Hi Rachael here - I know that maybe the weather isn't up to much as yet, but don't you just love summer! And my favourite thing about summer?..... It's all the day's out. Whether it's off to the beach, school fete or festival, weekends in the summer just seem to have so much more potential.

This Sunday I went off to Hampton Court Flower Show with my Mum and had a fabulous time wandering around the stands - coming up with fanciful ideas for my pitifully ignored back garden. It was all just so inspiring.


These were my two favourite gardens. I don't think I fancy mowing the lawn in the first garden - a bit tricky perhaps and may involve waders or even a boat! But how about the second one with it's checkerboard heather hedge - apparently this is "easily" done with wall mounted modules which I find quite exciting.

There was definitely a trend for planting in vertical spaces, and I guess with a lot of us living in more compact spaces, this really does make sense. As I was admiring another beautifully planted wall mounted display (this time made with fabric made from recycled plastic bottles) who should I meet but one of our lovely papercraft tutors Debs Winrow!


Now I had known that the reason we hadn't seen Debs in store for a while was because she was off doing something incredibly interesting, but I didn't quite know exactly what she was up to, so it was so exciting to see all the products, designers and artists she was promoting as part of her company Garden House Design. (www.gardenhousedesign.co.uk)

Other highlights of the day included the Sixties themed floral display. It was great to see Chichester College flying the flag for West Sussex - check out their yellow submarine garden complete with octopus below!

And of course I couldn't complete the day with out taking lots and lots of random vegetable pictures in the Edible Garden section. I'll spare you the whole album and just show you my finest cabbage patch pic!

So yes, there's all sorts going on out there. From major shows to small events - get out and about and I can guarantee you'll come away in awe and itching to get started on something.

And while we're talking about days out....... the next event at The Eternal Maker to add to your diary (if I'm allowed to pop a tiny plug in here) is Focus On Organic Fabrics Day on Saturday 23rd July. Pop along any time between 10am and 4pm for drop in make and take sessions using our lovely Organic fabrics from "Cloud 9" and "Birch". There will be projects suitable for all the family so come along and be inspired!