Open Studios

I love getting the opportunity to see into other artists studios. It's always inspiring to see their works in progress, their bookshelves, the view from their windows and their little collections of things that inspire them. You might call me nosy, but I prefer to call myself curious! 

If you are the curious type too then you will probably enjoy Hebden Bridge Open Studios. It takes place on the 6th, 7th and 8th of July and there are 83 artists in the brochure this year. Some of them are in big shared studio groups and others are independents, exhibiting in their houses.

It's the first time I will have opened the studio since making window film so I'm excited to show you my windows.

And I am looking forward to showing you my Tiny Treasures book too.

I share my sunny studio with my friends Sarah and Suzi who are amazing photographers and  Julia Ogden who makes paintings and prints and we will all be opening our rooms and welcoming visitors.

I'll be having a seconds sale of my lamps in the studio (not online this time, just in person) but if you are just too far away to visit then as a little treat there will be 20% off wallpaper, lamps and fabrics on my website with the code 'openstudiosale' so you don't have to feel like you're missing out!

You can find out more details and directions here.

I hope you can come.

Hannah x

Yoga in the Spanish Mountains

Last week I traveled to the Spanish mountains for a yoga retreat.

We all met up for a night in the mountain village of Competa for a night on route.

 It was lovely to meet my new yoga family.

The town may be all white from a distance but there was so much colour in its tiny winding streets

   

It was good for my senses to be somewhere so different from home.

Then we climbed and climbed up winding mountain roads to our retreat at Finca Los Pinos.

My home for the week was this wooden cabin in the trees.

I was in heaven sitting at my desk on the veranda reading, drawing, writing and dreaming with birdsong all around me and red squirrels darting about.

There was a bit of a squirrel chase one day. The squirrel got away much to the annoyance of the cat!

The retreat was run by my dear fiend Jackie Jones from Shrewsbury. Jackie and I were friends-at-first-sight when we shared mats next to each other on a Rod Stryker intensive a few years ago. I have talked to her lots about yoga but I have never experienced her teaching before.

  I LOVED it. A beautiful flowing breath led practice on a platform under pines and eucalyptus with ten lovely warm souls. We practiced morning and evening and breathed in so much of that clean mountain air.

We had some good walks. 

To the mountains

 I admired these two bikers for getting to the top (we got a lift)!

and to the big blue sea

I found a kindred spirit in ceramic artist Ruth Gibson who perhaps takes even more close up photo's of nature than me!

We held everyone up while we looked up close at new flowers and seed pods.

There was lots of time to relax between yoging and eating.

It's amazing how much time opens up when you don't have to think about what to cook three times a day!

What luxury to have beautiful healthy meals all laid out for us. The food (mostly veggie except for this last party night) was exquisite. The host David and the lovely staff looked after us so kindly with much attention to detail.

 Mealtimes were long and laid back and good time to chat and get to know each other.

It was altogether a magical experience and my mind and heart is still full of the lovely impressions from the week. I have come back with a sense of deep refreshment and I am very inspired to crack on with my yoga teacher training and get teaching. Having a week of deep yoga and lots of playtime does wonders for the body, mind and soul. It gives you a taste of a state of being that is harder to find when you're at home with the demands of business and everyday life. But, once you taste it, it inspires you to give yoga even more space in your everyday life. 

I recommend Jackie as a teacher. She has made some online classes on her website to help people learn some simple sequences they can do at home. 

Thank goodness for yoga x

Claire's Tiny Treasures window film

I love this set of step by step photo's of some Tiny Treasures window film being installed.

  These pics are from Claire at the marvelous Hawksbys shop in Haworth and the window film is in their new workshop space.

These last three are a good illustration of how the design changes in different lighting.

It looks great. Thanks so much Claire x

The Wendy House

This is Wendy's summerhouse, aptly named the Wendy House (guarded by her dog Elvis). 

Wendy Leat lives in Devon and she has just moved to a new house with an old summerhouse in the garden. She got in touch last month, before it was painted, for wallpaper and fabric samples as she had big plans to do it it up. It was exciting to watch the whole thing unfold in her Instagram stories @thefindinteriors.

 She IS a force of nature. Everyday she was on to the next bit, no messing! She shingled the roof, she painted the outside that lovely teal, she wallpapered the walls and the ceiling with Tiny Treasures, reupholstered the chairs with Paper Meadow fabric and she made roman blinds.

No ordinary blinds either. They were double sided - kraft on the inside and teal on the outside!

And she did it all in such a short space of time!

My Tiny Treasures book has found a nice spot!

 It's altogether lovely and I'm inspired by her energy. She has moved on to doing up the house now but I hope she finds some time to relax in her lovely new Wendy House.