It's been a while....

There have been lots of changes here at the long thin house. The main one being that for now we are staying put. I won't bore you with the whys and wherefores, but rather I shall start My blogging career anew, with snippets of life in the long thin house, My crafty ways, and tales of My new

dventure, Mim's Vintage Home, a place where nostalgia lives and decorates with vintage foibles and fripperies, I do hope you will visit , there is always fresh Tea in the pot and homemade cake..............

there is always cake.................

Happy days........

Speak soon...

Mim x

Thrifty temptations

Having lived in the long thin house for almost 14 years, and having amassed a few bits and bobs along the way I thought it prudent to start packing said bobs sooner rather than later in anticipation of the aforementioned house move , and as they are non essentials it would leave me more time to pack up the day to day items when we get the green light to go.

Very wise I hear you say, How organised I hear  you mutter..... but I am not good at empty spaces...........

they taunt me with their emptiness...................

and mock me with their space.............

and so......................

this happens......



and this....



this....



Oh dear !!



It seems it is as I suspected........





Resistance is futile !

Speak soon,

Mim xx

A little bit of this and that

Now the sun has started to shine my Crocheting seems to have taken on more spring like hues





Even Crochet for Baby Ramona has turned from blankets to summery sandals





Things here at the long thin house are in a bit of a limbo, lots of things packed into boxes waiting for moving day...whenever that is !

I'm not very good at empty spaces, and now bootsale season has started again the shelves aren't looking as bare as they should !



Speak soon

Mim xx

The shape of things to come .....

It seems that I am not very good at this blogging malarkey,I am full of good intentions - and ideas for my posts - but not very good at putting fingers to keyboard !

Things at the long thin house have been a bit hectic, which is no excuse, but has led me to re evaluate my blogging strategy.

I know I would miss blogging if I stopped completely but I feel a change is needed to make me blog more, so from now on I shall be trying a new style of blogging, please let me know what you think, and thank you for coming along for the ride, it may be a little bit bumpy to start but hopefully it will settle down soon.

I shall start with a short catch up of the things that have happened here in the long thin house while I have been away.



My first Grandchild Ramona s. Broadley was born.





There has been lots of sewing.







Plenty of crochet (more of this  to come! )

and also some of this...







...Packing !!

speak soon xx

'Nan' Rules rule !

Here  in the long thin house... When I am allowed out of fairy land... I like to indulge in a spot of crochet.

I haven't been 'hooking' for long and i think i chronicled my early attempts on this very blog, but it  has led me to an appreciation of all thing 'Nan/Granny'. My Children do not understand this, when I recently offered to crochet a blanket for my soon to be here Granchild ( who we have found out since I first announced the news is a Girl ! ) I was told " I don't like crochet it looks like something Nan would have". Exactly ! How can the ways of Nan be underestimated ? I firmly believe that more Nan attitude would be a good thing. The make do and mend attitude of our Parents and Theirs before is to be applauded in todays consumer led society, I for one am really glad to see the re-emergence of crafty ways, mending ,making  do, recycling, and while I'm as guilty as the next person of buying  designer vintage 'style' products my greatest pleasure is finding that same style/type of item in a charity shop or bootsale, usually for a lot less money ! the same goes for designer mass made goods, give me handmade or vintage any day, the web is full of amazingly talented crafts people, and you get something unique and lovingly made,not factory made by people who'd rather be at home !

Anyhoo getting down from my horse of extreme stature ! where was I ...  Crochet baby blanket... Well I crocheted one any way, as I enjoyed doing it, and well, I am 'Nan' so it's my job to introduce my Grandaughter to thrifty, crafty ways at every opportunity, even if she is too young to realise yet ! The blanket was met with a rather different reaction than I had expected..."oh it's lovely ! ..... can you crochet baby dresses too, they are so cute" !

I feel my 'Nan' vibes are working !

speak soon

Mim xx

Away with the Fairies!

Nothing for months then two posts in as many days ! I hear you cry ! I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it and couldn't wait to do it again ! All things in moderation is motto I struggle with !

As I mentioned a while back I have become a little obsessed with this Instagram thingy. For those of you who do not know what it is, it is a place where you can post your own photos and people can leave comments and likes on them, They can also choose to follow you and you can do the same too. The result being that it becomes a little community, I love my IG family, they are a lovely bunch of funny and  talented people, who always seem to be on hand when you need them.

Around October last year I posted a photo on IG (Instagram) of a Fairy I was making for my Christmas tree, I had made one a while ago, but wanted to make another one in a slightly different style. By the time I had finished her I had had lots of lovely comments and had been asked if I made them to order, to which I said yes, this resulted in the lead up to Christmas being spent frantically sewing away in my sewing room...re-named Fairy land... to meet the IG orders !

I make them from upcycled fabric,vintage crocheted doilies , lace, ribbon, buttons and beads and each madebymim Fairy has a little embroidered heart tattoo, as i think all Fairies should have one !  I had a few remarks saying they looked very 'Marie Antoinette-ish' hence when naming them it seemed obvious to give them French sounding names, so there is Bibi, Didi,Coco,Frou Frou and Fifi to name a few !





Things in Fairy land have slowed a little since Christmas, which has given me time to experiment, having had such a great time making the little Christmas Fairies, I thought I'd give making a bigger version a go.

So now I am making Rag doll Fairies too, they are much bigger, nearly 2 foot tall ! and I have re opened my Etsy shop to sell them in.. madebymimuk... where I will be adding them as I make them,  the larger Rag doll Faries and the smaller Fairies too,which although they have been called Christmas Fairies are not just for Christmas ! The French style Rococo Fairies have been joined by Regency Fairies... A bit Pride and Predjudice... or as my Husband said , "it's all a bit Eyre-e Fairy around here !" there are even plans in the pipeline for boy Fairies too!





So while in between collecting ideas for our teashop/craftspace on Pinterest and looking for houses, schools and business premises in Devon I'm to be found in my sewing room, away with the Fairies ...and I love it !



Speak soon,

Mim xx

Time flies.....

Well how did that happen? I just read my last blog and even I didn't realise it had been so long ! So much has happened !

Firstly a Sunny update, in my last blog things were not going to plan with the fixing of Sunny and things came to a head when the deadline of the festival we needed her for was a week away and she still wasn't going ! So the decision was made to 'do up Myfanwy" instead as she was working mechanically but had no interior whatsoever and needed an MOT . We were due to leave on Wednesday, so a week before  we were due to leave  we started to take out Sunny's interior ready to put it in Myfanwy , who needed a bit of attention before we could re-fit her as she had no coverings on any of her panels, or flooring or cab mats !

[caption id="attachment_382" align="aligncenter" width="225"] a very sorry looking Myfanwy[/caption]

She had been owned by a young chap who thought it would be a good idea to cover her in pictures cut from surf magazines !

[caption id="attachment_383" align="aligncenter" width="300"] covering the window surrounds

covering side panels

laying flooring

sprucing up the cab with new seat covers and door panels[/caption]

She was booked in for an MOT on the Thursday before we left, which she failed ! Luckily we have a friend who does welding or we would have been sleeping in the car ! But this couldn't be done until the Monday, which mean't that we had Friday ,Saturday and Sunday to get the interior finished, leaving Tuesday for shopping and packing ...I like a challenge !

Saturday and Sunday were spent making curtains and covering the seat cushions while Husband tried to re-jig the interior which didn't fit straight in as the vans were slightly different inside

but she was beginning to take shape. Monday saw her away all day being welded, so we couldn't work on her interior but I made her a cover for her spare wheel

Then it was off to be re-MOT'd on Tuesday...SHE PASSED !Yay,

So now it was all hands to the pump ! We .....

[caption id="attachment_389" align="aligncenter" width="300"] curtain fabric[/caption]

hung the curtains,

[caption id="attachment_390" align="aligncenter" width="300"] seat cushion covering[/caption]

replaced her seat cushions

[caption id="attachment_391" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Myfanwys new pop roof cover, crocheted bunting and mini lampshade lights[/caption]

and just generally cosied her up !

Tuesday evening she was ready to roll

We had an awesome festival and Myfanwy did us proud



 

 

 



 

 

 

 



 

 

[caption id="attachment_393" align="aligncenter" width="225"] festival mode[/caption]

So it all came right in the end. As for Sunny, well she is looking a little worse for ware at the moment, but the good news is she is off to live in Devon with number 2 daughter who's partner is a carpenter and they are going to re-build her a new interior and give her some TLC, with a new baby on the way she will be perfect for little family getaways !