Blankets and Cushions

I thought I would show you my crocheting as I haven't updated you for a while.  I have taken a break from my ripple blanket, mainly because it was getting too heavy to take to my Stitch 'n' Sip class, so I started a little lap blanket.  I was inspired by Lucy's lovely baby blanket and the colours are just to die for.  I also liked the fact that you join the squares as you go which is great and means you don't have a pile of squares lying around to be sewn together (my worst bit).  I'm loving making this blanket.

 

  

Here is the ripple blanket. I shall be returning to this soon as it is so very nearly finished.

Last week I received a beautiful parcel.  The lovely Hen is a regular customer of mine and has the most wonderful taste in fabric.  After seeing her latest creations I wondered if she would like to do a swap instead of buying fabric. Luckily for me she said yes and I am now the proud owner of one of her delicious cushions. 

 

  

I love it even more because it contains some of my favourite fabrics, that I have only shared with Hen, so I get them back, in beautiful cushion form, hooray!

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New Fabrics and Fairs

I have had some great new vintage finds this week.

As well as this lovely pile of eiderdowns ....

...... there are these goodies.  All to be added to the website soon but do email if you have any queries.

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I am attending a lot of vintage and textile fairs this year, which is great for me as I get to meet more of you.   Keep an eye on my sidebar for fair dates.  The latest one is a new fair organised by Lizzie and Clare, in Frome, called The Vintage Bazaar.  This looks like a great event and there is a blog for it here.

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Love Hearts

With Valentine's Day imminent, I took delivery of these gorgeous heart badges today.  Made from vintage and recycled fabrics in Scotland by the lovely Snapdragon, they are £3.50 each, including postage. See them on my website.

A wonderful way to show someone a  little love!

Oh and can you see that fabulous fabric underneath? The one with the cherubs and hearts?  That is also on the website in my 1940's section.  Adorable!

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Valentine's Day

For those of you looking for something a little different this year pop over to Helen's Etsy store and look at her beautiful cards.  They are a little more expensive than your average card but they are so beautiful that you could frame them.  Suddenly they become a very reasonable piece of artwork!

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Chambers and Beau

If you haven't already come across Amy's wonderful jewellery then pop over to her blog as she is having a fabulous giveaway, drawn on Valentine's Day.  Her pieces are beautiful, wearable,   heirlooms, something to treasure forever.  Go and have a look around her shop and see for yourselves, and, good luck! Pin It

High in the Treetops

There is something going on in the garden!

Can you tell what it is yet?

In the front garden is a huge and ancient Cedar tree.  We love this tree, it has swings hanging from it and now Paul is building a tree house!  

I shall keep you updated.

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Slow start!

I have found it so hard to get started this year.  The snow and ice made our Christmas holidays extend by a week and by the time I got the children back to school I had a lot of catching up to do!

Once I had spent a few days organising the house, tidying, sorting, finding room for the new items that had arrived over Christmas my attentions turned to my website which has been sorely neglected since before Christmas. I hadn't added any new fabrics for weeks and the shelves were looking a little bare!

So, here is the latest additions to the website with lots more to come over the next few weeks.

(Click to enlarge)

My favourites are the Lucienne Day fabric, the saucy French burlesque dancers, the 1920's carousel horses and the Muffin the Mule  fabric. In fact I love all of them but these were some designs I have not seen before.

Today I went to see an old lady who had a roll of fabric that she had been given just after the war and always thought she would do something with it. She now realises that she probably won't and as her children are not interested in it she sold it to me. It is very pretty and I will be adding it to the site next week. She was delighted to hear that there are people who would love and use her fabric instead of it languishing in an old trunk, or worse, as her children have already said jokingly that they will be getting a skip for all her stuff once she pops her clogs!!

I had a lovely pile of books for Christmas and have been dipping in and out of them.  Some are for reference and some are crafty books.  My lovely friend Amanda bought me a bag of wool, some felting needles and a book on making cute animals. I can't wait to give it a go!  I don't think my work will ever reach the giddy heights of Gretel's beautiful art but I would love to make a few little felty friends.

I have neglected my blog of late and have found it hard to keep up with everyone elses too so I am sorry if I have not visited yours or commented for a while. I promise to find more time to do this soon.

*UPDATE*

Many of you noticed the fatal flaw in my plan and have asked about several fabrics which have not yet found their way on to the website. I was hoping to have had them all listed before I posted this entry but that wasn't to be!  I will have all fabrics up this week, sorry! Pin It

Snow

The whole country has been covered in the white stuff including North Devon.  This week we had to give up all ideas of work, school or travel and instead we did a bit of sledging, snow boarding and snow man building, with a roaring log fire and hot chocolate to come home to.  I mean what else is there to do?

We are now snowed in (or rather iced in) as nothing can get up or down our drive and our lane is treacherous, the joys of rural living. we have had no post for 4 days and the weather is set to stay cold for sometime to come.  Luckily we have plenty of supplies with a well stocked larder and plenty of goodies left over from Christmas. Our heating oil is dangerously low and although we have ordered more the chances of the tanker getting to us is quite remote.  I think open fires, warm clothes and snuggling up together on the sofa will feature heavily in the next few days.

Keep warm.

(click to enlarge)

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Happy New Year

We had a great New Year's Eve.  My lovely friend Amanda came with her family and I got to meet her little daughter Anna, who is beautiful.  The little ones stayed up until midnight and the full moon was spectacular.

New Year's Day was sunny and bright, perfect for a  walk. We walked along the coast path to Westward Ho! and had tea and crumpets before being picked up!

I hope you all have a wonderful year. 2009 was a great one for me and I have big plans for 2010.  Watch this space ..........................

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Santa Claus is coming to town!

(Puddings by the wonderfully talented Jayne Ward)


Only 1 more sleep!!!

I am ready, it can happen. The last few days have been testing to say the least with my car breaking down spectacularly (costing lots of money, money that could have been spent on fabric!), but I am refusing to let that burst my Christmas bubble.

I wish you all the happiest of Christmases and a healthy and happy New Year.  See you in 2010.  I leave you with a fine offering from the Raveonettes.  Enjoy x





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It's beginning to look a lot like...

I am better, hoorah!  Thank you so much for all your get well wishes, they worked, after  a week of feeling rough I am now back to fighting fit and trying to catch up with work and Christmassy stuff.  I am feeling fairly organised and am no longer panicking but there is still much to do. For example I haven't written a single Christmas card to anyone in the UK nor have I  wrapped any presents, but it will be done, it always is, and a bit of adrenalin at the last minute always spurs me on!

We have been enjoying decorating this year though, as  the past 2 years pre Christmas period were rather fraught for us and the decorating  was done in a rush. Last year was this.  Oh and that TV stuff,?  That was Kirsty's Homemade Home. It didn't come off (thank goodness, the thought of being on TV made me feel sick). I sent them down to Cowslip Workshops for their textile fix.

The year before was this.  The decoration were put up at the end of November, when the children were at school and so they had no involvement.

I tried to take photos of the tree but failed, I shall try again tomorrow in daylight but here is a little collage of our other decorations made into a Christmas card for you all.

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From my bed

I’m so sorry that I haven’t been around lately. After doing the 3 day fair down at  the Cowslip Workshops I came home to a poorly boy, followed a few days later by a poorly girl and now I am a poorly me!    It has been, and continues to be, a very testing time.  I am not good at being poorly as I can’t stand taking it easy, resting and going to bed.  My family know when things are bad if I can’t get out of bed! 

So here I lay, bored silly, feeling too ill to do anything fun like crochet, listen to music or watch television.  Today was the first day when I could actually pick up a book and read for a bit until I got too tired.  So, the only thing I could do was to take a series of photos called ‘From my sick bed’. This is the view I have as I lie here and I will leave you with them and hope to be back on form soon, ready to  start enjoying the festive period (which is making me panic).

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Textile Pictures

Preparations are now afoot for the 3 day Christmas Fair at the Cowslip Workshops in Launceston this weekend.  I am replenishing stocks and adding  new items to my rather empty boxes ready to take along.  Do let me know if you come along and be sure to say hi!

Do you remember this?  Well Jayne has now got herself a website showing more of her wonderful designs.  Have a look.  Her work is just stunning and I could happily give more wallspace to her beautiful pictures. Here are a few more that she sent me photos of.  I can't decide which one I like best. What do you think?

 

 

 

 

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The Vintage and Handmade Fair

Well the big day has come and gone, that date we have had marked on our calendars since last May is now over,  and what a day it was!!!  Mum and I travelled up to Bristol the night before and stayed in a hotel, Sue came up too so it was a jolly girlie evening!  My 4.30am start for Ilminster the week before made me realise that I just can't do a ridiculously early start, a fair and then a long drive home all in one day.  By lunch time my brain has turned to mush, I can no longer add up and cannot remember my name, so starting off from a mere 19 miles away was wonderful.

Before going to bed  however, I switched on the tv only to catch the weather report  and hear the severe weather warning for the next day.  They said it was going to be at it's worse between the hours of 6am to 9am with 75 miles per hour winds, trees down and floods but should be over by 3pm.  So I went to sleep, or rather didn't sleep, with that worry on my mind!  Well the weather could not have been more different, it was sunny, dry and clear on our journey to the Town Hall and unloading was not the traumatic experience I had envisioned.

So, we unpacked and quickly set up ready for the shoppers to arrive at 10am, and they were prompt with queues around the building!  The fair was just wonderful, loads of beautiful stalls, really talented women showing  craftmanship at it's best, with the very best of vintage goodies to compliment them.  It was so lovely to meet many bloggers, who I have communicated with for years, but have never met in person. One of these was Claire, who designed my logo and whose work I adore.  I would have loved to have spent more time with her. 

I did not take many pictures sadly, it was such a busy day that after I took a few photos of my own stall, just before the customers were let in, and then of the crowds coming through the door, I did not get an opportunity to take any more.  There are wonderful photos on HenHouse's blog as well as Sal's and no doubt there will be many more as people get home and find time to upload their photos.

 

 

 

 

The photos do not do it justice though, the lighting in the hall was not great, but what you also can't get from the photos is the buzz, the atmosphere, the excitement and friendliness of the whole event. It has to be experienced.

I heard so many women talk of being overexcited and I could understand. When I first got in and saw all the lovely things being put out on stalls I was practically hyperventilating!!!

I bought a few lovely bits but, alas, cannot share them with you as my recipients are blog readers and I would not want to give the game away!  Let's just say there were a few bits from Hen, made with my own fabrics I hasten to add, some lovelies from Jayne, Michele and Niki, fabrics from Lucy,  Lizzie and Sue (as always) and some little goodies from Daniella and Claire and a furry something from Nicky (I tried not to look!).  I didn't get to look round all the stalls as I kept having to go back to my stall which was a shame.

If you didn't get to come this time, make a date in your diaries for May 1st and come, you will not be disappointed! Pin It

Talent for Textiles

Yesterday was the Talent for Textiles fair in Ilminster.  A great event in a wonderful venue.  The stall worked out fine and the boxes worked a treat.  The table was a bit longer than my desk, thank goodness so I was able to improve on my mock up. 

 

It is always so lovely to see my customers at these events as I only communicate with my customers by email or phone usually, which is the downside to having a mail order business.

The next event I will be at is the Vintage and Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury. I know many of you are coming to sell and to buy and I am really looking forward to meeting a few people who I have known for some time but have never met!

For those of you who can't come don't worry I have added listed loads of new fabrics to my website and will continue to add more so that you will not miss out. Pin It

Fairs

Well here we are in November.  How did that happen?!!

I am very busy this month with 3 fairs to attend as well as the website to maintain. The first fair is on Wednesday at the Meeting House in Ilminster. This is a wonderful fair both to sell at and to buy from with some great sellers and top quality textiles.  The venue is lovely too with a great cafe selling delicious food.

I have been busy painting the insides of vintage apple boxes to use as shelving, using Cath Kidston furniture paints.  I love the colours.  Here they are drying out.

Today I did a mock up of my stall. I always like to change it as much as possible to keep things looking fresh and new.  Here is a preview for you.

 

 

 

I have so much stock to take and I am hoping that the tables are just a tad bigger than my desk!

The next fair will be the Vintage and Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury on November 14th, which I am beyond excited about, and then I am at the Cowslip Workshops 3 day Christmas fair in Launceston on 20th to 22nd November.  Hope to see some of you at one of these events.  Don't forget to come and say hi.

Remember me telling you about the Sip and Stitch club I go to now?  Well we were all featured in the local paper. My ripple blanket is now famous in North Devon!
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