Leigh Regatta and craft sales!

This past weekend I had a craft stall at the Old Leigh Regatta in Leigh on Sea, Essex.

The annual regatta is held in Old Leigh - the original fishing village down the cliffs from the main town on the Thames Estuary. Old Leigh is charming with it's lovely little cottages, traditional fishing pubs , seafood vendors and restaurants and cafes.

Every summer the old town is packed with visitors - both local and from London who come down for a day by the sea.

This is the first year I have had a stand at the Regatta and I will defintely be back for more!

It was a great weekend, and despite a bit of rain on the Saturday, the town was buzzing and it was great fun!

I decided to take the nautical theme and run with it so I made signs with a seaside theme and painted up small boats, anchors and beach huts! Not wanting to leave anyone out, I also included vintage chic items, my speciality roses and a few Christmas and Halloween items just to get people ready for the seasons to come now that we are in September!

Thank You Carole at Prim N Raggedy!

A BIG, BIG THANK YOU to my lovely friend Carole over at Prim n Raggedy!

Carole has been so kind to feature me on her blog and thank you so much fro doign that Carole!
http://primnraggedy.blogspot.com/2010/09/gorgeous-handpainted-signs.html#comment-form

Carole makes the most wonderful Primitive candles, wax melts and room sprays! I have several of her room sprays and they fill my home with the most heavely scent and really, and truly they smell good enough to eat! She also has a line of the most wonderful Nappy Cakes - beautifully bundled packages of gifts for babies!

Carole also has a selling blog - The Primitive Crows Nest - where you can buy Prmitive fabrics, supplies, signs and other goodies!
http://www.theprimitivecrowsnest.blogspot.com/

ANNOYING POSTS TO BLOGS

Some time ago, I had two blog comments left on a post, and they were written in Oriental letters. Excited to see that I had a commnet from someone in a land far from me, I clicked on one and then had pop-ups of very distasteful piccies. I tried to see what I could do about this but there seemed no way to get help other than read forumn posts and on there I found that it is not just me who gets them and that the only thing i could do is to moderate all comments, which is what I have had to do now. Everytime I get one of these comments, I block them in my Junk Mail folder, but the symbols change everytime, and I still get them regularly.

I do not want to have to moderate comments, and if anyone wants to comment on anything please do not be scared off as I am not being choosy about who I welcome, but I do not want these particular distasteful comments.

If anyone reading this has had a similar problem and found a way to stop it, please do let me know - I don't know what else to do other than close my blog down and I don't want to do this.

Thanks to all my readers for any help you can give to me.

At the Beach

Summer days are here and with it the call of the sea!

We live on the mouth of the Thames Estuary in a town called Westcliff on Sea and we live just up from the beach where I head off most days with my pal Riley for walkies!

I am signed up for several events this September this year including the annual Leigh Regatta and have decided that it is about time I made some signs with a nautical flavour - so that is what I am doing and this is a sampler of some of the designs.

My hubby Dave sails a Tornado - which is a racing catamaran and his family are into boats in a big way. They own an old sailing yacht built in 1896 in Blackwall on the Thames. She is called Hypatia and is kept in Holland year round in a lovely ancient shipping town called Veere. We go there most summers to spend some time on the boat and in Holland which we love.

Dave approves of the nautical signs which is a break from flowery ones which I normally do!

Wanda The Witch by Just For You...designs by Lisa

Wanda the Witch flew into Essex from lovely Wales just for me last fall! She is the most adorable witch ever, and I love her to bits!

Made by the very talented Lisa oa Just For You.....designs by Lisa as a group swap. I am fortunate to be a part of the ebay groups Crows 'n Roses and honoured to be friends of the nicest and most talented ladies around!

Wanda is having a rest at the moment building up her energy for when summer is over an the seasons change for shorter days, cooler weather and time for mischief making!

Just For You - designs by Lisa

My friend Lisa makes the most gorgeous quilts, dolls and fabric ornaments and
she has just launched her first pattern for sale. I have been telling her for some time now she should do that and I am so glad that she has. the new launch is for her lovely kitty - I bought one of these that she had made, for my daughter - and it is the sweetest kitty ever! Trust me on this!

I am lucky enough too to own several items made by Lisa, both as gifts and as purchases and in some instances they were purchased by me as gifts but far too tempting and I have kept them (that is so bad of me - but her work is irresistable! )

Lisa is having a giveaway - a surpise package of her treasures and if you go over to her blog you can enter for it! I knwo you won't be disappointed - so don't delay as it is ending soon! Click on the link for Just For You ...designs by Lisa in my blog list and feast your eyes on Lisa's lovely blog!

Have Fun!

Roses on Everything

On the same day at the end of April when Lara set up her tea party photo shoot, I used her set up to take pictures of some of my latest paintings.

I have been painting a lot of distressed signs lately and love to sneak in a rose or two or three whenever I can and these little Vintage Chic signs with rosebuds are fun to do.

Given my way I probably would paint roses over anything and everything, but I do have to take a step back and not do that!

On this particular day, due to a long cold winter and spring no roses at all were in bloom in my garden so I had to use some fake roses, which although quite good for fake roses, are not like the real thing by a long shot. A month on from the date these were taken, with a few weeks of warm weather and my roses are once again out in the garden - a riot of colour, and scent with full blooms and lusciousness and now as I write, it is raining! Sigh!!

Maybe that is the reason I am always painting roses onto whatever I can?