For awhile now I've been teaching how to make this little pincushion/needlebook set as part of the community/drop in workshops I hold. 

Just before Christmas I finally finished putting together the set to sell as a pattern/kit as they've been so popular in the workshops, but annoyingly I was too busy in the run up to Christmas to actually get them in the shop.

 

 

These are simple, easy little patterns, that can be made up in no time at all and are perfect for someone just starting out with sewing or someone who simply enjoys quick and easy projects.

I'm intending to get them in the shop by the end of this week, including a Valentines Day version and am hoping that blogging about them might give me the push I need to get it sorted.

I live in hope....

 

We said goodbye to this old man last week.

We miss him.

Night, night Marshall xx

 

One of my favourite Christmas presents this year was a copy of Random Spectacular, the new bi-annual (hopefully) publication from St. Judes. 

Its a stunning collaboration between artists, makers and printers that include Mark Hearld, Angie Lewin, Emily Sutton, Ed Kluz, Jake Tilson, Paul Bommer, Rob Ryan, Jonny Hannah, with literally each page even more awe inspiring than the last.

As well as being a huge fan of Angie Lewins work, I love all the artists and printmakers that exhibit with St. Judes and was extremely excited when I heard about this collaboration and ordered it immediately.

I was really well behaved when it arrived though and handed it over to be wrapped up for Christmas day ( I was very tempted not to even mention that I'd ordered it, so that I wouldn't have to wait).

But it was well worth it because I love how with each page I think that I've found my favourite print and favourite style of print, only to think it all over again when I turn to the next page.

 

 

  I could never tire of looking at artwork as beautiful as this and am determined that this is the year I shall visit St. Judes Gallery in person.

Its kind of mean of me to share this though because it sold out of all its 750 copies in the first 48 hours, so it's no longer available, but you can find out more about future editions here. 

Plus, I wanted to congratulate everyone involved with Random Spectacular, because not only is it completely spectacular, but all of the proceeds from the sales went to the cancer charity Maggies Cancer Caring Centre.

 

If you're in or around Ilkey any time between now and January 22nd, do drop in to the beautiful Manor House Museum and have a look at this years Presence exhibition.

 

It's full of beautiful work and includes textiles, jewelery and fine art, all of which sits side by side with beautiful pieces from the museum's own collections, (there's the most incredible sampler that alone makes the visit worthwhile).

 

 

The exhibition's curators have done a great job, especially with the juxtaposition between the old and the new. And have created a really lovely show, set in beautiful surroundings.

 

January

 

 

 

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December

 

 

 

Happy New Year to everyone!

Here's to 2012 being even bigger and brighter for all of us!

Balance, balance, balance. It's always about balance. And at the moment there's not a lot of that around these parts.

I'm trying very hard to slow down and notice that it's Christmas. Especially as this is the first year that Lily really gets what it's all about and that Bella is really questioning it all and understanding that it's about more than just her presents.

 

 

I'm teaching right up until Christmas Eve, so fitting in the fun stuff is proving a challenge, but somehow I will take the girls to the Christmas market and take Bella Christmas shopping (it's the first year she's wanted to buy presents for everyone). And this Sunday we will have our annual Christmas party. And I will find time to cook for it. And we'll get to see Arthur Christmas at the cinema with friends.

 

 

Because I can always sleep next year.

 

 

 

There are some new braids in the shop right now.

If you're interested its worth bearing in mind that they tend not to hang around too long at the moment.

 

 

I love how big this 'skirt' is!

 

Compare to how tiny this one is!

It takes all types!

 

These and more are available here

 

 

These little ladies are responsible for a lot of late nights at the moment.

I started selling them at the Country Living show, where they were spotted by the Guardian newspaper, who included them in their Christmas gift guide, both in the paper and online.

 

Hundreds of peg dolls later, and a lot of sleepless nights and I'm still working my way through the orders. Which was not how I expected to spend the run up to Christmas, but I'm certainly not complaining!

 

Each hand drawn peg has two metres of vintage braid on it, which is perfect for embellishing clothes, purses, bags or anything else you can think of.

 

Unfortunately I'm out of stock again at the moment. But I'm hoping to put some more in the shop this week.

There's a bit of a waiting list for them, but if anyone is interested, just drop me an email and I'll let you know as soon as they're back in stock. You can see all the different braids here.

 

I tried to explain to someone in the know today, that telling me something new and better would replace it, did nothing to dispel the cold sweat I break in to when fabric I love runs out.

 

 

The wool that I have used to make all of these new cushions has been cut from the same amazing bolt. The colours change across the length of the bolt, meaning that no two cushions are the same and that the colourway of each cushion is amazing.

 

Which is why I break in to a cold sweat every time I cut in to the bolt, because once this bolt is finished, there is no more!

 

This is one of those time when I wish the blog was in 3D and you could feel just how soft these cushions are - especially with the duck feather cushion pads that I've used. They're the most comfortable cushions I've made and it's going to be duck feather all the way from now on!

 

As well as being one of a kind, each cushion has a contrasting piping, giving it a little burst of bright colour.

 

 

These cushions are available here....although I really would like to keep them to myself. Sadly though, we appear to already have too many cushions on our sofa.

As if that's possible!

 

 

 As I mentioned in the last post, two days before the set up for the fair, I realised that the stand I had designed a couple of months before, was not going to be possible.

So, after a couple of tears and perhaps a swear word or two, I decided to work with what we had and started stripping the house.

Once I realised that the sideboard from our sittingroom would fit along the back wall of the stand I was more than happy to go with plan b and take various pieces of furniture, including my bedroom chest of drawers, the shelves from my studio, the hall mirror, a kitchen chair and anything else that wasn't nailed down (and a few things that were).

 

As soon as we started to set up I was so pleased that I'd had to change plans because the new stand was much more 'me' and I felt much more at home with it. Mainly because it was actually half my home!

 

The fair itself was a lot more manageable than I expected, although at five days long, it's pretty exhausting, especially when I did most of it by myself. But I was lucky enough to be surrounded by some very funny, friendly designers, who got the whole 'we're in this together' thing, rather than acting like competitors.

The show wasn't quite as busy I had hoped, but considering the recession, the Lord Mayors procession, Remembrance Sunday and the only Tube line you can get to the show closing for the entire weekend, it was still pretty jam packed. And a couple of times it felt pretty overwhelming (especially when I had two customers 'discussing' which one was going to buy a particular bunny!).

There weren't too many things I would do differently. I was extremely grateful that I had sorted out credit card facilities and would have lost a lot of sales if I hadn't. And I'm pleased that I had postcards to give out rather than business cards, as lots of people used them to write info about Treefall on and they wouldn't have been able to do that on business cards.

But I do wish I'd had time to make more stock and I think next time I would make some more practical items too, as a lot of people felt they couldn't justify as many luxury items this year (something I feel too).

I would definitely do it again and am really pleased that I took the gamble, because it paid off, but there were definitely times when it felt like pulling teeth and I know that some of the other exhibitors didn't think it was a successful show. Next year I'll definitely book a bigger stand, in a more central spot ( I was right at the back this year and most visitors had lost the will to live by the time they reached me), and I'll take 3 times the amount of stock.

But overall, it was fun and exciting and just lovely to be out of the studio, for five days, surrounded by other designers and exhibitors. And if you were wondering about visiting the show next year, then you absolutely should! It's quite amazing!