Admin and Kylie

Today is an admin day. There are so many things to think about to get the tearoom up and running. So far I have organised my energy supply, my water supply, ordered a phone line and broadband. All done online which is great. Takes up much less time.

I went to see Kylie last night at Glasgow's SECC. It was amazing. My friend got two tickets for his Christmas and he asked me if I'd like to go. We saw her in Glasgow on her last tour but last night's show was just spectacular. The outfits, the dancing, acrobatics, set design, water features, aerial acrobatics... Apparently the show cost around £2 million to produce, I'm not surprised! I was particularly taken with a golden Pegasus horse that she entered the stage on.

I wonder if she get's to keep it? She could keep it in her back garden surely, beats the neighbours gnomes for sure!

Pretty Things

These arrived this morning. They're pretty aren't they? I think they'll look good on cup hooks on shelves when not in use.

I also wanted to show you what inspired me to buy my vintage bicycle. I'm going to prop it up outside the shop with a little blackboard or something with Cushion&Cake and some flowers like this one.

It was outside a beautiful shop in Baildon, Shipley called Emma's. The two women who run the shop are beautiful and have made an absolutely lovely shop. It is half florist, half home and gift ware. I'd like to be a florist if I wasn't opening a tearoom. I had a taste of it working part time while I was at school.

 I visit the shop every time I visit my Aunt and feel all warm and fuzzy when I leave the shop. They have a lovely display of plants outside.

They have a Facebook page which you can look at here
Finally I thought I'd share with you the cake I baked for my aunt's birthday. Three tier, covered in pink icing with Marks&Spencers Percy Pigs!

Just say 'yes'

What a great couple of days I've had. Not only was the sun splitting the trees today but I have been really chuffed at people's enthusiasm and kindness regarding my tearoom.

Yesterday I went to my partner's aunt and uncle's house as they had some cutlery they wanted to give me for the tearoom. My jaw dropped when they pulled out three huge, beautiful canteens of cutlery which had been in the family for a good number of years, but never used. Beautiful knives and forks, soup spoons, butter knives, the lot. Everything I could need for the tearoom. I'm now totally sorted for cutlery and extremely grateful to them for that.. I left them at Stuart's house in storage as I have no room for them in my flat so I'll show images when I get them to the shop.

The second brilliant thing happened today. I'd found a woman in Prestwick selling a vintage bicycle so I went to collect it today.  The woman was called Lynn and she told me that she'd bought the bicycle in a Police sale in 1974 and it was already very old by then. She also told me about the time the she cycled from Edinburgh to Prestwick (no less than 70 miles!) after having to get off a train while unintentionally using her student train ticket when it wasn't valid, heehee. It has been very much loved. Anyway, we got talking and found we had loads in common and got on really well. She offered me a cup of tea, I said yes and we chatted and looked at her photo album. She later offered me a whole load of gorgeous tea sets when I was telling her about my crockery collecting habits. I was so chuffed that she gave them to me and so grateful.

It is rare to feel such a connection with someone and it was totally by chance so when I was leaving, I invited her and her husband over to mine for dinner! I spent the rest of the day in a really great mood having met someone so lovely and kind. It just goes to show that new friends can be just around the corner.

Sorry for the lack of images today, there'll be more soon!

Some of the "before" images

This is my little place. Hopefully there's room for the seven tables that I've bought... we'll just have to wait and see!
As you can see the walls and floor are in fair condition so will be easy enough to paint. At the back, there will be a bit or reshuffling to make an accessible loo and my little kitchen.

Tearoom Transformation Week One

I popped into have a wee look at my shop before work starts officially on Thursday this week. I opened all the shutters letting in a lot more light than I expected and swept the doorway. I was looking round trying to envisage how it'll look, what colour schemes I'm going to use and where I'll do all my baking.

I was quite sure I wanted a duck egg blue/green colour for the interior. This colour has been on my mind for months so I'm sure it's the right one.

I'm going with the sea splash colour. What do you think? It is a lovely pastel shade and will go with all of the pastel coloured things in the shop. 

My signage will still be pink and a big part of the look. I'll be painting the stone floor a dark grey colour and the exterior will be either white or light grey. I haven't decided just yet, but I'd better be quick because I'll be painting this week.

On a visit to my aunt in Yorkshire at the weekend, I went to a vintage fair and got some pieces for the shop. I fell in love with these vintage, plastic handled knives.

I'll struggle to get these to the tearoom because I LOVE THEM and want to keep them for myself...

The Go Ahead!

Cripes! The moment has arrived where I've been told I can take the keys to my shop and start getting it ready for opening.
Why then am I not rushing to make calls and get everyone organised? Well, because I'm bloomin' terrified now. Until now I've been waiting on other people to do their bit now it is over to me and I am scared. It is now a reality. I'm setting up a business. Eek!
Best not to think about it too much though and just get in about it.
Stuart and I went here yesterday for tea and cake.

Loopy Lorna's Tearoom in Edinburgh. We just took a run through in the car in the afternoon and stopped to have tea and a slice of cake, just for research you understand. It was a busy place, empty tables only empty for a few moments before someone else came through the door in search of cake. I was happy to see it so busy and comforts me that people do really want tea and cake. Lorna's did feel quite different to what I wanted to do however, but it's all good research.
Right I'm off now to do some yoga then get onto the scary task as hand. Organising getting the doors of Cushion&Cake OPEN!!!

Stylish Blogger Award

I got a lovely wee surprise a few days ago where Becca from Fancy Vintage awarded Cushion&Cake amongst seven others a STYLISH BLOGGER AWARD! How cool eh?

Thank you Becca, I'm very touched. It is not difficult to love Becca's blog being choc full with images of vintage goodies and stonking cakes. Go and visit her now at Fancy Vintage

So, with the award come some conditions. I must tell you 8 things about me and start my search to award 8 Stylish Blogger Awards to other bloggers. I look forward to this.

Here it goes:

1. I love animals and have two pet guinea pigs, Bosshog and Buttercup who live in my flat with me. They are my wee pals, confidants and stress busters. I love them.
2. I'm quite creative and in my life have tried a host of different things. I can play the violin, dance salsa, sew, speak French, cook and present food beautifully, put clothes and rooms together interestingly, can use Photoshop crudely, screen print, crosstitch... jack of all trades...
3. Flowers are some of my favourite things. I'd spend my last few pounds on flowers (as long as I bought the guinea pigs some of their favourite lettuce first though)
4. I practice yoga at home and weekly at a studio and love it. I'm sure it holds the key to happiness.
5. Food is a passion. If I'm not eating food, I'm cooking it, looking at pictures of it or researching it. I look a recipes every day and have quite a collection of recipe books and random scribbled notes with ingredient lists on.
6. A woman I aspire to be like is Elspeth Thompson, writer, gardener, blogger and creative extraordinaire. Sadly she passed away almost a year ago but you can read more about her here or check her books out on Amazon.
7. I have an MA Literary Studies from Glasgow University but have worked in the voluntary sector for the last few years working with vulnerable people. Only now finding my way to a creative (and caring) role by opening a tearoom.
8. I'm very lucky to have a super supportive and super creative partner, Stuart, without whom I wouldn't have found the confidence to rediscover my creativity, write a blog or own my own business. My family are also awesome and give me buckets of encouragement and nurtured creativity since childhood.

I'm off now to award fellow blogger a Stylish Blogger Award. I'll post their details here shortly.

Elspeth Thompson died on Thursday 25th March 2010 aged 48

Paper Napkins and Glasses... dull but necessary...

I've been on a mega shopping spree over the last few days and have bought LOADS of stuff for the tearoom. I was fortunate enough to get a grant from a local regeneration agency in Glasgow and must present receipts for all the things I said I'd buy within a few weeks so I've been busy doing that.
I bought a Russell Hobbs mini hob to use to melt chocolate or toast pecans for my cakes, some new teapots, 2 and 4 cup varieties and lots of baking necessities such as scales, pastry cutters and lovely storage tins. I'm still to buy a till and a printer. I'm taking a bit more time to find the best models.
I've got quite a selection of china, vintage tea cups and saucers, cake plates etc, but I think it would be foolish to try to source vintage glass for soft drinks (very breakable) so I'm looking at Ikea for glasses and other consumables.

These glasses are fine. Not terribly exciting, but you get what you pay for with glassware I suppose. I'm putting so much effort into making the place a wee bit different I don't want people to think I've been lazy by buying in bulk from Ikea. I haven't I promise! However, I also notice that they have Cushion&Cake coloured napkins!

Cushion&Cake pink

New fav Cushion&Cake colour

If anyone has any suggestions on where to buy exciting glasses and the like, do let me know :-)

Business Cards

Stuart is treating me to some business cards. My first official ones and he sent the design over to me today.

These are the designs. It goes without saying, being a big pink fan, that I love the pink business cards but I'm hugely attracted to the green coloured ones. I think I'm going to get the green ones printed first. What do you think?

Sophie Dahl Recipes

I'm loving the bbc food website at the moment, particularly the Sophie Dahl recipes. I really enjoyed watching her food television programme.

Her kitchen was a dream and the food she made fit for a princess.

She enjoys sweet treats like any girl (even though she used to be a model) and she knows how to make her sweet treats look super feminine.

I love the clothes she wears during her show, floral, vintage inspired and feminine.

I aspire to dress like that in my tearoom, in a kitchen like Sophie's creating wonderful cakes and treats like Sophie.

Still going slow!!!!!

I've been chasing my architect to get an update on where we are with the paperwork for my shop...he's in Manchester until the end this week. No movement again this week then... can you sense my frustration?
Nevertheless, I am in a good mood. I've just been shopping for the tearoom. I got some lovely pastel coloured kitchen items form Marks and Spencers and four cracking vintage style glass storage jars (like the ones below)which could hold 3 or 4 bags of flour for sure. They weren't very expensive so I am extra chuffed. They were too big to take on the bus though, so I'll go back and collect them tomorrow.

I need to get the keys to this tearoom soon. My dad's garage has about 16 chairs, 4 tables and Welsh dresser and other bits and bobs taking over, and my house has extra tables and chairs, boxes of crockery all over the place. I'm feeling pretty cramped...