When the weather is fine, you know it's the time...

For messing about on the river canal! Earlier in the week I told you about our day out in the countryside with Nature Valley. I posted some pictures of my son and I feeding the ducks. We also went for a little stroll along the canal. It was cold and there still isn't much greenery, but overall the weather was fine and there were some beautiful scenes which I thought I'd share with you all. The picture above (my favourite) shows you a beech tree which has a little bridge to keep it's roots from touching the water.

These reeds might not look much right now, but they made fantastic reflections on the water.

The ground was rather muddy underfoot, so it was definitely a day for wellies (still hankering after my own pair of brightly coloured Hunters).

Overall there was a hopeful feeling that Spring was on the way, buds were showing and what greenery there was looked very bright.

Looking across the canal we could see some very pretty countryside, the kind that makes you spontaneously break into a round of 'Land Of Hope & Glory'. Thankfully I refrained, but we're certainly very lucky to live close enough to visit nature spots like this. Do any of you have a favourite place you like to visit?

Tis the season to hold a Fair!

With the festive season rapidly approaching fairs of every creative nature seem to have sprung up. Just last weekend I visited Lustre at Lakeside Arts in Nottingham. I've been for the past couple of years and it's always a wonderful mix of new and old talent. Although I think my favourite has always been Steve Handley and his wonderful cupboards and hooks. This year seemed a little overrun with jewellery designers, which I appreciate may sound a little strange coming from a jewellery business myself, it just felt a little lacking in variety in comparison to previous years.

This weekend Anne is busy working away at Banks Mill winter open studios. I would have liked to have been there too, but I'm a bit bruised after a jolt earlier in the week, so decided I was better sitting at home eating chocolate pudding (oh the hardship!)

But that's not the end of the weekends offerings. In Derby there is also the Fabulous Places Christmas Market which promises to be an amazing shopping experience in the run up to Christmas. We were truly quite gutted not to be able to attend as we were already booked at the mill.

But if you think that means a restful few weeks will follow you'd be mistaken. We are also attending the Christmas Craft fair at Kedleston Hall next weekend.

Then we have a smaller fair coming up the week after. Not exactly sure when we Santa will fit in all our his Christmas shopping in amongst all this, perhaps we can rope in a husband elf or two with a very specific list.

Hidden Giants, Jungles & Birds!

The summer seems to have flown by this year and I barely had time to notice it. Thankfully we did manage to squeeze in a short holiday to Cornwall. I have always loved this area since I was a child. One of my favourite places to visit is the Lost Garden's Of Heligan, it has a fantastic history and even more fantastic plants. I'm not sure the photos completely do it justice but I really wanted to try and show you the amazing scenes.

Here is a living sculture called the Sleeping Lady. There is also a Giant's head that seems to be emerging from the ground.

There are many different areas to explore but I am particularly partial to the jungle. It's set in a valley with lots of tropical plants. It definitely has an ancient feel to it, I wouldn't have been completely surprised if a lizard had crossed my path, or better yet a dinosaur!

We even made friends with this young Robin, although I suspect he was after our sandwiches really. The birds in particular seem very used to people, which allows for unusual closeness. We even spied a Nuthatch!

I was rather envious of their vegetable gardens, they were growing everything from Pumpkins to Pineapples. It reminded me of Mr McGregors garden in Peter Rabbit, big piles of terracotta pots everywhere and plenty of vegetables to munch.

I never leave Heligan without buying some of their honey produced by their very own bees. It's absolutely delicious, but with such varieties of flowers it's easy to see why they have such happy insects. If you ever find yourself in this area of Cornwall (it's near to St. Austell) be sure to check it out.

A Walk Along A Beach

Some of my older blog friends may remember a post I wrote about the tranquility of walking through the countryside and really taking notice of your surroundings. Well this post bares a similar message but a different location.

I am lucky enough to have family in West Sussex, the beaches are pebbly, the sea is thick with seaweed and salt but the surroundings are beautiful and ever so relaxing.

Sometimes the British seaside can look a little tired and washed out. It's heyday is probably behind it and many buildings stand in exactly the same condition as they did 30 years ago, but older and more worn. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

There's something very romantic about the salt battered beachhuts that line the coast. They come in many varying colours and sizes, they really feel like a nod to the past. I absolutely adore beachhuts. They have featured in our work in the past and will again in the future :)

The colourful fishcrates all stacked remind me of fishing as a child with my Father, I always threw my catches back (as I'm not much of a seafood fan) but the memories are very fond.

Watching boats bobbing around is probably one of the most calming scenes you can ever see. There's usually a chorus of seagull calls in the background.

The low tide breakwaters all mossy and covered in limpets, climbing over them to reach the next stretch of beach brings back memories of collecting shells with my brother.

Do you have a special place you go to relax?

The Elegance Of Chandeliers

I absolutely adore Chandeliers, the way they hang from the ceiling, the way they glint as light hits them, the way they can ooze elegance into a room which previously had none. The larger and grander the better, at least that's true when I see them hanging in country houses etc. Of course most of us aren't lucky enough to own a home worthy of a handmade or antique beauty, but that doesn't mean we can't still appreciate them. One of my favourite places to visit and see Chandeliers is Venice. But I am not talking about the crowded squares of San Marco or the usual tourist routes. To really appreciate Venice you have to walk away from your guide books and explore the hidden areas, the shops that only locals frequent. There are many antique/junk shops hiding down small alleys.

In one shop I saw the largest Chandelier I have ever seen, of course it's hard to depict scale in a photo, but believe me it was huge!

In another shop stood a large workbench with glass drops set out ready to mend broken chandeliers. The street was very dark, which made it hard to take photos, but the shop plus street was like looking into a past that most of us have forgotten, the real artists Venice.

 Of course you can buy chandeliers in any country in the world. Modern ones are usually wired for electric lights, which means they can be used daily. Have any of you purchased a bit of grandure and hung a chandelier in your home?

In London there is a beautiful tea room called Le Chandelier which aside from wonderful food also sells beautiful chandeliers.

Or perhaps scour the antique shops near you and buy up antique chandelier drops, I have seen these made into beautiful Christmas decorations, or pendants to hang in a window, the possibilities are endless. We have made some of our favourites into jewellery here.

Little Railway for Little (& Big) Folk.

Living in Derbyshire means I'm never short of a view, a hill and plenty of activities to take the children along to. My son absolutely adores trains, trams and all things moving. This weekend he made several requests for a weekend activity, one of which was to visit the Steeple Grange Light Railway. He's been there countless times, but the appeal of a mini railway never seems to fade.

There are two working lines at present which date back to the 1830s, one with an open carriage that stops by some rocks which still contain undug fossils! The second line has a covered carriage, you might need a shoehorn to get in but it's alright once your there. The amazing thing is that these trains were created to carry full grown and probably quite burly miners.

This year is the railways 25th anniversary and there's quite a few events on, this coming weekend is the Teddy Bears Specials Weekend 24/25 July, children can ride for free if they bring their teddies along for the journey. I think there will be a bear sale and bears along the route too.



There are also some wonderful wildflowers all along the track, I loved this purple field scabious. I had to show you the pic below, it really reminded me of the Railway Children :)

Final note, I'm so pleased your all so excited about the blog comp :) not long to go now, but still time to enter here if you haven't already

To London & Selvedge

Yesterday morning both members of Angel Eden plus one daughter/grandaughter got up at a very unreasonable hour and made our way to the train station. We were off to London to visit the first ever Selvedge Magazine Summer Fair.

Once we had walked back and forth several times trying to work out the tube (the Northern line wasn't running from St. Pancras) we made our way to Archway tube station. We had a map book of London which quite cleverly showed everwhere apart from where we were and none of the locals seemed to be able to help. We were getting a bit desperate when finally a European tourist pointed us in the right direction.

We arrived with 15 minutes to spare and the queue was already building. The fair was being held inside an old church which had white balloons tied to the railings. Up the stone steps were jam jars holding pink roses (I made a special effort not to knock these over, but I wouldn't be surprised it they hadn't lasted the day).

The first 200 visitors received a goody bag. We were a bit over excited when we both got one. It had in it a Volga Linen Company teatowel, a burt's bees pack, a Burda badge, pen and measuring guide and some bath scrub.

By this point we'd been awake & travelling so long that we had an unreasonable need for a cup of tea. So we headed straight for the stage area which had been transformed by 'Vintage Party' to look like a village fete. We had to make the difficult choice of which cake to have.

Then we sat on a pew and talked to other visitors who came to sit near us. I loved the decorating, it was like something from my childhood (I grew up in a quaint country village) mixed with tea at Grandma's. The decorations and flowers were all beautiful & I congratulate everyone who put hard work into the 'look' of the event.

Once we made our way back down to the stalls it got ridiculously busy, completely understable of course, with so many wonderful artists under one roof the guests had piled in. Unfortunately this made viewing all the stallholders a bit difficult. My daughter led us determindly to The Black Rabbit, she seen them on the way in and we had to buy two 'blobs' I'm not sure of their real name, but they are now affectionately nickednamed the lavender blobs in our house.She also wanted a hair clip kit from RoseRed & Blue.

We spoke to many of the stallholders and they were all very friendly and relaxed. I wish I could have bought more, but it was a bit difficult to see with so many people. However I grabbed all the exhibitors cards as I compiled my mental Christmas list (I hope Santa's feeling flush this year!) If Selvedge hold another fair make sure you visit, although hopefully next time the venue will be bigger with even more to offer!

Here's a list of my favourite exhibitors and their websites:

Caroline Dulko
Mogwaii
Acorn & Will
Andrea Willianson
The Black Rabbit
Ray-Stitch
Elsy & Vine
Rachel Eardley
Ellie Evans
Eloise Grey
Charlotte Macey
The Linen Shop
Gemma Kay Waggett
Gem & Bird
The whole thing was sponsored by  Cabbages & Roses

Simple Pleasures

I've been feeling quite stressed recently, I think when you run your own business some level of stress is inevitable. But how do you combat this when you feel the tension rising? One of my favourite things is to take a walk, no specific destination, just getting outside and clearing your mind for a while. I think a lot of pleasure (and stress relief) can be gained by taking in your surroundings and enjoying the beauty around you. I've taken a few pictures to show you my favourite things that I discovered.

There's something quite romantic about a gate that leads to nowhere. This one probably hasn't been opened in years.

Dandelions might annoy me when they invade the vegetables, but they also remind me of being little and gently blowing the seeds away to tell the time.







If you've looked at our jewellery you'll probably know that I love the beauty in old doorways and houses. Even the woodwork on an old fence post can inspire.

Wildflowers are always a pleasure, I especially love the vibrant summer yellow of buttercups. Another memory of holding them up to skin to see if you like butter.

When the weather is as good as it has been recently getting outdoors seems like a must. What delights do you find near your home?

A final note to say a huge big thank you to everyone who has voted for the blog in the Dorset Cereal little blog awards. We are currently in 2nd place! I'm over the moon, it was so exciting to be nominated and even more so now we're doing so well. Voting ends at the end of the month I believe, so if you haven't voted please do, just click on the button on the top right. It only takes a second and you'll make my smile even larger :)

Tea For Two

When I get the time one of my favourite indulgences is to stop in a gorgeous tea shop for a cake and a relax. I was recently visiting one of our gallery stockists in Chesterfield when I noticed a cafe called the Northern Tea Merchants. To say it's a tea and coffee lovers paradise would be an understatement. The walls are adorned with quotations and the shelves are stacked with related delights to really wet your appetite. The smell of coffee beans wafts through the air and everything is beautifully packaged in gold. My tea was wonderful as was my slice of traditional victoria sponge. I will definitely be visiting again soon.

More information can be found on their website http://www.northern-tea.com.

One of my all time favourite teashops used to be Greystone's in Leek. Whenever I went there it felt like I'm walking into somebody's front room for tea and cake. Of course this is probably due to the fact that the room used to be the front room of a 17th century building. The owners have now taken semi retirement and no longer serve tea in their front room at Greystone's. Fortunately they have taken on a new 16th century building called Time For Tea in the centre of Leek.

The new cafe also serves as a showroom for one of the owners Roger, who repairs antique clocks. In good weather there is a small walled garden to sit in, otherwise there are two beautiful rooms where you can relax.

If customers are interested in the history of the cafe there is a file all about the Parker family who originally built the building. The son Thomas Parker was born in the building in 1666 and in 1718 he became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. He was also a poll-bearer at the funeral of Sir Isaac Newton.


Like the Northern Tea Company the tea here is made with tea leaves (not bags) and there are several varieties to choose from. For me though it is the cakes that stand out, I think they are the best I have tasted anywhere.

If you're in the area I fully recommend a visit to either of these teashops.