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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Lovely Gifts

Isn't it wonderful to get unexpected gifts through the post?  It very rarely happens to me so the other day when I got a box from Australia I was intrigued.

Allison of Lark makes beautiful fabric buttons for me to sell on my website. I send her the fabric and she sends the buttons back  all made up ready to be put on cards.  She was sending me some cards as I had already received the buttons so the box was a little big for just button cards.

Inside was a lovely book called Afternoon Tea, beautifully illustrated with vintage tea sets and fabrics.

Another beautiful packet

This one held some reels of the most beautiful Japanese masking tapes. Are they too beautiful to use?

And then there was a sweet goodie bag which I recognised as the goodie bags that Allison was giving out when she opened her fab shop in Daylesford.

I felt very spoilt!  Wasn't I lucky? 

For those of you who haven't yet discovered Allison's blog and her delicious online shop Lark I suggest you hotfoot it over there!

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Sip 'n' Stitch

I no longer ripple alone!

Tonight was the first Sip 'n' Stitch knitting and crochet club.

I loved it.

Being creative in creative company.

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Weekend at Lyme

This weekend I took Mum and the children to stay with an old friend of ours from our Somerset days.  She used to live in London but last summer moved her family to Lyme Regis for a slower pace of life.  Her house is just beautiful and she is the BEST hostess.  It is a role she really enjoys and you feel very pampered when you stay with her.

Alfie was in boy heaven with her two boys being close to him in age and Lizzy enjoyed the company of Sid the cat and Lottie the labradoodle.

The weather was superb, couldn't have been better, and the children swam in the sea.  This was great for them as the waves are pretty wild on the North Devon coast. At Lyme the sea is calm and Lizzy loved wading out calling 'Look Mum I'm in the sea like a proper girl'!

 

 

We had a leisurely lunch at the Harbour Inn before my friend offered to take all the kids back home, leaving Mum and I to wander round the lovely shops.  We popped into the various charity and vintage shops before walking back to the house with our goodies.

A lovely weekend, I felt rested and chilled.

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Rippling

Remember this?  The blanket is coming along very nicely. I only get a very limited time in the evenings, once the kiddy winks are safely tucked up and I have no parcels to get ready, so the progress is very slow. I don't mind though as it is my winter project.  I love making blankets because you can sit underneath them as they grow, keeping warm whilst you crochet, very cosy!

Please don't look too close, as I am only a beginner, but I am so enjoying these ripples.

There were ripples of another kind in this household yesterday, ripples of excitement!

Now I know many of you have a copy of this wonderful book.

Flicking through it yesterday  when my copy arrived, (I was supposed to be working), I admired all the sweet projects which look like a lot of fun to make.  When I got to the end I looked at the handy addresses section and there, in print, was my name!  I couldn't believe my eyes. I am mentioned as a stockist in Cath Kidstons book.  I had no idea and I am both flattered and honoured to be there!

I also spotted some fabric they had bought from me, used as a coat for Stanley.  How exciting!

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Granny Squares

I have started crocheting again. Now the evenings are getting cooler my thoughts turn to blankets and in particular to ripple blankets.  I have wanted to make a ripple blanket for years but, having never found a pattern that I could make head or tail of, it hasn't happened.  Until Attic 24  came along. Queen of crochet, her instructions are foolproof and speak in a language I, a relative beginner at crochet, can understand. She also has beautiful clear step by step photographs.  So armed with my hook and  a basket full of Rowan cottons I got rippling. 

Despite the foolproof instructions I had to abandon my first attempt, but, as I was suffering with headaches, I thought it best to wait until I felt better.  Last night I started again and although I am at the beginning I can tell already that it is going to work this time.  I am really enjoying rippling and am looking forward to seeing it grow in a lovely blanket.  

I had a go at granny squares but I'm not sure why, I abandoned them after a while.  Maybe it was the name that put me off, I mean who wants to be making granny squares at the tender age of 40 something, hahaha, but having just seen the gorgeous Cate Blanchett in her granny square dress on the red carpet I may have to give them another go!

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More Sunny Days (more lovely finds)

I am sure that the Indian Summer we are currently experiencing has brought out some great sellers to the local boot sales.  I can go weeks without anything much to show but at the moment the things I am finding are great, the kind of thing I want to keep!  I am all too aware that the bootsale season is coming to a close and I will miss it. I like nothing better on a summer Sunday than to wander around a field, with a view of the sea, rummaging through other people's stuff they no longer want!

This week I found this wonderful wooden box.  It had old bits of ironmongery, boys stuff, and I had to persuade the man on the stall to sell it to me.  He thought I was a bit bonkers for wanting it and I had to find him another box to put his bits before I got to carry it away.

It was a good day for textiles too and I found lots of curtains, fabric and vintage clothing.

These bookends are beautiful, reminiscent of the Clarice Cliff era.

 

I love this Alfred Meakin pottery with its' kitsch cacti.  I bought lots of this but have pictured just one of each.

This beautiful hand embroidered apron came from the same stall as the bookends.  I love the florals on this.

 

I bought a whole box of  Practical Householder magazines from the 1950's and 60's.  These can be really good reference for fabrics but I just love looking through them anyway.  I love the photos, just look at the last one, the clothes and hair are fab, pure mod! 

I can see exactly when the rot set in as the magazines from the late 60's show couples putting in aluminium windows and they also show how to clad those 'horrid old fashioned bricks' in lovely stones, wood and pebble dash!

Some lovely vintage toys including some very old flash cards, an old Sindy soap (fab box) and an old doll's dress.

 

  

I also found buttons, peacock feathers, more pottery, painted glass, vintage boxes and two cute, kitsch budgies!

So, all this buying has me sorting, washing, pricing, getting ready for my Open House.

I shall be back with  preview, as requested by some of you girls who can't make it. Pin It