my roof has just arrived!

This afternoon my little shop's roof arrived...


1100 fantastic welsh reclaimed slates & 12 ridge tiles (plus a few spares) to be precise!

They took me ages to source... several months of looking infact. I wanted to use ones off of a local roof if possible & it turned out that they came off of a pub roof in Torrington! (Just 10 miles up the road)


I just know they are going to look perfect on the roof, and they are already weathered beautifully as they are reclaimed... which also feels nice to know that they are being reused.


The man that I bought them from kindly delivered them to me and with the help of my husband (who was busy repairing something, just as they arrived. Hence the overalls - he's a mechanic!) they unloaded them & carefully stacked them all ready for fitting.


My two daughters, who watched... were nearly as excited as me! + I must add, neither of us realised just quite how heavy slates are (although I must admit I only lifted one! I put my back out earlier this week, so I made sure I took lot's of photos instead)

I can't wait to see them up on the roof! It is going to be such an improvement and no more leaks! It will also help to make it warmer too : D


Louise
*pur-ple

Guess what I have got?

During the "summer holidays" I took a little break from *pur-ple...

and guess what I got on my return? A new badge!



A Top-rated seller badge for my ebay shop pur-ple!

I was so excited to achieve this and it is so nice to be rewarded for all my hard work... so thank you to all my lovely customers for giving it to me. (I am considering printing it onto some card & pining it to my top!!!)


I also achieved a new coloured star - for receiving my 1000th feedback I changed from a purple star to red. I now have 1067 positive feedback - 100%, some amazing feedback comments... and a very big smile on my face : D

(I captured the photo of my ebay shop from my iphone's screen... as I am sat on the sofa, snuggled under a blanket "trying" to rest as I have put my back out. How? I have no idea!)

Louise
*pur-ple

new mini brads

These are my fab new mini (or should I say teeny tiny!) mini brads / split pins! ... arn't they sweet!


I have them available in red...


powder blue...


baby pink...


lilac...


and pale green!

... and will be available in my ebay shop pur-ple, just as soon as my 8 year old daughter has finished sorting them into seperate colour packs! (she has been really looking forward to this 'job' but after sorting her first few hundred she is 'slowing' Only a few more thousand to go!

She has shown such an interest in my work over the last couple of years & is just like me! (very particular) she has already picked any 'less then perfect' ones out!

I will make up some mixed colour packs too... for those of you who can't choose a favourite colour!


Louise
*pur-ple

todays car boot sale finds

I thought I would share with you my finds today from my local car boot sale. (please excuse the unpainted wall in the background... it is on my to do list!)

A swordfish guillotine... for my workshop & a bargain at £3.00!

An old basket... which I can use in my shop - 50p

A pretty little bowl... for my shop/workshop - 50p

and, yes a spoon! I liked it & it was only 10p! I'm not quite sure yet what to use it for though?

Louise
*pur-ple

embroidery threads

Here at *pur-ple I am growing our selection of fab craft items on a daily basis... one of my favourites at the moment just has to be these embroidery threads. I use them all the time at home myself, especially with the children, and the choice of colours are fantastic! There are 36 skeins in total for a very reasonable £4.75 including free p&p! ... you can find them here

Louise

*pur-ple

my shop in Iddesleigh

I have just been down to my little shop in Iddesleigh this afternoon with the children. After our yummy tea which we had sat outside The Duke of York we went for a lovely summer evenings walk around the village green. I didn't have my camera with me, but did have my phone & I just had to take this photo of the gorgeous views of the village & Dartmoor!

Whilst at my shop I finally got chance to have a better look at an old gate leg table that I bought locally a few months ago! (I have been seriously hoarding bits & pieces for well over a year now, ready for opening!) Underneath the table it has 4 little fold up chairs in a cupboard...


I did intend painting them, but now I've seen them properly I think I might just paint the table! They are so sweet and they fit the look of the shop perfectly & the table is on castors too, so that should save my back when I want to move it out for workshops & packing items etc : D

Louise
*pur-ple

haberdashery & craft essentials

I always look forward to unpacking our delivery boxes when they arrive from our numerous different suppliers... but this delivery I have been especially looking forward too!
... some new haberdashery & craft essentials! I so love the tiny 3" & 4" embroidery hoops (I can feel a bit of hoop art coming on!


Oh, and our new sweet little bead (or whatever you wish to fill them with) storage boxes have arrived too!

Oh, Oh and my new button tubes. I have secretly always wanted my very own! Can't wait to attach the little buttons to the lids! So, thats one for me (to put put in my little shop in Iddesleigh) and one for you, and one for me and one for you. I promise that I will put some in our ebay shop called pur-ple soon!


This weekend I have also changed all our items on our ebay shop to have free p&p! Yes... free!!! Yippee... time to stock up I hear you say! Go tell your friends! I'm adding great value sweet craft items daily : D

Happy crafting!

Louise
*pur-ple
= unusual cards + pretty craft supplies + fab goodies!

... those little things!

You know those little things that you keep meaning to but never seem to get time too? Well, usually when I am concentrating on getting orders ready for our customers I always vow that "I will" label those drawers next time I go in there!

So I found a few minutes to finally label (most) of the drawers on my much loved chalk fileing cabinet... I even took off the protective wrapping around the shiney handles too!




Louise
*pur-ple

Divine Twine

I have just placed an order for more Divine Twine... which should be arriving within the next week or so.

I worked out that I have just ordered approximately 7000 meters of bakers twine which if you tied each roll end to end would reach just under 5 miles!

Now... wouldn't that look pretty winding around the country lanes!

Louise
*pur-ple

FIMO SOFT clay

Here are some of our 1st attempts at using FIMO SOFT clay... which I am hoping to stock at pur-ple soon!

This is my first try at a lemon slice! My husband pointed out that he had never seen a lemon with such uneven sides! and I must admit that the inside segments didn't quite line up.... but I did love making it! I couldn't bare to roll it back up again so I made some holes in the side of each slice and made it into a little bracelet for my daughter (who loves it too!)

This is my 8 year old daughters first try at a cupcake charm... which she threaded onto some of our pink bakers twine... sweet!

We also made mini ice creams, chocolate bars, sweets, toadstools and apple tree charms! It was so easy to use, especially for the children and great fun blending the colours together to make new colours.

childhood books

Whilst staying at my Dads for a " sleepover" with my children I though I would share with you some of my favourite childhood books (some of the photos are a little dark I'm afraid as they were taken in the evening)






A definate favourite... I can look at this book for hours, the illustrations are just enchanting.



My favourite rhyme, "As I was going to St Ives) from my favourite book!



Another favourite! We dance around our walnut tree singing this!



I just love sillouettes. My eldest can nearly read this on her own.



Oh, this one I love too, and is special to me. My Dad used to manage W H Smith shops (ahem, can you see where the love of retail, accounts, cards and stationery has come from. My mum was a manager too! I used to love being able to go "behind the scenes" of the big old high street shops, going in the staff room and my Dads office and wandering the shops whilst they were shut or during stock takes) He used to bring books home with him. I have some fun ones with covers upside down, missing dustcovers and pages out of order!






My mum used to read me this, which I kept (I keep most things!) and now read to my children, which they adore too.



I had Victoria Plum bed covers, curtains (I still have these!) and wallpaper!



This book has delightful illustrations, its lovely to look at to see whats happening in the picture... you have to make sure that you look closely so you don't miss anything!

I have many more books... I'll save them for another post, another day.

Louise
Purple Greetings Cards

Christmas Bakers Twine

Our gorgeous coloured Bakers Twine... all ready for our customers Christmas projects!


Louise
Purple Greetings Cards

coloured bakers twine

Here are some photos of our gorgeous coloured bakers twine in lots of yummy colours...









... all ready for the Christmas rush! (which is already starting!)

Louise
Purple Greetings Cards

tree harvest

... in the space of an just an hour from three different trees, in three different places, look what I found!







Lovely shining conkers that I have had my eye on for a while now, for the children (and me!)


Crabapples, well at least I think they are. They are now boiling on my Rayburn so we shall soon find out! They do smell lovely... yum crabapple jelly : )


and the walnuts, we are lucky enough to have a walnut tree in the garden which the children have a swing hanging from... you have to beat the squirel to them though. We only ever see the mysterious squirel once a year, they are his favourites too!

Louise
Purple Greetings Cards