Etsy Shop

gilhoolie has an Etsy shop!

July 9, 2020May 6, 2025 Julie Gardner

Finally, I have a shop! Okay so the ‘shelves’ aren’t fully stocked yet but at least I have set one up, it’s a start. Lock down has been a great opportunity for me to work on my own creative projects but I have been very busy with lampshades lately so that’s had to take priority, it is the day job after all. I’m currently in the middle of recovering lots and lots of large tapered drums for an interior designer in Haslemere. All with gold embossed PVC lining and mostly with a satin black fabric on the outside (which I swear I have been seeing in my sleep!) Two of them are taupe, with black trim around the rings so that made a nice change to make today. I’ll write a blog post with some photos once the order is complete.

So back to being creative and my Etsy shop. I have been thinking about setting up a shop for a while so that I have somewhere to sell my illustrations, machine embroidery pictures and lampshades. Since I started my head has been buzzing with ideas on designs so at the moment I’m itching to get back to it.

As I write this there are just a couple of new pieces on there as my rhubarb and ginger gin machine embroidery picture sold yesterday – yay! (It actually felt quite weird once the reality had sunk in that I had to wrap it up and give it to someone who had paid good money for it, amazing too though). I added some hand embroidery French knots to the jug in this one, and trailing flowers around the outside, with liberty print fabric on the Edinburgh gin bottle label.

All of the pieces are one-offs and the pictures come unframed but fit perfectly into an Ikea frame. I machine embroider onto linen fabric which has a lovely texture and on the lampshades the light comes through beautifully when lit.

Rhubarb & ginger gin machine embroidery illustration

As soon as I have a break from lampshade orders I’ll be back making another illustration I think. I have recently drawn my favourite houseplant (oxalis triangularis) so no doubt that will be my next machine embroidery picture. I have some lovely purple soft felt that would work perfectly for the clover shaped leaves. Watch this space. And please do visit my Etsy shop and look out for new additions, hopefully really soon!

Welcome to my studio!

July 1, 2020June 2, 2025 Julie Gardner

We were incredibly lucky to have our kitchen/dining room (which is also my lampshade workshop) decorated just before lock down and I have been meaning to share it on here since then so I’m sorry it’s taken so long. I adore this space. It’s so light and airy but also very cosy in the winter. I can step straight into the garden for a stroll and look at the flowers or make myself a cup of tea whenever I need a break. The only down side is that I have to tidy everything away at the end of a day and everyone obviously gravitates here when they get hungry (which is quite often when you have two teenage boys living in the house!) It’s been accentuated during lock down for sure with four of us living here. So I am seriously considering building a workshop in the garden where I can really get away from it all and absorb myself in making. But for now I’m very happy and grateful to have this space.

I have been busy working on my own machine embroidery designs which I will be adding to my Etsy shop. These are all botanical themed so far and I have used them to make cushions and lampshades. I’d like to come up with a collection that I can sell eventually but it’s early days as I’m trying things out and having fun experimenting. One good thing about lock down, I have plenty of time to do this and seem to be quite inspired! Yesterday I spent all afternoon coming up with a design and started cutting fabrics to stitch on.

Anyway, back to my kitchen/dining room/workshop… Here it is. The walls are painted in Little Greene china blue, with a slightly lighter tone in the kitchen area as it can be a bit dark in there at certain times of day. The wallpaper is also from Little Greene and is called Fern in sage blue. It wraps around two walls and makes a cosy seating area in one corner. I admired this wallpaper in one of Samantha Johnson’s designs in Taplow – see her gorgeously clever interior design work here.

We already had the two seater sofa which is from Made.com. And my favourite velvet Calvin armchair is from Atkin & Thyme. Glass pendant over the dining room table is quite old but I still love it (from Next). Lampshades by gilhoolie. Glass cabinet from Ikea. Anglepoise original 1227 dark blue ceiling lights from John Lewis. Dining room table and benches from Habitat.

So you see, what a lovely space to be creative in. Next project, our master bedroom! I have ordered new furniture but we need to get on and decorate before it arrives, I’m off to get paint sample pots…

If you would like to order a lampshade for your own house please get in touch. I can help with sourcing fabrics to fit in with your scheme. Check out my instagram account for lots of images of previous makes.

Sewing projects · Textile Design

How to – Machine Embroidery

June 29, 2020March 10, 2025 Julie Gardner2 Comments

Lock down has certainly given me lots of time to play and get back into things that take a little time, like machine embroidery. I love combining drawing with little tiny stitches, attaching pretty fabrics as I go.

I start by drawing in my sketchbook in pencil. I’m lucky to have a garden and fields nearby so most of my subjects are botanical lately although I also like drawing buildings and pets. I also like to ink it in so that it’s nice and neat and I can start to imagine how it will look on fabric. This helps you to see the design through the fabric when you transfer it too.

I prepare my fabric (usually a medium weight linen as I like the texture it has) by spraying it with starch spray and then ironing it. This just stiffens it a bit so that I don’t need to use an embroidery hoop. But you can use a hoop if you prefer, there are no rules!

Once the fabric is ironed dry I draw the design onto my fabric using a washable fabric pen (so that it can be removed once you’re done stitching). If I can’t see through the fabric very well I use a light-box but you can just hold it up to a window if you don’t have one.

The blue is washable fabric pen – it just washes off when you have finished

I use a special embroidery foot for my sewing machine, it just has an open ring that the needle goes through so you can see where you’re stitching. It’s really important that you lower your sewing machine’s feed foot too, so that the fabric can move freely as you stitch.

I usually cut little snips of fabrics and lay them out on my design so that I can see if they will work. Then, once I have decided on colours and patterns, I iron them onto the main fabric using bondaweb. It just stops them from moving around while you stitch. It’s very easy to use. You iron it onto the wrong side of your fabric and peel off the backing. Then iron it in place before you start stitching. That’s what I have done for the leaf in the image above.

See, I told you it takes a while! Now you’re ready to start sewing! Just relax and go with it. Set the speed to relatively fast and have fun drawing with tiny stitches. I always use a medium grey Gutterman 100% polyester thread so nothing special. Maybe have a practice on a scrap of fabric first if you need to. Occasionally the stitching goes a bit crazy and I end up with lots of stitching underneath – that’s why it’s best to practice first. If this does happen you just need to adjust your sewing machine tension as it’s probably too tight.

I have just finished this drawing of a prayer house plant. They have beautiful striped green leaves that are a burgundy colour underneath. The leaves lie flat during the day and fold upward at night, as if in prayer. I recently re-potted this one into a pretty patterned pot from Anthropologie and it’s really happy, sprouting new shoots (which in turn makes me happy!)

Read more about machine embroidery in another blog post here.

Do get in touch if you need help with machine embroidery, or if you would like to commission a drawing or lampshade.

NEW! gilhoolie embroidered lampshades collection – check out my little pieces of art wrapped around a light, available to buy now.

Uncategorized

Covid-19 Lock Down – Week Four

April 24, 2020February 11, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

What a strange world we’re living in. Covid-19 has driven a steamroller through so many lives. But we’re kind of getting used to this new way of living. The death toll announced each day still really upsets me but I find myself grateful that at least the figures are heading in the right direction. This is all a bit morbid for gilhoolie, we’ll just talk about what I’ve been up to instead shall we?

Well, my mind-map lists of of tasks (remember I had one for the garden, house and gilhoolie) has steadily decreased so that I just have just the least enjoyable left on there. Like paint the garden shed… I’ve made the most of the weather, with lots of long dog walks amongst the bluebells in the woods near us, lots of gardening and I even sat in a deckchair at the end of the garden to read my book in the afternoon a couple of times.

Lampshade orders are all done for now and I’m not sure when they will pick up again. One client just collected her’s – I had to put it on the porch and then step back into the hallway to keep social distancing. Always really nice to meet the people I make them for so I’m happy.

Bespoke lampshade made using printed fabric from Woven Monkey

It’s fine if lampshade orders slow down for a bit. I’m always saying I don’t have enough time for art, blogging, meditating, learning new skills etc so now’s the time. I started an online Google Garage course ‘Fundamentals of Digital Marketing‘ yesterday and I think a bit of that each day will keep me really busy. This is for my own business but also for the local interior designers I support with my gilhoolie Design Assistance service. It’s so important to keep up to date in this digital age and nice to reinforce what I know as well as learn something new along the way. This side of my business has really slowed down since lock down but I’m hoping it will all pick up again soon as the interior designers start to take work on again.

Arthur (the miniature schnauzer) is keeping me company and making me smile all the time. Yesterday I just sat and watched him breathing while I waited for him to wake up so that I could see if he liked his new bed I made him (another task ticked off my list!) He seems to be happy with it and it goes with our newly decorated kitchen / dining room (of course!)

The garden is looking amazing in the sunshine. So many plants are thriving. Even the lupins are starting to flower and the delphiniums and alliums aren’t far behind. So still lots to look forward to even if the weather cools down next week. This weekend our main job is to plant a new cherry tree which is looking very sweet with it’s pink clusters of blooms. There were a couple of cute blue tits sitting in the branches on the patio the other day, I think the wildlife is going to enjoy it.

Like everyone else it seems I have been doing lots of baking. Today I made a very tasty, if a bit lopsided, Victoria sandwich. Everything seems better when you can eat cake with a cup of tea!

That’s it for this week. I wonder if I will have less to write on here as the weeks go on. But I’m determined to keep going for my own sake more than anything. It’s a nice way to finish the week and it’s keeping me going even if no one is reading it!

Interior Design

Covid-19 Lock Down – Week Three – Up and Down

April 17, 2020February 11, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

The weeks are blurring into each other more and more now, that’s for sure. Here in the UK we’re into week 4 of lock down and some days it’s hard to know what day of the week it is. Overall I’m still feeling mostly happy and incredibly grateful but I had a slight dip mid week. It was one of those days where I hadn’t planned what I was going to do and therefore I just drifted around and didn’t achieve a lot, looked at my phone far too much and generally felt a bit down in the dumps. It’s to be expected I guess. Sometimes I think it’s easier for people working full time as they have less time to reflect and worry about things. But then I know I’m so lucky that I have a bit of work and a lot of time to spend making the house and garden look lovely. Most days I feel like I’m nesting and really want to look after my family lots – baking bread, making cakes, cleaning and gardening (not that they notice those things much I think!) We have managed to only go to the shops once a week so far and it’s really made us think about how often we were going before!

What I’m going through each day is nothing though, I know that, compared to those key workers helping us all and putting themselves in danger of catching Covid-19. I’m very grateful to them. I live on a main road and most days it’s deadly quiet at the moment. Last night at 8pm everyone came out of their houses and clapped key workers as usual and it was as if we weren’t going through this pandemic, it was so uplifting. Any cars that drove through the people standing in the street beeped their horns and an elderly neighbour was outside his house playing music for everyone. I think when this is all over we should have a garden party and invite everyone round so that we can meet them properly (another down side of living on a busy road, you tend to just talk to the people immediately around you and don’t know those living even a few houses away!) I miss our old house where the gardens were close together and the kids used to chat over the fence.

What have I been up to? I have made a few more lampshades which were posted off to their new homes yesterday (see below). I particularly liked the small grey velvet ones on the left. I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately so I dug out some old photos of my family and framed some, hence the funny pic of my brother and I. I’ve also shuffled a lot of my ornaments around to change things up a bit, always good to have a clear out every so often too.

I’m still working through my big to do lists and adding more now that we know we have at least another 3 weeks to get through…

The weather has been amazing so I have been on lots of lovely long, sunny dog walks with Arthur. I stumbled across a beautiful clearing in the woods this week where we were surrounded by a carpet of bluebells. We lingered there for quite a while, I didn’t want to leave!

My gardening list is getting a bit smaller but I still have the not-so-fun jobs to do and now my enormous tin of paint has arrived I can get on with painting the two garden sheds, yippee! 😅 Arghhhh…

I promise I will show you photos of our newly decorated kitchen and my workshop soon. I just have to get around to taking some good shots. Here’s one of the door as a teaser. I decided to make my own door finger plate today, using a strip of the wallpaper we have used in the dining area (Hicks blue paint and Fern wallpaper, both from Little Greene. We kept the original green floral one on the other side of the door which has probably been there forever, I love a bit of history in a house!

Hicks blue with fern wallpaper finger plate

Decorating Projects · Interior Design

Covid-19 Lock Down – Week Two – Gratitude

April 9, 2020February 11, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

We’re actually into week three of lock down as I write this. I’m trying not to listen to the news too much during the day as it’s all too worrying. It feels like we’re getting close to the peak of this pandemic and I just want it all to be over. I even had a dream the other night that I was surrounded by people who were too close to me and I had to run to get away. We’d never used the phrase social distancing until coronavirus struck and now it’s all I think about when I’m out…

But it’s not all doom and gloom at gilhoolie. Far from it. Sometimes I feel guilty that I’m enjoying this strange lock down. I’m also feeling incredibly grateful for everything I have around me (as well as all those people who are working hard to save lives and keep things running out there). My family (two teenagers who are being great, I’m very proud of them) and my husband (who is working harder than ever in his little office upstairs), my dog (who keeps me company and gives me a reason to get out and exercise and say hello to those I meet on the way), my friends (I’ve had lots of virtual cuppas over the last couple of weeks and a zoom pub night last weekend), my house, my garden, the sunny weather, the countryside, good food, the list is endless. It’s all we can do at times like this to think of the positives and be grateful for the small things we often take for granted.

I’ve been sticking to a routine most days during the week; it’s the best way to keep me going I find. I’m just taking longer to do everything, really slowing down which is good for me I know. Even though I sleep in later than usual I’m still getting up at around the same time each day, doing 30 minutes exercise (I’ve moved on to Joe Wicks 7 day sweat challenge), breakfast, long dog walk or jog, shower, lunch. Then I spend the afternoon on gilhoolie bits and bobs, lampshades, painting, design assistance for any of the interior designers I work for that still want things doing. I often watch an episode of Line of Duty with my oldest son early evening before cooking dinner – I didn’t watch it the first time around so we have lots to catch up on!

Below are just a few of the things I’m grateful for right now. Stay home and stay safe everyone. Let’s hope next time I write there will be more positive news stories. And don’t forget to clap the NHS this evening at 8pm 🙂 🌈 👏

Artwork

Covid-19 Lock Down – Week One – Anxiety

April 1, 2020February 11, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

It’s April fools day, 2020. A bit different from other years. I don’t think many people will be playing pranks. We’re doing okay though. My family have adapted really well, it just feels like a long stay-cation at the moment!

I’ve been keeping to a routine each morning at least. Exercise first thing (was Joe Wicks last week but decided to hunt around on YouTube for something else this week, there’s so much out there to choose from). Then I have breakfast, shower and take Arthur for a big long walk. I’m very lucky that I can do this and we have fields and woodland very close to our house that we can walk to. My husband on the other hand, is cooped up in his little office upstairs, working away all day. We live on a busy road which is currently hauntingly quiet most of the day. I’m not complaining about that, it’s bliss.

In the afternoon I’ve been working my way through my lists of jobs, very slowly! I have one for the house, garden and gilhoolie (I’m thinking we’re going to be stuck in for quite some time unfortunately!) Lots of gardening completed last week when the sun was shining 🌞 I’ve also had lots of virtual coffees with friends and feel very blessed that I have them to chat to. It’s definitely making me appreciate all the little things that’s for sure.

Yesterday I even hunted down my acrylic paints and plucked up the courage to have a go. It’s the first time I’ve done it since I finished a painting course at Henley School of Art and because I was feeling inspired by the Portrait Artist of the Year on Sky Arts. What a great programme! I really enjoy painting but always start with a worry that it will turn out really badly. I guess that’s what stops most people having a go?! I’m going to keep trying though, now that I have lots of time to fill. I’m not watching TV until the evening and trying to stay away from the news during the day too. It’s easy to get obsessed with all the stats on Covid-19 but not good for me mentally!

Pencil drawing the painting was based on

Last week I was crazy busy finishing off lampshade orders. It’s obviously going to be very quiet for a while but hopefully orders will pick up again once this is all over.

So that’s my first week in lock down. I really am getting used to this social distancing. Last week I cried every time I went out for a dog walk and felt quite anxious. I just felt so sad about it all too. You do adjust though, it just takes time. Isn’t it going to be amazing when this is all over and we can hug a friend or go out to dinner?! In the meantime I’m going to make the most of this time and maybe it will make me slow down in the future too.

Creative Courses

COVID-19 Day One of Lock Down

March 24, 2020February 8, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

We knew it was coming but it still feels very strange being on lock-down in your own home. I have been out to walk Arthur the miniature schnauzer today but that’s it. (The photo was taken yesterday, while I was cutting pvc for a lampshade, he likes to be wherever I am😍) Thank goodness we have a garden to get out in. And the sun is shining too. If it wasn’t for this virus I would be feeling optimistic about spring and the year ahead. As it is I’m feeling a bit anxious and uncertain about everything but I know I’m very fortunate too.

When we were having dinner as a family yesterday evening we decided it was going to be a bit like being on a family holiday, with only ourselves for company. We seem to be managing so far (I know it’s early days but we’re a very close family who like spending time together anyway).

The youngest has been studying online with his friends, watching their maths teacher’s live YouTube classes, exercising a bit in the garden and then playing online and chatting to friends the rest of the day. He seems very happy and unfazed.

The oldest had a video for university via zoom today and has college work to get on with still, but no weekend job any more. He’s a bit of a worrier but doing okay.

My husband works from home a lot anyway so not much different although he’s crazy busy and hasn’t travelled for business since this all began to get worse. He’s very pragmatic about it all and looks at all the stats.

Me? I have a few lampshade orders to finish. And the odd bit of work for the interior designers and small businesses I have been working for. But otherwise I have made several mind-maps of things I can do to keep busy. One for the house 🏡, one for the garden 🌼, and one for gilhoolie. That includes exercise (running 🏃‍♀️ on my own or with husband), online yoga 🧘 (adriene), online barre, Joe Wick’s school PE class each morning 😅 and meditation with Smiling Mind.

It feels a bit like I’ve been made temporarily redundant and I’m thinking of ways to fill my time that don’t involve going out or spending money. As I said, I’m a bit anxious and go from emotional to profoundly grateful. I’m okay when I’m at home but the social distancing feels very odd; I like to chat to people and now we have to stay 2 metres apart or not go out at all. I’m rubbish at not knowing what the future holds I guess; how long will it last, who around me will be affected etc etc.

Anyway, I’m going to post on here what I’m getting up to, to keep me motivated. I have the following to get on with for gilhoolie (I won’t bore you with all the things I have planned for the house and garden!):

Finish existing lampshade orders
Finish drawings for my website
Design a gilhoolie poster for when things are up and running again (loving Canva for things like this right now)
Design a range of gilhoolie lampshades – I’m thinking machine embroidered to keep me busy!
More gilhoolie loves blog posts, including Pinterest boards
Finish working on some botanical drawings I did a while ago and think about setting up an Etsy shop
Blog post on my new workshop / kitchen
Online courses – drawing, painting, textile design, Marketing, SEO (for my design assistance for interior designers work)

Should keep me going for a while. Take care out there everyone.

gilhoolie gets out

Tricia Guild at the London Fashion & Textile Museum

March 9, 2020February 11, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

A couple of weeks ago I visited the lovely Fashion and Textile Museum in South East London with a friend. What a treat for the senses! It was well worth a trip even though my mind was begging me to stay home and snuggle up on the sofa in the warm.

Bermondsey is a hip and vibrant area, buzzing with bars, cafes, restaurants and shops. A place where young Londoners hang out in wine bars after work and where tourists wander and admire the architecture with the Shard looming above. I just love places like this and am thankful that I live so close by; it’s just a short train ride away from rural Berkshire.

It’s worth going just for a meander through the streets, popping into the art galleries and delis along the way. We couldn’t resist the traditional British grocery store, The Giddy Grocer for some sourdough bread and tasty veggie hummus, but there’s plenty to choose from. There’s an amazing glass blowing studio (London Glassblowing) where you can gawp in awe at the skill of the artists when they’re working. Oh, and there’s even a small independent cinema showing arthouse films (Kino) too, love it.

If you can drag yourself away from the wonderful streets of Bermondsey you’ll find the equally inspiring Fashion and Textile Museum, tucked away in a pretty little side street, just a short walk from London Bridge tube station. I visited back in May 2017 to see an exhibition on the textile designer Josef Frank (see my blog post here).

This time around, we were lucky enough to see a talk by Tricia Guild OBE, followed by a walk around the displays of her textiles in room sets, adorned with ceramics and furniture from her own personal collection. The exhibition took us on a journey from her original block printed wallpapers and fabrics (inspired by a trip to India), through to the painterly effects and digital prints in her latest collections. I loved that despite all her amazing success in the industry she talked about making a home somewhere you feel happy to walk into at the end of the day.

Tricia Guild is a true inspiration to women today, with her passion for pattern and her entrepreneurial spirit. She is still heavily involved with the Designers Guild business and design studio even at the age of 73; a sign that she really love what she does. Don’t miss the captivating video of Tricia talking if you have time, with the backdrop of her amazing house and gardens in Tuscany, a live canvas for her collections.

Tricia has written nineteen books, the latest called ‘Out of the Blue’ available from Amazon here. And Designers Guild have recently launched 156 paint colours, click here for details.

The Designers Guild exhibition, ‘Out of the Blue – Fifty Years of Designers Guild’ is running until June so still lots of time for a visit. I highly recommend it!

And there are lots of interesting creative workshops at the museum too, from pattern cutting to fabric painting to hand embroidery with the Royal School of Needlework. Now I wish I lived around the corner so I could go every week…

gilhoolie gets out

Spring Fair 2020 at the NEC

February 21, 2020February 11, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

At the beginning of February I had the opportunity to visit the Spring Fair at the NEC with an Interior Designer based in Henley-on-Thames, Niki Schäfer. It was a great chance to see some of the latest trends in interior design and to get an insight into Niki’s fabulous work.

I have always had a passion for interior design and would much rather shop for my house than for my wardrobe (although I quite like that too, for a short amount of time and I have to be in the right frame of mind). I’m also incredibly lucky that I loved my house the moment stepped foot inside and haven’t had to work too hard to make it feel special and homely. All the original features were still there (thank goodness). It definitely has a very cohesive look as you walk from room to room which isn’t something I have done deliberately, it has just evolved over the years. I’m one of those people who only buys things if I really love it and can see myself loving it for years to come (read wholesaler’s nightmare!)

I definitely feel the same way as William Morris, who said:

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

Anyway, back to Spring Fair 2020 at the NEC… Below are a few of the items I spotted as I wandered up and done the aisles, trying not to get lost. Some because they stood out (definite jungle and botanical theme in the air) and others because I could see myself buying them for my home. It’s all a bit random as there was so much to take in but I wanted to summarise it all on here.

See links below for more details. Enjoy!

From left to right:

Dark green pendant light from Light & Living, Melun hanging flowerpot from Chic Antique, hammered glass wine glasses from Nkuku, gorgeous simple wine carafe from Garden Trading, Protea flower print from Vanilla Fly at Amara Living, Protea wallpaper from Emma Shipley, Matamba ceramic hanging planters from Nkuku, Bequai open jewellery box from Nkuku and Beru rattan lampshades from Nkuku.