So last year my friend Jen, seen here at my house when she stopped over for tea the other night, asked if I wanted to do a craft evening at her mums local ‘wives’ club?  The club is very much like the WI, with monthly meetings which involve guest speakers, trips and lots of cups of tea.  Of course I was in!

As I was flat out at work I needed to do something a bit more low-key than I might usually have done, so I decided to make lavender bags with the fine ladies of Doncaster. 

I put together some packs for the ladies made up of sqaures of vintage fabrics (which I pre cut for everyone....pheeew!), ribbon and included all the necessary needles and thread.  That morning I went off to a local farm to pick up some lavender.  I know!  Sounds idylic doesn't it? But it was actually pouring with rain and pretty grim....nonetheless, I ploughed on.

As it turns out I had such a fun night! I was feeling quite stessed before I went as I'd had so much on at work, but the ladies were so lovely.  About 40 ladies took part which was fab. I started off by telling the ladies a little about myself and then explained the process of making the bags.  To be honest I felt a little silly explaining how to sew to some of these women who had years of sewing and making under their belts.  They all seemed to get into it though and in turn produced some really beautiful bags to take home....

The highlight of my night came at the end when the organsier told me that there was a lady in the room who was nearly 90 years old!  That lady had thanked the organiser as she said that lately she was feeling more useless than ever as she can't really do much for herself any more.  She said that with the help of friends she had managed to make something.  Something that she hadn't been able to do in a long time.  How lovely is that?!!!

It makes it all worthwhile so hopefully I'll be doing some more of these in the future.

Serena

xx

Have you been to the shop Liberty in London?  I went there the other day having just been to a wedding the day before (as per my black blog).  Whenever I am down in London I try and get in a wee trip to the store, mostly as I find it so inspirational.  You see, most of the designers are artisans and crafters.  In fact I took a little photo which sums it up...

Anyway if you've not been you must.  There is so much to see and do, though I have to admit that on the face of it it can seem a little heartless.  What I mean by that is that it lacks a centre, or focal point.  Yes, it has the amazing stair well, seen here, but it would be so much better in my opinion, to have a big crafting space just below.  Full of people milling around making things, chatting, coffee bewing that kind of thing...do you they'd go for it?   Anyway, I was very excited to be there as I get loads of ideas for things I want to make and love just generally soaking up the crafty vibe...

Here I am just before I entered and next is a sneaky peak of one of my favourite rooms, what I call the 'Notebook' room.  As you can probably tell, it is a room stacked to the brim with notebooks, one of my absolute loves and something you'll know all about if you've been reading my black blog.  Anyway, I'll be giving you look at what I bought via my black blog later in the week.

Needless to say it was a lovely afternoon.  Really inspirational with loads to see and take in.  Another lovely space is the kitchenware area which has some really beautiful pieces in it.  The other is of the back stair well which I think looks like it came straight of of Hogwarts!

Another fantastic addition ws the RE pop-up shop.  Now, if you haven't heard of RE you are again missing out on something.  RE, the original shop/business, is a little shop and even bigger on-line empire based in Corbridge in Northumberland.  I've read about RE for years in the hoards of house magazines I buy, and was fortunate enough to visit myself last year on a drive up to Edinburgh.  I think RE deserves a blog post of it's own so I think, before I ramble on about how fab it is and how it appears to hold on to similiar philosophies to Origin, I'll just post the link here so you can see for yourself (www.re-foundobjects.com), and end with a few photos of the pop up...

The pop up shop is gone now I believe, it ended just the other day : (  The good news is that you can still visit Corbridge in person or just click on the link direct to their on-line shop. Even better for me, I think I'll be visiting in the next few weeks as I'm on my way to Ediburgh again, yay!  Will keep you posted on that one, literally.

So, all in all this was a really inspirational day.  Maybe like me you get lots of ideas for your own arts and crafts by looking at the work of others.  It's also really fantastic as a small business owner to see other people doing it!

This just leaves me to say thank you for visiting, and see you soon!

Serena

x

 

…no, is the simple answer.  I have stacks and stacks of crockery and I just can’t get enough of it.  I decided a little while ago to have a wee sort out of some of the pieces but quickly decided that it was too big a job.  You can see here a couple of pictures after I’d put some of it out on the dining room table!

Anyway, since that day and after racking my brains, I did finally think about a use for it, well a couple of uses actually.  I mean after all what is the point of having all this crockery if it isn't going to be used in some way?  So, first if all, I chose a few pieces and had a go at making my own vintage cake stands.  Whenever I've seen these in shops, I've just loved them, but as is so typical with me, I always ask myself if I can make something?  Anyway, here are a couple that I did make, which was loads of fun...

My little kitten Flossy was trying to be most helpful in the making process I have to say!  (tutorial on how to make these to follow).

This was actually the night before one of the vintage craft fairs that I did at Moog in Nottingham back at the end of June.  No matter how organised you are, I find that you still have to do some things the night before a craft fair!  Anyway, the other use that I decided on was to hire out the crockery.  I literally have so much of it that I've decided that this is the best way to avoid it just being sat in my house looking pretty.  I think that it would be great to hire it to a small party or even a wedding.  How lovely to have something different to the standard white look. I'm probably biased.

At the craft fair I set up a little tea party to show the crockery off.  I had loads of really positive comments and heard lots of people say 'my gran used to have a cup like that'....how lovely!

So that is what I am working on behind the scenes at Origin at the moment.  In fact I had a really exciting meeting today with someone about holding regular vintage teas right in the heart of Nottingham.  This person owns a fabulous business in the city centre in the most wonderful building which would be so perfect for hosting tea-parties!! So, just as I thought things couldn't possibly get any busier, or exciting, I'm now planning some really fun stuff that should be coming up in the next few months.  Thank goodness I'm on leave from work at the moment, though I'm not getting much writing done (as per my black blog if you've been reading it).

I'll be keeping you posted about what's happening about my vintage teas and as soon as the first vintage party has been organised I'll let you know the brill location and be inviting you all along!

Till then, big hugs to you!

Serena

x

Last year I was fortunate enough to come across a mass of old wooden stools that had lost their way in life.  They were destined for the skip and were probably going to be thrown away, but I offered to save them and I'm so glad I did!

Here are a few pictured in my back yard after I'd managed to bring them home in small batches, probably about 6 at a time, the number you can fit into the back of a Skoda Octavia (they have a fantasticly huge boot for anyone looking for a car based on boot size). 

Anyway, I have slowly made my way through them, painting them in various colours including duck egg, sage green and I'm currently painting a few in Union Jack designs.  The reason I am telling you about them today is that my good friend Rosjke Hasseldine, creator of Women's Power Circles (www.womenspowercircles.com) commisioned me for a pair of stools and asked for them to be painted in Duck Egg...so that's what I did, just in time before her packers get to her house tomorrow and ship them to New England, her new home L

I painted the first coat at my workshop the other day (after my radio interview about the Norway shootings as blogged on my 'black' blog), but had to bring them to my flat to paint the second coat as I knew I couldn't get back to my workshop before she came to pick them up on Friday.

So I laid some paper down on the coffee table in the lounge and got to work.  The trickiest thing was trying to keep my two wee kittens away.  Their names are Flossy and Otter and they are bound to pop up every now and again, cause they are a big part of Origin HQ...

Here they are looking like butter wouldn't melt. They of course had to be locked out of the lounge otherwise they would have ended up duck-egg.

I lose myself when I paint.  I really do find it so meditative and relaxing. I've painted (paintings...like the sneeky one in the background in the picture below), since I was very little, and whenever I find the time I try and squeeze in some time to do it.  In fact in my up-coming month off from work I intend on painting some pictures which I will show you of course so watch this space.

So, here they are finished...Rosjke was really pleased with them and I can't wait to see them in her home when I go and visit next year...hope that's ok Rosjke? J

Anyway, we had several cuppas, some chocolate smartie cakes and put the world to right, as we usually do.  It was a lovely afternoon, tinged with sadness and ended with me saying 'see you later'.....goodbyes are awful sometimes.

So again, see you later Rosjke...I'm going to miss you! 

Serena

x

Welcome to my first blog post under my ‘white butterfly’ wing!  I’m really happy to meet you and to see that you have visited me here in my new space!

This space is where I’m going to be able to tell you all about the things I encounter when I’m indulging my creativity.  It’s going to include all the bits about my business Origin, including all the things I get up to with my vintage goodies as well as people I meet, places I visit as well as the things I do see along the way.  It’s these things bring me inspiration and happiness.   

You see I’ve only just figured out that I am a person who likes to do things in the extreme.  I work all day in my day job which is all very serious and can often be challenging and difficult, I then have to do creative things to be balanced.  I like to paint, I like to bring back to life old furniture, make soap, sew, flea-market shop the list is endless.  Some of this ends up being part of my business, but most of all it’s just for me.  It keeps me sane and it’s what I’ve always done.  So, I look forward to bringing you on my journey.  It’s bound to be bumpy, after all running a business and working full time is hard work, nonetheless there is fun to be had along the way, so here I go!

 Ps; This blog change has been a long time coming, with various little helpers working miracles behind the scenes to help me get this up and running…I couldn’t have done it without them.  Thank you little helpers!!  Pizza and beer on me J