2nd post today! supermarkets, Scottish minis and blog holidays!

This is my 2nd post today I'm keen lol! Just wanted to show you my new sweeties shelf! As you know Quayside all you need and the Quayside candy box have merged to save on business costs but this led to some of alterations to the shop layout! The triple shelf I had for the sweets was just too big as I really wanted to fit the Pepsi cooler in. It was a pressie from my other half a few years ago before Quayside even existed so I really wanted to make sure I could find it a home. By losing the big unit I could put both fridges at the back which seemed more logical. I was planning to have a look for something in the DH shop at the weekend but ever impatient I decided to make one myself!

Using odd bits of wood, some candy stripe wallpaper and good old Google images I think it turned out ok and I also saved me some money in the process which I can now spend on other goodies! Also as I made it myself I could make exactly the right size for the space which worked really well.

 I filled it with all my favourite sweets which has left me with a serious craving for a big bag of pic 'n' mix!!!

I also had a nice wire unit but it had big gaps between the shelves so I added an extra one! Lots of fresh fruit and veg and a produce sign printed off has really made it look much better.

I still need some more basic groceries like milk and butter and some stuff to fill the shelves but its only just opened so it will take a while to get the stock levels up! 

Dave is happily browsing for some nice goodies to take back to the holiday let upstairs for Debbie and himself!

I also forgot to show you a pic of some fab little minis my good friend Karen bought for me! She is here visiting at the mo and bought me this lovely gift of Scottish themed minis! They are all in the shop now as you can see and have to say my favourite is the little teacakes they are so cute!!! Thanks Karen I LOVE them!!!

I am so happy with all the changes I have made in Quayside the past few days and I can't wait to show my Mum who arrives on Saturday!!! Her and my Dad are flying up with Bethany who is back from her hols down south she will not be happy when she sees how many new signs are needed ha ha!!


This will be my last post for a week or so while  I am busy with family and fiends visiting and  I hope you all have a lovely time with your minis in the meantime and look forward to catching up with all your wonderful projects soon!

Lots of Love Paula xxxx

Bob in a boat!

Just a little post today as am busy making shelves for the grocery shop and  I now know where the expression waiting for paint to dry comes from its such a chore lol!!!

A few days ago I picked up a little sailing dingy in a charity shop for £1.50 as I thought it would be just right for fisherman Bob! Not really anywhere to put it due to a lack of sea in the village but he looks right at home sorting out his nets even though he is on dry land!!

Hes very excited about the new business thats opening in Quayside and has even been on hand to help with the refurbishment, even donating a few things from his own home as they would fit in just right! You will have to wait a little longer to find out what though ;-)

All change in Quayside!!!

Things have been very busy in Quayside for the past few days!! The village church had its grand opening and some of Quaysides business owners have decided to move premises!! The planners were granted planning permission for an additional floor in Rose Cottage which has meant LOTS of changes!

Rose Cottage had a very high ceiling and with businesses in Quayside desperate for more square footage for trading an extra floor has been added!

The china shop has had a large delivery of jugs and vases so a new display has been set up in the shop.

On the first floor Wishes bridal wear have moved premises leaving an empty floor so the china and homewares store has expanded into the first floor. Now selling a large range of furniture and soft furnishing and other household items.

Quayside cuts has opened in the newly fitted 2nd floor as it offered a good start up package with no rent for a year so they moved premises from Butterfly Cottage!

The bridal shop has moved across into Butterfly cottage as larger premises became available. The nursery shop downsized into a smaller unit to condense their stock down a bit!

Wishes has moved to larger premises as now the church is finished they are seeing much better sales and needed to expand! It will be renamed Wishes and Dreams we are just waiting for the sign writer to return from her summer hols! The stock looks much better spread out and a new unit for cakes and accessories was also added.

The bridal shop looks lovely with its new window display.

Mamas and Babas has moved into the 3rd floor as it became available when the hairdressers moved out. The shop itself is doing well but business is much more internet led nowadays so they don't need to keep so much stock on the premises.

The Quayside Candy Box sweet shop and icecream parlour was in serious financial trouble with sales at an all time low due to the awful summer weather! The had discussions with the owners of Quayside all you need and came to an agreement that they would merge their businesses which will reduce their overheads considerably! They have just moved the shop units they have for now but have decided to invest in some new ones and are off to get them at the weekend.

Quayside all you need now really does sell everything you need!

When Quayside all you need merged with the Quayside Candy box that left one small shop unit available. It wasn't empty for long the new owners have already signed the lease and are getting ready to start the refurbishment. The village is bursting with gossip wondering what it could be and all they know it its something the village has needed for a long time! The new owners have left a few clues :-)

St Benets parish Church!

Yesterday was a horrible rainy day so I managed to spend a whole day doing my church scene! Just wanted to look at it with fresh eyes this morning make sure I hadn't missed anything and the only thing I think it needed was a bit more grass scatter as it looked a bit thin on the ground! I have taken the photos on my kitchen table as its quite difficult to get into the corner where it will sit upstairs so hopefully you can see it a bit better this way.

As you know I made the churchyard from scratch and  I am pleased at how that has turned out it actually looks like it did in my head lol Yesterday I added the path and the grass and finished of the painting. I made lots of other little things and then the best bit putting it all together! I couldn't stop smiling I was so pleased!

I just love it I cant have asked for anything better Julie has made an amazing job of the church so I named it after her lol! (spelled different but I looked it up and that's how its spelt :-)

The vicar waits patiently for the wedding party so he can get the service started!

 The graves of villagers past!

I also made the name board and that just has a temporary sign til the signwriter come back from her hols!!

I added the little table I had made on Friday and made a gate to the vicarage on the side just to close up the gap.

I then made the hymns board and the donation box, the fund is for a new church bell as it doesn't have one at the mo!! I added the coach lamp to add some light when its in the corner.

 The vicar looks very proud in his new parish!

Daphne (new name!) has been busy doing all the flowers in the church and is now just watching the wedding.

 Amelia and Grace are waiting by the arbour, theres still no sign of that groom!! :-D

Hmmmm where is he?????????

It looks fab in the corner its really hard to show in the photos but it looks even better than I imagined it could I cant thank Julie enough she made a perfect job of it!

All it needs now are a bell and some stained glass windows. I have ordered some glass painting felt tips from Ebay so hopefully I will be able to do that next week!

Church has arrived and a churchyard update

My fabulous church arrived yesterday and the excitement is always slightly mixed with the fear of hoping it arrived safely! Unpacking the box is always a little scary but I needn't have worried it was perfect not so much as a scratch!

It really is just wonderful I am chuffed to bits with it!! Going to tease you a little and not post any pics just yet as I want to get it in place with the churchyard first and I need it downstairs at the mo so I can measure where the paths etc will go and there's not much point putting it upstairs only to bring it down again that's when I am likely to drop it or something equally stupid!!

So just to show you something I will let you see the little graves I have now finished off. Yesterday I bought a sample pot of grey paint in a sale bin for 50p and I didn't notice at the time but it was a suede effect and it looks perfect painted on the graves as it has tiny little grainy bits in it which really give it a stone like appearance! I love how they turned out and hopefully they aren't too spooky as this is a happy churchyard not a scary one!!! Bill is a more recently departed resident so his grave will have fresh flowers and not so many weeds!

I have been trying to think of little details I can add as I have 2 lovely big areas either side of the porch. I came up with the idea of a little plants for sale table which I think will add a bit of interest. I picked up the table for £1.50 in the DH shop ages ago thinking it would come in handy somewhere and it did lol!! And of course there is an honesty box after all who would steal from a church!

Maybe we can have a jumble sale or even the Christmas fete could be held here this year with a nice nativity scene there are so many different things that I can change with the seasons its a great little corner of Quayside!

Churchyards and patios!

I decided to make a start on my churchyard yesterday I was supposed to be waiting for it to arrive 1st but as impatient as ever I wanted to get on with it!!

I had a couple of bits of wood my OH have bought home from work even he has began to pick up that things that might be useful for me lol!! I think there were doors of some kind but were exactly the right width for the church corner. He took one back and got a technician to cut one to fill the gap which is 7 inches which just just so happens to the size of the church! It will sit on that piece and the rest will become the churchyard.

I began by making a corner path so it matches in with the other houses. Made from air-drying clay the same, and as soon its dry I will paint it to match. Really pleased how that turned out for a first attempt!

Next I made a couple of headstones also from airdrying clay and will paint them too look like stone. I decided just to go with one name and not too much detail as it would of been so small you couldn't of read them and its just a bit of fun!

I then made the graves with some small wood strips and some vinyl flooring for the bases filled with a little gravel. I need the wood covering which I will to today prob with a bit more of the clay. They will be finished of with some flowers and a bit of foliage around them. My OH loves these lol I think he has a bit of a dark side!!!

Next was the fencing. I couldn't decide whether to go with wall, fence or railing for the perimeter of the church yard! In the end I liked the look of the railings, they felt a little bit Gothic, so I have glued them onto some wood bases. I will cover the wood and glued area with polyfilla so it will be a wall base with the railing in top. Now I just need to rememeber where the polyfilla is!!!!

Here is is in the corner so you will start to see how it will look when finished.

I need to wait for the church to arrive so I can see where the porch will sit and I will then make a gravel path coming from that to the entrance with grassed areas either side. I just need a church bell and a couple of DHE stone benches for either side of the porch.

I can't wait to see how it will look when the church arrives which hopefully will be tomorrow :-)

When I was sorting out my bits of wood I found  a piece that was the exact width of The Porthole so I decided to make a little patio area at the front where guests can sit in the seaside air! It was perfect as the B & B is just a bit smaller than Seashell so it fills the gap and ties the 2 in together. there is a little gate on the left hand side where Maddie can get through to her cottage and I have left the right side open so they can get down to the church.

I made the fence around the outside and then covered the floorspace with some gravel that I have bought for the churchyard path. There is loads of it so thought I might make use of it. Ideally I think I would have liked a lighter colour but there really isn't much point buying a whole other bag for such a small area so I will live with it! you can see the white glue drying underneath lol that will dry clear so you won't see it!!