In case of emergency…

What’s in this gorgeous red tin then?  A selection of clever and beautiful cards by Jennifer Bishop of Architette Studios.

I stumbled across her work last year and fell in love with it, and my first crush was on her city skyline series.

Beautiful, detailed and elegant – what more could you want?

Jennifer also has a sense of humour, and I was also taken with her Sheeptails stuff.

Again, simple but elegant, and they bring a smile to your face.

I think my favourites are her Construction Cards.

There’s a huge range to choose from, and I selected my ten favourite ones to go in the tin.  The red tins are now sold out, but she’s got silver ones available for purchase.  The Emergency Correspondance Kit comes with a selection of cards for all occasions (birthdays, weddings, new babies…) as standard, but you can choose your own selection instead if you wish.

Beautiful work by a very talented artist, I highly recommend you go and take a look!

Read Full Post »

Get your pocket money ready…

… because this Saturday it’s The New Vintage!

If you’re going to be in London this weekend then please do stop by for a browse

Read Full Post »

The New Vintage

If you live in or near London then put 12th November in your diary and come along to The New Vintage:

Read Full Post »

Remember, remember the 12th of November…

…because The Gift Shed will be putting in an appearance at The New Vintage in Brixton.

A new craft market, The New Vintage will be held at the Living Bar – so you can enjoy a pint while you browse the wares of various designers.

I’ll post more information nearer the time, but for now you can trot across to The New Vintage to see who else will be taking part.

Read Full Post »

Alice & Willow

Today I continue in my new theme of recommending fellow crafters, although I think it would be more accurate to call this lady an artist.

Charlotte runs Alice & Willow, and she creates beautiful (and well made) corsets and skirts as well as wonderfully designed outfits.  She’s just getting ready to launch both her halloween collection and her autumn/winter collection for this year so I thought it was the opportune moment to showcase her wares.

 

A remarkable amount of work goes into each outfit.  The White Rabbit (above) is the most complicated design as it consists of the most complicated corset Charlotte makes – the Nymph lapel front design – and is a total of 7 pieces: a mini net underskirt, grey mini circle skirt, red bustle skirt, red panier side skirts, red bustle tail, Nymph corset and cropped jacket. Just as a point of interest, this outfit takes 20 hours to make, and the corset alone takes nearly 15 of those hours due to how complicated the design is.

Attention to detail also features heavily in Charlotte’s work.  The skirt on this Snow White outfit has parts of a poem embroidered on it, and tells a story if read.

Moving away from the fairytale theme there are these Black Swan  and White Swan outfits, inspired by the film.

To read more about Charlotte’s work please visit her blog or her page on Facebook.

Read Full Post »

Belle & the Bean

I thought it was about time I wrote about someone else’s creations, so today I’m going to tell you about a lovely lady called Lise.  I know Lise through a forum (Little Lost Lushies), and when not wrangling her truculent toddler she makes beautiful accessories from fabric.

This post is supposed to be an ode to Lise’s creative talents, but I can’t resist recommending her blog at this point.  How to be a Domestic Disgrace is a brilliant read – so go and take a look!

Anyway, back to the main point – Lise’s work.  She sells her creations at Belle & the Bean on Folksy.  Lots of gorgeous brooches, corsages and hair clips.  I generally don’t wear accessories, but earlier this year I was tempted into some hair clips that went perfectly with the dress I’d bought for my birthday, and last month I bought a brooch.

I couldn’t resist it.  Back in July I was lucky enough to pick up a lovely Boden jacket (brand new with tags!) for just £3 (yup, THREE) at a school fair.

I thought it was perfect as it was, but when I saw this brooch in Lise’s shop I knew I had to have it as the finishing touch.  Photograph shamelessly stolen from the Folksy listing…

I was right, it was the perfect touch and here’s a photo to prove it.

I should have taken a photo of me actually wearing the jacket but at the time of writing I’m in my pyjamas and can’t be bothered to get changed…

So, there we have it, the perfect accessory.  There are oodles of pretty things at Belle & the Bean and I can vouch for the quality of the work Lise does.  Go have a browse and treat yourself to something

Read Full Post »

Fifi’s Market – photos

A few photos from Fifi’s Market, held at The Rag Factory in E1 today.

Read Full Post »

Fifi’s Market – visitor information

When? Sunday 17th July 2011

Where? The Rag Factory, 16 Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ

What time? 10am until 4pm

More information?

http://www.fifismarkets.com/
FacebookTwitter

Read Full Post »

QPCS Summer Carnival

Today I attended the Summer Carnival at Queens Park Community School.  It was quite a lively day, with lots of things for people to do (a climbing wall and bucking bronco to name just a couple), and a flea market marquee at the back.  Unfortunately the marquee was right at the back, to the annoyance of myself and the other stallholders, so we didn’t get as much footfall as we’d have liked.  However, it was a nice day out (and I picked up some bargains at the bric-a-brac and vintage clothing stalls!), and I tried out another layout for my stall which allowed me to display my illustrations a bit better, so it wasn’t a wasted day.

Next event will be Fifi’s Market at The Rag Factory next Sunday (17th July):

The Rag Factory, 16 Heneage Street, London, E1 5LJ.  Click here for a map.

Fifi’s Markets is on Facebook and Twitter – please follow and help spread the word!

Read Full Post »

Kensal Flea – photos

Just a little update on yesterday’s events.  The Flea Market at the Paradise went rather well.  I had a cushy spot on the roof terrace (although I was opposite La Dinette, which meant that I spent much of the day catching glimpses of their tempting produce…), and although the weather was grey and overcast most of the day it did stay dry – hooray!

I was really pleased with my stall as I’ve finally come up with an effective way of displaying my notebooks.  In the past I’ve just arranged them directly on the table (take a peek here to see what I mean), which has been a nightmare as it tended to look like a jumble sale after a few customers had a rummage through.

About a month ago I came into possession of some vintage drawers (I was actually offered the whole desk, but didn’t have room for it!), and I hit upon the brainwave of using those to house my books.  They’re attractive in and of themselves, they allow customers to flick through the books (much as you’d flick through DVDs or CDs in a shop), and they make the transportation of my stock and the setting up of my stall really quick and easy, as I can arrange all the books at home and then just transport them in the drawers themselves.  Perfect!

It was a successful day out (many thanks to Juliet Kinsman who organised it), and I’m looking forward to the next one which will be on 9th July at Queens Park Community School.

Read Full Post »