Barn nearly done!!

Well the barn is nearly done, some beautiful lime rendering of the cob walls internally by our good plastering friend has transformed the look inside.

The floor has also been painted in readiness for transferring tools and furniture from the current workshop.

September is going to be a busy month….

…My Agapanthus and horse sculptures will be displayed a Bicton arena if I can get them there in time for the next horse trial and I have some lovely commissions on the go.

Meanwhile in more important news - Hattie has a loo roll holder finally!! (possibly the heaviest holder in existence….) I may be making a range of steel Gecko hooks and holders in the future!

2020!

What a year it has been already!

Our little family is now 4, with the welcome arrival in February of Etta, our second daughter :-)

Hattie is now 4, which is rather surprising to us both -where do the years go….

I have spent most of lock down working on the cob barn at home in Yettington in readiness for the welder and all it’s associated kit to come home and get crafty without the 25min commute to the current workshop. Bliss!!

I am hoping to begin moving things across to the barn in July, and look forward to welcoming visitors to the workshop and garden to see what I and they can create.

And in case anyone is interested what I have done…this is part of the works!

• Both gable ends repaired or replaced and insulated

• new double doors on one gable, added glazing to the other end and a new side access door.

• Roof stripped to the lovely old rafters, treated, boarded, insulated, battened, felted, battened again and (lots of!) new clay tiles.

• 4 Skylights on garden side for essential natural light for crafting and ventilation

• new concrete floors (insulated where possible)n and to be epoxy painted

• new electrics - LED lighting, plenty of sockets etc

• storage mezzanines in the vaulted ceilings

• Galvanised guttering (it had to be metal!)

• Lean to re-framed, slightly extended and old corrugated sheeting re-used

2018...

2018 has been a relatively slow year with my metalwork - concentrating on other house related projects and drifting into other work to keep the cash flow in check!

I have been welding regularly throughout the year, extensively repairing a Land rover chassis as well as a trickle of orders and repairs for customers.

The burst creative metal-crafting has reignited my enthusiasm and I hope to get to the workshop a couple of days a week when time allows!

I also have a couple of taster metal crafting sessions booked with friends in November, to see if this is something I can offer to the public - watch this space…

Jan 2018

The tail end of 2017 finished with a flurry of orders and sales of old stock items, which was a great boost for the confidence and I am looking forward to more creativity this year!

A bespoke house sign commission and deer sculpture were particular highlights and a extra tall (and wide!) custom bean frame kit was very satisfying to complete - knowing it would help screen a beautiful garden from neighbouring houses.

Daddy Day Care....

With Hattie just having had her first birthday, life is whizzing by and we're loving every sleep deprived moment (almost). I am doing 4 days of looking after her and Ellie is back saving horsey lives throughout the southwest!

Our revolting ex-farmyard "garden" is finally taking shape with some pleached Hornbeams and lots of chunky raised beds and a new swanky chicken run - it's jolly hard work!

Metal bashing has therefore taken a bit of a back burner. Now the creative juices are getting a bit full and need to be channelled back into the workshop. So watch this space!

Exhibiting at Stone Lane Gardens has also boosted the enthusiasm and I look forward to what the rest of the year has in store....

Ticking along...

Ticking along with orders and commissions...some doorstops went to a stunning office in London....some custom bed side tables and a desk made it beautiful cottage local to us in Devon...and an Alice in Wonderland themed gate and large daffodil sculpture are in the design stages!

Oh and I knocked up some shelves and curtain poles and brackets for our new house!

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Back in action!!

After a manic 18 months of building our new house in Devon we have near enough moved out of the caravan and into the house, and I have more time to crack on with metalwork orders and new designs!

Working from our little cob barn on site I can produce all the items previously available and any bespoke ideas you can think of.

I am particularly keen to continue to develop my sculpture work - so please feed me with your thoughts!

We are easy to find and spot on the lane through Yettington, so please feel free to give me an email/call and come and see what I am up to and if I can help you create something beautiful for your home/garden.

Lovely order for 9 Alliums!

This the first time I have seen my Alliums in such a large group, and they look even better on mass!

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Copper sculptures..

I have now started to work in Copper - such a beautiful material that looks as good fresh and shiny as it does with a lovely weathered green patina.

I have a wind sculpture commission I am currently working on and will be adding new copper flowers to the product list shortly.

New direction...and New location

Sounds like two dreadful pop band names.....

Due to a recent move to East Devon, life has change somewhat. Me and Ellie have started a self build project in the Devon countryside which is and will continue to prove very time consuming but immensely enjoyable.

Ellie has a wonderful new job at St. Davids Equine practise in Lympstone and I am running around between clearing my workshop and back log of Land Rovers in Dorset and the project in Devon.

Due to a reduced work space in Devon I am keen to concentrate on my space and time on sculptural designs and commissions which I enjoy immensely.

Please check back for new designs and in the coming weeks!

Mapperton Plant Fair

Well this was my last outing of the year and what a wonderful day it was too! Mapperton House is always a wonderful backdrop and I was spoilt with my pitch location - although rusting metalwork does not show up too well against some stonework!

I sold 4 of a new product, which confirms the direction I would like to take Millin Metalcraft...sculptures! Watch this space!

The Dorset Knob Throwing Festival

Possibly the most fun we've ever had as exhibitors! Right in the middle of the action which included 'Knob-Eating' 'Pin the Knob on the Cerne Abbas Giant' and obviously the now, world famous, Knob Throwing contest!  Over 4500 people flocked to the pretty village of Cattistock and despite concerns about a cloudy day the sun actually shone throughout!!

There some other great stalls there including some of our favourites; Comins Tea House, Bush Farm Catering (delicious Bison burgers!) and Olives et al. Needless to say we made the most of the incredible food on offer from local producers - and we may have even sampled some local Cider too ;-) Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to sample From Dorset With Love's 'Knob Juice' as it had sold out in seconds! 

If you missed it this year make sure you put it in your diary as one to see next year!  Event details are on the website http://www.dorsetknobthrowing.com/ and you can also follow them on Twitter.

South Dorset Point to Point

So after concerns that the event would be rained off after the dreadful weather and more rain due the day before...the wind luckily came instead and dried off the course!  On the day of the event the sun even came out which made for a great day of racing!

Sherborne Community Arts Centre Makers Market

Sherborne is doing a fantastic job of raising money for the well designed Community Arts Centre (http://www.scact.org.uk/) and as part of the fundraising Richard Hickman hosted a 'Makers Market' during the popular Festive Shopping Weekend in Sherborne. 

The town was bustling with Christmas shoppers, brass bands, carol singers, local shops offering warming tipples, a farmer's market offering an incredible array of local produce and most importantly - a wonderfully happy atmosphere. 

Our Swedish Candles were hugely popular (despite their size!) and were snapped up by excited shoppers looking for that 'something special'. One customer commented that had saved her a lot of difficulty trying to source a thoughtful present for her Millionnaire brother-in-law!

We are trying to keep up with the demand for the Swedish Candles and welcome any 'last minute' orders (with or without personalisation) up to the end of this week. As always - we offer FREE DELIVERY within 15 miles of Sherborne or Sturminster Newton. Each standard purchase includes a handmade base and a pre-sawn, seasoned pine log.

Weddings!

We attended the most incredible Wedding at the weekend down on the banks of the River Tamar in Devon.  Polly Dugmore, a best friend of Ellie (featured in our website, modelling the Millin Twist Swing!), married Joel, of 'Surf Solutions'  at her mother's home against the most wonderful backdrop of an old stone disused mine.  

We created a personalised Swedish Candle Base for them, with their initials on either side of the base and so our Personalised Swedish Candle Bases were born!  We now offer these at £40 (inclusive of a base with 2 initials and a presawn and predrilled seasoned pine log)

For more details :

http://millin-metal.com/#/swedish-candles-25/

http://www.hooesyurts.co.uk/

Charity Specialist Plant Fair - Mapperton House

What an incredible venue for a plant fair!  With the filming of Thomas Hardy's 'Far From The Madding Crowd' in the grounds of Mapperton House we were in a slightly different spot to previous plant fairs here which suited us as we had a nice turfed pitch perfect for showing off our new Allium sculptures. 

There were farmyard animals (enjoying a day off from filming) roaming around the stalls and whilst the plant sellers eyed the chickens nervously we enjoyed the extra visitor or two to our stall! Especially the handsome crowing cockerel! 

We tried hard not to spend our hard earned cash on all the lovely plants for sale around us - made even harder by the fact that we had a huge herb stall next to us - the smell was incredible!  

The allium sculptures sold well as did the metal plant stakes which people seem to like to use for creating height in their garden - sometimes even grouping them together for a sculpture. These look great in the wintertime when everything is dying back and the steel balls are standing tall, covered in frost or dew drops. 

Goodwood Revival

We had a fantastic day out at Goodwood Revival yesterday.  Some incredible cars, an exciting Lotus race won by a family friend and an amazing atmosphere.  95% of people there were dressed in 50's style outfits which added something very special to the day and it really felt like stepping back in time.  The highlight was most definitely the Spitfire demonstration which took our breath away!  Some dangerous stunts, loop the loop and a fly past had the spectators all grinning (including us!).  

http://www.goodwood.co.uk/revival/about/about.aspx

We're now back at work (and really enjoying being in our new workshop); the office has been set up (in a reclaimed old but spacious garden shed!)  and Sam is welding up some racks to store his metal on the walls. 

We've had a recent order of some bespoke wigwams and obelisks which Sam is really enjoying getting stuck into before the preparation starts for the Charity Plant Fair at Mapperton House at the weekend. 

A Well Deserved Break...

Sam and I are enjoying a few peaceful days down in one of our favourite spots; Fowey, on the South Coast of Cornwall after a few hectic (but very fun) months!

Teal, our labrador, has been enjoying playing in the sea and fetching sticks whilst we've enjoyed a glass of wine (or two!).  Fowey is such a lovely place to come to relax - a bit like Salcombe but feels a bit more genuine and a little less commercial but just as pretty (maybe even a bit more!) with some fantastic restaurants in town as well as the fun 'Sam's on the Beach' restaurant just out of town at Polkerris. 

Tomorrow we'll be visiting friends down in St Agnes with Ellie's godson 'Ozzie' and then will be heading back to Sherborne on Thursday to finish setting up our workshop in readiness for our first visit at the new premises in Sturminster Newton on Friday...

We're also looking forward to our next event at Mapperton house in a couple of weeks (www.plantfairs.com).  Hope to see lots of you there!! 

New Workshop!!

We are both very excited to be moving into our new workshop in Sturminster Newton! It is very much a step up from the old dark chicken shed in Kings Stag and we even have room for some office space! 

We also have enough space for some of the metalwork to be displayed so we are very welcome to visitors who would like to come and have a look at some of the ranges we do and to see Sam in action with his welder! We may even be able to offer you a cup of tea (or a glass of wine!) 

It will also enable our customers having bespoke work undertaken to see their order being created and to have maximum input to the final piece.

Our workshop is sited in 'Rivers Corner' in Sturminster Newton.  Please contact us in advance to arrange an appointment or viewing.