Wednesday 29 June 2011

I love the countryside

Sundays are our day off. After working the other 6 days we try to go out and give ourselves something to look forwards to.

Luckily for us, Chatsworth Estate is right on our doorstep, and it is such a pretty place to go walking.

Chatsworth House is undergoing work and is all covered up but there were so many other places to use my camera...


Lisa x

Monday 27 June 2011

From the garden...

Sweet Peas

I love our delicate sweet peas -picked today.

Lisa x

Saturday 25 June 2011

Preloved: Wooden Chest

One of my latest projects for the shop was this wooden chest. We bought it a couple of years ago from a car boot sale. It has been sat in the spare room ever since as I just didn't know what to do with it.

With our planned decorating at home, there wouldn't be room for it and there was an empty space in the shop that was crying out for a piece of furniture.


I forgot to take a photo before I sanded it. It was horrible gloss green colour.

It is now a pretty off white colour and a great home for all the handmade cushions in the shop.

Lisa x

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Take a look around...

I've been freshening up parts of my blog, slightly changing the header image, editing my pages and giving my sidebars a spring clean.

Check out my brand new Altered Chic banners. I would love it so much if you would consider adding one to your blog. Pretty please.

Lisa x

P.S. I'm working on lots of new content for the blog including inspirational posts, DIYs, a 'learn how to use my camera' series and lots more.

Sunday 19 June 2011

Race For Life

This morning I took part in Chesterfield's Race for Life with all the ladies from Arcade Crafts. I want to thank every single person who donated. We raised over £270 between us for Cancer Research UK!

I can't wait till next year

Lisa x

Tuesday 14 June 2011

I don't like to beg but...

I'm taking part in the Chesterfield Race for Life on Sunday morning and I would love you if you would sponsor me and the ladies at Arcade Crafts (my previous day job).

Events like Race for Life are vital in funding Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work into preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer.

There are people in both John's and my family who have had cancer. It is a horrible thing to happen to anyone and something that we really do need to fight.

I know that times are tough right now and I am not asking for a lot. Every single penny counts and I really do mean that.

Myself, Alison, Claire, Margaret, Lynda and Lou would all be so grateful if you could share even the smallest amount.

You can sponsor us online on our fundraising page, or contact me directly at info@alteredchic.co.uk.

Thank you!

Lisa x

Monday 13 June 2011

If you love handmade...

As you all know I am a true lover of handmade (it may have something to do with the little shop I opened recently). I love trying out new crafts, browsing the blogs of crafty people and most of all collecting pretty magazines and books all about handmade.

This is why I may have squeeled a little when I saw the first copy of this magazine...



Mollie Makes
is a fab new magazine which combines all my handmade loves into one monthly little package. It has crafty DIY's, features on handmade homes and craft studios and a free craft kit with each issue. We are only on issue two but I have already signed up for a subscription so as of July the postie will be dropping it through my door to make sure I don't miss out.

The free kit that came with issue two was this cute felt flower. I made the ribbon into a loop on the back and I'm adding a brooch pin so that I can attach it to whatever I want.



And if this hasn't tempted you, take a look at this video...



I suddenly want to move to Bath!

Lisa x

Friday 10 June 2011

Would you believe it?

I actually did some scrapbooking today!

It has been months and months since my last LO but I was totally inspired by our challenge on ECP: Challenges.



Today is a photo challenge and I loved the use of colour in the picture. While planning my LO I just saw my stash of ribbons and kind of ran with it. It's not the best photo of a LO I have ever taken but I was rushing to add it to the challenge post.

Lisa x

Thursday 9 June 2011

If only...

... I could get John to agree to something like this on our wedding next year. This has to be the best wedding video I have ever seen!



Lisa x

Wednesday 8 June 2011

We {Heart} It!

Our heart chalkboards are now available with satin white or satin cream ribbon. We still have our usual selection of gingham ribbons available if they are more to your liking.



The new satin ribbons will look perfect at a wedding or to be given as a wedding gift.

You can find them on our website or in store.

Lisa x

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Redecoration

Now that I am working full time at the shop and most of my studio has moved to work, there is alot of free space at home. It is currently a huge mess upstairs but this year I plan to get it all organised starting with the bedroom.

We are going to move our bedroom to the larger front room which was previously used as the studio/office. We bought a dark wooden bed last year so our new colour scheme will need to work with dark furniture.

Here are a few examples I've found today...

I love the rich tones of this room, it gives it a luxorious feel.

This room feels so light and bright even though the bed is dark and quite overpowering.

This room is quite modern compared to the others. I love the crochet throw.

I love the muted background colour of this room.

This Safari styled room is so light and airy even with the dark furniture. The window is the new bedroom is North-facing meaning there is never much sunlight light so any colour scheme needs to be mostly quite light.

The photos I've found are all quite neutral in colour. I would love to find some examples with colour and dark furniture. If anyone knows of any, please share a link.

Lisa x

Monday 6 June 2011

The Altered Chic Shop

Yes, the shop opened just over a week ago. I'm still moving things, finding new products and generally working down a to-do list as long as my arm but the shop is looking pretty (if I do say so myself) and I love that people are loving our products.

Here are a few photos to share...
The Altered Chic Shop

Altered Chic Interior

Altered Chic Interior

Altered Chic Interior

Altered Chic Interior

Altered Chic Interior

As I said, I am still looking for more products to add to the shop, so if you are a designer/maker and you think your products would suit the ranges we already stock, or if you think there is something that is missing from the shop. Please get in touch at info@alteredchic.co.uk.

Lisa x

Thursday 2 June 2011

Well Hello!

As you can probably guess things have been super hectic around here the last month. We opened our little shop on Saturday and things are still pretty hectic making lots of new products and enjoying some well earned sleep! I will post much more about the shop and all it's new products over the new few weeks but in the meanwhile, you can find some photos on our Facebook page.

In other news, Deanne of Quirky Boots jazzed up our white letters with some pretty felt flowers and I knew I must share them with you all. Her felted products are so pretty - you must check them out.Lisa x