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Eat Your Tea-Time Treats Off This...!

Just before we did that last craft fair, my brother and his lovely family went over to the other side of the country to see my Mum. She sent back with him a bag of old linen for me (she knows me SO well!)
As I opened it - that reassuring fragrance of clean, ironed, aged fabric was released. I glimpsed the colours and shapes of childhood Sunday teas and Easter lunches with Grandparents.
The gorgeous memory of Granny's dark chocolate and ginger cake - an almost black sponge with a fresh cream and crystalised-ginger-chunks-in-apricot-jam filling and a dusting of icing sugar on top came flooding back!

Here are some photos of part of my history:

Out of the bag I pulled lovingly starched, pressed and folded white lace tablecloths and napkins, a pale blue and berries striped cotton tea cloth that looks French somehow... and two beautiful colourful, heavily embroidered everyday cloths on heavy floppy linen.

There are umpteen little lace tray doilies and a large cut-work circular tablecloth with six napkins and even four delightful linen hand towels - the kind you would only put out when you had visitors coming - and you lived in the nineteen-twenties - they might be my great grandmother's...

I adore the detail in the hand stitching -  and can't help picturing the practical, skilled women's hands that made these pieces -

Shopping Spree!

With a short gap between the last craft market and our next two, in July, I took the opportunity for a break from designing and making to spend a bit of time and money in a few of my favourite shopping haunts. These all happen to be local charity shops!!
I selected some badly needed replacement jeans for a couple of pairs that are about to go and a couple of pretty thin cotton tops, encouraged by the arrival of the sun to - what I call - Sunny Norfolk.
I'm a sucker for a proper old fashioned linen tea-towel - becoming more difficult to find as cotton ones are everywhere. So I couldn't resist these two - for 50p each!
The first is mister rabbit arriving belly-first by the looks of it, smartly turned out in a very fetching seventies yellow and orange-ness.

The other one is trying to be much more grown-up. I love the understated green striped background and it doesn't really show up so well in the photos but three of the petals on each little border flower is BRIGHT orange - almost day-glo!:

Busy Busy Busy - Long Time No See...

Hello old friend my blog! - I have been really very preoccupied with designing and making for the Maker's Market TOMORROW!!! And posting on the East Place Designs blog - sorry bloggy - I have been ignoring you - but here are some photos of the badges and magnets I decided to do at the last minute for tomorrow's craft fair:
First of all the images are taken with my phone - it's very late and the light in here is awful - so - not great - oh and they are all just plonked onto my old 2CV manual, for some strange reason!:

I think my favourite is the "Don't Badger me" one. There's also one with a nice foxy drawing on it that says "Foxy". Just a bit of fun...

Anyway off to bed - early rise tomorrow... Toodle-oo