A day in the life of Sammy

Live it: H's Hong Kong Adventure

Well hello there!  It's been a couple of weeks since I mentioned my creative crisis and mentioned I was going on holiday.  For those who know me in real life, I have been away for a couple of weeks to Hong Kong!  You know, just the average destination! ha ha.

Live it: Places and Spaces - The Design Museum

Something a little bit different for you today.  I wanted to share some places and spaces that either mean something to me, inspire me or relax me, so that maybe they might do the same for you, or we can share spaces and see what makes us more us.

The Design Museum has always been a favourite of mine and when the opportunity to work in collaboration with them for my Masters came up over ten years ago, I jumped at it.  It has just moved from its Shad Thames roots to its new home at the old Commonwealth building in High Street Kensington.  This had always been a favourite building of mine, since when I used to get the number 9 bus passed it when I used to live in Hammersmith.  I am so glad that the building is in use again and even better that it now houses one of my favourite museums.

When you walk in, it certainly makes you look up!  There is so much space!  Lots of open walkways and seating for visitors to sit up and stare.  Which is what I did!  There are some paying exhibition spaces and a free space that takes you through the story of design. Some people think that design is not something that they are a part of, think about or that includes them, but as the Design Museum says itself 'Design is everywhere and continues to transform the lives of everyone around the world through the partnership between the designer, the maker and the user'.

From your bed you woke up in, to your bowl you had cereal in and the car you went to work in this morning, everything incorporates design.  Without it, nothing would be the way it is, whether ergonomically designed for comfort, or aesthetically pleasing for fun.

The beauty of the building itself really does make the most of the design in it though.  It sets the scene and makes you feel comfortable.  As a museum and gallery goer/worker I feel my most comfortable in these spaces, but the Design Museum certainly lends itself to feeling relaxed and thoughtful.  I could happily spend an hour or two sitting on the benches looking around and people watching.

Is there a favourite Museum or Gallery that you guys like?  Anywhere that always gives you inspiration?

H,xxx

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Top 5 - Inspiring Places

Over the years we have been to some pretty inspiring places together and apart, from the UK to abroad, there is always a museum to be found, architecture to be admired and plenty of cake to be consumed.  We thought we would take you on a little tour of some of our faves, and they just all happen to start with the letter B!

Life update July

Are you ready to look back at what was the month of June with us? Good, let's dive right in! 

Live it: Birmingham day trip

As the title suggests we went for a day trip at the weekend!  We took in the sights of Birmingham, well more like a whistle-stop tour of 3 places, but we did well as it was only a day.

Life Update May

We were so jam packed with Makers last month that we had no space to fit in a cheeky life update. But we are back with it this month, so let's catch up with what went on behind the scenes with us whilst our makers take over was gong on. 

Life Update April

Catch-up time again!  I swear these are getting closer together. So a month of fun treats, rain and cross stitching was what March had to offer, lets get you up to speed...

H - I had a bit of time off this month and so it started as normal days off do, with rain!  But at least it gave me a great excuse to actually stay in the house and relax.  Well needed after the last few months.  I also got out and about though and enjoyed some spring-time like sun, so not all bad.  Lots of behind the scenes work got done on the blog too as it has been on my list for ages and so Hot Cross buns were my fuel of choice, well I did find some which are cows milk free, so it was meant to be.  I did however succumb to something very not dairy free when I spent the day with my Mum this month.  We pottered about and ran some errands and then had lunch at a garden centre and so this lemon meringue pie had to be mine!

Sammy- March is my Birthday month, so it kicked off in the right way, my lovely friend Verity made me (my favourite) red velvet birthday cake which was so yummy and the rest of my friends and family spoilt me rotten as usual, I am a very lucky girl. I managed to get my hands working on some projects, some for work and some for pleasure, as usual.  I can't show you them all right now but there are some exciting new products coming to Sew Crafty very soon!! We have had loads of deliveries of new stock at work too, so I was making up some samples to show off the new additions. Personal projects included the gem embroidery from last months Homemaker mag, which was fun to do and a bit of watercolour painting made the rainy days more bearable. I have also been tidying my craft room like a demon and coming across alot of stuff I forgot I had, so look out for some fun tutorials over the next few months!

We hope you had a good month, what have you been getting up to? We would love to know.
Sammy and H, xxx


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Life update March

Hello March! Before we get into birthday's, Mothers Day and Easter Eggs, lets catch up on our shenanigans through the month that was February.

H - This month has all been about work for me, but as I love my job, that's not all bad.  I went to a conference in London and had the Southbank view through the window in the room, it was so hard to concentrate.  Any excuse for a London view though, something that is so calming about it.
I visited the Watts Gallery for a teachers evening and got to have a look around their new renovated studios.  I loved this set-up of a room 'that had just been left' by the artist.  All the paints and brushes made it feel very like you had just missed the artist going out the door.
A new exhibition of Constable's work opened at the day job this month, so that always means new interactive ideas.  I made these cool cloud finders, so you can find out what all the clouds are called in Constable's work.  Makes the exhibition accessible for all ages and adds a bit of fun into the paintings.
We got to check out the Kikki K store in Covent Garden recently and it's a whole load of pretty.  If only I could make as many notes as there are notebooks!

Sammy - Like H it is good that I love my job because this month was all about work for me. I am settling into working from home really well, but I managed to get out of 'the office' this month to visit Stitches in Birmingham. My selection of jewellery for the weekend was greatly admired by a lot of my industry friends, especially my Terrarium necklace from Finest Imaginary.
I have been trying to up my water intake and limit my sugar, more on that in a minute, I have also been loving Innocent Coconut water. It is the nicest tasting brand I have tried and apparently it is really good for hydration.
I also signed up for a new subscription box this month. It is more of a cards and gift wrap box than any of my other subscriptions and I am enjoying it so far. Check out the Noisemakers club if you are up for a monthly dose of British gift wrap goodness.
Last but not least something which has fascinated and scared the hell out of me at the same time, Sarah Wilson's I quit Sugar, and I quit Sugar for Life books have been all I can think about. I am planning on taking the plunge in the next week or so, wish me luck.


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Life Update January

Remember those new things we were talking about, this is one of those.  We wanted to think up a cool fun way to let you know what we had been up to, however we are not really that cool so here is just a little life update for you. 

We both loved the Macrame workshop we did at the Bust Craftacular in back in November, then it was time to buy a plant and find a place for it in my flat.  Having bought my own place last year, I am still trying to figure out where I want things to go.  This beauty is fitting in very well in my 70's inspired living area though, now just to get it hung up! 

I managed to get on our Gingerbread house workshop at my work - The Lightbox, which was very cool.  I love learning new skills and having a go at something a little different to paper and fabric.  I took this beauty to a family meal and it was demolished... very quickly.

This is the view from my studio at work and with all the rain we have been having, just about sums up the festive period.  No snow for us.  I love looking out of my studio window at work, I find it strangely therapeutic to see all the traffic going past and the world go by.

All the pretty colours, this was a Christmas present to myself and I am sure they will come in very handy with projects for 2016. I just love looking at them! Please tell me I am not alone!

H

My December started with a lot of organising as we finished up emptying the shop unit that my business Sew Crafty had been in for ten years. It was a bitter sweet ending as we moved all our stock to our new storage space and all our office equipment to my new office at my parents. I am so excited to get stuck into our new way of working.

The other awesome thing that happened was that the collaboration I did with Simply Sewing Magazine was published. I created twenty sewing projects that used fat quarters, it was a massive project for me but it was so amazing seeing so much of my work in print.

The material of choice for the blog last month was definitely copper! H made an awesome candle stick and iPad stand with B&Q and I made this modern Christmas wreath with Turtle Mat. Not gonna lie, it felt a little weird spray painting that robin, even though it was a fake one.

I am normally 'that' crazy Christmas lady, but I just found it hard to get my festive mojo going this year. That didn't stop me from powering through and decorating the house as I usually do though. I had lots of time off over the holidays for the first time in years. I always took it for granted how hard we used to work up to and over Christmas in the past. Taking time to spend with family and friends this year was such a joy.

Sammy xxx

So that's it, all caught up! What did you get up to over the holidays?


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Love it: Craftacular Haul

Yesterday was Bust Magazine's Craftacular day and what a lovely day for going to spend the afternoon looking at more pretty things!  Of course we went to see some of our friendly faces and met some lovely new designers too, which is always good, although maybe not for the bank balance!  I am now on a spending ban before our holiday next month.

Live it: Rock & Rose

Over the long weekend we got to enjoy some time with friends and family as most of you did I am sure.  One of the places we did this was at Rock & Rose over in Richmond.  We have been before but it is always nice to go back to a place you have really enjoyed and get to eat some lovely food once again.  This time was for a friends birthday and so we knew she would have organised her own dessert treats for us too - extra bonus.

We were seated in a little side room as there were a few of us and it was nice to be a little bit away from the main restaurant - as we can get pretty loud!  We had pre-ordered our food and so there was not any food order waits, which always makes my stomach very happy and made for a simpler life.

The food as always was lovely, I opted for the Chilli Salt Squid to start and Sammy had the Soup of the Day and we both opted for Piri Piri Chicken for main.  Then onto the treats for dessert that our friend Kelly had bought, most of which was handmade.  Cake, marshmallows, cookies, macaroons and fudge, we could just about waddle home afterwards!

We had a great afternoon, full of fun, laughter and cocktails and would definitely recommend Rock & Rose for a visit.  They do get booked up pretty quickly though, so I would also recommend booking in advance.  The staff were lovely and really attentive and so we had all that we needed for a great afternoon.

It's making me hungry all over again!

H

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Live it: Knitting and Stitching Show Spring 2015

Last Friday we went to the Knitting & Stitching show in London, it's a bit of a pilgrimage for us and usually a good excuse for some lunch and some other shopping - well, when you are in the big smoke, it would be rude not to!

The show is on twice a year and this time of year it is Kensington Olympia's time and so an easy jaunt for both of us.

The show showcases lots of different shops, magazines and crafters in rows and rows of stands.  From Fabrics Galore and Abakhan Fabrics to Mr X Stitch and the very famous knitted farm.

We found some new products too from Crossstitch City Cushion covers from Hannah Bass to Maud's Fabric Finds and Floss & Mischief's bug crossstitches - some amazing new products.

Mr X Stitch had his usual delights of embroidery artists work, the Parrot above had embroidery around paperclips to make the feathers - ingenius, and the stitched chocolate bars were a real treat.

We saw some other familiar faces with By Hand London, with their new Sophia Dress pattern just about to launch.  Talking of dresses, there was the usual fashion awards they have every year and I noticed this purple number looked familiar, it was part of the Woking College show last year at The Lightbox, well done Hannah.

The lovely people at TOFT had made a knitted jungle where you could go and sit and knit.  We just loved the look of this jungle, how cool to be knitting in it?!

We came away full of new ideas for the blog and some extra fabrics of course - who can resist a fat quarter or 5!

Did you go to the show, what did you think?  Have you been to shows like this before?  Let us know in the comments.

H


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Live it: Paperchase SS15 Event

H and I have worshipped at the doors of Paperchase Tottenham Court Road for more than 15 years. Four floors of stationary, pens, paper and gifts who would not want to be a paper chaser? You can imagine our delight when an invite hit our inbox to head over to TCR and view their Spring/Summer 2015 line and have some Christmas crafting fun, we literally squealed.

Last Tuesday evening we made our way up to the crafting area at the top of the store and were met by the PR and some of the design team. after a welcome drink we headed over to have fun with glitter with the lovely Martine Arty. They have a bunch of workshops going on in the lead up to Christmas at the flagship store, head over to the #imadethis page on their website for more details.

We got to make Christmas decorations, basically we got to play with amazing paper, glue and glitter for an hour, it was awesome! 

Then they let us loose on the new collections. The lovely Puja took us around and talked us through some of the pieces. We are so excited to get our hands on some of these goodies. We don't want to spoil the surprise as we will be doing a post all about the collections when they are released so we have just given you a little teaser below...

Cockatoo tankard and it takes two to Mango! Yes!

A trip to the store would not be complete without a little shopping spree, so we headed down to check out the Christmas goodies and picked up more than a few supplies to keep us going until the next time we come and visit.

We would just like to say a massive THANK YOU to the guys at Paperchase for having us along, and for the awesome goodie bag!

Are you a Paperchase fan? What is your favourite piece of paperchasery? Or piece of stationary that you last bought?

Let us know, as usual in the comments below or on twitter @livelovemake

H and Sammy xxx


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Live it. Sew Crafty's New Chapter

If you know me or if you have been a reader for a while you may have noticed I have been a little quiet when it comes to talking about my shop lately. If you are new here you may not even realise that my day job is running our family business, a little sewing shop in my home town of Maidenhead called Sew Crafty. Well today I am letting you in on a not so secret, secret. We are opening an online store!

It is a project that has been over a year in the making, you may remember a post from last year where I hinted at making some big decisions 'Never Making Mistakes is a Mistake' and the day is almost here that I can direct you all, our lovely readers from all over the globe, to shop at my little home away from home on the interwebs. To be honest I am still finding this thought very overwhelming.

I have spoken before about how our family business came to be, how I have always been a person who wants to work for myself and how much I love what I do. But I am not going to lie to you the last year has been one of the hardest times in my life.

Sew Crafty, like many shops on our British High Streets, has been struggling to break even (to make enough money to pay our bills). Despite filling our shop, floor to ceiling, with beautiful things and sewing essentials to supply our lovely little towns every sewing whim, it has just not been enough. We are just not reaching enough people, so last year we made the decision to invest some of our family savings in setting up Sew Crafty Online.

It has been a year of lots of stress and tears, mixed with excitement and anticipation but it is almost time to reveal all our hard work to the world. I wanted to take the chance to share some advice for any of you who are at the beginning of a journey like mine. (by which I mean' things I wish I had done sooner')

• Plan, LOTS. But be prepared to alter your path. Don't be too fixated on your ideas of how you think things should be. You may find better ways of doing things, you just haven't thought of it yet. 
• Don't be afraid to ask for help. Think hard about your friend's talents and skills, they are your friends and they want to help you and see you succeed.  Find ways they can help you.  Most importantly talk to them about it because they are on your side, and if they can help they will.  
• Do your research.  Find out what people expect from what you are hoping to do. Think about what you expect, what do you like and not like about existing businesses like yours.
• Work with people you trust.  Make sure the people who are helping you, are people that will help you to achieve your goals.
• If you are working with a designer/supplier/estate agent or other professional, don't be afraid to ask them as many questions as you need to.  Don't feel like they are going to think that you are stupid, it is their job to answer those questions for you.
• Don't be afraid to nag those professionals to do their job if you feel you are being ignored, or don't have the information you need, but do be kind and appreciate them when they go the extra mile. 
• Aim high.  Make whatever you do, be the best it can be. 

I really hope that this may have helped some of you who are thinking of embarking on a new project or business, if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments or find me on twitter @sammytvr. 

If you want to find out more about my little shop head over to our website or check out some of the posts in our archives, Sammy's home away from home, Sew Crafty...We are TEN, Live it. Sammy's Day Job and look out for the launch announcement very soon. Or sign up to our Sew Crafty Newsletter (bottom of our web page) to be the first to know!

Sammy xxx

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Live it: Sammy's Las Vegas Adventure

Last week, as you may know if you follow me on Instagram, I was away for a hen weekend ( bachelorette ) for a friend of ours in Las Vegas. It kind of goes without saying that we all had an amazing time, I thought I would share some of my highlights with you.

Hotels / Casinos / Hotels

We stayed at The Signature at the MGM Grand. Three golden sky scrapers in the grounds of the epic MGM Grand Resort. We were just off the Vegas strip with an air con walkway between us and the MGM casino. In the UK we would maybe pop to a hotel restaurant to have dinner but in Las Vegas visiting the other hotels and casinos is encouraged, many of them have top restaurants, shopping malls and attractions that are designed to draw you in to spend time and money inside. 

Many of the hotels in Vegas have such amazing themes with epic attention to detail. The Hotel opposite ours was New York, New York. The frontage of which is a replica of the Manhattan skyline including a roller-coaster. 

Every hotel had its own casino, an epic floor layout of slot machines, craps tables and roulette wheels spinning 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The Strip by day is spectacular, but by night it takes on a neon life of its own.

Food Glorious Food

If you are not a foodie person, you are going to be disappointed in Las Vegas. There is every taste catered for from sweet to savoury, sometimes both in one go. From high flying 5 star cuisine to your colour choice of M&M, you can eat anything at pretty much any hour of the day here. 

Drinks are just as crazy, Slushy ice drinks come with a shot of rum or tequila if you prefer? A small is a large and a large is a bucket!

As well as breakfast for breakfast you can have lunch, dinner and dessert for breakfast at all you can eat buffets.  Key-lime pie at 9am anyone?

My favourite meal has to be our last mornings breakfast at Serendipity 3. The restaurant is cute and quirky with a menu to match. My chocolate peanut butter milkshake and saints and sinners French toast were to die for, Amazing!

Shop 'Till You Drop
The phrase 'Money can't buy everything' does not ring true here. You can literally buy anything if you have enough money, it is a place where tacky and opulent go hand in hand.

From spiral escalators to make-up vending machines, Vegas is a place where the bazaar and unimaginable are in full practice. A place where a shop selling bacon plasters is opposite an Art gallery next door to Gucci!

As you can imagine I was loving it and have spent the past six months saving hard to be able to afford to pick up some special bits and bobs to bring home from the states. Including items from Kate Spade, Rebecca Minkoff, Michael Kors, Tarte, Victoria Secret, BKR, EOS, GlamGlow, Diptyque and Bath and Bodyworks. 

Sights and Sounds

Shopping is not just about buying in Vegas, it is an experience like no other. The malls in the hotels are like movie sets. Both Caesars Palace and The Venetian have sky painted ceilings and an amazing array of designer stores.

The Chandelier bar at the swanky Cosmopolitan hotel was just so beautiful. Our pre dinner cocktails were made all that more amazing by sitting inside this giant crystal curtain and the view from the Top of the World restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere tower was one of the most epic sites I have ever seen, The food was pretty spectacular too! 

We were lucky enough to get to see a couple of shows whilst we were there too, The Circ du Soleil show LOVE (set to the music of The Beatles) was astounding and we got a chance to spend our Saturday night dressed as Britney Spears whilst watching Britney Spears!

If nights out or shopping are not your thing try a Pool Party, we visited Rehab at the Hard Rock Hotel and had a crazy, crazy day.

Las Vegas continues to be one of my favourite places on earth, it is a crazy, excessive, extravagant, opulent, epic place. I am starting to save now to head back there some day, I am already excited at the thought of being there again.

I hope you enjoyed that little peek into my long weekend adventure in Las Vegas. Have you ever been? Do you want to take a trip there? What's on your Vegas to-do list? Let me know in the comments below.

I'm still recovering from the holiday blues...

Sammy xxx

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

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