January 3rd, 2012 §
Happy New Year everyone!
I thought I would look back over 2011. It was a fantastic year for me and fabulousplaces.co.uk so I thought I would share it with you.
I started the year working on the website and also searching for fabulous places and makers. This is a grueling job which involves visiting lovely shops, drinking lots of coffee and eating cake…it’s all vital research!! At the same time I was fanalising the website’s etc magazine, getting it ready to go to print. Working with the super Claire Sutton, we brought together our passions to produce a Derbyshire magazine. The magazine was about great photography (by Claire) and lots of great articles covering delicious food, getting out and about in the County and the essential directory of handpicked places and makers in Derbyshire.
In April I got married at the gorgeous Blackbrook House near Belper in Derbyshire. It turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year, which made it truly wonderful. After a few years of running fabulousplaces.co.uk I knew exactly where to go when planning my wedding…the venue was a simple choice after holding a handful of fabulousplaces.co.uk events there I had fallen in love with Blackbrook House. Our photos were taken by the lovely Becky at Red Square Photography. Wedding stationery was by the super talented Lucy Sheeran, accessories came from Bow Boutique in Matlock, Delightful Living and Lavender grey in Belper. Flowers were by Kerry at Tineke Floral Designs in Matlock, they were stunningly perfect. A truly wonderful day followed by a honeymoon in Paris.
In July 2011 the fabulousplaces.co.uk Summer Food & Gift Fair took place at the Roundhouse in Derby. The event ran over two days and offered visitors an array of handpicked food and gifts. The weekend was a great success and if you visited I hope you had a fantastic time. The event will be back for one day this year on Saturday 7th July 2012 at the Roundhouse in Derby.
In September I gave birth to a gorgeous little girl, Lily. I’m sure in years to come Lily will have her ‘event team’ tshirt on helping mummy at the events!
November was a great month…Christmas Market time! I absolutely love organising this event! This was the second year the event was held at the Roundhouse in Derby. What a great success…with even more food and gift stalls, workshops, demonstrations and Santa’s Grotto, I can’t wait for the next one!
Thank you to everyone who visited the event, I hope you had a great time. A huge thank you has to go to the wonderful businesses who attended the event making it visually amazing!
The year finished with a great email from Mumpreneur UK awarding fabulousplaces.co.uk a Gold Website Award. Mumpreneur UK is a support network for mums in business, offering advice, resources, articles and events to parents who run their own business. A great ending to 2011 for fabulousplaces.co.uk!
fabulousplaces.co.uk is my passion, the places are where I visit in my spare time and the events are put together from a plan of the type of event I love to visit. The website was born from a Sunday morning brunch conversation with my husband…”why isn’t there anywhere online where I can find little shops and coffee shops”. From that point fabulousplaces.co.uk was quickly born and this year will see the 4th anniversary for the website that has become my job, I consider myself very lucky. I’m working on lots of great things for 2012…two more big events, a printed Derbyshire guide and lots more handpicked places and makers on the website for you to enjoy!
Thank you for supporting the website either by browsing the online directory and then visiting the places or purchasing from the independent makers and also visiting the events!
Wishing you a wonderful 2012 and I hope to see you all soon!
Deb
September 28th, 2011 §
The lovely ladies from Save The Date Magazine are offering fabulousplaces.co.uk users the opportunity to win a pair of tickets to the Wedding Event with a Difference. The event brings together a carefully selected array of inspirational wedding services from vintage finishing touches to stunning venues.
Save The Date Wedding Event with a Difference
Sunday 16th October 2011
The Roundhouse, Pride Park, Derby
Click here for full event information.
For your chance to get your hands on a pair of FREE tickets to the event, just send over the name of ONE of the exhibitors who will be there at the wedding event with a difference. Head to www.savethedatemagazine.co.uk and take a look for the answer and submit your answer below. Good luck!
Click here to submit your answer.
Competition closes at midnight on Wednesday 5th October 2011.
Competition Conditions
Competition closes at midnight on Wednesday 5th October 2011. The prize is non transferable and cannot be exchanged for a cash alternative. The winner will be required to collect their tickets on the day of the event. The winner will be notified by email after the closing date.
June 7th, 2011 §
It’s that time of year when elderflowers are beginning to show themselves, so I thought it would be perfect to post a recipe for one of my favourites…elderflower cordial.
I used this recipe last year to make my first ever homemade cordial, which was delicious and extremely self satisfying to make. The recipe will make approx 3 litres (5 pints) of cordial…plenty to see you through the rest of the year.
Here’s what you’ll need:
30 elderflower heads
6 pints (approx 3 litres) of boiling water
900g of caster sugar
50g of citric acid (you’ll find this at any local chemist)
1 unwaxed lemon
2 unwaxed lime
- Gently rinse the elderflowers…this will remove any dirt and little critters!
- Using a very large bowl, carefully pour the boiling water over the caster sugar. Stir the mixture well and leave it to cool.
- Add the citric acid, sliced lemon and limes and finally the elderflowers.
- Leave the mixture to cool in a safe place for approx 24 hrs, stirring occasionally.
- The final step is to strain the mixture through muslin. Once this is done the mixture is ready to be bottled (bottles should be new and ideally sterilized). What I love about the cordial is that it keeps well and it also makes a great gift presented in a bottle with a tag. The cordial will keep for months and even longer if you freeze it (if you decide to freeze some, make sure that it’s in a plastic container or bottle).
Enjoy!
Elderflower cordial is just one of the many inspiring recipes featured in the fabulousplaces.co.uk etc. magazine. Click here to get your copy of the 2011 Derbyshire guide.
May 30th, 2011 §
Come & say hello this Saturday…we’ll be at Wirksworth Farmers Market selling the fabulousplaces.co.uk magazine, etc. We’ll be offering the magazine at a special Farmers Market price of just £2 (rrp. £3.50). The Farmer Market can be located on the main road through Wirksworth (St Johns Street) from 9am until 2pm.
You’ll also have an opportunity to buy the I heart Derbyshire cotton shopper bag and also pick up a flyer for the upcoming fabulousplaces.co.uk Summer Food & Gift Fair at the Roundhouse on 2nd & 3rd July 2011.
Hope to see you there!
May 23rd, 2011 §
The Alphabet Gift Shop in Mickleover will be unveiling a fabulous extension to their current shop space this coming Friday, 27th May 2011, and you’re invited to their grand opening from 10am!
There’ll be lots going on and if you wear something pink you’l receive 10% off! There’ll be lots of new stock to browse, cupcakes and bubbly and a charity raffle in aid of the Lewis Mighty Fund.
Please see invite above for full information.
The Alphabet Gift Shop will also be exhibiting at the fabulousplaces.co.uk Food & Gift Fair at The Roundhouse on Sat 2nd and Sun 3rd July 2011! Click here for full information.
May 17th, 2011 §
Tineke Floral Designs, Matlock, Vintage Floral Bouquet
Yay, it’s competition time…how would you like to win a £60 bouquet of stunning flowers?
Tineke Floral Designs are offering one winner a bouquet of flowers, delivered to you…anywhere in the UK! Tineke Floral Design specialise in beautiful floral arrangements for special occasions and delivery throughout the UK.
All you have to do is follow fabulousplaces.co.uk on Twitter and answers the following question:
Q: Where in Derbyshire is Tineke Floral Designs based?
TWO stages to enter:
1. Submit your answer here.
2. Then click here to follow fabulousplaces.co.uk on Twitter…easy as that!
BOTH STAGES MUST BE COMPLETED TO ENTER!
Competition closes midnight on Thursday 26th May 2011.
To find out all about Tineke Floral Designs click here.
Good luck!
May 8th, 2011 §
fabulousplaces.co.uk will be out about over the Summer at the following events…we’ll be promoting all things fabulous and also selling the magazine:
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 May 2011
Derbyshire Food & Drink Fair
For full information about the event please click here. This year’s event will be held at Hardwick Hall.
Saturday 4th June 2011, 9am – 2pm
Wirksworth Farmers Market
Saturday 26th June 2011, 1pm onwards
Duffield Carnival
Eyes Meadow, Duffield
Click here for a location map.
Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd July 2011
fabulousplaces.co.uk Food & Gift Fair
The Roundhouse, Pride Park, Derbyshire
Click here for full information.
April 28th, 2011 §
You can now buy your copy of the fabulousplaces.co.uk etc. magazine at the following fabulous places:
Online at fabulousplaces.co.uk
The Bottlekiln, West Hallam
Bluebells Dairy, Spondon
Studio 61, Holloway
Hassop Station, Bakewell
The Loaf, Crich
Alphabet Gift Shop, Mickleover
We will also be selling the magazine at the Derbyshire Food & Drink Festival at Hardwick Hall on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd May 2011.
The etc. magazine is a 2011 publication from fabulousplaces.co.uk with 74 pages of Derbyshire, food, places, days out, inspiration and makers.
Click here to purchase your copy online at fabulousplaces.co.uk now.
etc. magazine is brought to you by fabulousplaces.co.uk & thingswemake.wordpress.com
April 21st, 2011 §
Great news…the etc magazine is now available for you to purchase! 74 pages of all things fabulous in Derbyshire…food, places, things to do, makers and much more!
The magazine is available to purchase online at fabulousplaces.co.uk (£3.50 delivered) or at the following places:
The Bottlekiln, West Hallam
The Loaf, Crich
Studio 61, Holloway
Hassop Station, Bakewell
More places to follow soon!
If you are interested in stocking fabulousplaces.co.uk please get in touch!
February 25th, 2011 §
Upcycling is becoming an increasingly popular way of taking an item that you would otherwise throw out and finding a way to make it into something else or changing it’s appearance to suit your home. A couple of years ago it was second nature for many of us to discard items we no longer wanted in our homes, but over time gorgeous little shops and makers have joined the market selling upcycled items. This has inspired many of us to rethink what we do with items in our home and also offered us an alternative to buying something brand new.
Lyn from The Painted Chest takes vintage french fabrics and items and turns them into bags and home accessories including lamps, cushions and bunting.
Amanda Hamilton takes vintage deckchairs and turns them into desirable seating for the garden using a carefully selection range of striped fabrics.
Susanna from Bow Boutique says “upcycling is all about breathing new life into an object once treasured by another decade”. At Bow you’ll find an array of goodies all of which have been given a new lease of life, for e.g. furniture carefully restored and painted in beautiful shades from Farrow & Ball.
All the featured makers above are passionate about turning old items into gorgeous things for your home and what I love the most is that they all offer you the opportunity to choose how you would like the item to look, even down to the colour of the pom poms on Amanda’s deckchairs!
Just over a year ago I purchased an old church pew, I gave it some tlc and painted it in my favourite colour of farrow and ball paint. I now have a chunky wooden table with wooden chairs and my beloved pew. It’s surprising how many people ask where it’s from…it was a bargain and I customised it to fit in with my colour scheme and if I change the colour of my kitchen I can paint the bench again. Since then I’ve found a few other pieces at antique shops and markets. I didn’t think I would ever enjoy routing through old things, but I can thoroughly recommend it.
If you’ve ever fancied having a go at upcycling something for your own home, great places to search out bargains are local markets and antiques shops (Heanor Antique Centre is one of my faves). Alternatively, if you would prefer to buy items that have already been given a new look then places to try are the Bow Boutique in Cromford (soon to move to Matlock) and The Vintage Rooms in Wirksworth.
