Creative Swapping

The lovely Country Living magazine remains one of my all time favourite treats. Month after month it delivers an incredibly beautiful does of inspiration. The homes and gardens that sit within it's pages take my breath away. The wonderful ideas for decorating, cooking and homemaking inspire me no end. I've been reading this magazine faithfully since 1998, so I think you could say I am most definitely a faithful follower.

Back in May (which was the June issue) the magazine started a new feature called "women and their sheds"...wow what a terrific and inspiring idea! Knowing a little of what can go on in Creative Sheds throughout Blogland, I was instantly high on excitement over what Sheddy Goodness would be revealed as the summer months rolled by. First up was the shed of Esther Coombs, you can find some great pictures of this feature on Alun Callender's blog. Part two came last month in the July issue, and you can see the pages up above there......do you recognise that lady? Do you know her?

This is her most beautiful garden shed, a wonderful beach hut/shed/studio hybrid nestled amidst a sea of glorious flowers. It belongs to Emma Mitchell, a super talented jeweller who also writes a very lovely blog called Silver Pebble which you may know.

Shall we take a peek inside?

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! How delicious!

Emma has transformed the inside of her shed into such a calm and beautiful working space, it has such charm don't you think?

Now if you are not already familiar with Emma's beautiful jewellery, do go and have a little look at her gallery. Her work is truly wonderful, and I love her style very much. I love the simplicity of the designs and the truly handmade nature of what she does. I love the teeny-tiny scale of her jewellery and the exquisite detail in every single thing she makes. I love the subject matter. Well, I just love it all really.

If you pressed me to choose a favourite item of Emma's, it would without doubt be one of these amazing little charm necklaces. She describes them as "beaded garland jewellery - you know, the delicate, jingly, pretty jewellery where beads hang from a chain. It’s like tiny, slightly tinkly, beady bunting." What's not to love?!

Two months ago, Emma offered the above four necklaces as a very generous giveaway, to celebrate her four years in Blogland. Oh my. I sososososososoooooo wanted to win! I wished incredibly hard for my name to be chosen so that I could miraculously own and wear the one with the silver pebble and sea shell. That was my favourite. I fell head over heels in love with it. I visited Emma's blog 67 times a day to see if she had made the draw, to see if I was a Lucky Winner.

Then out of the blue an email came to me from Emma telling me that sadly I did not win. I felt like I wanted to cry. But wait..........the end of Emma's email contained a gem of an idea and immediately my heart skipped a beat or two. She suggested that perhaps I would like to partake in a Creative Swap?? She could make me a necklace and I could make her a hooky something.

OH YES PLEASE!

And there began a delightful creative journey for both of us. A month of emails back and forth as we worked on our projects for each other. Emma asked me to make her a bag, and she asked for it to be made in Coastal Colours. So I formed a collection of aran weight wools that spoke to me of salty sea breezes, crashing waves and summer skies, of smooth pebbles and driftwood, of coastal sand dunes and cool horizons.

I was so thrilled to be working with these colours, as they are my true soul colours.

I began hooking straight away and immediately loved the way the colours worked together.

I worked on the bag in any spare moment. Sat outside while Little B played, at the cafe with a cappuccino, at the pub with a strawberry beer, snuggled on the sofa in the early mornings.

And as the stripes grew and grew I was thinking salty sea thoughts. I was daydreaming of past holidays, of happy times spent by the sea. I thought of pebbles and seaglass and the sound of the waves. And I was also thinking of Emma working away on my necklace, wondering what she was up to. I knew there would be a silver pebble (her trademark) and I knew there would probably be a button or two. I also knew (as I had begged for it) that there would be some amazing seaglass. I was unbelievably excited thinking about all these things while I worked.

The bag grew as the days and weeks flew by until I decided the proportions were right and it had reached the right size. I made a scallopy border around the top edge and I made straps. And then when I was about to start work on the decorative flowers Emma threw a little spanner into my creative works. She asked if instead of flowers she could have circles, sort of pebbly sea-circles. Oh! Well....ok then, I will give it a go, I will see if I can make some pretty circles.....

The circles were fun to make, and after a little bit of trial and error, I found a way to make them work as part of the overall bag design. They were needed both as decoration and as a way to hide the end of the straps where they get stitched to the bag.....

....I think they turned out beautifully. I went in search of some special buttons to add a final flourish and found these amazing mother of pearl ones in a local shop. The colours were perfect.

Would you like to see how it all turned out?

YEs, of course you would!

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I felt good ecstatic about it when it was finished, and everyone I showed it to seemed to love it. I still felt a little nervous though, I don't very often make things for other people and I really wanted this to be extra special. I wanted Emma to love it as much as I did.

One other thing I decided to do was to make a fabric lining. I chose a beautiful pale duck egg blue linen, and finished it off with some spotty ribbon along the top edge.

It turned out that I finished making the bag and Emma finished making my necklace at almost exactly the same time. We agreed that it would be fun to post our parcels on the same day so that we could kind of both be in a position to open them simultaneously. Oh my goodness, it is so hard to convey the utter excitement/nervousness of this whole bit of the swap! The feelings that it provoked in both of us was so funny! We kept emailing to make sure we would open our parcels together, and there was a point where we had both received the parcels, but hadn't yet found the right time to open them.

My parcel from Emma surprisingly contained two little brown boxes. Two?! The first one I opened contained these incredible little silver and enamel flower earings. WOW! So unexpected, an extra little gift that Emma said reminded her of me with their colours. They are truly beautiful.

The second brown box contained my necklace. The very sight of it made me want to leap through the roof.

How to describe the beauty of it to you? Each and every charm (there are sixteen in total) is amazing.

There is the most beautiful sea glass.

There are sweet little sea-washed stones, and there look is the silver pebble which Emma made using silver clay.

More seaglass, sweet little vintage mother of pearl buttons and a silver button charm made by Emma. Honestly, this necklace is pure perfection.

It is so incredibly beautiful. And it is truly mine. I said to Emma that it feels like she took my very soul and strung it on a silver chain. My love of the sea, my childhood, my own enduring obsession with collecting small treasures, it's all there.

Wearing this necklace is a dream. I asked for a short 16" chain as this is the way I like to wear my jewellery - quite high up round my neck so that it sits on my skin and doesn't get lost in my clothing.

I love the feel of it round my neck, it's surprisingly heavy. It feels like happiness.

♥

Emma's beautiful jewellery is for sale in her Etsy shop.

She is also a genius at working to commission, so do please feel free to contact her for a chat if you would like a special something made (more info here)

And of course her blog is pretty special too, I am currently drooling my way through her past archives.

Isn't creativity wonderful?! Yaaaaay for HaNdMaDe ♥

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ps...this evening we'll be heading 300 miles south to the Dorset coast. I can't wait to wear my necklace whilst strolling along the shoreline.

Will be back in a week's time ♥

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Comments

[Zoe Scented Sweetpeas]

oh yes I do know that lady and have been in her lovely shed and own some of her lovely items :-) She only lives down the road. Love the bag you created - just stunning. PS have you thought of giving your woolen ends that you cut off to the birdies for nests? Just think how fab their nests would look :-)

[Loraine (Dizzymum)]

I'm new to reading blogs and I absolutely love yours. The posts are really interesting and the photos are amazing. What a fab idea to swap crafts. I crochet and I wonder what a crochet hook and ball of wool would look like made in silver as a necklace ?? Many thanks for your blog and I hope you have a great time in Dorset xxx

[Louise]

Love your bag ! The colors are like a cool breeze when it's hot. Bravo !

[Dana]

oh, oh, oh my goodness! BOTH sides of this swap make me happy!!! How lovely for you! That bag you made was lovely!

[Nura]

WoW! That is an extremely beautiful necklace, off to investigate her blog & store :-)

[Claire]

Oh wow, both the bag and the necklace are absolutely beautiful they made my heart flutter, you both are truly talented and should be very proud of both items!!
Hhmmmm how my heart aches that I can't actually crochet, I really really really would love to do a ripple blanket for costing up in my caravan but I'm afraid to say I've failed, I've tried you tube for tutorials and also booked a class near my home to which was so disappointing..... Within the first 10 minutes of arriving the tutor asked if anyone was left handed, I put my hand up ( there was only me!) to which get reaction was rolling of eyes and telling me I'll gave to try to muddle along as she as no good at teaching 'lefties'!!!! (she ought to have said before I parted with my well earned cash, the tight Yorkshire woman I am) anyway after a morning of everyone following and some lovely granny squares made there was poor me still not even got any kind of resemblance to anything to be honest! I was made to feel i shouldnr be asking for help & when i did it wasnt too forthcoming.
I felt such a failure as soon as we broke for lunch I packed my wool and headed for home....... I was heartbroken that I can turn my hand to any craft but by jeeees crochet seems so hard for me.
Anyway I'm still hoping one day I'll learn the trick and away I'll go, if you are any good with left handers and feel you need a challenge I'd love to be taught!! I'd drive up there like a shot. I could be you failure to success story, lol.
Keep up the blog, it keeps my hooky faith that one day I'll be able to do it myself.
Have a lovely holiday.
Claire.xxxxx

[Lacey]

Absolutely lovely! You are both so talented :) I am glad to see that craft trading is still alive and well (I need to find some crafty friends I think). Enjoy your vacation!

[Leslie B]

Hi Lucy! I wondered if you would post how you made the lining to the bag you gave to Emma. I am working on my first bag and didn't follow directions when you said to use a smaller hook. Needless to say, my bag is holey and needs a lining! I don't think I could figure that out on my own. Thank you from Leslie! Sending love from Hampton, Virginia

[Leslie B]

Hi Lucy! I wondered if you could post how you made the lining for the lovely bag you gave Emma. I am on round 21 of my first bag, using bright rainbowish colors and cos I didn't follow your directions to use a smaller hook, my bag is a bit holey! I just don't think I am creative enough to make my own lining without some guidance. Thanks for your wonderful blog! I follow you frequently cos your pics are so beautiful and I love your crochet ideas! Sending your love from Hampton, Virginia

[Kelly]

Your bag and the necklace are both absolutely gorgeous! I'm an ocean girl too and I love those colors! My husband gets a little exasperated by my continual draw to aquas and teals in our home decor. :)

[Kristen]

Oh my goodness, how wonderful! Both bag and bauble are so lovely. That's a win for both of you, right there. And, as always, I'm inspired, too. :)

[Karo]

J'adore le sac au crochet !!!! et tout le reste aussi bien sûr....

[Bronwyn]

What a lovely story. The bag you made is gorgeous. I love the colours. If you manage to find the time and inclination, I would love to see a tutorial on how to do the lining. As always, I just adore you and your blog. Thank you.

[Laura (Italy)]

Hi Lucy,
I made a Japanese Flowers scarf inspired by your beautiful one!
I've crocheted it at work during lunch time and waiting during my kid's karate lessons!
If you would like to see a few pictures write me.
Thank you so much!
Laura

[Lovestitch]

I've been enjoying your blog for a long time but not often leave a comment. This post is just toooooooo sweet, too lovely that I would just want you to know how much I love it. You had an amazing swap! Your bag is so beautiful as much as Emma's necklace! You both are awesome!!!

[Am]

Such lovely colors! Ah the coast! Have fun in Dorset! Looking forward to photos and stories!

[Janice Howe]

Just Lovely... Was a delight to read and made me miss the ocean. Have a wonderful time away! :)

[Autumn]

Both the bag and the necklace turned out beautiful!

[Val]

Hi Lucy, I love sheds too. I have a hardback book called ShedChic and it has lots of lovely ideas for sheds of all shapes and sizes. You just need lots of garden space. I seem to remember a few years ago (I think it was in Country Living) there was a chap who had around 7 sheds, each one for different tasks, wouldn't that be great!! Just think of all the different things you could do with them. I love the idea of the crafty swaps too. Hope you are all enjoying the sun. Val x

[Cindy]

Hi Lucy,

I Love my Lucy bag. I actually made the one bag, thought it was too big, then made another one and lined it. I carry it every day. I'll do a post on it sometime. And I Love your new necklace. Gorgeous. Seaglass is a favorite of mine too.
I wanted to let you know at Groovy Girl Yarn shop there is a group of us making ripple blankets. I've posted our progress on my blog. You might enjoy seeing them. Have a great trip.

Cindy Bee

[Pj]

Such a lovely swap. Gorgeous necklace and earrings and a beautiful bag - love the colours. I think I'm going to have to look at Emma's site! Best wishes, Pj x

[RainStorm]

Lucy, you write so beautifully about beautiful things :) A lovely story with two great outcomes - the bag and ne lace are both amazing. What a fabulous swap!

[Crafty Mummy]

What a fabulous idea!

I love the colours in the bag you made - somehow I always get inspired when I pop over here!

[Sonia Petitpoint]

Wonderful story and wonderful photos !

[Jess]

That bag is absolutely gorgeous and the necklace is beautiful on you :)