Home Spun Fair and Cornwall

What can I say about Portscatho? What a magical place. The homespun fair which took place last Sunday was a truly lovely day. The day had a charm and vintage atmosphere which was very enjoyable. For me it was a chance to meet up with friends made at vintageandhandmade fair, co-organiser of which being Michele of cowboysandcustard, so good to see you again my friend and to meet new bloggy friends face to face. I met adorable Lesley of seablueskyabstracts, wonderful Corrine of corrinephillips and Liberty Lawn goddess Sarah Jane of sarah-janedownthelane to name but a few. We were all so pleased to see each other and the genuine warmth and friendship from every quarter just made the day very special.
Here is my stand.

Sarah Jane Stone, below, whose work was divine. A mix of appliqued/machine embroidered handbags (I was so tempted)! She also had an incredible range of silk screen printed work...tea towels, aprons etc.

Nicky of thevintagemagpie I just drool every time I look at Nicky's exceptional work, I also start to talk nonsense and mutter how wonderful they are and how much I would like one! I'm sure she's used to me by now though ;-)

A treat to meet Sue Dove, her work being inspirational, quirky and I want, I want, I want!

As you can see the Memorial Hall got quite busy and stayed that way most of the day.

Ah, my friend Jane (organiser along with Christine Nullmeyers) of janeandthehappycrow Thank you Jane, for a very happy day.

Of course, there were many more wonderful stands, but the day was so 'full on' I didn't get chance to take any more photos. Happy days!

Moving on from the Fair, a pic below of jewel like pebbles and sea weed at Marazion Beach.

This was fun, we visited Mevagissey along with the world and his wife, but were very entertained by a Diving Group sending a member of the team into the sea, dressed in an ancient diving suit (so Captian Nemo)! We could hear him talking and see the air bubbles moving along the surface. Quite surreal seeing him walk out of the sea and unscrew the plate glass on the front of his helmet! His boots looked like they belonged to Frankenstein's monster.

I did not want to leave Cornwall behind but, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end......

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Onto a few pieces that are going into my Etsy shop soon. Close up pics of three small box canvas embroidered collages.

Gorgeous textile items purchased from the amazing Sue of vintagetovictorian

I had a wonderful day in Portscatho. Happy events have happened to me because one day I decided to start my blog. It never ceases to amaze me how life enhancing this has been. The whole world of blogging, Flickr and Etsy is an exciting and inspiring place and I have met and have become firm friends with the most amazing, clever, industrious, supportive, kind and generous women. So a big thank you to you all.

Thanks for stopping by. x

A little bit of this 'n that

Hello...long time no post. I have been working very hard preparing for the Home Spun Fair in Portscatho, Cornwall on 2nd August. Link at side. Not only am I attending the Fair but we are having a few days in Cornwall too, doing a little sight seeing and generally enjoying beautiful Cornwall.

Huglies, collaged embroideries,

purses,
brooches
all sorts of things handmade.

How many pieces do you make??? Have I got enough???? Too much.??? All of which will be answered next Sunday.

Hope to see lots of my Bloggy friends there. So excited!

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A pic of the most perfect gift, given to me by a French Cousin. Kenzo perfume, isn't she just stunning?

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I wanted to show you a perfect book too. I found it thanks to printpattern .

A really great book featuring, to name but a few, darlingclementine and mattestephens. Inspirational stuff.

Thank you once again for stopping by. x

I will never have any money!

I would like you to meet the girls, well the Lavender Ladies to be precise! Hilary, Maude and Olivia. Here they are having a chat with Little Ted.

These girls like to have fun and enjoy dressing up. Floral frocks with bird detailing and button accessories, bang on trend! A mane of floral and muslin hair, so jealous! Smelling of Lavender (filled with it, they are). Wire legs and a wire hoop to hang around and chat to friends.

All three living in Etsyland at the moment, all in need of good company, someone who appreciates a girls' fine qualities!

Onto more brooches...... such a pleasure to make.

I also wanted to tell you about my trip to Ludlow yesterday and particularly a wonderful Antiques Emporium zanilady. I adore this centre, it is filled with mostly French antiques and vintage items. Every time I visit there is always something new and wonderful for the home. Well, me being me, I couldn't resist this picture, no way could I have walked away from this. Please forgive dreadful photo, but I just could not lose the reflection. Stunning black background in contrast to the sumptuous colours of the flowers and birds.

Birdies....don't you just love 'em!

And yes, there is more, the last thing I should be doing at the mo is spending money...but I will never have any and especially when I see lovely furniture like the kitchen hutch that came home too. Perfect size, perfect colour, so pleased. Holly reigned me in, as there was more I could have quite happily purchased. Glad she did really, as I would have gone on one massive guilt trip later.

So I haven't finished playing with my new 'hutch' yet, but you get the picture.

Well, after my tales of self indulgencies, I will love you and leave you and thankyou very much for stopping by.

I'm in love

with Muriel. She came to live with us on Monday and we are all so happy and excited about being privileged enough to own her. She is a 1967 Morris Minor. We felt Muriel was the right name for her.
It's like driving a very ancient piece of farm machinery, in comparison to my little run around Corsa.

Rosie and Daisy like her too and look very much at home.

We are looking forward to packing a picnic basket and having great days out, driving our lovely new/old car.

Thanks for stopping by and saying 'hello'.

Summer madness

I hope all is well with you. I'm enjoying these long days, good or bad weather I don't really care, it's the light, the flowers, the bird song that matters to me. But not these pesky little so and so's. In our locality (maybe UK wide?) we have a plague and I mean a plague of Greenfly. They are everywhere in massive million trillion numbers. In the air and smothering tender shoots. Living in the middle of the Uk doesn't usually present itself with too much bother in the insect department. There is the occasional house fly endlessly circling the ceiling lamp. Thunder bugs, I admit can be a nuisance. I have two of those little blighters squashed behind my lap top screen. But as I say, generally, we don't have too much to put up with living in our wonderful temperate zone....but hey, what happened here, who decided that Greenfly should all of a sudden become a biblical plague? Nasty little Greenfly with their sap sucking ways ;-)

Then, of course, being summer time, we have had a few days of sunshine and what comes with sunshine in the good old UK........let's all say it together............ A THUNDERSTORM. Which means flash flooding, over-flowing gutters and every sodding plant in the garden dashed to the ground!

But I'm not down, oh no, I still have the 'brooch making madness'!

One Brooch here for my sis, it's her birthday soon, so this will be part of her pressie.

One for destined for Etsyland..... I used some beautiful, subtle, rosy barkcloth for this one and it was so pretty, I didn't want to cover it up with other snippets.

And another for Etsyland.....

A couple of Greetings Card designs.....

A Textile Collage also residing in Etsyland.... envelope dated 1952 with the most lovely orange and blue stamps. Did my stuff on it, tying in the colour of the stamps with the fabric. Bottom right there is a silk picture......a whisper, a transparent detail, a shadow of a memory of a young girl with her best friend.

Onto my vintage finds over the last few days. On first glance, these Portugese Costume dolls look, well, like Costume dolls, but on closer inspection they are absolutely wonderful! They are kind of movable/wired and oh so skilfully made, they are a treat to behold. The shoes are leather, all hand stitched. Wired frames have been very well padded and the clothes are so detailed and beautiful. I am so pleased with them. I purchased them to hopefully sell on at the homespun fair, but ................. ;-)

I also bought this little pine box, fairly plain and ordinary on the outside, until you open it up and inside was once someone's watercolour paint box. It is gloriously marked in a hundred subtle shades. A wonderful backdrop for photos of my work and to display pieces at Fairs. Tickled pink with that one.

Five Victoria saucers, with the most delicate floral design.

Crocheting cotton and a bone tatting shuttle.

Finally, this groovy table cloth, 1950's? Love it. Oh so 'on trend' as maryportas would say!

Thank you to everyone once again for your kind comments and thank you for stopping by.x