So Tread Softly...

after the fair is over

What a fabulous time we had on Saturday at the Craft 2.0 Fair. The weather was appalling but still they came. Hoards of them. Wonderful shoppers eager to purchase some handmade goodness.

Sue did a marvelous job of organizing the fair. It was a total pleasure to be included. Her etsy shop is well worth a visit.

I met some wonderful women (sellers and shoppers) and hope to be a part of the next fair in October. I'll keep you posted.

Pauline left a comment on the last post asking if the photos used in the pendents were special.

 

My Dad used to help out a lady in his village by cutting her lawn each week. She'd decided to have a huge clear-out and placed everything she no longer needed in her garage and told my Dad to help himself to whatever he wanted. Now in the UK I was an avid car booter. You know those people who turn up in a field somewhere at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning ready to hunt out the bargains? Well, that was me that was!! So, the first thing my Dad did was to call me to tell me about the clearout so I thought I'd take a look. Whilst sorting through the goodies I stumbled across on old case that was filled to the brim with old letters, notes, receipts and photos, so of course, I had to rescue them. I know that the little boy in the hat, waving was to become the woman's husband. In fact, there they both are together, perhaps on holiday? Their first perhaps? Their honeymoon? I'm not so sure where the photo is top left. It's stunning scenery. Do you write on the back of photos? I'm definitely going to start doing that. I intend to go through my personal collection and date them, adding peoples names and where they were taken just in case someone someday stumbles across my memorables in years to come.

Until next time...

the generosity of others

People's generosity and thoughtfulness out there in the World of Blog, never fails to amaze me. Jo from Craft Yourself was out shopping a couple of weeks ago and spotted a cushion cover that she thought I'd like. She'd remembered seeing some photos of my living area in a Christmas post and knew right away that the colours in the cover would fit in perfectly with my colour scheme. So, she brought it for me. How wonderful is that?! Thank you Jo. I love the cushion and it's made me want to get on and screen print more than ever.

My walk yesterday was a total contrast to the day before. In the UK, we'd call the weather a 'peasouper'.

The mountains were completely fogged out. However, it soon cleared as the sun begun to burn through. There's always something that catches my eye on a walk and was glad to have my camera with me. This tree house looks like such fun for a little person.

And what about this crazy old tree! I have no idea what species it is but it was crying out to be photographed.

The past couple of days have been spent in front of the computer restocking my shop that was looking a little sad having been neglected over the summer months. NZ post have just made some very strange changes to their delivery charges and it's made if very confusing for many of us. Therefore I decided to add a flat rate for postage within NZ that stays the same however much you decide to buy. Grab a cuppa and have a look around.

Until next time...

update: I'm going to be joining Leya in her Colour Week Project. Each day I'll be posting a photo dedicated to a certain colour. Here's the order:

Monday      :  green

Tuesday     :  yellow

Wednesday :  orange

Thursday    : pink/red

Friday        :  blue

I'm going to stick with taking photos just around my house which means that Tuesday through to Thursday is going to be a bit of a challenge considering the limited palate we have here! If you'd like to join in then nip over to Leya at Curiousbird and sign up.

sweet things

Today I've needed a few of these to keep me going

I'm flagging a wee bit but remarkably, I'm still on target for this weekends fair. I'm off to Wellington over the next couple of days for a conference relating to my regular job, so was pleased to get a few more things ticked off the To Do list.

These needle felted balls that look almost edible were decorated with seeds beads and made into brooch pins.

Someone else had his eye on them as well!

 

{sigh} - you turn your back for one minute!!!

I really enjoyed making these necklace pendants out of  French antique letters and photos. Well, they are for the French Fair after all. Knew that soldering iron would come in handy one day!

Can I say a big THANK YOU for all of your comments over the past couple of posts. I do my best to reply to each of them but this week it's just beaten me. Know that I always appreciate them.

Until next time..

fabric source tip

The second Martinborough Fair was a huge success. The weather was kind, I met some great people and sold some hand mades along the way. I'm busy working now towards the French Fair that takes place the first weekend in April. I'm finding it difficult to get going this week. I think what I should have done was to put one day aside to get new supplies but with a planned holiday with Mr TS on the horizon, I was eager to get sewing and replenish my stock. I did, however, find time to buy a new pair of shoes that I LOVE.

I spend heaps on fabric. Surprised? Didn't think so. I like to buy as much as I can from Op Shops and garage sales but I've also recently discovered the joys of the home decor store. We have one in our small town and they have rows of rows of sample fabrics that you can order. Every once in a while they stop stocking a certain line so bundle up the samples and sell them at $2 a roll. I came away this week having spent $14 on a bag crammed with beautiful gauze linens and cottons. Ideal for applique and smaller crafts. Here are some of my favourites...

These were metre lengths

I know that many of the decor stores just throw their samples away so it's well worth popping in and asking them to save them for you.

Until next time...

share my thursday?

image: daily medicine

Got to knock this cold on the head! Thank you for all of your getting well tips.

image: antique and vintage fabric strips ready for corsage cuffs

image: more sewing - linen messenger bag with vintage tablecloth lining

image: 5 minutes for a flick through Selvedge

A subscription to this fabulous publication was a birthday present from Mr TS

image: Trumpet after a night on the tiles

images: corsage cuffs complete

image: preparing dinner

image: late night pricing and packing ready for Saturday's Fair

Until next time...

fresh designs

I'm still here - busy beavering away in my studio trying to make enough stock for the 2nd Martinborough Fair that takes place on Saturday. Today I have a sore throat and feel a bit achey which, really isn't welcome, so out came the echinacea. Do you swear by it? I do. Let's hope it works - the last thing I need this week is to be sick as I've planned out every spare minute.

I've been working on some new Agnes Coy handmades including these simple Quotation Pillows (click the picture to enlarge):

'For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.' Virginia Woolf

(I've always been a huge fan of hers)

' Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back.' Katherine Mansfield

I've also made a handful of little felted stick pin brooches - again, very simple but I kind of like it like that!

Thank you for the comments you left on the last post. It seems that we don't often do things just for ourselves so the new sewing class got a big thumbs up from many of you - always appreciated.

Until next time...

on your marks, get set...

image: linen + ric rac

So if you've been reading my blog for a while you will no doubt be aware of my love of linen. I adore working with it so for me, today was a happy day as my linen order arrived. Natural linen, two weights, metres and metres of it, can't wait to cut into it. I also received a birthday parcel from my folks and wound around the gifts was more ivory ric rac that I girl will ever need. It will last me years - yep, there's that much of it! Need to conjure up a linen and ric rac design pretty sharpish!

So, with all of my supplies in place, tomorrow I start making for the final Martinborough Fair on the 1st March. Deadlines work well for me - I start and I don't stop until the day. Nothing else gets done, emails don't get written and friends are neglected but it's just for a short period of time so they tend to forgive me. So as from tomorrow, it's head down, regular life on hold and no stopping until the 1st!

Until next time...

shared moments 02/02

image: the martinborough fair

It's been such a fantastic day - it exceeded my expectations - thank you to those you you who stopped by to say hi, really good to see you - but now I'm soooooo tired! A day off tomorrow and then it's back to the sewing machine to make more hand mades for the next one!

shared moments 31/01

image: having a practice set up run in the back garden so that I can sleep at night!

shared moments 28/01

image: new dmc embroidery cotton - perfect or new bird cushions