
I am also working on a new idea for weddings which I will keep you posted on. Its going to be a busy year with handmade products for us. Its really good to see handmade items growing in popularity, Kirsty Allsop has done wonders with her handmade programmes and if you like them you will love our shop!
We have a new range of jewellery too from Indigo Heart, bracelets, earings and beautiful chokers.
We are sourcing more authentic french and farmhouse furniture too, its exciting to see it going to new houses that our customers have moved into, many of whom we have followed their excitement from first view to moving day. How much fun it is furnishing a new house and turning it into a pretty home. We have seen some lovely photos of pieces we have sourced for customers placed in their new homes.

Speaking of lovely photos Jackie took a break in her favourite hideaway over the Christmas season, and will be posting some pictures and telling you about it. She will also be introducing you to Noodles her adorable dog. We will be sharing stories of pets and family in our blog as they bring laughs, raised eyebrows and oohs and ahhs in the shop.
Well its time now for a nice cup of tea,a biscuit and feet up with my book.
Denise x

Ho Ho Ho, lots of snow!

How lovely to see little white flakes of snow fluttering down. Little did we know what chaos it would cause!
It was fun to watch the children rolling snowballs down the hill and being pulled along on sledges by their parents.
We were hoping to show you a picture of the beautiful old sledge we bought for the shop but it was bought yesterday by a lovely couple. They even put their shopping on it whilst they continued up the hill.
Its been quite an exciting time for us in the run up to Christmas. Especially with it being our first one in the shop. We have had some lovely customers regulars and new and have had some wonderful comments about the shop.
We are open on Christmas Eve and will be sharing a glass of warming sherry with those feeling in the festive spirit, there might just be some chocolates left too if we can manage to resist them!

These little lavender hearts prove very popular with our customers. They are refillable too!

These are some of our handmade shabby chic tablecloths.