I’ve had a crazy month. We sold the tea lounge/paint shop to free us to follow our dreams and projects, but that’s meant fitting a huge volume of belongings into our home next door.

I’ve bought boxes and gone through every drawer of notions, fabrics; shelves of books, wardrobes of clothes and bagged up for charity, given away or sold through our local brocantes. 

I’ve just landed a contract to make aprons, funnily that over ten years ago that was exactly what I wanted to make as a serious project; and I amending an editor soon to critique my writing….should be enlightening.

I also started stocking my products at Petit Bazaar in La Sutteraine and my little upcycled, renovated furniture pieces. I take the battered, brown varnished unloved pieces, and give them a makeover, usually a good sand down, paint, wax, and linework. Some need to keep their patina, and that’s rewarding too, with just a few fixes of joints and new handles.

I always wanted to be an interior designer and did almost make it, but curve balls sent me down another path, yet now I am sort of returning to it, by designing cushions and working on the furniture.

Cushions are such fun. They can take layers of pattern, buttons, pleats, frills, patchwork; one of the few pieces of homeware that can be as colourful or brash as you wish. Pile them up, clash colours, textures, shapes and sizes. 

So here are my recent designs and I am enjoying the excuse to visit brocantes to come hope with heaploads of textiles and trims.  Braid has become an obsession and retro buttons, large red and green ones, like gobstoppers.

So I take old cushion covers, hot wash, repair and then play with colours and add one of my recent designs, from whimsical bunnies in bows, Delft inspired herbs and birds, or folkart roosters and geese with apples on their heads!

Cuddle a cushion.