Halfpenny Home

Sew n' Crow Christmas!

2011-12-22T19:23:00.002Z

This week our Monday night group, fondly known as "sew n' crow" met at Sam's for a festive evening of fun and handmade present exchanging!

Some weeks ago, we all picked a name out of the Secret Santa hat. Nic decreed that, of course, all presents should be handmade, and cost no more than £5, or should come from your craft stash! Quite right too!

My gift was wrapped in brown paper and adorned with a luggage tag bearing a button snowman!

And......the recipient of my carefully woven basket gift was Lisa. Lisa is a fabulous stitcher, as you'll see later on, so I must admit I was a little nervous.....but she seemed to like it!

Lisa in turn made for Jeannette, a lovely jar with pincushion top and stuffed to the brim with sewing goodies......

Jeannette made for Nic, and carefully wrapped her goodies in this gorgeous little wicker hamper - she knows Nic has a penchant for hampers!

Jeannette made these beautiful tweed fabric hearts strung with pretty flowery ribbon and adorned with tiny jewels.

And filled the basket with handmade iced Christmas biscuits.

I was the lucky recipient of Nic's gift, some beautiful ceramic heart tags made at a recent Rachel Dormor workshop, plus a really pretty pressed glass bowl and creamer from Nic's own glass collection.

Michelle received a lovely stash of handmade fork pom poms made by Sue - beautifully festive!

Michelle made for Amy and her gift was home made bath and massage oil scented with lavender and camomile and presented in a gorgeous vintage decanter, tied with ribbon and luggage tag. Michelle even added some glitter to add some extra Christmas sparkle! Amy was clearly thriilled.

Amy's gift to Shiela was a beautiful Christmas Tree cross-stitch presented in an embroidery hoop - Shiela very quickly announced that she had the perfect spot to hang her lovely gift.

Pat's gift, made by Sam, was a beautiful, personalised mug hug - which, as you can see here, also nicely fits an ample glass of mulled wine!!!

Pat made Sue a super cosy, chocolate brown, chenille scarf. It was on in a flash!

There were no prizes for guessing who made this stunning coffee and walnut cake! Shiela is renowned for them in these parts - and Sam was the lucky recipient - though I did wonder whether lucky was the right word, since Sam very generously proceeded to share it with us all, leaving her with only half a cake!!!

I think we all enjoyed both the making and sharing of our gifts, in the knowledge that we had invested our time wisely, with love, and had made something which would be appreciated.

I can't finish this post, without showing you a few pictures of the very talented Lisa Museum's finished Santa washing line! She's been working on this at Sew n' Crow over recent weeks and here it is in all its glory - ta dah!

All handmade and handstitched.

How cute.

Sam's cat, Wellington, seemed pretty non-plussed by all of the activity and decided instead that Nic's ball of yarn made a great head rest and the perfect spot for a snooze, whilst we ooohed, aaarh'd, drank and ate!!!

Life doesn't get much better than this!

Jacquix

The Skip Sisters!

2011-12-06T17:19:00.000Z

How lovely it was, whilst doing our book signing in Woodbridge on Sunday, to meet one of the founder members of the Skip Sisters, Edori Fertig. Nic and I were absolutely thrilled that Edori purchased a copy of our book too!

Edori is on the left of this photo. They look like they are having a great time - and we just love their ethos! A group of like minded women, who met learning how to make felt and who shared a passion for finding old discarded pieces and creating something wonderful and new from them.

Here are just a few of the beautiful items they have created as part of their shared passion.

Edori's Royal Wedding cushion!

What a fab pincushion!

Of course, tea time has to be catered for!

Beautiful work on display, at the Dulwich Art Fair in 2008

The Skip Sisters have a pop up shop each Christmas ..where they sell all of their original work.

And this year is no exception.....even the poster advertising the event is fab!

If you are in London over the next couple of weeks, and get the chance, do go and say hello - I'm sure they'd be delighted to see you!
Isn't it just brilliant how a shared passion for craft can bring people together. If ever proof were needed of the power of crafting, then surely the Skip Sisters must be it!

(All of the images in this post are reproduced with kind permission of Skip Sisters - Thank You)
Jacquix

Phew!

2011-12-04T18:21:00.001Z

What a busy time we've had this weekend.....

Months ago we promised that we would enter a tree into the local Christmas tree festival, the theme being Village Life. An opportunity to use all our lovely habby goodies that seemed too good to pass up! We spent a lovely Friday afternoon carefully decorating our small, but perfectly formed, tree to bursting point with gorgeous haberdashery notions and embellishments - with the tag line, "never knowlingly under-embellished"

It was lovely to see everyone arriving, all with different interpretations on the village life theme, from "afternoon tea" with branches adorned with gorgeous vintage tea wares and fairy lights to the "demise of the post office" a rather sad, but poignant reminder of the loss of local services.

We made a dolly peg fairy for the top of our tree, as well as button garlands, angora pom poms, mini bunting and also these cute little replicas of our brown paper carrier bags!

And cute parcels tied with jute string.

Hot on the heels of the tree festival preparations came the Swedish Fayre at Creeting House on Saturday.

The barn was adorned with boughs of the beautiful trees cut from within the grounds of Creeting House and though it was cold outside, and quite cold inside, we were kept warm with gluhwein, yummy saffron buns fresh from the oven, and hot dogs.

Our budding young crafter Caitlin came along with a selection of her beautiful card creations as well as some rather fetching robins that will be popping up on the blog very soon, we hope!

It was a lovely sociable day.

Then today, rather than my usual Sunday morning routine of eggs on toast served up alongside the Archers omnibus edition, we were out on the road again, this time to Woodbridge to do a book signing for our book, A Green Guide to Country Crafts, at Woodbridge books! The book shop fronts onto the main thoroughfare where a street fair was in full swing, so, we set up outside the shop with our weaving and our knitting! It was a lovely, buzzy atmosphere and we had a really fun day and met some lovely people.

We're now both pretty pooped. I don't know about Nic but after such a busy time I'm now enjoying a large G and T and am just about to take my weaving in to sit beside the lovely log fire that is luring me away from my computer!

Hope you've had a great weekend!

Jacquix

A 'tail' of two halves...creativity and destruction!

2011-11-30T19:47:00.001Z

Being the last weekend before the Swedish Fayre, and being ever so slightly concerned that I wouldn't have enough goodies for my stall, I decided to spend Sunday afternoon cooking up some of the pinecone firelighters that feature in our book, A Green Guide to Country Crafts.

They are ever so simple to make so, having gathered together all of the suitable vessels I could find to fill, I set about melting my soy wax flakes...

The job was made all the easier due to a recent find in our local Sue Ryder Charity shop - this rather fetching preserving pan - very sturdy and in great condition. A steal at £5!

I waxed some wick and put one in each mould before filling with melted wax.....

And then topping each one off with a hand-picked pine cone! The trick is popping in the pine cone just at the right time - when the wax has partly set.

The metal patisserie moulds are the ones I used in the book, but I have to say, the silicone moulds worked a dream and were dead easy to slip out once the wax had set.

All ready to go the fayre!

And then.....ready and waiting to counter my burst of creativity head on...Rory the destroyer set to work!

Firstly it was hubby's (quite expensive) slippers.....whilst my back was turned for a moment.

Followed shortly afterwards by the very swift destruction of a new toy. It lasted all of half an hour in Rory's very capable paws!

And as something of a finale, a pair of our lovely painted bamboo needles bit the dust care of yours truly!

Good job I love him to bits, little monkey!

Still, without him, I would not have been out walking this morning and I would have missed the pleasure of these. I just love the ethereal quality of honesty and have an idea for using some to make a card for a friend.....

Jacquix

Shaping up!

2011-11-15T13:50:00.001Z

If you're anything like me, it's taken a while to get to grips with the fact that Christmas really isn't that far off! The weather has been so mild of late here in Suffolk but, the leaves are now falling fast, the dark evenings longer and it is getting a little cooler too. I've also the added incentive of a fast approaching Swedish Fayre to focus my mind on creating!

Creeting House are hosting their second Swedish Fayre on Saturday 3rd December, and, as a lover of all things Scandinavian, well, it was too much to resist! So, I've made a start. First I got busy with the air drying clay, rolling pin and cookie cutters to create some little ceramic decorations and tags.

I've also been busy with the blank wooden shapes that we sell on our website, to create some Nordic inspired creatures such as the mummy and baby reindeer, complete with tinkly bells, and the winter hares with ribbon bow.

Some pretty wooden hearts - perfect for hanging on doors and cupboards as well as making sweet and individual table presents. And the ever popular bundles of Christmas Trees that look so pretty standing on a mantelpiece interwoven with ivy or garlands.

We've just added the Angel shapes to our website - a new design that we created after a customer suggested it! So, here are the first two that have been decorated.....never miss an opportunity to use buttons and embellishments!

I've lots more ideas, and works in progress....but sadly, not lots more time, so I will have to sneak in whatever crafting time I can find!

I'm going to be in good company at the Fayre as Sam, a good HH friend, will also be having a stall with lovely handmade woollen and felted goodies and Caitlin, who has made some gorgeous cards and button bracelets that we've shown off on the blog previously, will also be there!

I've posted the details below - if you can make it we'd love to see you!

P.S. There's a Christmas Tree Festival in the Village Church right opposite on the same weekend - rumours have it you might even see a haberdashery tree!!!

Jacqui x

SWEDISH

CHRISTMASMARKET

CREETING HOUSE,

All Saints Road, Creeting St Mary IP68PR

(Oppositethe Church)

SATURDAY 3 December 11am to 4pm

Swedish Christmas decorations and gifts

Speciality Craft stalls, reclaimed & new giftitems

Deli specialitiescourtesy of “ATaste Of Sweden”

Come along and meet Lars, Ture &Ulfie, the Swedish chefs from Stockholm!

At the Market they will be offering Glögg, gingerbread. saffron buns, & hot dogs.

Let there be cake!

2011-11-06T23:37:00.000Z

Lady Galula and her eclectic cakes are to take up residence, albeit on a part time basis, at Halfpenny Home!

Kay's regulars will be very pleased to know that they can now stock up on her yummy creations whilst visiting HH HQ! Kay will be visiting every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month with a mouthwatering selection of her wonderful gluten free cakes.

I can vouch for the lime and camomile cupcakes.....

Above is a coconut cake with coconut icing.....

And to finish.....a gorgeous Red Velvet cake - made with beetroot. Delish!

I think Tuesdays are just about to get a bit busier......

Jacquix.

Mellow Fruitfulness...

2011-10-21T15:55:00.001+01:00

Hurrah! We're out of our blog hibernation, the weather is distinctly autumnal and our minds are turning to cosy knits and warming food. We've just enjoyed our first batch of scrummy home made pumpkin soup, topped with chives and sage leaves from the garden and a nice dollop of creme fraiche to finish it off! Yum!

And this Knit Collage yarn, with the delectable name Buttercup Glow, was just perfect for an autumnal knit! A lovely cosy hat, with anticipated pom pom topping!

And how about these beautful hand made glass buttons, which have just arrived at Halfpenny Home?

As well as being in gorgeous autumn colours, we reckon they will look fab adorning our latest creations.

We've given our fab and very wide ric rac a starring autumn role too!

And here's one of our favourite images of Autumn, a humungous pumpkin stash at Alder Carr Farm.

We hope you're enjoying a creative and mellow autumn.

Jacqui & Nic

Summery Christmas!

2011-09-09T14:35:00.004+01:00

It's a very strange feeling wrapping Christmas presents in September, and though in many ways it feels completely wrong even acknowledging that the festive season is anywhere close on what is a very warm September day here in Suffolk, us crafters know that it is never too early to start planning!

Of course, I didn't really need much persuading to use some of this lovely ribbon ...for display purposes of course, you understand! I was out with the stamps, luggage labels, brown paper and string without further ado.

And it seems, we weren't alone in our thoughts turning to the festive season.....we've already put in another order! To our delight, we also received a lovely email this week from Caitlin, an HH customer, with these beautiful photographs of her Christmas card makes, incorporating her HH purchases!

I particularly love the button bauble card - no surprise given my button fetish really..

Caitlin also made these pretty little wire button bracelets using her purchases. Aren't they gorgeous? And would you believe, Caitlin is 13 years old. Very inspirational - a future crafting star!

And, here's another Christmas creation, demonstrating yet another use for the lovely woven Christmas ribbon, as well as incorporating HH buttons and little bells. Caitlin has been a very busy girl!

As well as the recent arrival of the Christmas ribbon, we've also indulged in some more gorgeous bias bindings!

So I thought I'd share a few of them with you to end on a more summery note!

Yum!

Jacquix

WOAD!

2011-08-31T05:58:00.027+01:00

We love visiting the Museum of East Anglian Life, there's so much to see and always something to learn about the fantastic part of the country that we are lucky enough to live in!
The annual Steam and Craft fair is a brilliant event with so many steam engines and crafts people from far and wide...Jen (pictured above) is a dedicated volunteer, fund raiser and a (quite brilliant!) Wednesday knitter!

We set up our stall in the pole barn and it was clear to everyone as we donned our aprons and got the pots warming on the stove that this was no ordinairy craft fair...

There were the brilliant colours achieved through the microwave technique - a little bit quicker than the natural dyeing that we do...

...and the chance to see the famous Needham Market fire engine a recent acquisition for the museum!

So, happy that all the pretty bias bindings , ribbons, ric racs and knitting needles were displayed at there best for the day we got busy with the woad!

We had a lot of fun doing the woad dyeing section in A Green Guide to Country Crafts and all think back fondly to Gavin Kingcome's fascination with the whisking!

Woad creates a rich blue dye by reacting with oxygen so although the surface bubbles here are a gorgeous shade of blue if you part the foam you can see the very yellow dye bath below!

The colour starts to develop as soon as the items are removed from the bath! You need a lot of people around to help 'air' the skeins of yarn and silk scarves so each 'dip' ended with the shout of 'WOAD' and the ringing of a great big handbell that Lisa Museum lent to us for the day!

Here they are drying on our line and yes that is a skein of green yarn there - it's what you get when you 'over dye' yarn that has previously been dyed with Dyer's Greenweed - it's Lincoln Green!

Now it's time for a little bit of an apology - the reasons for the LONG gap between this post and the previous one, my trusty old laptop gave up! It had worked hard and written many a blogpost and luckily as it was coming up to my 40th birthday my very lovely and brilliantly supportive parents bought me a new one! How lucky am I?

It was definitely party time at HH HQ last week and Wednesday was also the day that BBC Radio Suffolk came to visit the knitters and as it was also Wednesday Wendy's birthday we had a little party. Tina made these amazing cakes and as you can see they didn't even hang around long enough to get a snap of all the letters!
They were amazing, thank you Tina!

Jo Lea, knitting moss for an ornamental hanging basket and quite determined to teach Jon from BBC Radio Suffolk to knit!

Just one of the very brilliant birthday presents - a marvelous book by a brilliant knitter! This is my bed time reading...

The lovely birthday gifts will get a proper blogpost all of their own after I've written my thank you notes...but this one deserves a special mention as it was tracked down by Mike the Glassman and it's a beauty!
I LOVE glass as much as I love yarn and there had been much plotting, texting and consultation with The Good Wives of Sew and Crow to find a piece of glass that would make me go giddy and I know that Mike is particularly pleased with himself for finding this Martini jug by Holmegaard glass...

...he takes his glass seriously and being charged with this task made it tricky for me to pin him down in order to pick a winner for Country Buntkin bunting giveaway!

BUT, I finally got him - comment 7 is the winner! Congratulations Cath, send me some details halfpennyhome@googlemail.com and the bunting bits and bobs will be flapping their way over to you!

And finally...how proud were Jacqui and I to see a good friend of Halfpenny Home, Polly's Textiles featured in Oh Comely magazine?!
Well done Danielle, your 'Beautifully Purposeful' hand screen-printed fabrics are gorgeous and your aprons are definitely a favourite of ours and featured in one of our favourite magazines too!

Phew! Think that's about everything...Nic x

A Taste of Summer!

2011-07-25T22:43:00.002+01:00

I love Lavender, it just screams "summer" and I thought it was time to do a spot of baking with some I picked from my mum's garden - she has absolutely loads so I think the bees will forgive me for cutting just a small amount for my recipe, plus a bit extra for a vase too!

These biscuits are super easy to make and so I thought I'd share the recipe with you...

300g / 10oz butter

180g / 7oz caster sugar

450g / 1lb plain flour

2 egg yolks

about 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped lavender leaves

about 1 tablespoon of lavender flowers

drop of milk (if required)

You could always halve the quantity - as you can see, this makes quite a lot - depending on what size cutters you use! I couldn't resist making heart shaped biscuits!
Method:
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add your lavender leaves, most of the flowers and your flour and egg yolks and mix well. Knead your mixture into a soft dough and, if necessary, add a drop of milk to get a nice smooth ball. I then popped it in the fridge for half an hour before rolling out to my desired biscuit thickness, about 1/2 cm. Cut your biscuits out using your biscuit cutters and place on a greased baking tray. You can press extra lavender flowers into the top of each biscuit if you like. Bake in the oven at 160 o centrigrade / 320F for about 15-20 mins, or until firm.
Leave to cool in the trays for a few minutes to firm up before using a palette knife to remove and place on wire cooling trays.

Then settle down with a nice cuppa to enjoy a little taste of summer!
The biscuits keep really well but if you make enough, why not share them with friends -they look really pretty presented in a clear cellophane bag and tied with ribbon and a parcel tag.

Jacqui x

Take Note!

2011-07-21T16:41:00.008+01:00

The lovely (and very talented and patient) Lisa (Museum) had the brilliant idea of getting us all making fabric covered notebooks at Sew n Crow. It's a fab way of using up small pieces of fabric and so much nicer to use than a boring old plain notebook. The results were fantastic and all so individual.

I loved Amy's gorgeous gingham design - she used the same fabric to make her bias binding and I think it works brilliantly. Check out the beautiful wooden button too!

And Sam's gorgeous fabric with contrasting interior! She found just the right colour ribbon at HH to use as a tie!

And here's my own (not quite finished attempt). Unsurprisingly with a scandi feel. A leftover piece of fabric from my bathroom blind! There's plans for a ribbon tie - but I need to find just the right colour, and of course, a button. A nice mother of pearl button I am thinking!

Pat's gorgeous farmyard fabric with gingham bias binding - lovely.

And.....am I allowed to say this? My favourite of all, Michelle's carefully thought out and beautifully executed design, made as a present for her God-daughter.

Michelle even added a tinkly bell and ribbon bookmark and one of HH's motif's. Just beautiful. If the conversations are anything to go by, there will be lots more of these being made over the coming months for presents.

It was a fab way to spend an evening - productive, creative and not forgetting the icing on the cake - literally - coffee and walnut cake and raspberry and white chocolate brownies - mmmmm. Washed down with liberal helpings of tea.

Jacquix

PS. Don't forget to enter our giveaway for the fabric bunting kit as seen in A Green Guide! Scroll down for the details.....

Road trip!

2011-07-16T06:26:00.014+01:00

What's Tammy the HH 'Twinfit' dress form doing in a hall full of lovely artwork then eh?
Keep scrolling down and all will be revealed...

I get a lot of comments about all the stuff that I manage to cram into my lovely little basket with the green and orange handle. But yesterday we were grateful for all the odd bit's and pieces that lurk amongst the crochet-covered fruit, mp3 player and pliers...
We were heading over to Burnham Overy Staithe where the Norfolk Arts Exhibition 2011 was being held.
Look at all the lovely bunting!

Helen Brown and Paddy Peters along with some other great artists organise this event every year and this year the committee invited Halfpenny Home to showcase A Green Guide to Country Crafts!
Helen and Paddy are great friends of both Jacqui and I and their 'Old Piggery Pottery' is one of our favourite places, Helen makes the fab mugs that we use at HH HQ! We are also allotment neighbours but I won't bore you with seed talk right now...

Another great friend of Halfpenny Home is Danielle Wade of Polly's Textiles and her 'Dutifully Purposeful' items are wonderful so it's no wonder that the committee had also invited her along too!
We sell Danielle's hand-dyed and screen printed fabric at HH HQ and so we decided to make the long journey up to North Norfolk together!

We had a lot of fun displaying the lovely items that Danielle makes from her fabrics...

The suitcase that is usually at the bottom of the stairs crammed full of beautiful cushions!

Country Crafts open on the page showing Samantha Hayes wearing a Polly's Textiles Apron!

One of the beanbags that Danielle has just to started to produce sits alongside a Roman Blind that I made for another exhibition, we had this on display in HH HQ for a while and everyone loved it, the pleats show off the print perfectly!

Let's hope the visitors to Burnham Overy Staithe Village Hall, North Norfolk PE31 8JD between today - Saturday 16th July and Sunday 21st August like our crafty wares...Nic x

Country Buntkin...The Country Living Bunting Giveaway Competition thing...y

2011-07-12T13:43:00.016+01:00

We've been waiting for this issue of Country Living to hit the shelves (or for subscribers their doormats...) with slightly higher excitement levels than usual!
We're in it - or rather, the things that we've made are in it and my (Nic's) hands are just visible...

Some of the 35 beautiful step-by-step projects from A Green Guide to Country Crafts are featured and amongst them is the gorgeous bunting made from old shirts, we LOVE this photo and have very fond memories of the day it was taken by the very lovely and rather brilliant photographer and cake expert (!) Gavin Kingcome.
We couldn't resist decorating this barn wall with it over at Green Lodge Farm owned by our good friend Val Beeson.

How gorgeous do the fabrics look against the black boards??!!

It was fun to make this bunting as we got to include the shirt details like this button tab...

How could we celebrate Halfpenny Home's first appearance in Country Living and getting our 100th blog follower?
Hmmm...

Jacqui had a fabulous idea!
A blog giveaway - a bunting kit with all you would need to make some bunting just like the one featured in Country Crafts and Country Living!

We've prepared some flags from the very same shirts that we used on our 'Bunting made from old shirts' which along with the old, red seam binding will mean that you can recreate your very own 'Country Living' moment (gate not included)!
You've got until Monday 15th August 2011 to enter and to be entered into the draw you need to be a follower and leave a comment and to get an extra go tweet Nic @halfpennyhome
We'll get Mike the Glassman to draw the winner out of a really lovely Czech glass bowl...
Good Luck!
Nic x

Chocolate Pears!

2011-07-04T18:02:00.004+01:00

Look what a lovely surprise I got in the post? All the way from Spain!

These gorgeous, non calorific, crocheted chocolate pears - so beautifully wrapped in an organza bag tied with ribbons with little brown dragonflies on it - all of which will of course be saved for future crafting possibilities!
They are so pretty I couldn't help but share them with you!

I spotted them in the latest Mollie Makes which we looooove! (Thank you MM) And, well, I just had to have some. It's a good feeling too, being able to support fellow crafters - after all, we know only too well how much love and care goes into creating handmade goodies!

I love it when something so pretty also has such a useful purpose.

They came courtesy of Mari Martin - you can check out her work at http://etsy.com/shop/marimartin. Enjoyment of my G&T has just gone up a notch!!
Cheers!
Jacquix

On the make....Tales from the New Forest!

2011-07-02T21:04:00.008+01:00

I took my leave of HH last week for a week away in our motorhome. A visit to the New Forest, planned some months ago, was upon us! And what a beautiful area it is! Ponies of course, rule the roost, and roam freely along with the cows and the donkeys. They have the right of way over traffic and caused their own special brand of roadblock!

Apparently, as decreed by William the Conqueror, the animals are owned by those who live in the forest confines, "commoners" as they are called! Each person still has the right, upon payment of a certain levy, to graze animals, collect wood and, if they wish, dig for clay!
We were very close to Lymington and so the lure of a short ferry trip across to the Isle of Wight was too much to resist! Beautiful weather and beautiful views!

I always have to take along a crafting project when I go away and this trip was no exception. I'd carried on the weaving started when we were at Waterstones last month and had the idea that I would make a little cushion, similar to that featured in our book.

However, by the time it came off the frame, I decided that a textural 'vessel' was more the order of the day!!

So, using the same technique as the little Knit Collage 'nest' in our book, I set about making a fleecy bottom - over a glass of wine, of course! Nic had given me a sample of a new yarn that will shortly be arriving at HH, to try out.

It's called 'Baba'. Aren't the colours just fab?

In between the crafting we ventured out on some beautiful walks.

The views were enormously varied from countryside to coast in one walk - how cute are these newly shawn llamas? They were a little wary of young Rory!

I took this photo of the dandelion flower and seconds after Rory showed his appreciation by demolishing the subject matter!

A funghi shot especially for 'mushroom' Jane!

We stopped for a picnic en route!

Before reaching the shoreline......

This reminded me so much of our day spent on the Nacton shoreline when we were doing our candle style shots this time last year! The only thing missing is the candles!

On the final day of our hols, I managed to finish my project! I think it will be perfect for my overspill of odds and ends of ribbon that currently need a home! Despite the glorious colours and textures I can't help feeling that the addition of a button would add a certain something....you know me!

And, just to finish, a very contented and pooped Rory after another long walk, just before we made our journey home!

A fab time was had by all!

Who needs to go abroad?

Jacquix

Here are a few of my favourite things...

2011-06-30T17:02:00.014+01:00

One of the best things about taking Halfpenny Home out and about to a craft fair is the packing up of all our most favourite things...this Aspalls bag has been used an awful lot and not always just for the lovely Aspalls Cyder bottles it was originally designed to carry - it's also perfect for transporting the handpainted knitting needles that we love using!

It was my turn to choose which of our favourite goodies from HH HQ I wanted to take along to the Saint's Fair in Ipswich, a BRILLIANT craft fair organised by the rather wonderful Jess and Chris combo imakefunstuff - it's always a lot of fun!

As you can see I decided to show off just some of the ribbons, ric rac and trimmings that we have along with some rather wonderful Knit Collage and Gedgrave Flock yarns!
It was lovely to meet people that had read about Jacqui and I in the EADT piece by Steven Russell 'The Tweeter and the Tax Investigator' BUT the highlight (for me!) was meeting up with a fellow Tweeter @katiewardwriter ! Katy has just had her first novel Girl Reading published and as we are all local writers Ipswich Waterstones have been so very supportive and organised events for us!
Twitter brings the most unlikely people together - crafty girl meets a proper author! Katie is as lovely in real life as she is on Twitter! (as this bit of the blog is all about my obsession with twitter I should add a :-) right about now...) as I also met up with @katyark who I have met a lot in real life but didn't realise she was her...and she dodged the camera, tsk!

Look at those scrumptious yarns...irresistable!

The other great bit of Sunday was that on arrival I found that the HH stall was right next to a great friend of both Jacqui and I! Anita is a glass blower and she runs amazing workshops where you can transform old glass into beautiful pieces of art for your home!

Some of the fantastic cheeseboards that Anita makes from old wine bottles.

All this socialising and chatting about craft can build up quite an appetite but I never bother with taking along a picnic (unusual for me!) for the Saint's Fair as the food on sale there is always fab!

The lovely stallholders even delivered...

What a lovely day, Nic x

Midsummer Makes!

2011-06-20T21:54:00.008+01:00

On Sunday a delegation from HH HQ hit Cambridge, on a mission!

Tipped off by Harriet, who had previously attended Rachel's stoneware day course, four of us eagerly set off at a very civilised 8.45am to travel to Rachel Dormor's Cambridge Studio for a porcelain handbuilding workshop.

Rachel's beautiful work greeted us as we entered her studio - amid welcoming wafts of freshly brewed coffee.

After introductions and a brief round table explanation of our previous clay experiences (most of which hark back to our school days) we began..........

Rachel started by explaining the basics and giving us all what looked like a camembert to work with. Our weapon of choice: a rolling pin!

Rachel has the most beautiful set of printer's letters which I couldn't wait to delve into...once I had made something to impress them into!

How pretty are these little ceramic stamps too?

Our first 'creation' was a handbuilt porcelain jug. It was a little tricky to get it to stand on it's own but with a little help and encouragement from Rachel, it was there. The pattern is acheived with embossed fresco wallpaper! We also all did a vase or jug using a former to wrap the porcelain around too.

Here's the class results: How amazing that we all did the same thing but ended up with so many wonderful variations. With them safely stowed ready for firing, Rachel advised us to stop for some lunch. The morning had just whizzed by.

As ever at HH, lunch is a carefully planned affair. We had Nic's homemade scotch eggs - made fresh that morning, falafel, Sam's homemade hummus, bread, olives and sundried tomatoes. Washed down with my homemade elderflower cordial and followed by a fantastic array of cakes baked by Kay (Lady Galula Eclectic Cakes) and kindly supplied by Harriet! Yum! Sorry that the pic is on the "huh"!!

Feeling very full, we packed away the picnic knowing that we had the afternoon to create away using the techniques we'd learned in the morning. Having seen Rachel's article for espresso cups in Making Magazine, I just had to have a go. And, I just had to use the letters too! OK, so they are a little tall for espresso cups!

Fingers crossed that they survive intact! Though I'm not sure I will ever bring myself to make them dirty! It was a fab day - we did so much in a day and Rachel was a brilliant and inspiring teacher. It was lovely to have such a creative day surrounded by friends and fellow creatives.

I even made Rory a little "woof" ceramic star in celebration of his little win at the local dog show at our village Midsummer Fayre on Saturday. He came third in the puppy class! There were some beautiful puppies there - all shapes and sizes and numbering in excess of 20 I would say. So I was pretty proud puppy owner!

As usual, Rory looks pretty non-plussed about the whole affair!

Hope you enjoyed a creative Midsummer weekend.

Jacqui x

My heart took a leap and skipped a beat...

2011-06-14T19:41:00.015+01:00

This pile of fabric is sited by the big sewing machine in HH HQ and people are always surprised to find that I pretty much know what is lurking in there, what treasures are hiding away amongst all the untidiness...!
People who visit the haberdashery emporium that is Halfpenny Home probably do not realise is that I have as much (if not more!!!) of an addiction to fabrics than they do!

Vintage floral Sanderson fabrics are secreted around the place...it's not as if there's a shortage of fabrics anywhere in HH as anyone who has a penchant for our cotton poplin prints will know!

As I child I was so obsessed with fabrics and making things that this was my favourite toy, it's lived quite happily under my bed until quite recently when I had to sneak a peek at my WIP still 'on the loom' whilst making the projects in A Green Guide to Country Crafts!

It was my love of all things fabric-y that led me into my former career as a curtain-maker and I was 'paid' for work experience by one teacher with a metre of fabric exactly the same as this black oriental print - the original was lost many house moves ago but I found this kaftan in the dressing up box at the charity shop!

BUT, what could possibly cause me to get so excited when I'm surrounded by all this all day? I couldn't possibly need anymore fabrics...

*cue textile fireworks*

Well, it's these old curtains that have made my heart take a leap and skip a beat! The thought of making them into a suit has given me sleepless nights.... Just as I fell in love with my fabulous trade bike at first sight so it was with these lovelies, sigh! Thank you to the sock monkey making HH regular who tipped me off about them, cheers Fella!

So there you go, confession over and if you drop into see us at Halfpenny HQ I will probably thrust them under your nose and make you fall in love with them too! Best to just agree with me, it will all be over so much more quickly if you do and then we can just sit down and have a cup of tea!
Nic x

Bunting, sushi and curling up on THE sofa with a good book.....

2011-06-10T12:15:00.015+01:00

We never miss an opportunity to get out the bunting and last Friday was no exception!

Janine, Events Manager at Waterstones, Ipswich kindly invited us along for a "crafty afternoon".
We got to show off some of the beautiful images from a Green Guide to Country Crafts

As well as lots of the projects we made for the book.

Our knitting needles, as usual, came along too!

I took the opportunity to have a go at some weaving!

As did Cherry when she popped in to see us!

Thank you to all at Waterstones for making us feel so welcome, making us tea and allowing us to take a little bit of Halfpenny Home to Ipswich for the afternoon!

Doing the book has meant we've had the opportunity to meet some local celebrities, and back in March, shortly after the book was published, we were invited to sit on Lesley Dolphin's sofa at Radio Suffolk!

We were given our visitor passes and shown into the studio area. We were both really nervous but Lesley was lovely and soon put us at ease.

Here we are on the famous sofa!

And as a small reward we had sushi to celebrate!

Suffolk has many hidden gems and clever people. Sue Richards, of Rodwell's Farm, in Baylham is one of those people.

Sue makes cheese on the family farm and being a long standing friend, kindly gave us some of her lovely cheese for our party that we held to say thank you to our families for supporting us during the writing of our book as well as all those who contributed to the book.

Alison (Jacqui's sister in law) kindly allowed us to host our party at The Barn Cafe, Alder Carr Farm, which provided the perfect backdrop to show off some of the projects! How pretty does it look?

Here's the calm before the storm!

Sadly, the wine began to flow a little too well and unusually for us, there are very few photos of what happened next.......

suffice to say, we were left nursing sore heads the next day!

Nic & Jacquix

Flowery Fizz!

2011-06-05T20:55:00.004+01:00

I've been planning to make Elderflower Champagne since Nic and I went to Lisa's Pudding Evening last year. I'm partial to a drop of fizz and love all things elderflower so the thought that I could make my own for a fraction of the price was very enticing.....if it works of course!!!

Having done my recipe research, I was raring to go. Despite reading several warnings about the possibility of exploding bottles Iremained undeterred! I've been carefully watching the elderflowers progress when out walking Rory and set off last weekend to gather my supplies.

The recipe is a bit of a hybrid of one I found on the internet along with Lisa's recipe which she kindly passed onto me.

Of course, some lovely summery lemons are included

And white wine vinegar from our favourite local cider producer, Aspalls.

Must admit, I was a little worried by the sludgy appearance of my concoction when I put the elderflowers along with all the other ingredients into my fermenting bin!

We've had a really busy few days at HH (more of which to follow soon) so it was just as well the brew required a few days fermentation period in the brewing bin! I returned to it today for the next stage. Taking off the lid and the muslin cover was a pleasant surprise. It certainly smells pretty good! I've strained it into the demijohns to continue its work. And there it will stay for a couple of months - if I can bear to wait that long! Must admit I did taste a tiny drop and.....it actually tasted pretty good so fingers crossed!

Must admit, it looks a bit like cloudy apple juice at the moment however, I'm an optomist and my bottles are ready and waiting to be filled!

Looks like Rory's already been at my brew!

A rare moment of respite!

I'll let you know how the Champagne tastes when Nic and I crack open a bottle in the not too distant future! And, so long as we're still here to tell the tale, I'll post the recipe then!

Jacqui x

A Yearning for Yarn...

2011-05-29T12:50:00.013+01:00

Mmmmm....lovely new yarns from Knit Collage arrived at Halfpenny Home yesterday, we've been waiting a little while for these so the excitement meter hand hit maximum!
Rolling Stone is one of the yarn ranges that sit alongside the very much loved Gypsy Garden ones that we are such big fans of at HH HQ - it gets non-knitters knitting and even fellas find it hard to resist a bit of a knit...

Gorgeous!

We were both especially taken by the scrummy Pixie Dust yarns - we've not had these before and they are amazing! Lumpy, bumpy yarns with angelina fibre for some heavenly sparkle...

Look at how lovely and green the Emerald Rainforest is.....sigh! I'm so eager to get out a pair of needles and knit one of these up but can't decide which one....

After these lovely crocheted apple cosies appeared on the cover of Mollie Makes we've all been making them - they're addictive! It gives us a good excuse to get the hooks out, use up some of those odd bits of yarn and (of course) choose a very special button with which to embellish them with!

A great deal of debate over the practicality of such fruit jumpers raged during knitting on Wednesday and following a recent trip into Ipswich I can report that they do indeed help to prevent your breaktime apple from getting bumped and grazed whilst rolling around in your favourite wicker basket....
The trip to Ipswich was to pick up the fliers for our 'crafty afternoon' which is on Friday 3rd June at Ipswich Waterstones. We'll be there from Noon with some of the projects from A Green Guide to Country Crafts, come along and say hello, it would be lovely to see you!

Janine at Ipswich Waterstones is really lovely and particularly good at promoting and supporting local authors like us and Katie Ward, a fellow 'tweeter' whose first novel Girl Reading has just been published.

There we are! We are those 'crafty'people...

Look forward to seeing some friendly faces there and perhaps even meeting up with some blog-buddies?
Nic and Jacqui x

Beyond the Red Door - Thornham Walks

2011-05-23T23:20:00.007+01:00

Finally, this weekend, I got to Thornham Walks to see Jane's work, Rural Collusions!

It was a great opportunity as the photographic gallery, Beyond the Image were hosting a photographic walk with the chance to take loads of pictures! We met at the Gallery before setting out, past the little antique shop with loads of vintage bikes outside....

And out into the sunshine where Jane's work greeted us as we strolled around Thornham Walks.
Mushrooms galore! The last time I saw these was at Halfpenny Home and now they've found their way onto a tree!

Beautiful roses adorned the Walls of the walled garden

And just look at the sunshine lighting up the veins of these leaves

Jane's moss carpet looked very comfortable and seemed to have settled in really well into it's surroundings. I just loved the colours and the way the dappled light filtered across it.

I also loved seeing the pom pom trim on this really colourful line of yarns and trims!

This looked lovely swaying in the breeze.

One that you could easily miss, but I thought was inspired, was Jane's intricate placement of red yarn in this tree bark. Brilliant!

Single flowers in all their glory.

Colourful bark - the real thing this time!

A magnolia flower

A place to rest in the walled garden

Amazing funghi

A little folly tucked away in the corner of the estate

A field of flowers

I can't remember the last time I visited Thornham Walks but it is a beautiful and relaxing place made all the more delightful for Jane's work.

Jacquix

Warped! What a load of old sheets...

2011-05-19T18:16:00.015+01:00

Anyone visiting Halfpenny Home notices pretty quickly that we love bright colours - the handyed yarns from Colinette, the ostrich feathers in vibrant shades of turquoise and hot pink and the brightly coloured handpainted knitting needles! We are also big fans of pattern - big blousy florals, stripes and ginghams are often paired up with paisley, floral and gingham bias binding!
Which is why people are so often surprised to learn that we also love cool, plain linens - particularly old linen, cotton or metis (linen and cotton woven together) sheets from France. We even used a particularly lovely one (adorned with old mother of pearl buttons...) as the background for the Halfpenny Home online shop!
If you are really lucky you may come across your very own initials on a hand-monogrammed sheet like this one which graces my bed!

They are sometimes almost too nice to be kept just for sleeping between and a few of my windows at home are dressed in old sheets!

It's the hand-sewn seams and the uneven weave that gives the fabric it's unique look and charm.

Yum!

Sometimes there are small red monogrammes...

and sometimes there are bigger ones - hmmm, HH? Couldn't leave this sheet behind!

We were especially excited to see the linen egg project in the very first issue of Mollie Makes as it's so pretty and a lovely way to use up all those little scraps of fabric that you cannot bear to throw away! We've put together bundles of linen pieces that would be perfect for making these little eggs...look at the daisies!

These are so much fun to make and I can't stop just yet...
Nic x

A feast for the senses - Weekend Shopping in Bungay!

2011-05-17T13:31:00.010+01:00

We took our leave of Needham Market last weekend, for a spot of camping in Bungay....but I have to admit there was an ulterior motive! Not only to enjoy a bit of a break, which necessarily entails hefty consideration of what we will eat (good food is never far from our minds). A case in point being our chicken and chorizo paella doing nicely on the barbie!

But also, to visit Bungay's annual Garden Street Market. It's such a pretty little town and thankfully devoid of the usual cloned high street stores!

Knowing how popular the Street Market is, I was up and about early on Sunday for the quick 10 minute jaunt into the town from our site, to try and beat the crowds!

And what sights, and smells, greeted me!

Plants and flowers of every hue, together with organic veg and herbs, lined the entire length of Earsham Street, which is closed to traffic for the day.

Set against the backdrop of the pretty buildings it makes for a visual feast. There was also plenty of food temptation too - a hog roast was drawing in plenty of trade, as well as Thai food from the local Thai restaurant housed in the pink building you can see above. Yum. Made a mental note to try the thai next time we visit!

By the time I reached the end of Earsham Street things were livening up!

There were vintage garden wares

And a few antiquey items thrown in as well for good measure!

Most of the independent shops were open, and one that I spent a very long time in (!) was No 4, Market Place - it's sort of like a crafter's co-operative with lots of hand made goodies and vintage pieces. Just lovely!

We were even treated to music from this pretty street organ

I made a few purchases along the way - including these pretty seed packets which caught my eye! The excuse being they will make pretty and useful gifts, though I'm not sure I will part with them!

I also stocked up on some more wine crates which will be waxed and pressed into use for growing my salad leaves in throughout summer! I bought a grapefruit mint plant, which has a glorious smell and can be used to make tea, its also suggested that the leaves are good in a fruit salad so I shall definitely be trying that.

And, on my return back to our temporary, but very comfy, 'home' my other half had cooked the most amazing brekkie on the barbie for a well earned Sunday brunch!

It doesn't get much better than that!

Jacqui x
PS. If you want to check out the other street markets held in Bungay, the Antiques Street Market and Christmas Street Market are definitely worth a visit as well. See www.bungay-suffolk.co.uk

Mollie Makes!

2011-05-16T15:45:00.010+01:00

A new magazine landed in the Halfpenny Home post box last week and it's caused a huge amount of excitement amongst the crafty persons around these parts...
The cover shows some lovely crochet used to make these pretty apple jackets! I'm not usually found hooking as I'm more of a knitty girl but I was inspired and using some string made a little basket which will no doubt end up housing some buttons at HH HQ sometime soon!

The step-by-step linen eggs also got me going! Jacqui and I had discussed offering up these old linen bundles before - perfect for small projects and lovely to adorn with embroidery and buttons!

Meanwhile any visitors to HH HQ just lately will have noticed the abundance of colourful hand-painted knitting needles everywhere - the new colours are lovely with this deadly shade of purple...

the ever popular red and blue (Halfpenny Home colours...!)

AND my favourite colour green!

Aren't they gorgeous? Nic x

The Felting Bug!

2011-05-08T13:05:00.009+01:00

Last weekend, on a gorgeous sunny afternoon, I got out my bike and happily pedalled my way down to Halfpenny Home for Rachel's felting workshop, eagerly anticipating what the afternoon would bring. As soon as I walked upstairs to the newly created workshop space I was greeted by a riot of colour - baskets full of wool rovings in every colour imaginable!

Clearly I am not alone in wanting to learn the process of wet-felting as the workshop was full. First things first, we all were provided with mugs of tea whilst we got acquainted and Rachel chatted about her passion for felting. It wasn't long before we were all fired up and raring to go. Rachel even treated us to a little recorder music before we made a start!
The project for today, was to make a tea-pot stand. So first job was to decide on a design and colours for our masterpiece. Having done so, with Rachel's help and guidance, we started with the job of making pre-felt.
After laying out our wool rovings, it takes nothing more complicated than water and washing up liquid, some tea-towels and bubble wrap - plus a good dollop of elbow grease to create pre-felts, hence we are all standing on the job! We were concentrating hard.

And here are the results, drying outside in the courtyard - the colours looked amazing all laid out in the sun! These will be used for the design once dry.

Nic had an old campaign bed that she set up especially for the job! Perfect!

A little wooden chair in a lovely shady spot beckoned, but we had more felting to do!

Now onto our backgrounds for our felt mat, which involved layering the wool roving in opposite directions. It looks really delicate and feathery at this stage and it's hard to imagine it will become such a hard wearing material. More tea on the go......

As I sat on the floor making a template for my design and cutting up my pre-felts I felt transported back to childhood. Felting is a very expressive craft and it is very exciting as the materials morph from one texture into another and you're not quite sure (well, at least I wasn't quite sure) how it would all turn out. Bit like a science experiment though hopefully not as potentially explosive!

I'd decided on a branch and pear design and to incorporate a little bit of ribbon for the branch into the design.....just in case you are struggling!!

Lisa's finished piece, depicting irises, was a triumph. And below, is my finished pear branch! I'm not sure that many of them will end up as tea-pot stands though. I think everyone was so chuffed with their pieces that they want to frame them and display them as art - which they truly are!

The time went really quickly and before we knew it, it was time to leave. However, Rachel was so keen to impart her knowledge she still found time to tell us how to use up all our little bits of left over pre-felt from our designs, to make felt balls. I couldn't resist having a go when I got home.....

I am contemplating making a cherry brooch with some of them, but couldn't help thinking these look like the old fashioned rosy apple sweets! A truly inspirational afternoon and, as Rachel said, "you've got the felting bug"

Jacquix

Rural Collusions - Part Two!

2011-05-06T14:05:00.010+01:00

Samantha Hayes, a Tudor re-enactor who every Summer becomes Peg the Dyer at Kentwell Hall missed all the excitement at the Launch of Rural Collusions at Thornham Walks on Easter Saturday. Sam (along with Jane and myself) dyed a lot of the textiles used in the work so it was about time she saw the fantastic creations of Jane Southgate finally displayed in their beautiful surroundings.
We popped over there for a walk and straightaway spotted something fantastically fungal that is exactly the sort of thing that gets Mushroom Jane so excited and inspired...

I loved seeing the weaving again - the yarns are such beautiful colours and some are dyed with plants that grow nearby. The moss round the base of a tree is particularly beautiful to look at with so many different yarns used and all knitted in moss stitch - it looked a quite different in the woods to when Sam last saw it all being sewn together at Wednesday knitting!

The second part of Rural Collusions is at Lackford Lakes, near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk and again we spotted some inspirational fungi shortly after arriving!

Surely the inspiration for these incredible bracket fungi that we've all become so fond of at HH HQ...

Woad-dyed cotton for the 'gills' and felted Gedgrave Flock fleece which has been dyed with madder for the tops of the fungi.

Not forgetting the rather pretty puffballs in a variety of colours...

My favourites though have to be the Reeds - made in a combination of Colinette Point Five yarns and cotton dyed with reed heads (one of our favourite seasonal dyes) giving a lovely green colour despite being so very, very purple!

Hope you enjoy seeing the photographs but to get the full effect you really ought to pay a visit, I may even bump into you there as I shall be returning to see them fairly frequently throughout the year!
Nic x

Clever Knits!

2011-04-26T06:23:00.009+01:00

You may well wonder why such an amazing piece of fabric knitted and hooked to resemble moss is doing at the base of a tree in Thornham Walks, Thornham Magna, Suffolk and why it is being left to degrade, have real moss to grow on it and hopefully have insects living on it and in it! Read on...

The most fantastic part of Halfpenny Home is how it attracts such a great bunch of talented people through it's magical blue doors! We never know who is going to turn up but we can almost guarantee that they will have something interesting to say and hopefully something to show us!
I first met textile artist Jane Southgate last Spring, she came in and with a cup of coffee in one hand and a copy of Selvedge magazine in the other started to tell me all about her work...

Jane has been working with Ruth Richmond to create Rural Collusions - we've all enjoyed seeing (and in some cases helping to create!) some of the work taking shape before our eyes! The mushrooms were particularly popular and has led to Jane sometimes being referred to as Mushroom Jane...

We've had a fantastic time helping Jane to scource natural yarns and fabrics and dyeing fibres with plant dyes with the help of Samantha Hayes, who is a Tudor Re-enactor at Kentwell Hall every Summer.

Just love the colours on this piece of weaving! This is the first of Jane's pieces that you will encounter on the walk through the woods and it is breathtaking!

Can't possibly have a blogpost without a break for cake...Lady Galula's newest creations - raspberry cupcakes with glitter icing in exactly the same shade of pink as the sunhat I'm knitting for my niece!

Another artist who is a frequent visitor to Halfpenny Home HQ is Amy Louise Nettleton. Amy currently has some work on show at the Waterfront Gallery in Ipswich.

I went along to the Private View and loved the selection of work on show and it's all by local artists.

Although these photos are great you should really go along and see the work yourself - it's a fabulous space in such a beautiful setting! It will be there for all to see until 11th May, Nic x

Going to work on a (scotch) egg!

2011-04-04T13:35:00.020+01:00

By now you will have (hopefully!) seen our beautiful book A Green Guide To Country Crafts published by CICO Books Ltd. and chock full of gorgeous photographs by Gavin Kingcome (pictured above) all taken around the lovely part of the world that we are so lucky to live in!
We had a lot of fun during the photo shoots and made the most of the brilliant beach and picnic projects - essential for any picnic is the scotch egg!
I started making these as a way to use up a lot of eggs and was inspired to do so by my mate Maria Matthews, she quite often adds herbs to her sausagemeat but I leave it plain - the instructions here are my quick and easy adaptations to many online and printed recipes...you may have to jiggle the timings a bit as I get giant eggs from my ex-battery hens and teeny eggs from Button and Zsazsa the Silkies!

Jane Southgate - textile artist - and I got together to do some dyeing and whilst the rhubarb leaves were cooking we made a couple of these for our lunch - so here we go!

Boil your eggs

I use my little and very old Le Creuset pan that I got from the Sue Ryder shop next door...

About 6 - 8 minutes should give you a good yolk but as Jane and I were eating them straightaway we soft boiled them for runny ones! Take them out of the boiling water and sling them straight into a big bowl or sink of very cold water - if you get the timing right you wont get that grey line around the yolk...

Roll the peeled eggs in some flour seasoned with salt and pepper and set aside while you get on with the crispy, crunchy crumbs...
Blitz some old bread in a food processor and then toast them, I use a big griddle pan for this.

Watch them and keep turning them - I usually have to do this stage twice as I get distracted by a cake or knitting blog...

Grab your sausage meat - quarter of a pound for big eggs - squash it flat and wrap it right round, you don't want holes and dampening your hands first will make it easier to do!

Get a couple of eggs and beat 'em up! Rolling the sausagemeat wrapped eggs in beaten egg makes all those scrummy crumbs stick on fast and then you should end up with something like this!

Deep fry in some sunflower oil for about 8 minutes...being very careful and taking all the usual warnings about deep fat frying into consideration etc.

Turn them carefully and frequently so that they are evenly cooked and gorgeously golden brown!

Ta da!

Absolutely the best thing to do with eggs and they will make grown men weep with joy! Knitters, artists, cake makers and photographers are pretty keen on them too...

with love from Nic x

Fabulous Felting!

2011-03-26T17:42:00.004Z

We really are very lucky to have such a talented bunch of creative Halfpenny Home friends, one of whom is Rachel, who has agreed to do some felting workshops at the studio over the coming months. Rachel brought in some of her work to show us and we were so taken with it we thought we should share it with you!

I particularly love the felted flowers, including this beautiful poppy, which can't fail to cheer up even the dullest day!

These colourful felted mats are just gorgeous and are what Rachel will be teaching at her first workshop at Halfpenny Home.

I love the pretty spring colours in this one.

On subsequent workshops Rachel will be showing us how to make one of these beautiful felted lariats.

This lily lariat is my absolute favourite and Rachel has even embellished it with pretty little bronze seed beads.

And what better way to keep your teapot nice and toasty!

Don't need much excuse for a cuppa! Now I just have one more reason......

As luck would have it, the new issue of Oh Comely has recently arrived - perfect to go with that cuppa!

I'll be putting the latest copy of Oh Comely on the website over the next few days. Meanwhile, I had to share with you a shot of the back cover, which I think is just lovely!

Do get in touch if you'd like further details of Rachel's felting classes at Halfpenny Home. The first one is on 30th April and you need to do the first one before moving onto the other projects.

Jacqui x

It's a Wonderful World!

2011-03-19T20:04:00.005Z

Rory, now 13 weeks old, and ready to enter the big wide world! I wondered what he'd make of it all! But, what a beautiful day for his first proper foray into the outside.

Nic had made him a super little coat in readiness for his outside adventures. Keeping him still long enough to capture him in his new attire proved a tad difficult!
So here is a picture of his bespoke coat, modelled on the arm of our settee! Clock the lovely bias binding and covered button detailing!

And here it is, on the intended model!

And a little closer up!

Needing a little reassurance about this outdoor lark!

All this outdoor play is tiring!

Now time for some more exploring....

Yey, my favourite pink squeaky mouse!

Phew, a hard day....wonder what tomorrow will bring.....

Suffice to say he's now busy snoozing!

Jacquix

Kitchen Alchemy

2011-03-17T18:48:00.008Z

Today Nic and I got together to make soap, using the basic cocoa butter soap recipe in our book, A Green Guide to Country Crafts. We thought we should certainly practice what we preach!

First job is to make the lye, adding specific measurements of caustic soda to distilled water. The magic then begins as the solution magically warms up....
Whilst the lye is doing it's thing we weigh up our other ingredients...

And add the castor oil and olive oil. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a cake in the making!

We then melt the mixture, ready to have the lye added.

Our choice of moulds:. silicone muffin cases and some tupperware!

To our basic soap recipe we've decided to add some essential oils of ylang ylang,chamomile and lavender.

The finished mixture ready to put into moulds.

And that's it, the finished soap, covered in cling film is left to set and cure. All done!

Pleased with our handiwork we allowed ourselves a tea-break!

We hope this will whet your appetite, soap making really is very acheivable and easy to do. Yes, a bit of care is essential given some of the ingredients but it is brilliant fun. But don't take our word for it, for full instructions for the basic soap and yummy recipes to adapt the basic cocoa butter soap, such as choc and mint soap and honey and oat scrub, get yourself a copy of the book!

Jacqui & Nicxx

Glassy Birds!

2011-03-11T20:19:00.010Z

We love glass at Halfpenny Home - anyone visiting us would notice that pretty swiftly!
Buttons, ribbons and yarns have all graced a cake stand at some time...
We have enjoyed playing with discarded and no longer useful glass with Anita, her workshops are great fun and everybody comes away with different things.

I was particularly pleased with this flower pendant which is currently gracing the chandelier in my kitchen and the square bowl with flashes of orange and blue which cradles pears on my old kitchen table.

Our love of glass and a text message from Lisa at the Museum of East Anglian Life inspired us to have a little bit of a Halfpenny Home competition!

We are amazingly proud of A Green Guide to Country Crafts published by CICO books Ltd. recently and Lisa had sent us a picture of a copy on sale in a branch of Waterstones located in Leamington Spa.
When you are next browsing through the craft section of your local bookshop and happen to come across a copy of CC then please snap it, send it to us and we'll enter you into a draw!

The prize is a real life Halfpenny...

set in glass at Anita's workshop and totally unique in every way!
You can enter more than once (but they must be different shops!) and the deadline is the end of April 2011 send them to halfpennyhome@googlemail.com

And finally (and just because I wanted to post one..) a photo of Rory from last week - getting bigger! Meetings at Jacqui's take longer but are a lot of fun with a puppy to play with...!

Get snapping and good luck, Nic x

New Arrivals and Vintage finds

2011-03-06T20:53:00.006Z

What a fun day we had! We'd planned a day of taking photos following the arrival of exciting new goodies at Halfpenny Home.

But how best to show off our new wares? Nic popped in to the Antiques Centre at the Old Town Hall, Needham Market, and they kindly obliged with the loan of some lovely vintage keys.

Gorgeous scandi style woven tapes that I am just ga-ga about!

And beautiful quality narrow velvet ribbons. Nic had an inspired idea of using them with our lovely metal buttons to make wine glass charms! She even allowed me to play with some of her most favourite glasses!

And....last but most definitely not least, these absolutely gorgeous spotty, paisley and floral bias bindings.

Set atop a set of vintage postal scales. How pretty do they look?

It's a hard job but someone has to do it.....in all seriousness though, we were both whacked at the end of the day! Now all I have to do is update the website with these gorgeous wares!

Hope you like!

Jacquix

Buttons!

2011-03-03T07:41:00.010Z

Here at Halfpenny Home we don't even try to hide the fact that our heads are frequently turned by some rather special buttons!
We sell a lot of different colours, shapes and sizes from the absolutely gorgeous old mother of pearl buttons above all uneven and really heavy to the e.classic wooden toggle...

We get excited when some new ones arrive that are so unusual like these woody ones...

And even though there are an awful lot of them we know where they all are and can usually find them pretty quickly!

I say usually because we had some rather lovely ones arrive the other week and after oohing and ahhhing over them for what is probably a lot longer than the average person I (Nic) lost them!
I looked everywhere!
I dreaded people asking me if I'd found them yet...!
I knew that they were with these rather lovely ribbons below and they are safe and sound!

But yesterday I found them! Almost two whole weeks of being missing finally they are here for everyone to see - I think that you can see why I was so upset?!
Aren't they fab?

They are similiar to the lady face buttons we've had for a while but a whole lot bigger!
Phew! We can put them on the website now...

That's all, Nic x

Baking Day! The Best Carrot Cake Recipe...

2011-02-28T06:53:00.015Z

I hate washing up so I start off by weighing out 12 oz sugar and putting it a bowl with half a pint of sunflower oil. Then you add 3 large eggs - I have big and little eggs as I keep bantams so I used four (two big and two small) to make it up.

Then weigh out your 6 oz of plain flour. (I have just experimented and tried to make a gluten free version - I'll let you know how it turns out!)

Add a pinch of salt and three quarters of a teaspoon of both bicarbonate of soda and baking powder.

Beat the eggs into the oil and sugar mixture.

Sift in the dry ingredients.

Then add the carrots - you need 8 oz so I usually weigh whole carrots (less messy!) and allow a bit for peeling and then grate them straight into the mixture.

Pour into a 9"/10" cake tin (doesn't matter really!) and bake at 180 degrees C or 160 degrees if you have a fan oven.

It should take about 45 minutes but check after 40 and it may need longer, test with a skewer - if it comes out clean it's done!

Now for the frosting - yum!
Beat together 6 oz of cream cheese and 6 oz of butter with 8 oz of icing sugar and half a teaspoon of vanilla extract. This makes a lot of icing so I frequently cut the quantities down but keep the proportions the same.

Fork it on as you please! Serve on a cakestand for preference or in this case (as it was a travelling cake) a vintage plate.

Here's the one for the children's party a triumphant cake made by my sister-in-law Caroline and eaten by princesses and princes...

Happy baking, Nic x

UPDATE!
It works with a 50/50 mix of ground rice and ground almonds in place of the flour making it gluten free - yippee! It has been devoured during Sew&Crow last night and during a crafty catchup with Jane Southgate this morning...

Shopped until I dropped...

2011-02-23T07:28:00.001Z

I paid a visit to the Birmingham NEC at the weekend and had a fabulous time - it was the Craft, Hobbies and Stitch International Trade Fair!

I was supposed to be checking out the ribbons, buttons and fabrics for Halfpenny Home but couldn't resist a look at the Cico Books and Rylands, Peters and Small stand...

and A Green Guide to Country Crafts was amongst the titles beautifully displayed there!

How exciting! Here it is accompanied by the skeins of yarn from The Gedgrave Flock, we dyed them with woad, purple feather reed heads and madder - all beautiful rich and vibrant colours!

But I had a lot of shopping to do! We love ric rac and are always looking out for new and exciting colours and sizes of it. This gorgeous green and sky blue had arrived at Halfpenny HQ during the week but I have found some others, they will be with us very soon...

I was pretty pleased with the recent additions to our range of ribbons but again I have found some others that (I think) are even nicer!

Embroidered ribbon with a vintage feel is always a big hit with us and I couldn't believe my luck when I found several designs and colours that we haven't seen before - I've been frantically taking pictures of them all to get them on the website - they are so lovely!

There was so much to see and there are a lot of treats on their way to us including bias binding in floral prints, polka dots and paisley designs...I was quite worn out with all the excitement!

Visitors to HH HQ have been amused by my attempts to keep the big table clear for cutting fat quarters - I'm trying! I keep getting distracted by the new buttons, these are some of the new cotton poplin prints!

Lovely roses and daises!

Polka dot PVC table covering - who says it's just for tables?! We made bunting with it and with the fabulous gingham bias binding it sets off the OPEN sign a treat!

It makes everyone smile, Nic x

Ark & Craft & all things nice!

2011-02-19T16:31:00.003Z

It's been a really rainy day in Suffolk today, but despite the weather, I've had a very enjoyable time! I paid a visit to the Ark & Craft Fayre. It was lovely and buzzy when I arrived with lots of of lovely stalls selling really gorgeous high quality crafts and makes.

Of course, I could not resist the button jewellery stall! There were some really lovely necklaces and bracelets. But this is the one that made it home with me! As if I need more buttons! A girl can never have too many in my view!
I also purchased these gorgeous handmade recycled envelopes. Made from the pages of magazines and newspaper supplements, they are a brilliant way of recycling.

And how much more interesting to receive an envelope like this through the post, than a boring plain one!

I couldn't leave the fayre without purchasing some of Kay's fantastic millionaires shortbread. It was Kay's first time at the Ark & Craft Fayre, with her new business - Lady Galula Eclectic Cakes. In celebration of her new business venture Kay had developed a new flavour - Chilli & Lime millionaires shortbread. I didn't even manage to wait long enough to take a photo of it before trying it out -as you can see from the picture! It was absolutely fabulous!

Anita was also at the Ark & Craft Faye selling some of her gorgeous glass ware. Anita has also fired all our work from our glass workshop day and here are some of my finished pieces.

It's always so exciting to see how things turn out.

OK, I know it is a little premature for Christmas Trees but I'd seen some that Anita had done and decided to get started early!!!

I will be putting hangers on these and think they will make perfect little individual presents. I am already planning another visit so I can increase my forest of trees!

Rory is currently being a very active little boy and is racing up and down the hallway so it has taken me about three times as long to write this post! I did just about manage to snap him sitting still though! One week on and he's growing fast!!

Enjoy your weekend.

Jacquix

I'm in love!

2011-02-14T23:21:00.003Z

Not the typical Valentines gifts for me this year! A packet of love hearts - remember them?

and..........

Rory's arrival into our lives last Friday. What an impression he's made on us already!

We've fallen hook, line and sinker with this little bundle of white fluff.

He may look innocent but he most certainly does have character!

He is just a joy. All that bouncing around though is very tiring and he needs his beauty sleep.

Love is......

I hope Barney approves, and knows that a little bit of my heart will always be his.

Hope you've had a special valentines day too!

Jacqui x

Spring is in the Air!

2011-02-08T10:14:00.017Z

Everything on the allotment is bursting into life which must mean that Spring is on it's way!

I'm hoping for sloes on this blackthorn bush this year..

I was worried that I may have planted this garlic a little late due to all the rain that we had last year but it's all sprouted, I love garlic!

The slightly warmer weather made the natural dyeing session we had at Sam's last week a lot easier - Jane Southgate is busy preparing for Rural Collusions and needed a load of stuff dyed blue with woad.

Dyeing with woad is always exciting so we didn't need a lot of persuading to get the dye pots out again!

The dyebath is yellow and the blue only develops when the dye reacts with oxygen in the air. We were dyeing some of the crocheted puffballs along with some wool blankets and some cotton interlining. Jane uses the interlining to make the gills of bracket fungi!

After a great day of dyeing I paid a visit to another artist's studio My Red Studio is just up the road from Halfpenny Home and is where Amy Louise Nettleton is currently working - we were really excited to hear that she had found somewhere nearby and I couldn't wait to see her studio.

Red, red, red!

Jacqui very generously treated me to a glass workshop with Anita Honeyball for Christmas with the condition that she came along too! Jacqui has attended a couple of these sessions before and I've always been so very impressed with all of the things that she has produced and it's almost all made with recycled materials that would otherwise be thrown away.
Jacqui and I were joined by our good friends Lisa and Gay as well as Maria B who organises the Ark and Craft Markets in Needham Market held on the 3rd Saturday of every month. Anita will also be at this month's event which will be on Saturday 19th February.

Anita's studio is a treat for the eyes - there are beautiful objects everywhere! These cheese plates are made from bottles that have been heated in a kiln.

You can't help but be inspired to create when you see all the pieces of coloured glass...

As you can see in the picture of the table below we were all very productive!

All that creativity can make you very hungry!

We even managed to make good use of one of the bottle cheese plates during lunch, I love glass so a whole day of playing with it was a real treat for me - I can't wait to see how all the pieces look after they have been fired!

Just look at the fantastic colours of the 'Stingray' glass bowls - I have a one in a kingfisher blue which I brought from Anita the very first time I met her at Treasures of Suffolk and I really love it! What a great way to spend a week, Nic x

All the hard work was worth it.......

2011-02-02T19:38:00.003Z

It's arrived! The day we've been waiting for!

When we finally got to see the final result - it's a proper real life book! More importantly, our book!

We knew it was on it's way - and Nic arrived extra early almost lynching the postman when he turned the corner towards Halfpenny Home HQ! But what a scary moment too!

As only a handful of copies are available at the moment we've only been allowed one copy to share between us - and so far we've managed not to fall out! Nic even slept with it by her side on that first night!!!

Seeing our names, and name of the shop, on the front cover was a really special moment. There were more than a few squeals of excitement!

The book has been stroked, sighed over and has even been baptised with champagne courtesy of Harriet!

Gavin Kingcome's photography has really captured the essence of Halfpenny Home and it is so exciting to see the familiar surroundings in print for all to see!

We should probably end with an apology for our self indulgence and over use of exclamation marks - we hope you'll forgive us!

Jacqui & Nic

xxx

PS It's out on 10th March (UK) end of March in the US!

Art and Craft (and cake!)

2011-01-27T14:32:00.022Z

The good wives of Sew and Crow don't usually need much of an excuse to plonk a cake on a cakestand! We did, however have a very valid reason indeed - Lisa Museum's Birthday! Sam made her a wonderful cheesecake ala Nigel Slater and as Lisa is a stitcher and crochet queen we all partook in a little embroidery for the evening.
So armed with hoops, linen, silks and disappearing marker pens we were ready for what proved to be a very, tranquil evening.

Jeanetta approached this make-along with a little trepidation but inspired by the Made in France book by Agnes Delage-Calvet and Annie Sohier-Fournel and Doodles by Aimee Ray she was soon well and truly hooked! Last seen hotfooting from Halfpenny HQ clutching some embroidery hoops...

Miss Pat tackled these pretty intials for her daughter.

Lisa stitched these lovely little birds!

Michelle tackled this mother bird feeding a worm to her chick, and all the way through Wellington, Sam's cat snoozed gently...

Back at Halfpenny Home the following morning I was met by the postman bearing a parcel from the USA, it was from Amy at Knit Collage and contained yarns from her new collection!

They are fab, Amy had sent them over for one of our online customers.

Amy had suggested the yarn Rolling Stone in the colourway Shooting Star as a substitute for Stardust Garland which is sadly out of stock at the moment. Knit Collage produce handspun yarns with trimmings added during the spinning process, they are so special it's no wonder they were so popular at the recent TNNA trade show in the US.

This is Candy Cane in Cotton Candy (above) and Blueberry Marshmallow (below) YUM!

All wrapped up and ready to go off to the lucky recipient...

Meanwhile, I had been given a job to do - some moss for Jane Southgate's art exhibit Rural Collusions.

We've been getting some of HH's enthusiastic knitters to make musrooms and we have gathered together quite a herd which will accompany the ones that Jane has made herself - each one has been lovingly made and returned to HH HQ and a slip of paper with the craftsperson's name written on has been placed inside.

Even though the pattern was the same the differences in yarns, needle size and the tension of the knitter means that they are all so different!

The Wednesday morning knitting group is currently held at The Rampant Horse Inn which is just over the yard from Halfpenny Home. Jane and Robert have made us feel very welcome and Robert brings us coffe, tea and cakes. Jane and I were particularly pleased to see Battenburg making an appearance this week.
Jane was showing off her latest non-fungi related knitting projects, the peaked cap and her socks which I'll do a post about with mine shortly!

I've been wearing my Colinette scarf almost non-stop since I made it as it's been so very cold and that means that I haven't had the chance to show off the button jewellery that Jane made me for Christmas!
But last night I was invited to have dinner with friends and took the opportunity to show it off!

I love it! Nic x

Crafty Weekend

2011-01-24T18:55:00.005Z

I was spurred into action this weekend and got a few crafty makes finished!

Firstly, these two wooden hearts. The large one is painted in Farrow & Ball's London Stone, the medium one is Nutmeg by Laura Ashley. These are for a Halfpenny Home customer who'd bought two similar hearts before Christmas and wanted some more for a gift. It's really special doing something you know someone values enough to give as a gift. Hopefully, she'll be pleased.

Then it was onto cards. So out came my stash of ribbons and lace! This is just a small fraction of my hoard!

I used a punch from Stampin Up, a lovely bird on a branch design, which is one of my favourites at the moment. They are really nice punches to use and the ink pads are very good quality too! Of course, I had to finish off with a button too!

Within a week we've had two invites, one to a Golden Wedding and the other to a Wedding. So, two acceptances were required! The wedding theme is blue and silver so the colour scheme was easy for that one! On the other acceptance I made two little quilled hearts from quilling paper.

Finally, and continuing the heart theme, I got around to framing one of the little pieces I made at Anita's last glass workshop. It's so simple but effective and is made by fusing little fragments of recycled glass together in a kiln. The box frames from The Range are ideal for framing art work. They come in loads of different sizes and you can paint them whatever colour you choose. This is another Farrow & Ball colour, which is one of my favourites, slipper satin. Just as a final flourish I used a Stampin Up stamp, to stamp underneath the heart. It reads "life happens, love helps". Such a simple saying but oh so true.

Nic and I are doing one of Anita's workshops next month (http://www.misshoneypieglass.co.uk/) so hopefully we'll have a few more creations to share with you then.

Hope you had a crafty weekend too!

Jacquix

Pixie Hat!

2011-01-23T10:27:00.009Z

Inspired by Jacqui's cowl knitted up in the wonderful Knit Collage I've knitted my neice a hat in the colourway Raspberry Sunset - I love this one as it has bright lime green flowers as well as red sequins all through it. I very loosely followed the pattern for a hat on Purlbee but after casting off had a little of the yarn left over and not liking to waste any of this amazing yarn decided to keep on knitting and make a very pixie like knotted hat!

She loved it as much as I enjoyed knitting it and the knot bounces along with her - she really loves buttons so I had to add a few!

As you can see pink is her favourite colour so the hat suits her perfectly - she's ALMOST the perfect model you just have to be very quick with the camera!

We all need woolly hats and scarves with this chilly weather which gives me the perfect excuse to keep on knitting between opening Halfpenny HQ and making sure my chickens are all ok, here's a lovely picture of Button with Bing the cockeral and Zsa Zsa, she's settled in very well after a bumpy start which meant that she had to come to work with me for quite a while...

She's even been laying eggs, little ones! Here one is next to one of Betty's big brown ones!

I'm just finishing off my second pair of stirrup socks and then I'll summon up the courage to show them to everyone! Nic x

2011-01-19T08:12:00.011Z

With the launch of our lovely new website www.halfpennyhome.co.uk we were pleased to see that along with the people who walk through the blue doors of Halfpenny HQ creative people from further afield seemed like the same things as we do!
We had an order for some of the Stardust Garland yarn by Knit Collage which is sadly out of stock at the moment but we offered up this lovely handspun Wensleygdale with silk from our friends at the Gedgrave Flock and the customer was tempted but the skeins are rather large, this one was 190g. No problem!

Weighed out, re-skeined and label ammended it was soon on it's way to the lucky recipient!

Meanwhile I had a present to make - Jane look away!
Jane Southgate loves blues and turquoises so this was an easy choice - Point Five from Colinette is lovely to knit with and this shade doesn't hang around long. Turquoise with flashes of purple, yum! Many of our regulars reckon that they enjoy winding the balls almost as much as knitting with it....look at how the colours sing in the sunlight!

I had in mind the cozy neck wrap from Purlbee but I was a bit worried that I would run out of yarn before getting to the tip of the triangle - so I turned it upside down and instead of decreasing I increased. The Purlbee pattern has a buttonhole that the end of the triangle slots through but Jane loves buttons...

To increase you just knit into the front and back of the same stitch before moving the stitch from one needle to the other.

By increasing on only one side it was quickly taking shape!

If you are worry about running out of yarn before you can cast off then lay the yarn along the line of stitches and you need to have about two and a half times the length in yarn to be sure to have enough!

Glazed coconut button in place and ready for wrapping - hope she likes it! Nic x

Pop The Corks!

2011-01-13T08:24:00.007Z

and yes, it really did hit the ceiling!

It may have been a rainy January day in Suffolk however, it's been a day of celebration at Halfpenny Home!

Today was the day when the first order from our website www.halfpennyhome.co.uk left Halfpenny Home! We recieved an order for some lovely handmade ceramic Injabulo heart buttons, a bit of a favourite of ours!

We've learnt such a lot in this last year, and we're still learning! It's no exaggeration to say that we've taken thousands of photos and met some very clever people who have been very patient with us! We are now proud to officially announce that our website is well and truly launched!

Sending our first order out today meant such a lot to us. Knowing that an enthusiastic crafter liked what we had to offer on our website made us very happy bunnies indeed!
Thank you everyone for your help and for being so patient with us, Nic and Jacqui x

Double Knit!

2011-01-09T20:19:00.004Z

After the third attempt I've finished! My Knit Collage cowl is finally done! And now there are two! I originally followed a pattern which required 4 skeins of Knit Collage, but when knitted up it just felt too thick and cumbersome, so I started again, this time leaving out the cabling, making it half the width and adding very easy buttonholes and button fastening.

The buttons are gorgeous coconut shell buttons which, of course, came care of Halfpenny Home!

Here it is on!

And perfect, because I now only needed two skeins for my cowl, I could knit one for my lovely sis in law whose birthday is later this month. She'd admired the yarn before Christmas so fingers crossed she'll be pleased! It's wrapped and ready to go!

Hope she doesn't read this before her birthday!!!

Jacquix

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T16:03:00.007Z

A very Happy New Year!

We couldn't let too much of 2011 pass before our first blog of the year! It's one of our New Year resolutions to blog more!

We hope you had a fab festive period? Halfpenny Home may have shut its doors for the holidays but Nic and I have both been busy!

Lots of knitting has been done - Nic will be sporting some stirrup socks, which will be appearing on a post very soon, I've no doubt! A mere novice when compared to Nic, I have managed to complete a cotton facecloth....

And, the saga of my Knit Collage cowl goes on.....I knitted it all up, even made a lovely button brooch to pin it with (thank you to Maria B who gave me the idea).....then decided it was too wide and I would prefer it a little thinner, so promptly unravelled it to start again! I am working on the new version - fingers crossed!

The end of 2010 was tinged with a good deal of sadness for me, with the loss of my beloved westie. He did have a fantastic long life but it doesn't make it any easier. He is irreplaceable and will always have a very special place in my heart. After convincing myself that I was not being disloyal by having another westie, we went to see some 11 day old puppies over the Christmas period. This is just one of the litter - how cute! Like minitiare polar bears. We visit again this month and, fingers crossed, one of the puppies will choose us!!!

With a birthday also over the festive period, we undertook the annual birthday pilgrimage to Southwold! I love it in Winter though I have to say the weather was not particularly great! It was a job to even see the sea! Southwold is home to Adnams and no visit is complete without a trip to the Adnams shop. I'd read that Adnams were producing their own gin (a favourite tipple) and so a small bottle was purchased for sampling on arrival home!

With all the traditional festive fare consumed at this time of year, the lure of a meal out just wasn't there! So, we had fish finger ciabatta sarnies - and gorgeous they were too!

As part of my birthday gift, Nic brought me some home made millionaires shortbread. It is to die for! It arrived appropriately beribboned on a lovely Piggery Pottery plate - just in time for dessert! What a fab birthday tea.

Halfpenny Home will be opening it's doors again on Saturday January 8th and we're both looking forward to a busy and exciting year. We wish you peace, happiness and lots of crafting joy for 2011.

Jacqui x

Woolly Winter Wonderland!

2010-12-20T13:49:00.011Z

Yes, we're nearly there - just a few more days!
Halfpenny Home has seen an awful lot of handcrafted presents planned and made during this last year. A handmade gift means so much more than a shop bought present as the recipient knows how much thought and care has gone into producing it. One of our Sew and Crow ladies, Michelle has really thrown herself into her crafting and presented me with this wonderful bauble wreath - I love it!

I on the other hand could not resist the temptation to knit up some of the Colinette Point Five that we have in the shop. This speedy one skein pattern is on the very wonderful Purlbee, the blog for Purl Soho in New York. It's really easy and comfy to wear, we need as many woolly knits as possible with all this snow!

Purlbee has some brilliant projects and I'm quite a fan! Jane Southgate and I have been looking for a long sock pattern for ages and couldn't quite find one that we liked until we saw one on the Purlbee blog. We had to get it and it arrived just before knitting...

It's this shaping on the back that really got us going!

It took me no time at all to start knitting up a pair in the hand dyed Wensleydale yarn from the Gedgrave Flock.

They are on hold for now though as along with everyone else I've got loads more presents to make and it's getting closer and closer to the big day!
Everyone needs to stop for lunch though and I can't knit and eat but I do like a read and luckily for me the current issue of Oh Comely magazine has just been dropped off.

It features our very own (Dolly Beth) Beth Davis with a delicious recipe for rhubarb pie!

Right lunch over, back to work! Halfpenny Home will be closed after Wednesday 22nd December and will re-open on Saturday 8th January 2011. Hope everyone's Christmas preperations are going smoothly, Nic x

Crafty, Christmas Countdown!

2010-12-14T14:09:00.008Z

Inspired by a craft tutorial in the current issue of Selvedge Magazine I decided to make gift bags this year to cut down on wrapping paper.
I bought one of these lovely ponies for my neice - Marion (one of HH's crafty mates) makes and sells them along with her delicious preserves at farmer's markets and craft fairs.
He's called Biscuit and to ensure that the bag fitted I measured him up!

This gorgeous print is some old unused fabric that had been put by for ages and I reckoned that this would be the perfect excuse to use it.
The pattern needs four pieces shaped like a bag with ears and although I made all four pieces the same it would also look really nice in four different fabrics...maybe the next one that I make will be like that!

When it's all sewn up you tie the 'ears' together and present to the lucky recipient, they get a lovely gift AND a little bag that can be used for ferrying toiletries or a packed lunch around and you get to help reduce some of the waste produced at Christmas - result!

It's always lovely to meet fellow knitters and the group that meet at the Brewery Tap are an especially nice bunch - a load of them visited HH this morning and we had a homemade Christmas cake to greet them along with lashings of tea!
There were sighs and gasps at some of the buttons, all the yarn was thoroughly inspected and you could almost see minds storing up ideas for yarn-y projects.
I even had a few ideas myself, the Katia yarn Ondas has been a big hit and we had some of the green knitted up into a scarf by Miss Pat, it's gorgeous BUT it also makes a great wreath for the door and being the blue door leading to HH it could only be trimmed with notions (of course)!

Hope everyone is enjoying the crafty countdown to Christmas as much as we are, Nic x

A Deli Day Off!

2010-12-10T17:45:00.007Z

I had a day off from Halfpenny Home today and went off to visit my best mate who owns a fantastic deli in Norwich, and I love food so much that it all adds up to great way to spend a day off!
I was so very proud of Danda when she opened up Clarke and Ravenscroft as she knew exactly the sort of foods she wanted to supply to people and exactly how she wanted the shop in St. Gregory's Alley to look.
I love to visit Danda because as well as spending some time together I also get to stock up on loads of foody treats!

The gap in the cheese counter above is where the piece of Mrs Temples' Binham Blue was before I added it to my basket, yum!
I was under strict instructions from my Pa to not go mad on the cheese shopping - but I still did! Brown paper carrier bags straining I was dragged away from the deli to have the birthday lunch that I had come to Norwich for...the day was, after all supposed to be all about the Birthday Gal!

I (very) proudly presented her with a scarf knitted (by my not so fair hands) in Stardust Garland by Knit Collage - a beautiful yarn for a beautiful Birthday Girl!
Hope she's pleased with it, Nic x

2010-12-07T13:27:00.005Z

The textile artist Jane Southgate paid a visit to Halfpenny Home today - it's always great to see Jane as she always brings along plenty of cake and inspiration with her!
We helped Jane with a little natural dyeing in the Summer when we dyed some fleece, yarns and fabrics for her artwork.
To see more please do pay a visit to Jane's Blog where you will see some great photos of her work!

We were admiring one of the new Colinette Point Five yarns that Sam had test knitted up for us - Autum Leaves, it's so lovely with it's subtle browns and blues along with flashes of orange!
Just like the rest of us Jane is busy making a lot of the Christmas presents that she will be giving this year. She's made a fair few scarves of this ruffley yarn but not in this colour!

Jane had come along this morning to make some covered buttons with the button press in the studio, she'd done her prep during breakfast this morning - the circles of fabric needed for the die are exactly the same size as a plastic milk bottle cap!

Two cups of tea and a bit of cake later there's a whole load of buttons, a few knitting pattern problems solved and 42 buttons (+ the 3 that Jane did for me!) on the main HH work table.

What a great way to spend a chilly morning! Nic x

Carry on Katia!

2010-12-03T13:21:00.003Z

At last! We've been waiting for this special delivery from Spanish yarn company Katia for ages and it finally came today.
The special knitting tape Ondas has been a hit with both knitters and non-knitters and has been responsible for turning the head of the most stubborn - 'I'm not ever going to knit again' and 'you'll not get me knitting' has been a phrase used by a few HH regulars...and yet some of these have fast become some of the biggest fans of this style of yarn!
You don't cast on in the usual manner instead you insert the knitting needle into the side of the tape. By continuing to knit only into the side of the tape ruffles are formed like this!

So I can, at last make all those phonecalls to let everyone know that it's here, it's finally here!
The Ondas was accompanied by Peru - a blend of 40% wool, 40% acylic and 20% alpaca. It's so soft and squidgy and will knit up as Aran which means that it would be perfect for that lovely new hat pattern that Jane showed me at knitting on Wednesday morning!

If it gets any colder I may have to make a nest in the box of yarn...Nic x

Winter Warmer

2010-11-30T07:13:00.005Z

There are not many things that will stop us making stuff together but this latest spell of cold weather very nearly did!
Anyone who has paid a visit to Halfpenny Home during the winter months (which last year seemed to run from October 2009 to May 2010!) will vouch for the fact that it can get pretty chilly there at times. In the past we have persevered, gritted our teeth and just got on with it but this year we have teamed up with Jane the landlady of the Rampant Horse Inn.

I first approached Jane with the proposal that the group of us who knit together on a Wednesday morning come to the pub for coffee and cake and she agreed to take us in! Platters of cakes and fresh coffee was laid on and everyone seemed to enjoy it, the regulars found it amusing when they popped in for their lunchtime pints!

Jane has also let us take over the restaurant on Monday evenings so the Sew and Crow ladies also get to craft in comfort and it's so close to HH headquarters (you can just about see our sign on the wall from the pub) which makes it the perfect alternative venue as we can just nip back to the shop for supplies!

Swedish Market

2010-11-28T15:06:00.008Z

The day of the Swedish Market dawned, and with it a beautiful dusting of snow with further flurries during the morning - thank goodness we didn't have to travel far! We set up in the barn along with the other stallholders - helped along with mugs of tea and Swedish Christmas carols playing in the background.

The market opened at a very civilised 11am but we feared the weather may put people off! In fact, it seemed to do the opposite and people were queueing to get in! Just after we opened, Ulfie appeared with trays of 'fresh from the oven' cinnamon buns. The aroma was sooooo enticing.....we couldn't resist.

An added aroma, and very welcome winter warmer was the vodka infused gluh wein, also prepared by the Swedish chefs. It really hit the spot and I have to say, it was the best I have ever tasted. Guaranteed to get you into the festive spirit!

We thought the red gingham tablecloth would add an extra cheery touch to our display.

Alex, of The Natural Selection had a grand display of working timber kit machines which are really different - as well as a host of other lovely stocking fillers. You can check out her website at http://www.natural-selection.co.uk/.

The wooden painted reindeer and Christmas Trees proved popular - we just love the gorgeous green velvet ribbon adorning the reindeer along with their tinkly bells.

There were vintage items for sale too!

And Pat made this absolutely stunning scandanavian inspired bird and leaf garland - taking the idea from "Scandinavian Needlecraft" by Claire Youngs (CICO books). There are 10 birds, each hand embroidered in the centre with a different design. Just beautiful.

We had a lovely, busy day and after packing up our wares, managed to get home just before the sun was setting.

Hope you've had an enjoyable, if wintry, weekend.

Jacquix

Vote in the People's Millions!

2010-11-25T11:23:00.003Z

Call and vote for The John Peel Centre for Creative Arts!
08716268803 btween 9am and midnight on 25th November
You can vote up to 10 times from any single landline phone and it will only cost you 10p each time.
Thank you, Nic x

Sweden comes to Suffolk!

2010-11-21T18:13:00.004Z

Hot on the heels of the Swish last week, next Saturday we're back at Creeting House to take part in their Swedish weekend! Between 11am and 4pm on Saturday 27th November, Creeting House are hosting a Swedish Mini Market. There'll be Swedish Christmas decorations and gifts, speciality Craft stalls, Reclaimed & new gift items. There will also be gluhwein (mulled wine), mince pies and roasted chestnuts. We're also promised the opportunity to meet the Swedish Chefs Lars, Ture and Ulfie, who are travelling over especially from Sweden to provide swedish culinary goodies for the event. They will also be busy preparing authentic culinary feasts on the Friday and Saturday evenings at Creeting House.

It promises to be a really great weekend and something really different. With the promise of Gluhwein we couldn't resist so we will be taking a little bit of Halfpenny Home to Creeting House for the day.

If you're able to come along - we'd love to see you!
For directions to Creeting House, see the website at http://www.creetinghouse.com/

Jacqui x

Swish Report

2010-11-20T17:42:00.002Z

Our swish preparations went well, with all of our swishers bringing really lovely clothes and accessories to swap. We had new clothes still with their tags on and all sorts of really good labels including Fenn Wright Manson and Jaegar as well as good high street names like Coast, Laura Ashley and Monsoon. We also had a vintage clothes rail including this beautiful beaded dress below.

However, with the swish just a couple of hours away, disaster struck - a power cut! We therefore had to hastily reschedule for the following Monday - everyone was great and thankfully most could make the rescheduled date. With everyone gathered in the grand hall at Creeting House, canapes made by Ali at the Barn Cafe were devoured, washed down with babycham, a very retro touch! Thankfully no problems with power cuts the second time around!

A fashion show followed with our models wearing items brought to the swish. Linzi wears a beautiful bottle green silk blouse and black trousers.

And Glynis looks fab in her mother of the bride outfit - bringing together an array of items brought to the swish.

Then, with our swishers champing at the bit, we let them loose to swish! Here they are in full swing!

We had a whole room dedicated to accessories ranging from gorgeous costume jewellery, shoes, scarves, hats and bags.

At the end of the swish, everyone collected the items they had bagged - I got some brand new black boots which I'm very pleased with.

There was very little left on the rails so, judging by this, everyone went away with something new to them and in the knowledge that they'd done their bit for the planet! As well as having a great evening we also raised a fantastic sum for the EACH Treehouse Appeal. We raised £755 on the night, which was rounded up to £800 by an anonymous donor the following day.

Before leaving Creeting House we enjoyed a celebratory drink of Lisa's homemade elderflower champagne to finish off the evening!

Jacquix

Standby for Point 5!

2010-11-19T11:17:00.006Z

This was the sight that greeted me this morning when I rolled up to Halfpenny Home on my bike! The big Colinette order that we've all been looking forward to...it comes in great big boxes and still tied in hanks not skeins. It's always very exciting to open up the bags and see the fantastic handyed wools straight from Wales.

Jitterbug sock yarn in Vatican Pie and Rio!

Point Five in fifteen shades - I got a little bit carried away with this order but who could blame me?

Look at all those colours! My favourites (so far) are Elephants Daydream and Lavender Lil but I've got a way to go before I've been through them all. I haven't even got out the new yarn from Colinette - Hullabaloo, it's amazing an Aran yarn that is made by spinning black fleece with the white so that when it's dyed only the white takes the colour, the finished yarn is delicious!

Only another 158 to go! Nic x

A Jumbled up Post!

2010-11-17T14:10:00.009Z

This lovely patterned floor is laid out just like a patchwork quilt! We aren't obsessed with all things textile but it does change the way you see the world ...this floor is in Creeting House which was the venue for last weeks and this weeks Swish Up event - a whole post on this to follow shortly!

Halfpenny Home was there or a very small part of it was!
It's tricky to show people who have never visited HH HQ just what it is like and what goes on there but I think that we managed it this week. The good wives of Sew and Crow don't like to waste a single second so they all brought their knitting and crochet along to Creeting House with them.

We also had a visit from Laura who makes the most wonderful soap, has helped us with the book and will be running soap making workshops at Halfpenny Home next Spring and Summer. I wasted no time at all in getting that delivery of delicious smelling soap installed on a cake stand!

There will be some of Laura's soap available at the Humble Jumble up at The Ark on King William Street in Needham Market on Saturday 20th November - it's starting earlier this month 10 am - 3 pm.
Flossie is proudly sporting a HJ poster along with one of our hand dyed silk scarves and a skirt by Polly's Textiles.

Floss stood in for me (I'm shy!) to show off my new cardigan wrap thing that is so snuggly and warm, here it is wrapped up...

and here it is worn down!

Cheers Floss! Hope to see you all up the jumble on Saturday, Nic x