Bloomin’ Lovely

Bloomin’ Lovely Shropshire-based Occupational Therapist specialising in horticultural therapy and basketry

It’s already week 7 on my Lingen Davies Cancer Support horticultural activities programme and this week we created drie...
11/06/2026

It’s already week 7 on my Lingen Davies Cancer Support horticultural activities programme and this week we created dried flower picture frames 🖼️ 💐

I love this activity because, from a therapeutic perspective, it offers an opportunity for people really look, feel and be in close proximity with natural items 👀 I hear people saying things like, “I see this flower all the time but I’ve never really noticed how beautiful it is” 🌸🌺🌼

I also love this session because everyone goes about it is a different way and each piece is completely unique✨

08/06/2026

Introducing Alexis Stones.

Alexis is an occupational therapist who uses nature-based activities such as basketry as a therapeutic tool to enhance the health and wellbeing of those she works with.

Alexis focuses on the process of weaving so that her clients can gain from the many therapeutic benefits of the craft, such as improved mental clarity, creative expression, increased gross and fine motor skills, and mind-body connection. The processes and materials that she uses have also been chosen for their therapeutic properties. Mindful and repetitive processes such as cordage making and plaiting are evident within her baskets alongside the use of soft materials like leaves, grasses, rush, yarn and cane, which can be easier to use for those who struggle with hand dexterity and strength. Alexis also explores the art of natural dying too, using indigo and grape to produce unique pieces.

Weave Only A Trace: An exhibition of basketry, wood and natural fibres. Held in Shrewsbury at St Mary’s Church from 3rd-15th August 2026.

We’ve had bee hives at the bottom of our garden for a few years, but they were managed by a local bee keeper in the past...
14/05/2026

We’ve had bee hives at the bottom of our garden for a few years, but they were managed by a local bee keeper in the past. When he retired, I decided to take a beekeeping course and manage the hives myself 😬

Yesterday, we finally extracted our first lot of honey from one of our bee hives 🙌 🍯🐝 The excitement was unreal!

It was a pretty sticky job but it was fun and the honey was sampled many times over ‘just to check’ it was, in fact, delicious 🤤😅

Cheers bees 🐝 👊

Spring has almost sprung and soon I will be delivering 2 more 12-week horticultural activity programmes for people with ...
23/03/2026

Spring has almost sprung and soon I will be delivering 2 more 12-week horticultural activity programmes for people with a cancer diagnosis 🌱🪴🌸🪏

We’ll be doing a whole range of nature-based activities to during the programme. This will include gardening, nature-craft and willow weaving 🌱🪏🌻

The programmes aim to promote mental wellbeing and improve social connectedness for those who are living with or beyond cancer 🤝

They are fully funded by Lingen Davies Cancer Support, so it comes at no cost to those who participant 🙌

Here’s some important information for those who are interested in attending:

Oswestry Programme- every Tuesday from 14th April 2026. At Oswestry Community Centre

Shrewsbury Programme- every Wednesday from 15th April 2026. At Shrewsbury Men’s Shed, West Mid Showground.

See the poster for more information and feel to circulate it to any relevant groups or individuals 🙏

If you, or someone you know, is interested in joining us then please contact James at Lingen Davies ([email protected]) or myself ([email protected]) for more information or click on the link to register yourself a place directly:
https://forms.gle/Sh2VaYa5hMbfKRDs5

I loved running the garden obelisk workshop for Going Wild in Bishops Castle yesterday! Harvesting and weaving willow in...
19/01/2026

I loved running the garden obelisk workshop for Going Wild in Bishops Castle yesterday!

Harvesting and weaving willow in the rain and fog was strangely satisfying 🤔 We may have had cold toes at the end but I felt it was 1:0 to us against January 👊

This week saw the last two sessions of my 12-week horticultural activities programmes for people with cancer. We ended w...
18/12/2025

This week saw the last two sessions of my 12-week horticultural activities programmes for people with cancer. We ended with a relaxed workshop making natural Christmas bunting and miniature wreaths ♻️🎄

There were cakes and chocolate aplenty and the alcohol-free mulled wine was flowing! 🍷🍰 Anyone would think we were having a party! 🤭🤫

I’ve absolutely loved running these programmes in Shrewsbury and Oswestry. Once again I’m humbled by the strength and resilience of each participant, turning up week after week amongst a whole host of treatments, appointments and daily struggles. Community was built, firm friendships were made and support was given when it was most needed. I was merely the facilitator, they did the hard work. For me, this is more than just a job 🫶

Lingen Davies Cancer Support

We made Christmas stars out of willow🌟 🌟🌟and they were ace 🤩Willow can be tough on the fingers and thumbs when you’re we...
13/12/2025

We made Christmas stars out of willow🌟 🌟🌟and they were ace 🤩

Willow can be tough on the fingers and thumbs when you’re weaving it in and out, but my Horticultural Activities groups did so well to create their own beautiful willow stars this week. Each participant was able to take home their own unique star 💫 🏡

Well that was fun and exhausting in equal measure! 🤪😮‍💨Thanks to all of the customers who bought my willow products 🧺 or...
08/12/2025

Well that was fun and exhausting in equal measure! 🤪😮‍💨

Thanks to all of the customers who bought my willow products 🧺 or to those who just came up to chat with me about weaving😊

Turns out that there are a LOT of budding weavers out there! 👀 I can’t recall the exact amount of times that people came up to me and said “I’ve always wanted to have a go at this”, but I heard it a lot 😅

Thanks also to the Condover Christmas Fair team for a wonderful, well-organised fair once again🎄👏

If you are in need of a star this Christmas, I’m your girl! ⭐️🌟✨💫🤩I’ve got big ones and small ones, ones that hang on tr...
04/12/2025

If you are in need of a star this Christmas, I’m your girl! ⭐️🌟✨💫🤩

I’ve got big ones and small ones, ones that hang on trees, ones that dangle from bunting, stars on sticks (wands) and traditional scandi stars 😅 All made by my own fair (and slightly sore) hands 🤲

I’ll be selling my starry goods, alongside my other willow craft (think handbags, small baskets, bird feeders, Christmas angels, dragonflies and baubles) at Condover Hall Christmas Fair this Sunday (7th Dec) 🎄⭐️

It’s the Christmassy-est fair you will ever go to, with live music 🎵 and enough mulled wine to sink a ship 🍷

3 Christmas wreath workshops in 2 days? Oh go on then! 😅🤪😮‍💨I ran 2 out of the 3 workshops for my Horticultural Activiti...
03/12/2025

3 Christmas wreath workshops in 2 days? Oh go on then! 😅🤪😮‍💨

I ran 2 out of the 3 workshops for my Horticultural Activities programmes that I’ve been delivering in Oswestry and Shrewsbury this Autumn/Winter time 🌱 The third one was a charity fund-raising workshop I ran in memory of Tracey Betteridge; a wonderful lady who had participated in my Spring Horticultural Activities programme, who sadly lost her life to cancer in September.

It was so lovely to see participants return from my Spring programme who clearly wanted some more horticultural fun with me 😁, alongside some of the Men’s Shedders who couldn’t resist a festive afternoon in good company 🎄

We raised £410 for Lingen Davies Cancer Support 🙌 which I was really pleased about as it’s nice to give back to a charity that is offering so much support to people with cancer right now 👏🙏

Address

Footprint Gallery, Fusion, Church Road, Jackfield,
Ironbridge
TF8 7AP

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