Just A Few Snaps...

Unfortunately the quality is not great - but here are a few pics I snapped last night round at the in-laws - of the work in progress on the fabrics and stitchery side of our collaborative venture:

These are going to be the sweetest little children's aprons - you would cook the best Christmas gingerbread if your little helper was wearing one of these! My designs are the motifs that make up the most charming little wonky pockets!

And here are the beginnings of wee calico bags, for holding all those important things a busy little child needs to carry around! They will have fun spotty fabric lining and are adorned by a range of cute pet pals - pups and puss-cats:

I am starting to look forward to seeing all our delightful designs and marvelous makes on our stall - but the panic's not over yet... Candles, Burning and Both Ends are all words that go together to describe me right now!

Really Pleased With This...

This fabric came from the printers a couple of weeks ago.  This is the first time I have ever had my own designs printed - the wonders of digital allowing just a small run to be a realistic option.  

I am really happy with how the repeat works - I have been teaching myself the delights of conquering pattern and how those cheeky naughty motifs behave when I try to create a non-directional all over repeat...and breathed a big sigh of relief when the repeat matched up well!

I got this woodland creatures design printed onto lovely creamy off-white organic cotton jersey. It is so soft and drapes beautifully. 

I am going to treat my little boy to a pair of snazzy Mum's-made pj's!

It is a fab feeling to have and to hold a lovely fabric knowing that you drew out the first sketches on paper, scanned them in, worked on the ideas in Photoshop, developed a background, carefully chose and combined the colours and spent ages experimenting with layout - the cycle is complete!

Sneak Preview Of Some Street Market Wares...

Bunting, stickers, badges, cards, labels...

Busy Preparing For Christmas....

Well, I have been working all hours trying to get a whole load of designs finished so that they can be printed in time for me to be making a bunch of different goodies for the baubley Bungay Christmas Street Market. 

I shall be having a stall with my lovely mother-in-law, who is a crafter and whizz on the sewing machine! My creative craftsman father-in-law will have some little wooden carved items on the stall too - if time allows - they still have settling into a new home to do...

Here's a pic of one end of Earsham Street; it's a really pretty, very attractive little town and my in laws have just moved there... So what better way to announce their presence than for them to meet people at the funkily-famous, friendly fair all along Earsham Street.

There are already lots of lovely independent stores and galleries selling a myriad antiques, gifts and art as well as interesting eateries, delightful delis and a hearty wholefood shop

  

from Bells of Suffolk

Cork Brick Gallery

Everywhere you look in Bungay you see pretty vernacular houses and cottages that tell the story of a long history. From the front, my in laws' place is ostensibly Georgian - but some very old beams hint that maybe the facade was added later.

Bridge Street from the hermitage

I found the website of a mother and daughter team Farrell and Holmes, who make beautiful handmade fabric and paper gift items who are obviously way ahead of us (well, me at any rate) - check them out here - they'll be at the Bungay Christmas Street Market too - on Sunday 2 December

And here is a little tiny snippet of some of what I have been working on - but this is not what they'll look like when made into charming cards, bibbling badges, snazzy sticker packs, natty notebooks or tumbley tree bunting - oh my do I REALLY have to do ALL that? In just five weeks? 

Yes, I do

All Hail For Autumn: A Charming Walk...

We had a lovely walk in early autumnal sunshine - it's warmth sweetening blackberries and peeling off my cardigan!
There were fungi everywhere - Fly Agaric and Puffballs in the wooded bit and big brown roundy ones that obviously go crinkly with age, which I don't know the name of out on the heath, embraced by moss and heather:

By the time we got to the lakes - we had passed more red autumn lovelies; shiny rose hips of orange and vermilion, neat and tidy rosy-red hawthorn berries and glamorous back-lit honeysuckle berries. Even the bramble leaves were looking cheeky in splendiferous ruddy redness:

We visited the lakes, collecting suitable stones as we went. Stones are so very just right for throwing into lakes; splishing and glopping deliciously. 

Later we strode purposefully towards home with rose-bud cheeks and blackberry-juice lips! Such is the sweet innocence of an early October walk on your big brother's sixteenth Birthday.

Tiny And Out In The Sticks But Not Insignificant

Had a sweet visit to a most delightful little purpose-built museum for the housing of a collection of all things shell with my lovely colleague and the - all very good at drawing this year - students. 

This pretty Victorian lady with a charming innocent expression stands atop the glass cases with her own glass dome to protect her from the ravages of dust and intrigued fingers

I adore this beautifully crafted collage set on a gorgeous bright coral background sitting squarely between the two places that are artisan and kitch - fab!

It has given me a whole lot of inspiration.... There are little shell characters that remind me of souvenirs from by-the-sea-side holidays too

And lastly - look at these little things - baby toes - oh! Just adorable...the cotton wool...the preciousness of it all!