I'm the dandy highwayman who you're too scared to mention, I spend my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention

Hello,

just a reminder

that the wonderful

vintageandhandmadetextilefair

will be at Chipping Sodbury tomorrow Saturday 1st October.

I will have a stand which is bliss for me, as I am amongst many talented ladies and gentleman

selling beautiful wares  ...

if you are able to visit, make sure you bring lots of pennies, because if you love textiles,

well ... this is textile heaven.

I am spending this gloriously warm and sunny day working on a dummy run of my stall

and I am currently in overwhelmed mode.

It happens every time a do a fair. 

Pricing...ugh...

Ironing, even more ugh...

 but less of the negative.  

Here, I have some lovely printed 'bunting' tape that is coming along with me... 

 1950's ??? Hand embroidered pictures...
can you see the ghostly outline of a strange woman in the picture???   :-)

 glorious patchwork...

 antique wallpaper and scrap album...

 lots of screen printed cards...

Hope to see you there!

Thank you for stopping by. x

Standin' on their own two feet and ringin' on their own bells...

 Hello!

Beryl Bunny here...

just wanted to say 'Hello' and introduce you to my sisters.

Btw, we are all brooches...

This is my twin sister 'Beryl Bunny in the headlights'...

 and this is my little sister,  Beryl Baby Bunny.

Here we are, having a little chat together in Etsyland.

'Beryl Bunny in the headlights' is telling the chicken to stop being such a rude piece of poultry.

She had been particularly foul to me on our last meeting.

Lovely to meet you...

Thank you for stopping by. x

I had to phone someone, so I picked on you... Hey that's far out, so you heard him too...

Hello!

At a Flea market, on impulse one day, I parted with some pennies and bought

six or so pairs of very old,

ladies kid leather gloves.

They are exquisitely made.

 Skilled hands put these together, tiny MoP buttons, teeny tiny stitches, with size markings/stamps too, which makes me think they might be French?  Don't know.

Some of the gloves are a little grubby...so in my wisdom, I decided to see if one would wash...

yes, I know, I said wash...

 Noooooo, I hear you scream.

   In my defense I was feeling very tired and my brain these days is puddled.   

Anyway, after a brisk handwash (of just the one glove) and a dry in the breeze...

this is the monster that I was left with....

not exactly pretty is it?

So...seeing that these very slender, 'seen better days' gloves are in need of ...

what they call these days ...'upcycling'?  Is that the term?   I call it reworking.

I chose a glove, not that nasty ruined one and cut and sewed two of the fingers...

for ears for Beryl,

Beryl the Bunny Brooch.

She is made of old, worn patchwork and ticking cotton...

she is, of course, inspired by the iconic Julie Arkell's work.

 Here is Beryl, having a chat with a chicken, who doesn't seem to be very interested...

 and onto brooches.  

I have constructed these brooches to highlight the beauty and the skill of the tiny,
 sometimes hidden perfect details.  

The button holes are so exquisitely worked and that number, oh, so lovely.

I would never ever buy new kid leather, but these gloves were one step away from being skipped,

so I have tried to put them to some sort of new purpose.

The brooches are only a couple of inches square.

I have used very old quilt snippets too, to add more texture and colour.

 This brooch is made  from the glove inside out, to highlight the alphabet which has been stamped onto the leather.

 A little hand embroidery too and always a button.

 Finger tips across the top.

So there you are, I hope I haven't confused you with my strange ramblings about old gloves.

~0~

Change of subject...I thought I would mention that I have this very beautiful piece of original French Wallpaper for sale in my eBay shop.   I think it is hand blocked?  
(Any info would be greatly appreciated).  

It is truly beautiful and hard to part with, but University Fees do not pay themselves.

myebay

Thanks so much for stopping by. x

We meet every day at the same cafe, six thirty and no-one knows she'll be there....

Hello!

The current husband and I had a really lovely day out yesterday and I wanted to tell you about it.

Herefordshire is an hour away by car and every September they hold h-Art ... Open Studios and other art based events.   So guide book in hand, off we go...

First stop theliongallery at Leominster

Lovely Gallery filled with very desirable pieces...I was allowed to take a few pictures, please excuse quality...

Does your heart quicken when you see a rack of gorgeous greetings cards like these eric ravilious cards?  

How I adore his work.

 and more gorgeous cards.

 Stunning handmade scarves.  Apologies for not knowing who the artist is.

 Oh and more cards

lynnmuirs work always makes me happy

I really like how the ladies have bossoms.   So clever.

 Ceramics to cry for.

 Again, apologies for not knowing the artist's names.

These pieces are so highly detailed, very beautiful.

 So out of the Gallery and look, this lovely, hairy beast reminded me of 'Dirk'!

Leominster is a smashing town, chock full of antiques centres and quirky little shops.

 This shop below is a fairly new one to Leominster...

Just look at the darling bunnies in their beds, in the window!

Onto my favourite village in all England... eardisland  

The current husband doesn't know it yet, but we will be moving here sooner or later :-)

Here is he...one man and his dog...

 We left Daisy at home with Lucy, as Daisy does not 'do' travelling...

So here is the Button Nose,

 cooling off on a very warm, muggy day...

 I do so love this place.

 Finally, onto therodd The Rodd is the home of the Sidney Nolan Trust.   The Sidney Nolan Trust is a registered charity, established by Sidney Nolan in 1985 for the purpose of supporting the work and development of creative artists and musicians.

Printmaking and Book Arts ...we were here to see.

 View from car park ...

 The exhibition is held in an incredibly beautiful barn.

 I am very proud to say that my sister had an exhibition of her paper cut work.  

Unfortunately, the photos I took of her work did not come out very well, so here is her web site

Deckle-Edged.  

 By now the weather had taken 'a turn' and was throwing it down, which always puts a dampner of things, so home we went.  

Really enjoyed the day and topped up my inspiration and mojo levels.

~0~

I have been making needlecases, using vintage French mangle cloth...

it has a beautifully smooth soft cotton feel to it, with a nice red stripe running along one edge.  Love.

 Felt in the mood to collage a few envelopes too!

Well, I have to thank everyone very much, who took the time and trouble to leave wonderfully kind and supportive comments on my last post.  

Thank you so much to each and every one of you.

Thank you too to new Followers and all you lovely folks that stop by for a read too.

xxx