a crafty community...

Hello! How are you today? I have been living in a land of germs again.  My poor boys have had a horrible virus which has had them laid up in bed for most of the week.  So sorry if you've commented and I haven't replied - I've been on 24/7 Mum duty which doesn't always leave much time for fun stuff like blogging!  I am going a bit stir crazy as I have hardly left the house since my lovely trip to the Vintage Fair on Sunday.  It's not too bad being stuck inside when it's raining, but today the sun has been shining...I want to go out and play!! 

Never mind...I have an exciting weekend planned.  This Sunday, rather than buying lovely things, I will be selling them.  If it goes well then once a month I will be spending a Sunday in my local craft shop, with a big pile of vintage fabric...what fun! 

It is a great shop, as well as selling all kinds of fantastic art and craft supplies Vicky, the super crafty owner, runs workshops, drop in sessions and courses, and gets involved in lots of community events such as our annual Lantern Parade. 

Here are some of the lovely things that she stocks for us lucky locals to play with...

ribbons and trims...

lots of lovely papers...

 

beads and bling...

gorgeous yarns...

and if we're ever stuck for inspiration she has a great stock of craft books and journals.

Her latest community project is a Crochet Coral Reef...this is a global project which was started by an organisation called the Institute for Figuring in Los Angeles but has now been taken up all over the world...this image is from a reef made in Latvia:

Last time I popped into the shop this was what Vicky had been working on:

Isn't it amazing? Lots of people are getting involved in making coral of all shapes and sizes, and she's also running drop-in needle felting workshops, where you are taught to needle felt for a tiny fee but the 'catch' is that you have to make a fish and leave it there to live in the reef... 

...as I'm sure you can imagine, it's the kind of shop I feel very at home in!

So I am really looking forward to Sunday.  I will be taking lots of fabrics with me to sell - scrap packs, fat quarters, patchwork squares and a few half metres and metres for those with a bigger project in mind. I'm also going to try to restock my vintage fabric-covered button stash by then - if my poorly boys give me a chance!  Of course if you're in Bristol then please pop in - it would be lovely to see you there and you'll get the chance to rummage through my fabric stash and take your pick of all the goodies!

I hope your week has been less full of illness than mine, and that you have a lovely weekend coming up.  Fingers crossed my kids will be well next week and I'll be able to catch up properly with all your blogs to see what you've been up to!

Rachel x

I'm still here...

Hello lovelies!! I really have been a rubbish blogger so far this year!  Either I'm much busier or my (already woeful) time management skills have deserted me completely - maybe a bit of both.

I would love to do a big catch up post but I've just grabbed a moment at the pc before I put the kids to bed...suffice to say I'm well, I've been doing a lot of sewing, and I'll be selling some vintage fabric at our local craft shop next weekend which is exciting.  

I totally missed my 1st Blog Birthday!!  It was on Friday - I remembered all week and then on Friday all kinds of unexpected things happened and I totally forgot.  But I think the universe remembered...Caroline of the lovely blog Scraps Of Us  has just had a lovely giveaway on her blog and she chose the winner on Friday...and I won!!  Thanks so much to her, I'm really looking forward to receiving all these gorgeous scrapbooking goodies she's sending my way...

I feel very lucky...thanks Caroline! x
 
This morning I had a wander round our local monthly Vintage & Flea Market with a good friend.  There weren't quite as many stalls as usual but that was actually quite nice - it wasn't as packed with people and I felt like I got a chance to look at everything properly.  Unfortunately my camera battery died so I couldn't take photos!  But when I got home I charged it up so I could show you these...

I love that Puffin book sooooo much!! The inside isn't as exciting and colourful as that all the way through, but for the princely sum of £1 I could afford to buy it for its cover.   Here's a detail of the back...

 

There's nothing like puffins dancing on a rainbow to brighten my day!

The blue things are 2 linen teatowels which have never been used - they look like they were printed yesterday...

...and the yellow fabric is a double sheet and 2 pillow cases - you can never have too many vintage pillowcases, right?! 

I hope you've had a lovely weekend...I am going to try to be a better blogger this coming week...I've missed reading your blogs properly and having the time to comment. 

And welcome to my new readers and followers - thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment.  I've been lacking time recently but I still love blogland so much.  Looking forward to spending a bit more time here when I can!

Rachel x

 

the white stuff...

Hello lovelies!  Well it's proper winter isn't it?  We've had loads of snow, and school was shut on Friday so much fun was had in the park, of course followed by vats of hot chocolate with marshmallows. Floyd enjoyed his first experience of playing in the snow, despite it sticking to his furry legs and forming very silly looking snow boots...

 

 Once the roads had cleared we went adventuring in the woods...it looked like Narnia!

So beautiful...although now that it's turned to icy sludge I'm a bit bored of it.  Bring on spring!


Rachel x


 

it's business time...

Hello!! Sorry I've not been here for a while...been busy with other things and seemed to misplace my blogging mojo!  I have been reading lots of your blogs though...if I haven't commented on yours for a while I haven't forgotten you, and I hope to pop over for a proper catch up soon.  And if you've joined me recently, welcome and thanks for finding me!  Huge thanks to everyone who has left comments recently...I love reading them so much, sorry I haven't been great about replying.  Again I have tried to pop over to people's blogs to say thanks but if I haven't please don't take it personally, it's just that I ran out of time/got asked for a snack/had to go and wipe a nose or a bum!

Now that the craziness of the festive season has faded (all too quickly!) I am looking forward to what this year has in store...I want to build on the success of this blog, and of my Christmas craft stalls.  I have been designing a header for my Etsy shop, but the weather has not been ideal for taking good photos of stock. In the meantime I've been uploading existing photos of my fabric to my Facebook page, and people who I don't know have been contacting me to buy bits of it!  So without even really trying to I have launched myself into the world of online sales...here are photos of a few of the fabrics that I'm selling bits of....

v>

 

Do please pop over to my facebook page if you are a facebooker...and I'll be back with more photos and news of other exciting developments soon!  

Lots of love and thanks for reading,

Rachel x

January so far...

Hello, how are you doing?!  I've been living in the land of germs...both boys have been ill and our return to normality was delayed, as M wasn't well enough to go back to school.  There's so much I've been wanting to do, both here on the blog and in 'real life' - but all has had to be put on hold in favour of nose wiping, cuddling and dvd watching.  But today the sun was out, the coughing fits were less frequent and I'm emerging into 2013 feeling hopeful that things can only get better!

While browsing Pinterest - about all I've had the time and energy for - I came across this beautiful print by one of my favourite contemporary printmakers, Angie Lewin...

just beautiful.  I love the combination of grey and yellow...it feels like winter sunshine.

Also I'd just like to say hello to all my new followers - it's really lovely to have you here, and I'll do my best to get over to all your blogs to say a proper hello when everything's back to normal here.

Happy 2013 - fingers crossed for more sunshine and less germs! 

Rachel x