Love is in the air..

Our romantic revival is taking shape..

A wee bit of spring decorating..

You might remember that I mentioned a wee bit of decorating. I got dad here with a little bit of cake bribery and to date he has hung a zillion shelves, touched up all the paint work and done a little bit of re-wiring.

Big plans for him tomorrow though. I managed to get one roll of vintage wallpaper - you have to sniff it because it smells like lovely oldness - and the plan is for lovely papa to create panels for me as one roll obviously won't stretch! I can sense that he doesn't quite get this designer touch as he was heard to mutter that the walls are going to look like a patchwork quilt. I suspect he meant it as an insult, but I took it as a compliment!

Mum and I went to Homebase for the various tool bits and stuff. The plank aisle for shelving. The silver screw aisle for special wingnut things. Paint. Wallpaper glue. Hairy brushes. And herbs for the front door - I use loads in my baking and I'm starting to feel excited about growing my own again. It's amazing what a few pots outside can actually produce. I also fancied some petals to add to salads, however mum says that polyanthus are just a little bit poisonous.

So, a busy day and pictures tomorrow.

We have lovely lovely crockery..

...which we hire out to curious seekers of vintagey fun. My mum, my dad and my grandad collect it for me from wherever they go and some of my customers drop by and gift me crockery that played a bit part in their lives. I love this.

I mix and match a lot, because that's the beauty of old loveliness. Nothing ever seems to jar or to clash and I love when everything is piled up together and all the colours and the patterns play with each other and vie to be the prettiest in the pack.

The tearoom is also for hire - if you might perhaps enjoy a girly night in for an exclusive little party, you'd be very very welcome.

A lot of baking is being done...

...because the weekend is nearly here. Cup cakes for eating, and displaying in our lovely china tea cups;

upside down pear cake; gluten free chocolate orange cake; apple and date flapjacks. My goodness my kitchen smells delicious. DELICIOUS.

Sooo excited that spring has sprung...

.......you can feel it in the air. A little warmth when the sun comes out. Snowdrops. Crocuses peaking through as I walk through the park to work.

So hardly surprising that a wee bit of a spring clean and a revival is taking place down here at The Hidden Lane Tearoom. We've come over all romantic; the menu is getting revamped; our china cup cake wedding cake display seems to get eaten every day. And we're sprucing up the paint work. (Well, actually, my dad is sprucing up the paint work but I have a long list of other jobs that need doing and I'll sweet talk him into those once he gets here!)

What's on the dummy this week? A beautiful vintage wedding dress from the lovely DragonFly Dress design here in the Hidden Lane. What's on the menu? Chocolate and Guinness cake (some of us are still celebrating St Patrick's Day). What's on the walls? Soon - some fabulous photography in stupendous frames from McCracken Framing, also here in the Lane. And some lovely lacey vintage necklaces from Fantoosherie.

Baking books galore. A warm hello. I think that my little tearoom is a really really lovely place to be. I hope that you do too:-))

The Hidden Lane loves weddings. Truly

The Hidden Lane is a community of fabulous artistic creative people. Chatting recently over tea and cake (a blueberry ring cake with vanilla syrup, to be specific), we realised that, individually, quite a few of us are part of the wedding world. We've got photographers, ring makers, a vintage wedding dress and bespoke wedding dress designer, a china cup cake wedding cake maker and hirer of vintage crockery (that would be me), a stationer, an awesome picture framer, a wedding caterer and a florist. And that's just for starters.

Moving onto the wine - it had been a long afternoon - we realised that we could (wedding:-) band together to create a fabulous little weddingy community where brides + grooms + friends + mums + those of a curious disposition could physically come and meet us and see what we do and seek inspiration not just online but in the real world of people working together to make beautiful weddingy things.

And so The Hidden Lane Loves Weddings is born. Here in the Tearoom, you will be able to browse samples of peoples works - we'll work to a monthly theme of either colour or concept - you can even have part/all of your hen party here, if you fancy. We already have some lovely little Mr and Mrs things from the fabulous Charlotte Macey (www.charlottemacey.co.uk)and will be adding all sorts of cute things from wheresoever we find them.

As a taster of lovely and happy and exciting things to come, some of us worked together this week on a bit of a photoshoot that was a whole lot of fun. Pammy, who works here in the tearoom, volunteered to be our model for the day. Lisa, from Dragonfly design, re-worked the most beautiful vintage dress for her, along with a lovely lovely fun headpiece and silver grey silk bow with butterflies. Vintage lace gloves finished off the look. Another Lisa, this time from Sparrow andRose, supplied the bouquet of white roses, white phlox, rosemary and dill (the perfume, the perfume!) with vintage lace to bind.

I supplied the china cupcake wedding cake - which was devoured not long after the shoot (Well, a girl's got to eat), and photography was by Carole Fitzgerald of Fishnets and Stalkings, and Alan Scobie and James Morrison of The Hidden Lane Photography. The photos here are Carole's (that would be my wonderful mother!) and Alan and James' will be following shortly.

The venue was the fabulous Hidden Lane Gallery, a stunningly arty and beautifully crafted studio which is very much a part of The Hidden Lane Community although entry to it is off Argyle Street. Thanks Jo, for lending us the space.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this introduction to our new collective venture here at The Hidden Lane. We've nearly got our own website up and running but remember - The Hidden Lane Loves Weddings is primarily a community of

real people showcasing their fabulous skills in the real world. I LOVE IT!