Buck up, LFCC!

It really is time I bucked my ideas up and instead of writing half a blog and leaving it as I don't have the relevant images, just get on with it!

So today, hopefully (no, don't say hopefully, DEFINATELY) is the first of many blog posts that I think you'll enjoy.  Feel free to get in touch if you know about something you'd like me to share, or if you're interested in something you see here, ok?

So today I wanted to talk about my new love of Pinterest and how amazing it is that one photo can stimulate the hearts and minds of a worldwide audience, and it spreads like a positive virus! I think happiness is infectious and this is a great way of getting to the people you don't see in the "real" world.

I've started a board just for my passion for Vintage Shabby Tattered and Distressed Christmas gorgeousness - you can see it here:

http://pinterest.com/lfcc/vintage-christmas/

It's full of a mixture of things from decorations and trees, to textile goodies!

I so want to take a Christmas tree out in the car like this, lights and all!

 

 

Look out for more "how to" projects here, gift wrap ideas for the holiday season, photos of my upcoming Christmas Market (Sunday 2nd December, Wicken, Cambridgeshire - midday to 5.30pm) and a whole heap of vintage love!

 

PS Don't forget, Friday = Cake Day here at LFCC!

 



If you love your vintage distressed...

Despite the heat I figured I'd play nice and share the blog I've discovered which is choc full of my favourite vintage distressed style creations!

Have a peek!

http://saray-viola.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Work in progress onboard... with essential antique shopping!

Those of you who keep up with LFCC on Facebook will know that we were recently craned out of the water and dry docked for two weeks for our regular maintenance work... Every few years a narrow boat has to come out and have her bottom checked for pitting and stuff to be sure that her sacrificial anodes are doing what they should.  For those not in the know, there is a lot of electricity floating around the water in marinas as the boats are all hooked up to 240v shore power and there are loads of scaffold poles dug in to support jettys or walkways. For steel hulls this can be disastrous unless you have these sacrifial anodes to kind of suck up this surplus electricity and get eaten away instead of your hull.  That little whitish block you can see on the bottom front edge of the hull is what's left of the anode on that side. As you can see, its all worn away so it's been doing it's job!

In addition to this important update, we have to scrape back all the crud that sticks to the hull, industrial jet wash it, and then reblack it with a bitumin type paint to protect it from all those bumps and scratches that would leave it prone to rust and decay.  This is normally done every two to three years - it's an expensive job and very hard work so that's plenty often enough, trust me!



Of course, there was still a Joseph Poopy (full grown German Shepherd) and Kevn and N'Eville (the kitties) onboard throughout the works... All of whom decided to help with the fresh paint.... sigh...

In addition to this vital maintenance work we scheduled some extra chores this year; a new bathroom!  We originally built our bathroom with just a basic porta potti as this was the easiest and cheapest solution. With fitting out the entire boat from scratch ourselves whilst working full time there was a limit to what we could achieve both in terms of time and energy and of money...
But emptying a toilet every few days is a tough job. You'd be amazed how heavy that little tank gets and poor Mr LFCC had to do it as I physically couldn't lift it! He was very gracious about such a crappy job (if you'll pardon the poor pun!) but enough was enough...

As I'd been in hospital for two weeks and only home for one week when we were scheduled to be craned out I was working more in a supervisory role which I hated but I did make a lot of tea and sandwhiches for Mr LFCC while he worked!
He gutted the existing bathroom, bit by bit - taking it back to the original studwalls I built myself.

You can see the battoning and sprayfoam insulation which keeps us toasty warm when it's cold out! You might notice that there are two radiators too! Slightly odd, but in a boat one thing that is an issue is humidity, and things can easily get damp if you're not careful. If you have one source of heat in your bathroom but it's covered in two adult sized bath towels it's not going to allow much warmth to penetrate the room and neither towel is going to get dry, so we have one gorgeous towel rail and one radiator. Cunning eh?

The next thing to do was to cut a dirty great hole through the steel to put in the one way vent for the waste for our sea toilet. If you're in flowing water you can use these without any chemicals and it's a much greener way of living.  I wouldn't want to eat fish out of the water here though I must admit!

The plumbing work was then installed with the new macerator which is essential for this kind of loo.

We rearranged the layout of the bathroom as it was the one room we weren't 100% happy with from the original fit out.  I wanted to give it a bit of real vintage hotel luxury chic style too so on days when I'm not feeling too good I can go in there and have a bit of a pampering session...  With this in mind Mr LFCC picked the most gorgeous black marble walling and I hunted the antique shop for vintage finds to dress it.  I've given some gorgeous old pieces a new lease of life with a new purpose so  look out for the pictures of the installation work and the end result for our beautiful new old bathroom!  It's rather a mixure but I love it.  Have you embraced some vintage pieces in your home? Do you love hunting the antique shop for things to give a bit of soul to a new world?? I'm really lucky to have a huge antique shop just a few miles down the road with a massive range of goodies to choose from including things that are priced to shop guilt free! I always thought that antique shopping was for the rich but it turns out that that's not necessarily the case.  The only problem is the chaps in the antique shop know Mr LFCC too as one of them lives on a boat in our "old" marina so there's no sneaking anything really naughty out as I'll get discovered! What's really lovely is they know the kind of things I look for now and will actually direct me to pieces they think will suit my work!

I'd love to see photos of your vintage finds if you'd like to share them or how you've incorporated them into your favourite place to be? You can post them on the wall on our FB page or drop me an email! thelittlefloatingcraftco@gmail.com is the place to send them!

So my next bathroom installation will be the finished room - hopefully - just the new wooden counter tops to install now!

xxx

I miss my buns!

For many years I was known as the one who made the cakes... I carried on baking after I got sick and even got into doing cake commissions for special occassions which was something I loved so much even though I found it incredibly nerve wracking.  To be entrusted with the focal point of someone's celebration is a really big deal and like with any commission, you can never be one hundred percent sure that the image in your head that you're looking to create is really anything like the one in the head of the person paying the bill!
These days as it's too risky for me to commit to doing a special occassion cake in case I end up in hospital and ruin the party so I just take the time to look back at the buns from history, and the few I still get to make for family celebrations.  What really makes me laugh is that of all the beauties I've created over the years, the cake that gets looked at from all over the internerd is a kiddie one based on Mr Tumble. I wasn't happy with the finished result as the head wouldn't go on the figure right, but I was told by the lovely lady who ordered it (my friend, and once-upon-a-time boss!) that her little man absolutely loved it and THAT'S what counts, no matter what I think!  Anyways, thought I'd share some of my buns while I dream... enjoy! XXX

First ever fondant roses!

Garden themed cornet cuppies for 5th birthday!

Pirate Cat King birthday cake topper!

The march of the penguins, made with a broken wrist!

Our friend,Gus, and his Harley for the bike club party

Vintage floral cuppies for Mamma LFCC

The infamous Mr Tumble cake (don't look at his neck!)

Golden wedding anniversary for garden/book fans!

Welcome onboard cake for the teenager!

This also had piped shag pile carpet when it was done!

Simple but effective!

Just so pretty - love the florals!

Lemon drizzle - my fave flavour!

Another "mum" cake - but not mine!

A real chocolate chocolate brown labradoodle!

VDub rules!

BIG bike club birthday - painted free hand!

Mamma LFCC's vintage tea party cake

18th birthday buns - ladybirds were a MUST!

Suck it up and get on with it!

Sheesh! I'm an embarassement to bloggers everywhere - it's been months since I wrote anything here and I'm deeply ashamed of myself.
I could say that I've been busy being ill, then busy doing Christmas, then busy being ill again but a lot more people deal with a whole lot more than that and still get blogging!

So this is just a quick hello but I've got some exciting new goodies to show you later on today (when Mr LFCC gets back with some new batteries for my camera!) and some new themes which are to be LFCC standards! Watch this space floaty types!! xxx

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas!

Yers, I know it's still November but the Christmas shopping is in full swing, not just onboard Zulu but the floaty folks over on facebook are definately hard at it! It's been really exciting to be part of that and know that you gorgeous floaty people love what I'm doing enough to want to watch someone open a parcel containing something I made on Christmas morning. Wow. That just takes my breath away!  My new "liquor cabinet" charm bracelets have been a hit, and I know some my handprinted textiles and other jewellery are being wrapped and sent off to the North pole to go in the Christmas delivery!

You see, for me, Christmas isn't about what I want, what I might get, and about spending loads of money. It's about being able to show someone that I really really thought about them, that I know them, that I care, and that I could find or make something that would let them know all of that without a shadow of a doubt when they tear back the paper.  Watching the family open their presents is my absolute favourite bit!

Maybe that sounds really hard but if you think about the things that make your loved one chuckle, or the stuff they share with you throughout the year there should be a glimmer of something there for you to work from.  Even something silly could mean a lot! It shouldn't be about the money. Some things might take time but cost virtually nothing so try and think outside of the box.

Example: my first real present for Mr LFCC was a framed autographed photo of his favourite rugby player.  I looked up the person who looked after marketing at the club, and wrote her a letter telling her how wonderful Mr LFCC is and how he was always the one looking after people, and how much he loves his team, and she was kind enough to get the player in question to autograph a picture and she popped it right in the post! It cost very little to get it put in a nice frame! All these years on he still keeps it on his office desk!
I got one from his fave footballer before our wedding too!

I did something similar when my daddy was very sick; he had a huge seriously old tatty poster of Kate Bush in a frame in his office and when it became apparant that he wasn't going to get back in his office I didn't want to draw attention to it and bring his poster home but I found the photographer who did all Kate's recent publicity shots and sent him an email explaining that I loved his photos and would dearly like to buy one (I did explain the circumstances) and he immediately emailed back saying he'd see what he could do. Two days later I received a letter from Kate Bush for my dad and a beautiful photo with an enscription just for him. It was amazing.  His favourite group, The Moody Blues, were kind enough to do somethingn similar thanks to another PR person over at their agency who sorted it out even though they were currently touring the US.
People like to help if you give them a chance.

So anyways I digress rather... What I love about handmade is that you can give a person something completely unique. It's gutting to spend ages picking something gorgeous out that you really consider carefully, know the recipient will love, and then see that someone else thought exactly the same thing so the lucky person gets two! I get kind of jealous too when I see someone else with the thing I bought for my friend as well! lol!

There's the other side of the coin though - not everyone is into handmade, and I know this.  I also worry about "inflicting" my creations on to people who might actually prefer something bought from a recognised label... I hate to presume they would want MY creations over those. I love to give my creations to people I really believe genuinly want them though! If you know the person you'll know which way to go! So this years pressies are a mix but I haven't gone to the high street for any of them! I've imported from small overseas shops via their websites, I've had things made by other people, and I've searched small local independant shops.  Everyone will be getting something different that I doubt they'll get duplicates of but that I really believe they'll love!  I wish I could share with you what I've chosen for who but I've passed everything on to Father Christmas for delivery around midnight on December 24th! ;o)

Family traditions and the ghost of Christmas past

My facebook crowd (hi!!) have been asking for Christmas cards since the beginning of August but I didn't want to dive headlong into those designs until I'd been to a big stamper exhibition at Alexandra Palace in London which was last weekend.  I have very definate leanings towards the whole Victoria  traditional Christmas look but anyone know knows my work will know that I don't like my goodies looking shiny and new; I like them to look like I've found them in an antique shop, or an elderly relatives attic, and they've been loved for a generation or two already.  I love the feeling of something that's treasured and worn through use and spend hours going through all the cases in my local antique place which, luckily for me, is pretty huge! Mr LFCC isn't quite so keen so I make full use of his Saturday afternoons playing rugby!  And with all that effort on what I'm wrapping, special gift wrappings and beautiful things make the difference on a little gesture - so why not? I love that it makes the recipient feel treasured before they even know what their gift is!

I think part of this stems from the habits of my mum and dad who were always creating, and my mum in particular who would re-invent things and create something new and stunning that had real character (Dad mostly wrote and painted as aposed to working with textiles etc!).  She could make anything from anything!
So when I started stitching my lavender bags or needlebooks, it actually annoyed me how new they looked! I had to "vintage" them up!  Thankfully my experiments with distressing the finished pieces in much the same way I distress my card creations were successful and I was really pleased with the finished effects.  There's a definate feel to all my creations that now flows through the textiles too! Happy floaty person!

So anyways, I've digressed. Christmas. I found some beautiful stamps that fit with my idea of Christmas and started making  - I was thinking months ago of a project that I hope would catch the LFCC fans imagination and perhaps start something of a tradition.  We have lots of little ways in our family, about silly presents you must always have in a Christmas stocking - no matter the age of the recipient (a wind up toy, a car you can pull back and race, a sugar mouse, a chocolate orange, some bubble mixture....) and when I inherited the kids they looked at me like a was a total freak, but now they expect these things and I actually got informed that they know their rights, and this things MUST be included, and about foods you have to have, and how important sitting down to Christmas dinner is as a family.  We were big on Father Christmas too and I love that no matter how modern kids are now, with their computers and desire for designer trainers, they still hang on to that little bit of vintage passion but in many modern homes with modern heating systems and high tech structures there is no chimney for him to climb down.  A passing comment about Santa burning his bum in a hot grate stuck with me too!  I wonder if perhaps I've seen these somewhere before and forgotten, but I knew that we needed some magic for Santa!  A beautiful but very old key that would work for no one but him on no time other than Christmas Eve was just what we needed to bridge the gap between the old homes where every room had a chimney, and our new modern streamlined homes. 

click through to see these in my folksy shop!



They do seem to have struck a cord, and captured the imagination of many, and I'm just absolutely overwhelmed with the idea that they're going to become a little tradition for someone elses family.  We need to embrace our inner child at Christmas, and we need to keep the belief in magic alive.  Keep the fairy lights, keep the ancient baubles that don't work as a themed look but you've always had them, keep the decorations your kids made that melt your heart when you look at them.  I just wish I had the egg box and matchstick bells that I remember making with my mum and big brother when I was five!

We go all out on gift wrapping in  our family - people get upset about unwrapping things! lol! Festoons of mini baubles perhaps, or butterflies suspended on wire... anything goes! I wanted to share a little of this but wasn't sure how it would be received so I did just one set of special Christmas tags with a similar design to those made for the Magic Christmas Keys, with matching ribbon to tie everything up beautifully - and you'd only need brown paper to actually wrap the present (I LOVE brown paper and string!!).  I only did the one set anyway and thought I'd guage the reactions before I made more.  One lovely person bought them almost instantly and I definately will be making more! lol!  They got a great reaction which pleased me immensley - not because of the sale although of course that was lovely - but because it means my floaty people totally get me. They know my style and it works for them too.  Its vintage but not fuddy duddy, it's distressed but not scruffy....

I'm getting quite excited about Christmas and determined to really go to town on everything this year.  With ill health getting quite determined to ruin it last year, I'm letting nothing stand in my way for Christmas 2011!  The presents will be beautiful, dinner will be big enough to feed anyone who stops by, and most of all, I'm determined that those people in my life who I'm lucky to have will know that they feel appreciated.

Here's to the magic! xxx

Distressed? I hope so!!

I really love my distressed vintage style cardcrafts and wanted to transfer that kind of imagery on to the fabric I am working with.  I like to look around my local waterfront antique shop and find things that still work perfectly for their intended use, but you KNOW that they've had a life, that they've been loved. So, to give my handstitched work that kind of feel I had a bit of a play, and I am so pleased with the finished product.



This gorgeous little needlebook is very simple at first glance but contains different layers, handprinted fabric both inside and out, with gentle distressing on the edges, and gorgeous hand printed pages to store the needles, and a handmade crystal tag on the spine.



There will definately be more to follow in this style - some darker, some romantic and whimsical like this one. I will also be including my own photographic images transfered to fabric as I have with other pieces so watch out for those!

You can find this little gem in my folksy shop here: http://www.folksy.com/items/2018957-Needle-Book?shop=yes

Hope you like my little creation!

xxx