Castle Ashby events - Fete and Fun Dog Show

Today we went back to Castle Ashby for their second event in as many weeks, and what a difference a week makes. The sun was shining and it was lovely and warm, perfect for the annual Church Fete and Fun Dog Show!

Not only was the weather lovely but it was held in the stunning formal gardens, so it was filled with as many cute and fluffy critters as their owners. I fell in love with a gorgeous Cockapoo puppy and a cute as pie Corgi, but sadly was not allowed to bring them home!

Here's a few pictures from our lovely sunny afternoon...

One of the many doggy competitions throughout the day, this was most handsome dog! First prize was an indian head massage, we weren't sure if it was for the owner or the dog...

Dog agility course!

A few of the stalls with Castle Ashby church in the background

The stunning setting of Castle Ashby gardens

A dance showcase from a local group

The Orangery serving tea and cakes looking out onto the lawns

Castle Ashby House in all its sunny glory

Little Bunting Logo Design - First design ideas

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on a range of ideas for my new logo and also for icons for my blog. I have drawn up a range of ideas, and now I'm ready to start narrowing them down into a second range to hopefully get closer to my perfect new logo. My next step is to start experimenting with the watercolour element, so this will be developed over the coming days. In the second set of designs I will be able to play with the different texts and elements that I have used and combine them in different ways to create the perfect logo. 

Page 1: Favourite logo and text - Bottom right. I don't think the others, text or the circle elements, work well at all

Page 2: I like all of these designs, however I think all of them could do with a little development

Page 3: I would like to include the bunting flags in my logo, however I think the bottom right design is a little childish and needs to be matured. I also love the text of the 'Little' in this logo, so may develop this for my future designs

Castle Ashby Events - Art and Craft Fair

Last weekend we went to the Castle Ashby Craft and Art show, a yearly event that attracts a big crowd to see all of the skilled craftspeople, some selling on stalls and others creating as you watch. The show was held in the Italian walled gardens, a large open green space that was the perfect size to contain a huge variety of stalls and attractions, from plants, cakes and crafts, to archery, croquet and bird of prey demonstrations! Unfortunately it was quite a chilly grey day, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. 

Above you can see some of the business cards that I picked up from the event. There were some fantastic vendors there but one of my favourites was BackThenBags (find their website here) who make vintage silk scarves into handbags and other accessories. I think this is a fantastic way to repurpose an item that has perhaps fallen out of favour in modern fashion into something equally beautiful and useful. 

A little grey but still majestic!

Along with the entrance to the fair, entrance to the gardens was included, and we couldn't leave without a visit to the Menagerie, which included a range of animals including a huge family of Meerkats, Giant Californian rabbits, pygmy goats and splotchy pigs. There were also Marmoset monkeys in their night house and chipmunks in their wooden hut, but they were all keeping snug and warm inside, I didn't blame them!

Little Bunting Logo Design

Recently I have been thinking about re-designing my blog and the logo for the Little Bunting Brand I have created. There are so many gorgeous blogs out there to compete against, and I think mine falls a little flat next to them in terms of design! I have never professed to be a genius when it comes to coding and blog design, so I am hoping to collaborate with a web designer who helped me to put together a website previously to see what he can do to help me create something amazing.

I have been busy collecting lots and lots of inspirational pins on my Branding Pinterest board and from combining many different elements, I have gathered lots of different ideas of what I like, what works and what I think encapsulates the content of my Little Bunting blog. I have quite a wide range of topics that I cover from week to week, so I have also been drawing icons that I think sum up the tags that I use for each of my posts. Ideally I would like to include these as little icons next to each post so readers can identify the tag of a post via an image rather than words.

As a result I have been busy sketching away over the last few weeks to create some ideas. I love the idea of a graphic sharp black line mixed with a lovely watercolour background or added colours, so I have been focussing on the the lines, and will work on the watercolours and colour palette as the next stage. I would still love to incorporate my line drawn bunting that has been with me from the start so I will work on how to include him in my designs as I develop them. 

Make Do and Mend - Project #2

My second project was to fix a hole in my top that I accidentally made when I was over-zealously ironing one evening! In reality this top doesn't even need ironing, so I was kicking myself when I managed to make a hole.

Of course, the hole is right on the front in a very obvious place, so I had to shop around for some trim that would add to the design of the top, without looking like I was covering a whacking great hole! 

I settled on this lovely navy guipere lace trim and pinned it into place making sure that I followed the curved design. It was very difficult to neaten the ends as the seams are cleverly sewn and disguised into slits up the side of the top, and I didn't want to mess about with unpicking them.

To reinforce the hole I pinned a piece of calico to the back, which will get sewn into position and then trimmed once attached. However one I had finished it I couldn't tell where the hole was which hopefully means that the trim has done it's job.

I sewed a rows of stitches along the top and bottom of the braid, and where the piece of calico was, I sewed a zigzag pattern to make sure that it was secure and that the fabric didn't fray any further. 

I finished off the ends by hand and tucked the edges of the braid in on themselves so they didn't fray. It would have been less bulky to sew them into the seams, but as the fabric is fairly delicate anyway, I didn't want to make any more holes or damage it further.

I think the braid looks really nice on the bottom of the top, and although it is a little stiffer than the base fabric, I don't think it distorts the line too much. I am really glad I've got one of my favourite tops back for the summer, just as the weather is starting to improve!

Make Do and Mend - Project #1

This weekend I made a start on one of my projects that I have had for a little while. 

I bought this lace t-shirt a couple of years ago, and when I got it out of the washing machine a couple of months ago, I noticed that the lace on one of the sleeves had perished, leaving a few holes.

Using some broderie anglaise trim that I had in my ribbon jar, I measured out what I needed and then pinned it in place, making sure that I followed the line of the lace, neatened the ends in the under arm seam and covered the section with the holes.

I was originally going to hand sew the trim to the top, but in the end decided to use the sewing machine. It made it lots easier to darn around the holes in the lace to reinforce them, and to tackle the tricky multi-layered parts of the fabric. I finished off the ends and neatened with a needle to make sure everything was tidy.

I'm really pleased with my refurbished top. I think the white trim looks very sweet against the navy, and I will look forward to wearing it again now the weather has turned so lovely and sunny!

A day out at Bletchley Park

This weekend we took a trip to Bletchley park in Buckinghamshire for my boyfriend's birthday. I had never visited before, but had heard good things about it. After the success of The Imitation Game film starring Benedict Cumberbatch and the fact that slowly details are emerging about the remarkable achievement of the men and women that worked there and who are credited with shortening World War Two by up to two years, it was a place I was looking forward to exploring. 

Over the years, the park developed from sheltered mansion house to a site sprawling with different blocks, which housed the vital first computers that were used to crack encrypted enemy information that was used by the British to win the war. Over 8000 people worked at Bletchley Park during the war, and when peace was declared, they burnt their papers, dismantled the machines and left to live normal lives without being able to tell their story of the monumental part they had played in the war.

The information displayed was fascinating, and it was brilliant to see where the work took place in various bunkers and blocks, and to see what was achieved with, on one hand, a pen and pencil, and on the other the revolutionary first computer, Colossus. 

One of my favourite parts of the park were all of the different posters that were produced to help keep the public and the information they had discovered safe during the war. Phrases such as 'Loose lips sink ships' and 'Keep mum she's not so dumb' were circulated by the British Government to stop idle civilian gossip falling into the hands of German spies. The simple typography and hand drawn cartoons seem innocent to us now, but at the time were essential to inform the public of the dangers of a seemingly harmless conversation. 

I love the simple typography and clean layout, and the simple sketchy styles of others, that nonetheless hold an equally important message.

To the tune of 'If you're happy and you know it'

My nan had told me that her sister had worked at Bletchley Park, but nobody was particularly aware of what she had been doing. There are several stations around the park where you can search the Roll of Honour for relatives, and I was very happy to find my great aunt's name sat there proudly. She was in the WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) and worked as a teleprinter operator.