'Ello Ducky!

Recently I have got myself a rather lovely new stockist in Derbyshire called 'Bow' who seem to feel rather passionate about flying ducks! Having thought about designing a flying duck range many months ago, and never getting around to it, decided now was the time.

These are my Great Grandmother's ducks that Big Nan gave me, and were the inspiration behind my designs...


And here's beautiful Atelle modelling my designs, on his silky coat...


Which were then stitched onto this vintage Welsh wool tapestry handbag...


And promptly flew out, having sold only a matter of minutes after going online!

If you feel slightly tearful that you missed out on this beaut, there will be more flying duck handbags soon... and even rucksacks for the boys. Keep your eye on the shop for these.

But for now, you can adorn your cardigan, bag, Nan... or whatever with a delightful drake brooch, which you can buy here


Or if you are a bit of a homey, here's a rather plumptious, feather filled, tweed cushion with vintage doily and leather duck applique... available online sooooooon!


So, that's all for now, in the way of ducks... Budgies next.

Quack Quack Lovings

xx

What Happened in January then?

How is it February already?! For goodness sake, where does the time go?

So, here's a quick round up of what happened in January...

Jacky Boom Booms finally back at home after 7 long weeks of going walkabout - HOORAH!!


Bad man broke into the shop/studio and trashed my door - BOOOO!!
(The police did catch him though- NICE!!)


Luckily my insurance paid for a shiny new door, so it felt like the bad burglar actually did me a favour!

Always gotta look on the bright side, see?!


Stitched a few rather lovely Ladybird collars...


Made some adorable baby shoes for two new babies that have arrived in friend's lives- DELIGHTFUL!



And right at the end of the month I found a body spray, called Zo Zo, that smells like an old ladies handbag... DIVINE!!


All in all, quite an eventful month!!

And I have a feeling February might be a busy one tooooo...

Freezing cold lovings

xx

Jack is BACK!!

After my last blog about the adventures of finding my kitty, I persevered with various cat traps. I caught various other kitties, most of them furious, but decided that after 7 weeks of no signs of Jack maybe it was time to give up...

So I returned the trap to the Cat Protection League, when lo and behold, the next evening we got a call from a lovely lady called Lorna, who was certain she'd nearly caught our little fella, but he'd dashed off just before she had time to grab him.

Next thing he was in an empty house opposite Lorna's, pitifully mewing from within the roof space.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, having identified Jacky's face through a hole in the roof, a lovely chap from the council came along and pulled him out of the roof!

So Mr Jacky Boom Booms has been home just over a week now, and has only just stopped purring day and night! He's lost just over a kilo- lucky he was a little fatty when he disappeared!


Apart from the weight loss, he is just purrrr-fect!


And the moral of this story? Never give up!


Purry Lovings

xx

Trapping Kitties

The last few weeks have been hectic-ville. And as usual, I decided what better time to move house, than right before Christmas when I am at my busiest with work.

After moving into my new teeny, tiny flat, and having been there for no more than an hour, Mr Jack Cat decided to make a bid for freedom as I came in through the door, and hasn't been seen since... and that was over a fortnight ago. Booooo.


Soooo, I've been leaving food out since he's gone, inside his cat box, and every night, something comes and eats it... although they're not too fond of the cat biccies (classic Jack). After a few days, I stuck some white paper on the bottom of the box, to see what sort of foot prints were going in and out. The outcome? Definitely paw prints.

Then I came up with a rather genius idea of sticking some masking tape, sticky side out, to catch some hairs of this hungry creature. Having only seen a black cat around these parts, I was pretty pleased to find tabby hairs stuck to the tape in the morning. It's gotta be Jacky.

Then Mama suggested borrowing a cat trap, so last Tuesday I contacted the lovely, lovely people at the Cat's Protection League. They told me it was more than likely that Jack is close by, rather than trying to head back to the old house, and lent me this scary looking contraption:


Tuesday night I was convinced I'd have my furry friend back by morning, and had quite a sleepless night, waiting to hear the trap door close. By 5am the food was still untouched, so I popped a bowl of meat just inside the entrance to get him in there... by 7am the food had gone.

Wednesday night I sussed out where to put his bowl to set off the trap. At 5.45am the trap went bang, and I leapt out of bed, to find the food gone, the trap door down, but alas, the trap was empty, and I could hear some frantic scrabbling over a fence. Houdini cat?


Thursday night, I didn't put the trap out in case it scared him off, and instead set my alarm for 5am. I figured he came for his food around this time. I opened the kitchen door, put his food just inside, and snuggled up in the dark, underneath my duvet, and kept watch til 7am, when people started going to work. In this time I saw a cat run past the door, but it was too dark to tell whether it was Jack.

Friday night, I put the trap out again with the biggest mountain of food at the end, convinced that this time it would DEFINITELY get him. By morning, all of the food had gone, but the trap door hadn't gone off.

By yesterday I felt like I was losing the plot to say the least, and just left food out in his box last night. By morning, the food all gone, and as usual, tabby hairs stuck to the damp bowl.

So, today I went off out with a big old wooden crate and an old cat flap, and paid Papa a visit in his workshop of wonders (I should have taken a photo of it- seriously, every tool you could ever imagine in there, along with amazing vintage car he's restoring), who did a mighty fine job of installing cat flap in box, as well as gluing lead onto the flap to ensure it shuts properly!

Now the latest trap is installed:


Basically, the cat can go in through the flap, but won't be able to come back out, as Dad fitted a clever catch on it (you can see it at the bottom of the cat flap).

The cat trap contains:

Friday's copy of The Sun on the floor (keep him warm, and entertained innit?!)
One bowl of trout in jelly
One bowl of fishy biccies
A cosy fleece blanket
A catnip banana

On top, I have placed my clothes airer, covered with some old calico, and weighed down with some wood.

Thanks to a free Barclays biro, I have propped the flap open a smidge, and left a welcoming few biscuits to lure him in:


Now, all we've gotta do is all keep our fingers and paws crossed that it is Jack that I'll trap, not some random selection of neighbourhood kitties.

Come on Boom Booms, we want you home in time for cuddles at Christmas!


Will keep you posted on the return of Jacky Boom Booms.

Kitty cat lovings xx

Festive Thursday

On the 24th of November, Love From Hetty & Dave will be having a little pre-Christmas shindig in the shop, to celebrate the start of 'Festive Thursday' late night shopping in Pokesdown.


For our first Festive Thursday, we'll be open til 10pm. There'll be the opportunity to win a super dooper Christmas hamper of Love From Hetty & Dave goodies, a chance to scribble down a wishlist, so we can point your loved ones in the right direction when it comes to pressie buying, as well as festive music, mince pies, mulled wine etc etc.


Then throughout December, we'll be staying open til 8pm on a Thursday evening, to encourage you not to spend Christmas Eve frantically shopping for your loved ones in petrol stations, once the shops have shut.


Soooo, see you then, if not before at...

Love From Hetty & Dave
864 Christchurch Road
Pokesdown, Bournemouth
Dorset BH7 6DQ

Festive Lovings xx

This Christmas...

Hedley the Hedgehog

I told you I'd keep you posted on the rugby playing hedgehog commission, so here ya go...

When my lovely, loyal customer Sophie commissioned a brooch of a rugby playing hedgehog called Hedley, I must admit, I did do a little LOL, but it didn't really surprise me, as a while back, Sophie asked me to make her a rosy cheeked cricketer brooch, to wear while she served up cricket teas!


Anyway, meet Hedley the Hedgehog, mascot of Hitchin RFC...


Here's Hedley before and after stitching and stuffing...


Sophie tells me Hedley the Hedgehog arrived all safe and well this afternoon, just in time to be worn at tomorrow night's youth section Halloween party at the rugby club.

So that's another commission, done and dusted.

Next? A tartan sausage dog draught excluder!

Hedgey Lovings

xx