Pretty Things

My patchwork that I mentioned in my last post is now hung over the shelves. It could do with a good iron but I am not known for my domestic prowess so you need to ignore the wrinkles :-)

I am really pleased with the final look. It has made more of a feature of Tanglewood Cottage so that it no longer looks like an old house dumped on a shelf but more like the treasured possession that it actually is. Also it hides the ever growing number of boxes of 'stuff' that is accumulating on the shelves below!

Now I just have to finish tidying and organising the craft table itself - which as you can see I have tried very hard NOT to include in the photograph!

After a night of heavy,and I must say LOUD rain, and a morning sky that was very grey it was wonderful to wake up to the beautiful colours of Lenna's Tag Book arriving. It all looks so pretty together. (I wonder if they all have such messy craft tables like me?)

The front was created by Lenna herself, she also bound them all in a book with a ring clip.

This lovely bright pink tag is created by Melissa, and is stunning the way it shines out through all the other tags. Thank you Melissa.

This Hope tag was created by Margariet, I love the deep rich feel of the colours in this tag and the ribbon it is tied with. Thank you Margariet.

This orange tag is created by Vicky and is decorated on both sides. It is practically glowing out of the book - so very beautiful. Thank you Vicky.

This tag is created by Cindy, not only in one of my favourite colours but also an image of a door - which is always a good one for me. Thank you Cindy.

Here is my little tag nestling in the middle.

This tag is created by Barbara, who I have met in previous swaps and also on some of Lenna's online classes that are so incredibly inspirational. Thank you Barbara I love your tag and I am so pleased to have got one from you. We MUST keep meeting like this!

This gold tag is created by Cynthia and is beautifully embellished. Thank you Cynthia.

This tag is created by Rena in memory of her dog Lovey. It is absolutely beautiful and also so very true. Thank you Rena.

The last tag is created by Sarah, such beautiful greens and lots of wonderful embellishments. Thank you Sarah.

Here is the tag book spread out in its entirety. What a wonderful thing to own and to participate in. If you go to Lenna's Swap page you can see what swaps are going on right now!

Lennas Swaps

Large and Small Cottages!

This morning the sun was shining and the sky was blue so it seemed the perfect day for a trip out in the beautiful countryside around us. We pottered out in the car to a little village called Middleton - which I have to say has been one of my favourites for some time. I have taken a few photos of the beautiful buildings there. I could have taken so many more but felt that those with owners relaxing in the front garden were probably off limits!

So here are the few photos that I did take.

Then we finished the trip out with a wonderful cream tea at Chatsworth House. Whenever I vist Middletom I always want to come home and make a start on the wonderful 48th scale English Cottage that I have stashed away from Sue Herber. But just maybe I ought to finish something else first ;-)

I mentioned previously that I had bought a very old house that I had fallen in love with. Well it has arrived and is everything I hoped it would be. In fact I love it even more than I thought I would. There is quite a bit of work needed on it -but the plan is to do it bit by bit and not to replace anything without keeping its character. The brick paper is very brittle and will need to be stuck back down very carefully. The 2nd floor is missing and will need replacing and so the list goes on. We decided as a family that it needed a new name and we all agreed on Tanglewood Cottage. It seems to fit perfectly.

Anyway here are some photographs just to show you how it is right now.

I shall obviously show any updates on my blog so that you can see how it goes.