Gotta love a little bit of vintage.....

Morning my lovelies!

Thank you for all your lovely messages, emails and well wishes 

following on from my last post...

You are so sweet.

I really am OK... please don't worry!

The lack of light simply means I sometimes feel like a withering dandelion

that needs Spring to pop on the light!

~~~~~~~~

So, what's been going on this week?

I have been surrounded by creativity in so many different ways...

Monday saw my 'Textile Book' workshop with a fab group of ladies

I know many of you worry when ever you attend a workshop.....

I do think it's always a gamble whenever you sign up for one...

if going on your own you don't know who you are going to be sitting next to?

You don't know if you'll like the tutor

Are you going to be able to create something that looks the same as others?

Why do we put ourselves through so much worry?????

I have offered many Creative Workshops for Your Well-Being as well as the usual sewing, patchwork, collage, crochet and mixed media etc

I like to think that I run a low key relaxed affair that no matter the subject matter and 

however stressed you may feel

when starting your day, by the time you leave you will have spent a fab time restoring your well-being and hopefully will have seen some tips and inspiration that you can take away with you....

Monday's workshop was all about collecting memories and creating a fabric book

using a variety of techniques such a hand stamping, creative collage work, mixed media 

and some hand embroidery

I loved the way that ideas evolved through simple chatting with others, experimenting with a mix of fabrics, trims and paper... and seeing the ladies simply chilling into their crafting

The ladies loved my Linen & Lace Bundles that I took along.

glad to see them being used in such a creative way.

It's lovely to see vintage linens sold in thrift shops or charity stores etc but if they then just sit in boxes in the loft through lack of ideas then they will simply wither away like my dandelion analogy at the beginning of the post.

Be brave and use them to bring you a simple smile...

If you would like to look at my little bundles or purchase any you can view them on my website

Tilly Rose

They are a perfect starting point for any textile work needing a vintage vibe and a fab way of adding a little vintage loveliness into your stash without having to buy tons of tablecloths to store.

they make great pressies for your craft friends too!

The workshop was only Part One and so the lovely ladies have a few weeks in between to 

have a play with all their new techniques and return

with their fabric pages ready to assemble into their book.

I can't wait to see the results!

Tuesday & Wednesday saw me dyeing.... as you do!

I'm sure the neighbours must wonder what this middle-aged woman is doing hanging oddments of scraps here and there on her washing line in the middle of winter!

hey ho... someone has to make them smile hey?

I'm experimenting with eco-dyeing techniques which I am LOVING with a great big L!

 Thursday saw lacy cobwebs... aren't they just exquisite?

the detail that Mother Nature provides is amazing and most people miss every single

ounce of it through rushing to get through their day...

such a shame because she holds some beautiful gems in her purse.

All in all a very good week don't you think!

Oh I nearly forgot to say...

in between all of that loveliness I managed to 

work out how to upload a video on my website...yippee!!!

the next step is to add it here on my blog also...

Off to grab myself a cuppa or two now and tidy my sewing room folks

 so I may be gone for some time!!!!

Toodle-ooh for now my lovelies....

Ada...

Hello my lovelies!

Thank you for all your beautiful comments following my last post.

It's really lovely to know that reading my ramblings makes some of you smile.

When I started this new blog I was adamant it was to be just about my work, but, knowing the chatterbox that I am I'm sure you're not surprised to hear that I felt I wanted to share this little gem of a story with you all...

The Little Things...

As many of you know I live in the Cambridgeshire Fens... an area of the country that is well known for it's eerie Fen mists, folklore and flat arable farming land.

It is the backbone for producing a variety of arable goods and all my ancestors have all worked on the land and been Ag Labs ( aka farm workers)

I haven't moved very far from my birth town (all of twenty miles) but to the rest of our family we were considered as the rebels of the family for moving so far away!

I have been exploring my family history for a few years now, and with the fabulous bonus of the internet I have been able to find out some wonderful snippets of every day information that are priceless to me to add to my collection of memories, tales and photos.

So why am I writing all this?

I was blessed with two sets of Grandparents but sadly I never got to know one of my Nans.

I was this age the last time I actually saw her and so know very little about her....

(I'm the gorgeous one on the left!)

Doing the research I managed to find out all the facts about her....you know her birth date, her wedding date, her death date etc but I've always wanted more....

I firmly believe you are the person you are because of your background, your genes, your memories etc but more importantly your soul carries those blood lines onto a new generation.

I only have a couple of photos of my Nan...

Here she is at my parents wedding in 1964.

She is the lady next to my Dad (on the left of the picture)

I follow a few groups on Facebook and when a lovely stranger posted the following photograph at Christmas asking for more information, I was convinced that my Nan was in the group as I so look like her....

I didn't have a lot to work on as she is the lady on the end of the photo wearing a beret.

After sending a message to the lady who posted it I received such a beautiful present....

She had asked her Mum (who was in the picture also) if she knew my Nan and if so what memories....

I was delighted with her reply!

She told me my Nan was a cheerful lady who was well known for her hard work.

Nothing seemed to bother her and she would muck in with what needed to be done.

Following that news feed for a couple of days, another two photos were added by another stranger...

Now I could see my Nan and get to know her a little more...

She is a little older than I am now in these pictures.

Apparently she was well known for wearing a beret at work and in winter I live in mine too!

***

Hopefully I can capture her strong Fen spirit and create a beautiful collage to add to my family history collection that highlights the every day delights of her Fen life. 

I want to do her justice in highlighting her ethos for hard work and getting on with things no matter what....something I know I've inherited from both of my Nans!

I know life was never easy for her and she endured many hardships making her a tough old boot as they would say now but i know that family was her number one priority.

She loved nothing more than having everyone round a table of home baked food

 Often the simplest of details can lead to so many questions being answered by future generations....

I'm going to write down as many memories I have of her and include them in my collage with some hand embroidery alongside my treasured photographs printed onto fabrics.

It will be a long term project, a labour of love you might say that I can indulge in whenever I have some 'me time'

I am so  delighted at having found a small snippet of her life's patchwork simply through the kindness of a stranger's uploading of photos...

My only sadness in this tale is that I would love to have chatted with her as an adult and told her that her little curly haired granddaughter now appears on TV...

wears a beret just like her...

and has inherited her recognisable chubby cheeks, square chin and untamed wild Fen hair!

Watch this space my lovelies for my little collage 

which will be aptly named .... 'Tales of a Fen Spirit - Ada'

Ada Davison (nee Marshall)

 aka my Nan I never got to know...

Tilly

x x x