News — Boutique

JANUARY - WORKING ON THE WORKSHOP!

The Workshop 

It is really hard to believe how long we've been using The Workshop and how many classes we have had in it too! It really was about time that we gave our lovely Workshop a lovely 'lick of paint' All sounded a great idea, but it meant a lot of hard work ahead. Not that John or I are afraid of hard work!

Some of the Classes in The Workshop

So, John and I need to pack every single item away, from needles to tables, to bunting to twinkly lights - John loved that job! All packed away, it was then, we realised jut how much the room had served us so well. It really has had some footfall, and John is going to work out how many classes we have had over the last 5 years!

    

Getting to work with paint

John started off with painting the floor, which did take the longest time and was the hardest part as it was a really tough paint to apply - being non-slip specialised paint!

I then snuck in and got the really exciting job of 'cutting in' - oh deep joy! and applying Hammerite paint to the sink metal area. Lovely job again! 

We then waited for everything to dry properly when the weather was at its coldest (of course it would be!), and then the fabulous job of putting everything back again!

But we have got there and it does look great and we have had a chance to re-think The Workshop and are going to use some of the space as an additional Vintage Furniture Boutique space too - as we are able to open our Workshop room doors to our Customers too look, touch, feel some more of our glorious Vintage furniture...

We hope you love the Workshop as much as we do - some interesting classes coming soon, some beginners Floristry and starters Furniture Painting classes too...

Our 'Drop In Hobby Club's' - Thursday's Knit & Knatter is always popular and Friday's Fabric Friday is a lovely way to come and sew and sew and sew - 10.15/12.45 - join us - (follow this link)

 

 

The Workshop

We look forward to seeing you at Lovingly Made, be it in The Workshop or in our lovely Vintage Boutique, either way, the coffee is on!

Best wishes, 
Trixie and John and Charlie, our best friend, meet and greet dog...x

 

WHAT A FABULOUS SUMMER!

What an absolutely fabulous Summer we all had - and I think we are all still lucky to still have some September sunshine still promised for this week. I really don't know where July and August went, I do know it went in a flash!

John and I sneaked off at the beginning of July for a few days to Stockholm and found a fabulous vintage flea market, which of course, we couldn't resist!

Flea Market in Stockholm

After coming back, we gradually moved into 'School's out' mode which we thought would give us some time to re-organise our Courtyard. We have had a great Summer, where customers have sorted out our Courtyard for us, buying all our lovely benches, vintage chairs, tables and beautiful arbours and gardenalia!

Also this Summer, we were very lucky to have Kerry from Teddy Pig Creative www.teddpigcreative.com who came and had a wonderful photo shoot here in our Vintage Courtyard. She left us a couple of beautiful photographs and you can truly see why she is a photographer and why I am not! Take a look at her website and her work, she is so talented and be inspired!

Teddy Pig Creative

It has been a lovely July and August and we have been showered with sunshine and we were so lucky that our Strawberry Afternoon Tea for Breast Cancer Care was another one of those lovely sunny afternoons too. It was a truly wonderful end to the Summer and we were so lucky with the weather as the following day, our British sunshine turned to pouring rain!

We truly cannot thank you enough for your support, be it cakes, be it coming to the event, be it your donations!

AND, big, huge thanks to Lesley, who again organised, delegated, arranged, sorted, with efficiency and a smile, the catering tea department; Jane, Connie and Sue. Connie who came up from Brighton on her day off from nursing too, bless you. 

Some of our ladies enjoying their Afternoon Tea!

We welcome Jane, who has come to help us in our Boutique and jumped in at the very, very deep end at the Strawberry Tea, thank you so much for slicing and slicing and not managing to cut anything but cake - all day!

 

Cakes, cakes and more cakes

All in all, we have had a really successful Summer, lots of lovely customers, returning and new, we welcome you all. We have had lots of vintage furniture going to all sorts of lovely sunny places, from East Grinstead, Reigate, Oxford, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Scotland, London, Cornwall, Exeter and Somerset to name just a few and some making it to my garden - but only a few pieces otherwise none of it would make it to the Boutique!

We truly hope you have had a lovely summer, enjoyed the warmth of sun on your face be it at the end of the day, after a long day at work or sneaked a coffee in the garden! Talking of sneaking away, John and I will be away from the Boutique on Saturday 24th September as we will be travelling home from France from our buying trip. Upside we will be OPEN on Sunday 25th!

So, see you all very soon, here's hoping the sun will shine on until the end of September!

We would love to see you soon in the Boutique.
With best wishes,
Trixie and John
x

INVESTING  IN VINTAGE FURNITURE...

Buying Vintage Furniture is our passion here at Lovingly Made.  Each piece we buy is an investment piece for your home, that will look as beautiful now as it will in 30, 50, 70 years times.  

Why?  

Because they are all made with glorious style, with a certain panache, top end quality, with materials that were made to last the test of time and with skilled craftmanship. 

Antique French Dresser Drawer with beautiful Craftmanship

It can feel like taking a 'deep gulp of air' when making that step to purchase that 'investment piece' of vintage furniture. The important part of this decision, is to remember is that quality vintage pieces don't loose their value over time. Mainly because their designs and their style continue to mature and evolve with time, thus gaining value.

They are beautifully unique and those special one-offs that your family and friends will gravitate to. As soon as they come into your home they will say: "where did you get that from?"...

Vintage French Marble Tables with stunning turned legs

Today we are seeing a marked increase with our customers thinking of their 'vintage furniture purchase', as they would be buying a piece of artwork or something as equally precious in their lives.

They really appreciate their piece of vintage furniture both as a utility piece, that they can use practically but see it as something that is also an investment in their homes too.

Beautifully Painted Vintage Dresser now in a new home! 

We would like to think that there are some positive reasons that sum up why investing in vintage furniture is such a great investment:

• It is ultimately made with true craftsmanship
• It is unique in its making and genuine natural materials
• Each piece will tell you its own vintage historical beautiful story
• It will evolve increasingly, both in its beauty and value
• You will fall in love with it more and more each day, which is a perfect place to start with a piece of furniture that you will look at and use every day in your home...
• It is an individual as you are, it is not mass produced, it is personal to you, it is inspirational and loved

We have regular collections of vintage furniture, curios, emporia, gardenalia, arrive from France and English markets and endeavour to pop onto the website as quickly as we can. Our Instagram and Facebook pages are always a great place to see regular updates too.

We hope that you will enjoy looking through our garden and home pages here and perhaps we will see you in our Vintage Boutique very soon. If you are in Sussex, pop over and see our collections of investment pieces, which we know you will love and will look beautiful in your home.

IT'S GREAT TO BE BACK...

Hello there - It's great to be back and I would love to thank you for your kindness.

I have missed you all so very much. It has been a long while since I have put my finger tips to the key pad, albeit, I have managed to get my 'mitts' onto my laptop whilst watching the day time telly, (don't worry, you're missing nothing!!!), and have been posting a few Instagram and Facebook posts. I am now hoping to get back to posting onto our website and really get my teeth into some fun stuff and get back to work properly in the next few weeks or so.

It is very strange when you are not at work properly; I have missed being part of our lovely business and really missed seeing Lesley and Carol who work so very hard for us here at Lovingly Made. I cannot thank them enough for really working so extra hard for us; helping John so much. He has really appreciated all your help. There have been days when he was visiting me in Brighton Hospital that he could not have been able to open the Boutique without you both, so my heartfelt thanks to you both.

Thank you to our lovely ladies who come to our Craft School each week; I know that some mornings that they have 'opened' the door themselves and washed up, so, so kind. These gestures of kindness have overwhelmed me.  I have had beautiful hand knitted gifts, hand sewn beautiful hand crafted 'birds', chocolates, flowers, cards by the zillions, more flowers, texts, what's-apps, more cards, suppers left on the doorstep for John and such generosity of love has been so kind.  

 

Life can throw such 'rubbish' at us sometimes, but deep down, in all of us, we have the capacity to share such love, and this is what bonds us and keeps us all together, safe and warm and it protects us all.

The love we have in us, we must all try to remember our very best to share, in good times and in bad times, because without it, what do we have?

Thank you all for sharing your love with me, and my family when we needed it most over the last 3 months, and we now will pass that on, of that we promise...

It is good to be back at my desk, now where is that list of jobs to do today?  Upwards, onwards, there is a lot to catch up on and exciting things to get done and some exciting events and some great projects coming Lovingly Made's way, so WATCH OUT!

See you in the Boutique shop very soon,
Lots of love,
Trixie & John x

22/12/15 - AN AMAZING YEAR, AMAZING CUSTOMERS!

An amazing year! Where has the time gone? The year seems to have flown past! Lots of changes here at Lovingly Made.

We sadly had to say goodbye to our beloved Greenhouse, which was beautiful but beyond repair.  We really tried to save her, yes she was a girl greenhouse!  So sadly, we had to demolish her.  

The polytunnel had a facelift with a new covering and new lighting, which was a fabulous job done.  We would never have managed either without my Dad and John.  Working all hours on both projects and clearing up and recycling as much as we could.

The Craft School had new curtains made, by my mum and they look fabulous. Small little tweaks here and there continue to make it a wonderful Hobby Hub and our classes go strength to strength.  We hope to bring new classes, floristry, furniture painting and some new sewing classes too.  Watch this space!

During the Christmas Break, John and I are refurbishing the main Vintage Boutique.  I cannot believe where 5 years have gone.  The walls and floor are due for a new lick of paint.  We have started moving all our furniture and wonderful treasures.  A mammoth task, but one which are funnily enough looking forward to.  

An amazing year, amazing customers! Yes YOU!  Without you, there wouldn't be a Lovingly Made.  You are what make it so special.  We thank you so much for all your support, friendship and affection. 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!
Best wishes, lots of Christmas love,
Trixie
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