summer stitching...

Hello lovelies! First I have to say a huge thank you to everyone who commented on my last post...every one of your comments was appreciated...lots of them made me laugh, some of them made me get a bit teary, and all of them made me very glad that I blog, and that you take the time to read what I have to say.  You are delightful and delicious and I would love to give you all a hug, or make you a nice cup of tea if you're not that keen on hugs from random people that you've never actually met!

We're on holiday in Cornwall at the mo, and my menfolk have gone off to watch a medieval joust at a nearby castle...of course I could have gone too, but I have been to a fair few castles in my time, and the lure of a pile of magazines, books, and DVDs was strong!  So I am 'home' alone today, and while I lounge about waiting for my freshly painted toenails to dry, I am planning a new crafty project.  I used to do embroidery and applique quite a bit when I was younger, but in recent years my obsession with vintage patterned fabric has overtaken me, and it's been a long time since I did anything fancy with a needle and thread.  Then recently I saw this gorgeous piece of vintage embroidery over on Lazy Daisy Jones's lovely blog, and realised it's time to get stitching again. 

I love the details of the different stitches...

So here I am, with some white linen, a rainbow of embroidery thread, and an urge to stitch. Here are a few more pictures that I'm finding inspiring, all from my 'Sew and Stitch' Pinterest Board...some vintage...

and some much more contemporary...

Takashi Iwasaki

Takashi Iwasaki

Mariposima: I can see music Via happy crafts tumblr

by Smallest Forest

Right, my toenails are dry, and I'm itching to get stitching...hope you're all having a lovely week!

Rachel x

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

rainbow and green go off on a jaunt...part 2

Yippee! it's the first day of the school holiday, and we have nearly 7 weeks of freedom from routine ahead of us...this is equally exciting and daunting, but we're so tired that right now I'm enjoying the change of pace.   I doubt I'll be getting much child-free time, so I'm very glad that me and Lou managed to escape for a few hours on Tuesday and go exploring!

After all the crafty and vintage goodness of Flo-Jo and Shop (see my last post), we wandered a bit further down the road to the absolutely gorgeous independent kid's boutique, The Pippa and Ike Show...

 

  

I have been meaning to go there since it opened a year or two ago.  I don't know why it's taken me so long, but now I've been there once I'll definitely be back whenever I have spare cash to spend on my or anyone else's little ones...it's just stunning. 

 

 

It's full of stylish and colourful Scandinavian and European clothing brands including Smafolk (70s-tastic prints, my favourite!!) and Bobo Choses , and toys, prints and homewares by great designers and brands like Ingela P Arrhenius and Ferm Living. 

 

  

Again, the way the space has been styled is so pleasing.  It's bright, colourful and cheerful; me and Lou found ourselves chatting for ages to the lovely owner Lianne, while we browsed through her gorgeous stock.  Although there was loads that I liked, I'm trying very hard to be restrained at the moment so I was careful not to let myself get too keen on anything.  I thought I was going to get away without buying anything, and then I saw this...

 

R's size, the last one in the shop, and half price!  What was I supposed to do?!  My kids are generally dressed in pretty cheap clothes, often cast-offs from friends or stuff from charity shops.  But I do have a serious weakness for Smafolk prints, and R has just grown out of the only special top that he has.  So yes, my resolve weakened.  But kids need clothes, right? 

Lianne told us that she has a new Webshop due to launch next week, so the link above is to the blog rather than the shop.  They have a sale on at the moment so when the Webshop goes live there will be bargains to be had!  And most exciting for me, I showed her a few photos of my fabric palettes from the other day,  and she said she'd be interested in stocking some of my handmade vintage fabric lampshades and cushion covers.  So I'd better get busy over the summer break!

There were other shops we'd have liked to look in, but after the fun of The Pippa and Ike show, Lou had to get to an appointment so I walked home because the sun was shining(!) and I was feeling energised by a morning of adult conversation and eye candy.  I have a feeling we will be going off on another jaunt when we get a chance...I'll let you know when we do! 

Rachel x

something old, something new #1

Hello and happy Friday!  I hope whatever you're up to and where ever you are you've had a good day so far, and have exciting/relaxing weekend plans to look forward to.  

One of the things I want to share on my blog is my love for illustration, particularly children's books; since having children I've realised what a huge influence picture book illustrations have been on me and my taste in art and design.  I was lucky enough to get a lot of my favourite books from childhood back from my Mum when I had M (now 6), including Two Can Toucan by David McKee, which is the first book I ever remember actually reading for myself.  Looking at it now, it feels like a masterpiece of line and colour, and I can see why I love the designers and artists that I do when this was what my young developing mind was fed!

it's hard to choose which pages to share, they're all so fabulous, but here's another of my favourites: 

I guess these wonderful illustrations were later considered dated and unfashionable, because a new edition of the same book came out a few years later with new illustrations, also by David McKee but not (in my opinion) nearly so special! 

I have such a great collection of vintage children's picture books, sometimes I have to remind myself to look at new books coming out now for the kids, as there are some really great contemporary illustrators out there.  My latest discovery is Patrick Hruby, who is similar to early David McKee in that he combines really bright, saturated colours with black and white to a really striking effect:

I don't know if this is just me, but I actually salivate when I look at his pictures, those colours are so bright and juicy!  I was lucky enough to get a slightly damaged copy of his ABC is for Circus book cheap on Ebay for R (2), it's out of print so pricey now but hopefully they'll do another print run soon, it's on AMMO books who do some really gorgeous stuff.

I must admit I have a real soft spot for the hand drawn quality of the David McKee illustrations, and I find some contemporary images created on computers a bit too 'clean' and sterile, but I really love how Patrick Hruby's illustrations suggest magical worlds that I would love to visit.  Wouldn't you love to live in this house?

Scandilicious!

I've had some great fabric delivered this week and my partner's got some time off next week, so he'll be taking our little one out on Tuesday and I've got a date with my sewing machine - cushion covers here we come, got a couple of commissions that need making, and some playing to do just for the love of it.  

Have a lovely weekend, I've got a busy one planned so might not manage another post till Monday, though if inspiration hits I'll do my best to share it with you. 

Rachel x

I love lovebirds!

Yesterday my fellow blogger little green shed put a link on Facebook to these beautiful lovebirds on Folksy, by a maker called Kirsty Elson who I didn't know of before but is now a definite favourite!  I love the zingy, springy colours and the mix of natural found materials and those gorgeous retro prints.

I really like the addition of the baby bird to the more traditional pair of lovebirds, but here are some birdy couples that I love who haven't made babies yet.  One gorgeous print by Jane Foster,  which I was lucky enough to get for Christmas (thank you F!),

and a lovely 3D pair by Bristol artist/maker Tom Frost, who I stumbled across while trawling the archives of one of my favourite blogs, kickcan and conkers, which never fails to show me things that make me smile! 

I hadn't come across Tom's work before, but as he's Bristol based I expect he knows at least 20 people that I know, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turns out he lives round the corner!  I love their handprinted look, and they are now on my ever-growing wishlist.  Hmm, we don't normally do much for Valentine's day, but maybe presents are in order this year?!

Hope you're having a lovely day, whatever you're up to!

Rach x