Locked down love …

If you have someone to share these crappy times with then that’s got to be worth a big shout out! If you are locked down (locked up?) with someone who really loves you, genuinely cares about your physical and mental health, wraps you in a bear hug when you feel rubbish, mops up your tears with gentle kisses, and allows you to rant without telling you off TOO much then you’re definitely on to a winner. The Husband is most definitely my lockdown love ❤️

These gorgeous couples are also celebrating their winning combination. It doesn’t need to be Valentine’s Day to order an “arty farty print” from Trashcan Emporium. Whether it’s a teeny 6×4 “thank you for loving me card,” or a huge A2 statement piece over the fireplace, we can help you show your locked down love how much you care. Oh and if the person who has helped you through the last year is your bestie then why not send a surprise print to them too?

Arty farty Couples Prints

Me and my bestie ❤️

You’ll never walk alone…

Football is most definitely not my thing. My family are all proud Swans fans and still tease me over the time we hired a box at the stadium for my Dad’s 70th birthday and I declared that I was “reading the magazine in the interval.” Apparently I was supposed to say “reading the programme at half time!” Me and The Husband are a match (see what I done there) made in heaven as football is definitely not his thing either! (Phew!)

However I do understand the pride, love, passion and sense of belonging that football brings to so many and so, when I was asked by a lifelong Liverpool fan to make a Memory Cushion out of his Scouser Dad’s football shirt, I knew the huge importance of this sewing task and the trust the family had placed in me.

You know I may not be a fan of football but I absolutely love how this very special Memory Cushion, instead of being tucked away in a drawer somewhere, can now sit quietly amongst the family. This Memory Cushion is a poignant symbol of their much loved and missed father and a sweet reminder that “You’ll never walk alone!”

Liverpool Football Shirt Memory Cushion

Ticket on a Tee…

Creative ideas are us. We are always thinking of new things to encourage purchases from our little ‘arty farty’ business. We also love it when we get given some awesome ideas from others too.

A runner up in our recent music quiz based in the 30 Day Music Challenge came up with a stormer of an idea (or actually his wife did). He was offered a design of his own choice sublimated onto our gorgeous poly-cotton Tees and chose to have a the treasured ticket from one of his top music gigs as the design.

Why put your treasured gig tickets in a drawer when you can put them on your TShirt?

‘Ticket on a Tee’ is a service available right now!

Which gig ticket would you love on your TShirt?

“Ticket on a Tee’

Stray Cats – Ticket on a Tee

Miles away from ordinary …

So a lovely friend of mine in our village wanted a lockdown Tee as a surprise birthday gift for her husband. She inspired me with the design and we worked on it together (maintaining social distancing of course!). The final design was gifted to the birthday boy and soon a few spin offs, for an anniversary present for my neighbour and a topical Tee for The Husband, followed.

We can make these to order – changing location of lockdown as well as your personal wording … £15 per TShirt – and if it’s a gift then we can post to your recipient together with your personal message on a gift card – just drop us a message to order!

Corona Virus Tees

Would you gift Driftwood?

We simply love driftwood and often collect interesting pieces from our evening beach strolls with the pups. You can imagine there is always an arty farty project at the ideas stage in the Trashcan Household.

Our first grandchild is due in just a matter of days and I wanted to personalise a piece of driftwood from our beach to connect George to his Granny Kazzy and Grandad Trash living four hours away. My plan was to use my vinyl cutter but Grandad Trash had other plans and lovingly sanded, hand painted and lacquered this beautiful driftwood room sign. I used my vinyl idea to decorate an “Our Family” sign on a driftwood hanger and added personalised natural wood slices.

With our family so far away from so many of us during these crazy lockdown days sending a surprise personal gift for a birth, a birthday, or an anniversary may be a real highlight for someone somewhere. We are still creating lots of beautiful things here at Trashcan Emporium and will happily gift wrap your purchases and post to any destination with a gift card and your special message.

Personalised Driftwood Gifts

Polka Dot Swimming Lady …

Soooo … a decade ago I was an Ironman and, despite being a chubbier, less fit version of me these days, I still absolutely adore swimming. I had a little spark of an idea of a retro style swimming lady to hang from the high ceiling beams in our front room and, of course, my wish is The Husbands command. ❤️

This fabulous Swimming Lady was crafted by The Husband using newspaper, Plaster of Paris and Das clay, then hand painted and sprayed with lacquer.

My swimming may be on hold during lockdown, but Swimming Lady, complete with representations of my peacock and flower tattoos, will soon be swimming forevermore.

If you would like your own version of Swimming Lady, wearing a costume and bathing cap in your favourite colours, then we will happily take commissions – £100 plus P&P for an unusual and original piece of art – a lockdown bargain! ❤️

A Ton of Masks …

Just over 100 face masks have now left The ThreadShed and been posted around the UK to places such as Swansea, Neath, Birmingham, London, Andover, Nottingham, Manchester … as well as given to carers, friends and neighbours in and around Pembroke.

We absolutely refuse to profit even one single penny from that nasty bitch Covid and so they have all been gifted to friends, family and people that we care about in the hope that we are doing a little something to keep us all safer. The masks are double layer cotton with a pocket to put a hepa filter inside for a bit of extra protection.

Who’d have thought that a snazzy jazzy Kazzy face mask would be the must have accessory of 2020 huh?

Stay safe you all!

Snazzy Jazzy Kazzy Face-masks

Etch a Sketch …

In the middle of lockdown arty fartyness The Husband has some fun with a glass etching set that was my very cool Xmas pressie off Little Sister.

My plan was to cut some vinyl stencils for the etching but of course The Husband, being an artist, had way better ideas. He freehanded this traditional tattoo style anchor and waves onto a glass pane which separates our back porch from the dining room.

And to think I was going to hang a curtain there huh?

Tattoo Style Glass Etching

Warmed my heart ❤️

As a follow on from the post on my snazzy jazzy face masks I have had lots of requests for these brightly coloured, pretty masks. Me and my trusty Brother will soon start sewing like crazy and I hope that everyone who ordered them from me will have them by next weekend.

In the meantime I have permission to share this fabulous photo of the very first recipients of Kazzy masks. These lovely ladies work in a local care home looking after vulnerable elderly residents. This photo warmed the cockles of my heart and I am sure you will all join me in sending them all virtual hugs and a great big massive thank you for doing such an amazing job with such care, love and devotion in these crazy times.

Blinkin awesome or what?

A little old wine drinker me…

The Husband always says I have no patience with my arty projects. In some ways I understand his view as I am always ALWAYS impatient to see the end result. However I think with this latest project I think I have proven I have quite endless patience. In fact, has anyone else ever taken 5 years to create a perfectly perfect photo frame?

For our wedding day I wrote Lee a cute little poem called “Fifty and Married” and Little Sister read it out to our lovely guests during the marriage ceremony. Months later, as a surprise gift for me, Lee drew the poem and mounted it on card. He always said he would get it properly framed but, as his artwork measures a whopping 42 inches by 15 inches, finding a frame to fit was a bit of a task!

However, I’m not sure why but, since we first moved into our little pink bungalow, I have been diligently saving all the corks from our Prosecco (and occasionally Champagne) bottles. It was actually becoming a struggle to close the cupboard which contained the bulging bag of corks so I was rather pleased by my lockdown stroke of genius. By using a long piece of wood (kindly sourced from my favourite pub landlord/ thank you Sir), a tub of gorilla glue and a couple of bottles of PVA, I created this masterpiece of a photo frame simply perfect for my poem.

Patience huh? I very patiently drank fizz for FIVE long years in order to create this mighty piece of art! Now is that dedication to art or what! .

PS. how many corks do you think it took to create it?

Cork Art Photo Frame