Belfast

Slap my wrists, I haven't blogged in ages, to be honest its been hectic and balancing things can be difficult at times as I'm sure you're aware. Lets travel back........

Mandy returned to Blighty on the 16th of June for a much needed catch up yet mainly to run the business whilst I took a brisk trip to Belfast with my family to see an old band that I grew up listening too. It was fantastic.

Belfast was gorgeous, a quick 50minute flight and we had touched down into pastures green, much like Exmoor, it seemed like home from home. The journey from the airport was only 20minutes, which was a nice change and soon we were out of the fields and into the big city. Check-in wasn't til 2pm and it was still pretty early, people were on there way to starting a fresh day and I was on my way to the shops!
Shocking I know but I can't believe I have never been to the city of London yet I have been to Belfast, when your a country bumpkin its hard to believe how all the shops you have ever heard of and more can be in one place. Heaven they say. Even more shocking, I wasn't there to spend, I'm terrible you see, I have way too many clothes but not enough at the same time, and with Theo in my room too its pretty crowded, actually I'd say he's just as bad as me. So no, sightseeing and the gig was all that was going to happen and any road once I start I can't stop and with only hand luggage you're pretty limited.

With our hand luggage safetly stowed and ourselves a bit worse for wear, or should I say me, 3am isn't the right time for me to awake, we set off for the sights. Lovely buildings everywhere, we found the city hall and took to the shade, the architecture was beautiful, fantastic ceilings and stain glassed windows. My camera was non-stop.
Moving on we found a lovely traditional pub, I think it was the oldest, the place was unaltered from the past, little booths and match striking plaques were still visible. With dad and Theo being big Guiness lovers, it was unfair to not have a pint of the usual in a traditional Irish pub.....say no more.
With check-in time upon us we took to the rooms, footie was on and a nice shower was in order. The next day was a busy one, we were off to the zoo and then the gig was at night, so there was a lot to pack in, grub and slumber was needed.

The next morning we awoke prepared for a full day, it was exciting to go to a zoo, Theo had never been to one so it was a must really. The animals were sooo cute, we found some sweet little prairie dogs in the wild but later found that they had obviously escaped, tunnels leading to a pen, great escape comes to mind. Our insightful taxi driver told us that during the war many of the dangerous animals had to be put down because of the risk to humans and when the zoo got their first elephants they had to be walked up through the town. Imagine that. There were many animals to see and also many great views of Belfast. Well worthed visit.
It was time for the gig and we were all excited, everyone walking there in good spirits, across the Titanic quarter, the arena was minutes away. A long queue but a fantallydastic night. We were elated that we had seen our favourite band as well as another country.
With gorgeous sights and gorgeous views, our stay was ending. We had enjoyed every second, the locals are so poilite and helpful and walking around it was clear to them somehow that we were tourists, but I suppose you can take the girl out of the countryside but can't take the countryside out of the girl.

Becky
xxx

Forgotten Treasures!

How could I forget to blog about my trip to Lynton and Lynmouth!

On the 30th of June me and Theo were due to go Zorbing!Yes Zorbing, funnily enough its not some word used to describe laser beaming aliens, maybe thats just me, but its when you submit yourself into a huge inflatable ball and allow yourself to be rolled down a long hill!

Anyway that didn't go to plan due to the weather(wind and inflatable balls don't mix) so we re-booked that adventure and took off for a nice trip to Lynton and Lynmouth. With Theo behind the wheel I could take my shoes off, relax and enjoy the scenery for a change. It really is a beautiful part of the country that we live in, after you've gone through Porlock, you can easily lose yourself, you can go for miles without seeing anything but gorgeous views of the hills and the coast. Although I quite like seeing the odd sheep who has strayed from the field and has plonked himself on the verge by the road, I find it amusing that they are unaware of the passing traffic, totally unaffected by mans opinion.

After arriving and a having a detailed look round we decided to play putting, well Theo loves it, So he decided on that one really. I'm temperamental with putting, just aim for the ball and hope for the best. Theo won naturally!

Onwards and upwards literally, up the steep incline to Lynton on the little train, it was so much fun, just don't look down lol. We reached the top and after a sweet little walk around the town i found a lovely little shop, not long been open, April fools day to be precise, I introduced myself to the lovely lady their and mentioned our shop too. Her shop was full of vintage pieces, not clothes but furniture,books, photos, music, lots of interesting bits and bobs. I came accross some beautiful photographs that were used as postcards to loved ones, pictures of women from the 20's looking so chic and sophisticated, how times have changed lol. I had to have them, they work perfectly as display pieces in our shop.

Moving on I found another little flower shop which had gorgeous straw hearts in different colours, come to think if it in every shop we went into there were hearts made out of all different materials. I bought a few of these as we like to adorn our shop in gorgeousness and keep our displays looking beautiful and different. With Theo happy with a purchase of Robert Browning poems it was time to move on......

After many bags of flavoured fudge and a delicious take away of fish and chips, we came to the conclusion that it was well worth the trip and made the scenic journey home.
Becky
Heartfelt
x

The First Stage

The deadline for entering our competition to find Somersets Young Fashion Designer Of The Year has arrived, its now time to get creating!!!

All who have entered are now requested to put together their ideas onto a moodboard or into a lookbook, whichever they prefer. The season is Autumn/Winter and there are two age categories, which are 14-18, this was changed after we had interest from Wellington School, and 18-26, which equally has had much interest.

The 2nd of July is the date in which the moodboards have to be submitted by and after that is the much awaited weekend of excitement. Mandy, I and an intimate panel of judges will look through all the entries and decided who will go through to the second stage of making up their garments.

We now have a date for the final too, Saturday the 23rd of October will be the evening. We still are yet to find a venue so any ideas or interest would be greatly appreciated.

Becky
Heartfelt
x

The Perfect Birthday Gift

As you all know a very talented artist has joined the Heartfelt team and is showcasing some of his amazing pieces in our boutique. Step Shurman is talented beyond words, as it is my 21st birthday on Monday, Mandy wanted her gift to be special, she kindly asked Step to paint a portrait of me from meeting with me and connecting with a photo from the vintage shoot we did at Crowcombe train station.

Wow!

Words cannot describe how elated I am, I cried, its absolutely beautiful and I will cherish this forever. Everytime I feel a little lost, I'll just look at this amazing piece of art. I think that the way he has painted this and the colours he has used as definately captured me. The way in which my dress pattern continues up onto my skin is the perfect blend to portray fashion and the individual, fashion is under my skin, literally.

I love how I can see birds flying in my head piece and the shadow of what I can only describe as a pixie flicking her gorgeous long hair up into the air. Details of the portrait just keep standing out and every little piece is like a piece of me.......

Breathtaking!

Get yours done! You won't regret it!!!

Becky

Heartfelt

La Nouvelle Fenêtre

The dress above was the centrepiece for the previous window, it became very popular immediately! Wth lots of attention it was clear that it wasn't going to stay there for long. Delores would soon be standing there in the nudy!

I decided after a good few weeks to take it down and therefore change the window , the dress is now going through a list of hopeful ladies, desperate to be whisked away and worn at some delightful event. Delores now needed a new frock, and I just the perfect one in mind, an equally gorgeous dress, just a little less extravagant. A genuine 1930s piece.

To shade her from the sun, a sweet 1940s straw hat topped with a hand made felt flowers pinned to it. A cute little set of pearls and a sweet pink necklace drop from her neck. I thought it would be nice to pin her dress up at one side, I imagine the dress to have be worn at a beautiful summer picnic, light and free enough to frolic in.

I then embellished the window with gorgeousness. Finding bundles of girly things is never a problem in our shop, its just a case of knowing what works. With the netting flowers from the Alice window, I wanted to give the sense that Delores was enjoying herself on a chic picnic outing.

Adding pieces to engorge the picnic factor was definately a fun and interesting challenge, I thought it would be great to use the ornate tea cups we were given and fill them with luring treats, use a lot of pretty colours and flowers to add to the environment and decorate the window with vintage fans that would be a must on a hot summers afternoon. Plenty of vintage sunglasses and a lovely pair of croched gloves fall nicely on the other bits and pieces that make up the window.