finishing touches

We are putting the finishing touches to the inside of our new studio today in time for opening our doors for Stroud International Textiles open studios. Currently it is a beautiful white cube and i am almost loathed to fill it up with all of my boxes and bits and bobs - Mr Hs hair rather stood on end (what there is left!) after I suggested that perhaps i keep the existing studio in our attic as a storeroom and only partially move in to my beautiful inspiring white space!!

if you are able to pop over and see us over the next 2 weekends it would be lovely to meet you. there are some fabulous designers and makers opening their studios all over the stroud valleys.

Here are a few of my favourites

Polly lyster - there is a lovely blog post about her here 


Matthew Harris

If not  then you can watch me and some of the other artists talking about craft in our practice here.


Dream studio

it's been a long time coming, but I am finally going to have a studio in the garden. A lovely oak clad light filled studio for Jo and I to work in.

Because we are  in an AONB here in the Cotswolds we had to go through planning, I was hoping that the studio would be fully finished in time for STroud International TExtiles festival open studios trail, but we won't be fully clad and beautiful, though we will be open.  ( more details to follow) 

Our current studio has a hotchpotch of hand me  down furniture and shelving and I wanted the new studio to be as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside so I have spent the last year following boards on pinterest which feature beautiful workspaces.  What I find funny in pinterest is that when you have been pinning for a personal project over time, you can really see a theme developing, I think my theme is natural wood and white - unusual for me as I never normally go for clean lines and I am definitely a girl of colour, but I keep going back to these lovely white and wood spaces. Here are some of the inspiring workspaces I have found on pinterest. If you have an inspiring workspace send us a picture we would love to feature it. 

all images are from pinterest and can be found here  and here where you can click through to their original locations 

Stroud international textiles

We were thrilled this year to be invited to be part of the STroud INternational Textile trail. So we will be throwing the doors of the studio open and inviting you in to have a look at our  (new) studio on the weekends of 10/11th and 17/18th May. If you pop by expect to see me designing some of our new fabric range and making our accessories, we will have a remnant rummage and our very popular scrap bags and fat quarters will be for sale, along with lots of cushions and accessories.

we will be demonstrating lampshade making, machine embroidery, cushion making and lots more over the two weekends. 

Not a lot of people know this but I actually trained in embroidery so there will be some of my one off pieces for sale as well.

we will also be available to help anyone with a decorating dilemma  , so bring your photos and we can offer you any advice from colour to curtains!!

we hope to see you there. 

a lovely chaise for sale

My friend Jo Smith  who is a fabulously talented upholsterer is selling one of her beautifully upholstered pieces in a bid to raise money for an animal rescue charity. Jo fosters rescue dogs from Spain who have had a really appalling start in life.  100% of the selling price of the chaise will go to Jo's fundraising efforts.

jo smith upholstery.jpg

This is a late victorian chaise, upholstered in natural linen and trimmed with duck egg pompoms and is £350 ,  Jo is even offering delivery within 100 miles of her studio in Gloucsetershire, but the chaise can be couriered anywhere in the UK.



blog loving

hello all, 

Its been many years since Jo and i started blogging over at Hardaker and Pope.

When we started we were really insured by a number of bloggers and without a doubt our favourite then , and my favourite still is Lobster and Swan.

Written and curated by the very talented Jeska Hearne. (I am waiting for her to write a book!! or open a B&B!!) Lobster and Swan is a visual treat. Colourful, stylish, and warm, one of my favourite places on line!

 

all of the beautiful images below are from lobster and swan

loving a little zip of citrus

With the launch of our new indienne range, we have added some lovely new colours and one of my favourites is citrine, a sort of citrus limey yellow. We have used it in orissa, atasi and latika and i love it !

orissa in citrine(top) and faded duck(bottom)

orissa in citrine(top) and faded duck(bottom)

latika cushions

latika cushions

What i love most about it is how just a tiny shot of citrus or any sharp colour brings a zip to a room or scheme. 

and i love combining it with dark tones of grey, indigo or teal.

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crackers!

I am trying to wean myself off crisps! they're not very healthy, and they are just too tempting! I am not  a chocolate girl, but crisps on the other hand…………...

Anyway I found the recipe for these lovely crackers here on pinterest, they are from the lovely blog wholehearted eats  and an added bonus is they are GF so great for anyone avoiding wheat. They are a lovely combination of fruit seeds and nuts, and a really easy to make.

2 1/2 Cups Whole spelt flour
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Baking powder 
1/2 tsp. Sea salt 
2 cups Unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp. Apple cider vinegar 
5 Tbsp. Maple syrup
1 Tbsp. Molasses
2 Tbsp. Chia seed
2 Tbsp. Ground flax seed 
1 Cup Dried unsweetened cranberries (or dried fruit of choice. Chopped if large)
1/2 Cup Walnuts (or nuts of choice)
1/2 Cup Toasted pumpkin seeds 
1/2 tsp. Ground black pepper 
2 Tbsp. Chopped fresh rosemary (or herb of choice) - optional

i amended the recipe to suit what i had available. i used normal milk in place of almond milk and i missed out the chia seeds, and I only used 3 tbs maple syrup. I also halved the recipe as i only had one loaf tin!

ix the wet ingredients in a jug and the dry ingredients in a bowl and then mix the 2 together.

Place the mixture in a loaf tin lined with silicone paper, and bake in a moderate oven for about 30mins till cooked through. 

Allow to cool overnight. slice into very thin slices and then rebake (as you would for cantucci) on a low setting till the crackers are crisp.

for a more detailed method click the link to the original recipe

feeling nautical

we are really thrilled with our new anchors fabric which adds another dimension to our very popular nautical offering of stars and semaphores. 

it's making me get all nostalgic for the english seaside in summer!! we have some gorgeous product coming next week in the anchors and stars, it has been great fun designing some new bits and bobs to be made in this range. We will post some pictures of the 'behind the scenes' at the photoshoot next week.

images from a trip to beautiful beer in devon.

images from a trip to beautiful beer in devon.

inspired pochettes

Last summer in lle de Re i saw lots of folks with lovely "pochettes" in which  they  put all of their bits and bobs that they didn't want to get sandy. They used some gorgeous waxed oilcloth there, but we can't seem to find that type of oilcloth here.

i have had a yearning to make some for a while, so here they are in all their glory in 2 sizes! The small one fits a kindle or iPad mini and the large one fits an iPad in its case or all of your sun cream!

 

poches photo.JPG