Heartshaped Inc Update

Its been like a sweatshop in the heartshaped house lately as I try and build up stock for my forthcoming stall at the Christmas shopping event in Sprotbough (details at the end of the post).

I have made a fair few bags. I love this Clarke & Clarke Beach hut fabric which I have lined with denim and added a pin featuring a postcard charm.

I also lined this lovely autumnal cord bag with denim and added a Suffolk puff brooch with a shell button.
This is currently one of my favourites. A beautiful Italian suiting fabric, lines with Liberty fabric with a vintage brooch.
Stunning Flannel - made locally still in Huddersfield with a ribbon tie and a vintage bow brooch.
The addition of vintage brooches or hand made pins etc makes each one an individual piece.
A beautiful Huddersfield produces tweed lined with Italian silk and vintage brooch.
I have also made a few summer bags as I love this American glamour girl fabric and I have used the patchwork that I made earlier in the year too.
I have been searching for lovely beads to make earrings and working on my packaging.

And I have been beading the centres of my Rose Corsages.

I thought I might take along some of my patchwork cards to (featuring vintage Liberty, Laura Ashley and Cath Kidston prints)
A big dilemma I have is one that I know crops up time and time again with crafters - how much to charge. I am hoping to keep the bags well under £10 (possibly £6 for the smaller ones and £8 for the larger ones). £3 for the earrings and corsages and £1 for the cards. What do you think?

The shopping event will be held at Sprotborough Country Club on Wednesday 16th November at 7.30pm. I will let you have more details when I have them, but as usual, I hope you can come along and say "Hi".

Season of mists

We have been stuck in a mizzley, murky and very grey week here in this part of Yorkshire, so I thought I would share a stroll that hubby and I took a week ago.

We didn't have much time as he was between night shifts, and the walk down through the park in Wentworth is always a favourite when time is short.

I know some of you saw the Dan Cruikshank programme this year which featured Wentworth Woodhouse - one of Englands secret stately homes. We locals are waiting with baited breath for renovations to start so that we can get a peak inside the house once more. I noticed on this walk how blackened the house is after standing in the Yorkshire coal fields for so many years.

The park was wearing her Autumnal colours and finery.


The skies were very grey, but it was the weekend that was also very warm.

There are a couple of big fishing lakes at the bottom of the park that are always very well utilised.

Hope you enjoyed the stroll.

The Hepworth Wakefield

We had been waiting for a rainy day to visit the new Hepworth Gallery in nearby Wakefield, and Saturday was a perfect day for the visit. The greyness of the sky matched the colour of the building and both matched the colour of hubby's mood after he had gotten up early and made breakfast in bed for everyone, before settling down to watch the rugby with the young man. I had to shout out several times from the comfort of my boudoir, to tell him to mind his language, and I assessed correctly that the French might have put him in a grumpy mood for a while!

Love it or loathe it, I'm glad that they chose to build this new gallery here in the north. I was looking for colour all day and the barriers on the river Calder provided a good splash.
I think the building is stunning.
It is part of the regeneration of the riverside - I love projects like these.
The buildings here are full of character and history and deserve to be brought back to life and used again.
The boats were colourful too.

The gallery is in stark contrast to the Hepworth Gallery in St Ives that we visited in June.

but is the perfect space to display these masterpieces so that you can inspect them close up.


I thought the pink coat added a colour splash to this shot.
The gallery is fairly child friendly and was full of kids drawing the exhibits. They also had a free workshop running for making a sketch book which looked really popular. It also had an enormous play area outside for less wet days!
As well as Barbara Hepworth exhibits, they also had some other St Ives artists work. One of my favourite is Alfred Wallis and I was delighted to find one of his paintings on display.
I love his naive style, and also the way he captured the exact colour of the sand on Porthmeor beach.
The biggest disappointment of the visit was the Gallery Cafe. It looked fabulous and the food looked and smelled amazing, but it was chocca block full, so a revisit - just for food - is planned.

The gallery is free to visit, so if you are near, make sure you visit.

Continental Yorkshire

Hubby and I had a day off work yesterday. We needed to go to Leeds to put a curtain rail and curtains up for the DQ as her student accommodation didn't have any. She decided to accompany us on our day out. She is much happier on her course in Leeds and with her new classmates, and new housemates - so fingers crossed that this continues. We feel like we have gotten the old DQ back. When she is upset or angry, she tends to take it out on us and treats us a bit like the enemy, but when she is happy, she is a delight to spend time with. We had originally devised a rainy day plan, but had to switch to Plan B when the skies appeared so blue!

We drove to Harrogate, a very pretty Yorkshire town and well worth a visit if you have never been. The DQ remarked how "Parisian" it felt - and she was right.

The houses in Harrogate are enormous, and often split into apartments selling for over £500,000 each. It is a very wealthy town and up until recently was noted for its "older" welathy citizens, but recently the population has become much younger and very trendy. It is full of "Yummy Mummy's" and "Ladies that Lunch".
It has a great selection of shops. You get the normal high street shops, department stores and also some exclusive (and out of my price range) boutiques and specialist shops. I wish I had dared take photographs in James Brindley's - If you need inspiration for Christmas decorating, head straight there!
It's wonderful to wander around the town - listening to the fantastic buskers and looking at the varied architecture.
It was once a Victorian Spa town and I believe that you can still visit the baths, but they are more like a modern day spa these days.
Agatha Christie once famously disappeared for 11 days and was found here in Harrogate. They claimed she was suffering depression and came here to get away from it all - wise choice I say.
We once had an opportunity to taste the famous waters in the pump house. If ever you get the chance - AVOID IT! Imagine bad eggs x 100 ! I can't imagine why the Victorians thought it would do them good!
We continued to wander around the town - the day was so perfect.


Harrogate has a skirt of lovely parks all the way around it. The flowers are still blooming here and everything is kept lovely.



There are many gorgeous places to eat or have refreshments.
The most famous (and possibly the most expensive) is the famous Betty's.

The window displays are always amazing - whatever the season.


Whenever we wander around towns and cities in France, we always take home a box of "patisserie", however here in Yorkshire, we brought home a lovely box of buns!!!
If you have never been to Harrogate - put it on your list.

Fascinating Aida

Ive been waiting for ages for Fascinating Aida to visit Sheffield, and last night my friend and I were highly entertained at the Lyceum Theatre by this marvellous trio.

I didn't expect them to have such beautiful voices. They are the most witty, topical, clever and poshest totty around and we thoroughly enjoyed them. If you get a chance to catch them, don't miss out.

And for those of you (and there can't be many now as this has had over 7.5 million hits) who haven't seen this, here is a taster.

Heart Warming

I have been continuing the declutter here at heartshaped towers - believe me - there is a long way to go yet! Whilst bags of it have gone to the charity shop, I have continued to sell some of it on ebay.

One of my recent sales had a great story attached to it. A lovely young man bought a vintage ring box from me. I was very loath to part with this as it did have some sentimental value, but its great to know that it has gone to a good home. He told me that he was planning to propose to his girlfriend with his great grandmothers ring and needed a suitable ring box. Apparently the ring looked perfect in it.

Yesterday morning, he messaged me to let me know that she had indeed said yes, and I could watch the whole thing on You Tube. I have to say that I sobbed into my Ready Brek as I watched it.

The lovely young couple gave me permission to share this with you - so enjoy. I have to say its great to see romance alive and kicking, and I wish them all the luck, love and happiness in the world.

PS It makes Mr Heartshaped's proposal look a bit weak! I seem to remember he just told me that we were going to get married - he can be very forcefull!!