VALENTINES SEWING WORKSHOP TICKETS ALMOST GONE!

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and what better way to get into the spirit of things than by learning how to sew a leatherette heart brooch? Join us at Bobby’s Bournemouth on February 11th from 10am-12.30pm for a two and a half hour workshop with Zoe from 'Love from Hetty and Dave' as she teaches you how to make an iconic Amy Winehouse-style heart brooch. There are only two tickets left so act fast if you want to join us for this special event!

All materials will be provided upon arrival and Zoe will be there to offer instruction every step of the way. You will learn how to cut the leatherette, prep, sew it all together in your own unique design, and attach the brooch pin. This is not only a great hands-on activity that you can do with friends or family, but it also makes for an awesome gift idea! Not only will you leave this class with one piece of jewellery that you made yourself, but you’ll also have all of the knowledge necessary to recreate them again and again.

This is a great opportunity for beginners and experienced crafters alike. If you’re new to sewing or crafting in general, this workshop provides an excellent introduction into basic sewing techniques that you can use in future projects. 

Don’t miss out! Grab one of the last two tickets available through Eventbrite before they're gone!

We look forward to seeing you there!

xx

Sewing Adventures in London

Soooo/sew last week, on the hottest day EVER, I journeyed up to London to teach a bunch of rather super ladies to stitch leather flamingos and pineapples, at the gorgeous baby shop, Carry me Home in Kingly Court, Carnaby Street.

How we didn't all completely melt in the heat on Wednesday night, I'll never know, but it's probably partly due to the rather lovely Jimmy's Iced Coffee people for providing us with beverages! Cheers Jimmy- you probably saved our lives!!

Here are some faces that are concentrating on not melting, and sewing flamingo accessories...

 

Here's the flamingo gang with their finished results...

Two rather splendid flamingo hairslides, made by the two Nicki's:

The next day was marginally cooler, and the gorgeous Gayle, (who was absolutely hostess with the mostest, for both hosting the workshops in her beautiful space, and providing me with a place to sleep as well as conjuring us up a feast when we got back on Wednesday night) and I had a quick selfie before we ventured out into Thursday's heat...

As I don't often get a day all to myself where I'm not having to rush about/sew/send out orders/do housework etc I really made the most of mooching around the sales... and I may have made a few purchases in the scrumptious Anthropologie. 

I couldn't resist the pineapple rolling pin, and fishy plates, perfect for picnics...

 After a truly delightful afternoon, and a few other cheeky purchases had been made it was time for workshop number 2... Pineapples!

A slightly cooler evening, and many jammy dodgers were consumed.

Here's Lydia and Bethan, completely wrapped up in pineapple production...

And here's the gang with their finished pineapple necklaces... closely observed by a lion, elephant, bear and giraffe.

A lovely collection of pineapples and flamingos had been stitched,  and so I bid my adieu and ventured into the night up to Angel, where I was greeted on the doorstep of a dear friend's posh pad, and a glass of champagne thrust upon me. I stepped over the threshold into a somewhat debauched birthday party, and in doing so rewound the clock by 10 years, to when I lived in London and partied regularly with this birthday girl!

A super ending to a fab couple of days in the city, and waking up (albeit slightly hungover after Patrón Tequilas aplenty!) with this wonderful view of London from Roo's roof terrace...

On my journey home, with time to reflect on those last couple of days, I realise what a lucky girl I am, to have such fabulous family and friends, a career I absolutely adore, so many amazing customers and such a super husband waiting for me at home, who I had missed like crazy!

Ahhhhh, what a sweet ending!

So, if you missed out on those London workshops, hopefully I will be back later on in the year... Keep your eyes peeled for dates.

London lovings,

Zoe xx

London Leather Stitchery Workshops

Oh hellooooo there! 

Yes, yes, I haven't blogged for ages, I know, I know...

Anywaaaaay, this time next week, I will be leaving the delightful Hampshire countryside behind for a couple of days in the Big Smoke... Ooh yeah, loads of you have asked if I would ever consider teaching my workshops in London, and now the time has come!!

Next Wednesday, 1st July I will be teaching a crafty bunch how to make flamingos from deliciously soft nappa leather, and turning them into jewellery...

You could make a brooch, keyring, hairslide, whatever you like... even a pair of flirty flamingo earrings, as worn by moi:

I shall be teaching from my dear friend Gayle's beautiful shop, Carry Me Home, which is on the top floor of Kingly Court, just off Carnaby Street. It's a wonderful space, filled with gorgeous delights for Baby, and more recently Mama.

Sooooo, the workshop begins at 7pm, and goes on until 9pm. There will be some scrummy refreshments, and you will learn how to work with nappa leather, and create your very own flamingo based jewellery design. Plus you get to hang out with other crafty folk, and ME!

There are 8 spaces available, at £25 per head. You will need to book in advance- here's the link to the booking page: Flamingo Workshop - London

Theeeen, on Thursday 2nd July, I will be back at Carry Me Home teaching you fruity folk how to make sheeny-shiny metallic pineapple jewellery: 

Again, you could make a brooch, hairslide, keyring, earrings, necklace... the choice is yours!

Here's me in my snazzy pineapple necklace:

As before, the workshop runs from 7pm - 9pm, and there will be refreshments served.

Both pineapple and flamingo projects are suitable for beginners- if you can sew, you can create these delights. 

Book your space on the Pineapple Workshop here:

Pineapple Workshop - London

Hope to see some of you lovely London face next week.

Crafty Lovings

Zoe xx

Hen Doodle Doo Customised Shoe Workshop

Oh hello there! It's been a while hasn't it..? As usual, busy life stuff has prevented me from writing, but here's what's been happening in Hetty & Dave World...

Having closed the bricks and mortar shop last summer, I haven't taught any workshops for aaaages. And you know what, I really miss them! So having had three separate emails in quick succession of each other, asking whether I'd be interested in teaching hen parties, of course, I jumped at these opportunities.

First up, I headed off for the gorgeous town of Lymington one Sunday, to the particularly scrumptious Stanwell House Hotel, where the Katie's hen party had booked afternoon tea in their own private garden room. It was a delightfully sunny day, and the room was just wonderful.

All the girls had brought along a pair of shoes to customise, and with myself armed with an enormous basket of leathers I led the way!

With a variety of different kinds of shoes, everyone got to work pretty quick, and most of the day was held in silence as they concentrated on their stitching... these ladies meant business!

I particularly loved Mother in Law to the bride's design on white canvas lace up pumps!

At lunch time, we all tucked into a wonderful afternoon tea...

A tummy full of delicious sandwiches, cakes, champagne and scones later, everyone was raring to get back to their shoes, and by 4pm, this was the result...

Katie, the beautiful hen, made some 'Just Married' heart shoes which looked ace! Here they are, lined up next to her Mum's rather splendid 'True Love' hearts shoes- the leather hearts worked so well on the lace...

 

And here's the gang, all together in their newly customised footwear.

These workshops are always such a pleasure to teach, so if you are thinking about holding a party in the Dorset/Hampshire area and would like to learn how to customise shoes, do get in touch.

Hen do lovings

xx

Resolutions... Schmesolutions...

Soooo, we're twenty days into January, and twenty days on from my blog post that proclaimed that I was aiming to blog more regularly... well, if I can squeeze another two in before the month is out, I reckon that'll be okay- works out as one a week on average, so it's a fairly good start!

I'm not really one for making 'New Years Resolutions' as such, I am more into giving myself goals throughout the year, one of which was to write 2-3 blog posts a week... hmmm...

Anyway, one such goal was the classic, 'lose some weight'. Except, I prefer not to be so vague, as I don't have much motivation unless there is a target, so mine is to lose two stone... So far? 4.5lbs. So far, so good. It involves eating A LOT of fresh fruit and veg, which I did before, but now I am cutting out the choco and cakes. It feels goooooood... and occasionally  torturous walking past a cake shop.

Another job to do this year was to do a proper good sort out. When I cleared out the shop last summer I realised I had become Dorset's worst/best hoarder, and although I got rid of a lot of stuff then, I also kept rather a lot too... Having moved into a fairly little house with my hoarder husband, I think it's time to get ruthless and have a mega de-clutter. 

I've started with my studio:

Thrown out two bin bags full of rubbish last week. 

I packed two large crates of stuff ready to take to the car boot sale, as soon as car boot season begins. Sold 132 cds and dvds to Music Magpie. 

Started a MEGA SALE on the website, to sell off all those bits and bobs that have hung about for faaaar too long.

It feels  like a relief to get rid of stuff, and there is still soooooo much to do.

Now it's nice to look in the cupboard and see everything in it's rightful place:

 

I even did a little sort out of my shelves... it's nice to look up from my work and see pictures of me and my besties, my wedding day, knick knacks reminding me of my wonderful friendships and a stack of books with my name on the spine. 

Just below the shelves you can see portraits of my beloved and I, expertly drawn by my sweet, mad 7 year old stepdaughter.

Something I've been meaning to tackle for quite some time now is the ridiculous stash of half finished projects. It might just be a drop in the ocean, but I started by finishing off these three lovely mermaids. Get your mitts on the last one, Matilda Mermaid here.

And fifteen budgie brooches, most of which have now sold here.

All in all, it feels like things are moving in a pretty positive direction...

And today's goal? Get these Pineapple goodies online, along with a million other little jobs to do...

Super Productive lovings

xx

A New Year's Blog-a-lution

WOWZERS! It has been well over a whole year since I last blogged, and what a time that has been! Many moments I thought to blog, but never quite got round to it... So here we are, 2015 and a New Years resolution to blog waaaaay more frequently!

Last year was a year of absolute dreams come true! First off, I wrote a book, which was one to tick off the bucket list.... I was approached by a publisher just at the moment I was contemplating about how to go about getting published. Here is the result, which you can buy online here: Love Leather Accessories

Here's a little peek inside...

So that was all written by February, and in March, my darling man whisked me off to Paris where he proposed at the Sacre Coeur:

Of course I said, 'OF COURSE!!'


In April I began the task of making 80 slug wedding favours, in preparation for our August wedding- we didn't wanna hang about with a long engagement!

In May I made the decision to close my little shop, which had been the most stable and constant part of my life for almost the last 4 years- it was something I'd been mulling over for quite some time. With the online side of the business doing so well, I just didn't have the time to run the shop as well, so the decision was made, and the following two months were filled with the mammoth task of clearing everything out...

  
 It was sad to say goodbye, not only to the shop itself, but to all the lovely customers and friends I made over the years...

  July saw me move into Bournemouth's Vintage Emporium, filling a small space with Love From Hetty & Dave delights...

 
August was manic, preparing for the wedding as well as fitting in a week's holiday in Cornwall. On the 23rd of August we got married at Salisbury Cathedral, and then celebrated in a small village hall in Sopley. Literally the best day of my life...
 

I don't think I've ever smiled so much in one day!!
This is me and my Papa...

  In September we finally moved into our lovely little house...It stinks of nicotine, and needs decorating top to toe, but I love it!

In the blink of an eye I had my new home studio up and running, after, quite frankly, far too much time not doing any work whatsoever!

  October saw the launch of the book...



...The super popular sparkly pussy cat shoes...

 
... and the 'Make Your Own' fox kit...

 
November was my busiest month EVER. I have never sent soooo many orders out, and all single handedly which was really rather exhausting! 



And resulted in my studio looking a little bit like this...

  I also bid adieu to the Vintage Emporium, as sadly I didn't have the time to keep it looking all fresh and lovely, and decided to concentrate on spreading the love online! 

I had a super time selling at Lou Lou's Vintage Fair at Bournemouth Pavilion, catching up with old customers from the shop, so I hope to do more of these events in 2015.

  And then it was December... A busy start to the month, and then a truly delightful rest as I began plotting my moves for the year ahead. 

This is me, plotting...

  So after that pretty bonkers 2014 round up, I wish you all a very happy new year, and am sooo excited for all the snazzy new things I have planned for 2015 which I hope to share with you!

Massive great big lovings for the New Year

XX