Friday 29 March 2013

Selvedge Report

The second part of my crafty weekend last weekend was spent at the Selvedge craft fair in Chelsea Old Town Hall. The hall was really beautiful, more grand than I was expecting, and it was laid out well, giving each artist / crafter a nice amount of space. I didn't give every stall a close look as I had the baby with me and she was a bit fidgety so I spent most of my time at tables that quickly caught my eye, like Jess Quinn's table. I think her work stole the show for me. I just love her dolls! They each have so much character, and the details are really amazing.

Sunday 24 March 2013

Pastel Pretties

Whew, that was a fun weekend! Selina Lake's Pretty Pastel Style book signing and fair was wonderful as was the Selvedge fair, but first Selina's day! I had never been to Kingston Upon Thames, which is quite a distance from our neighborhood, but one bus and two train rides with baby in tow were worth it. When your toes are almost numb and your skin feels like a tight rubber band from freezing wind whipping it, nothing's better than being greeted with a room full of tea and cake that's coated in soft, sweet colors, filled with flowers, draped in cheerful bunting, and packed with pretty handmade gifts of all sorts. And of course it was great to meet Selina and get a signed copy of her new book! The book is so pretty and filled with inspiring ideas. Here's a peek into my pretty pastel visit...

Thursday 21 March 2013

A Crafty London Weekend

This weekend is going to be packed with craft fair goodness, starting tomorrow with Selina Lake's book launch and craft fair. The Selvedge spring Fair is this weekend as well, actually Friday and Saturday, which I'm really looking forward to. Just check out these exhibitors! And then there's the Country Living fair. I probably won't go to that one as I'm likely to be pooped by then, but if it interests you, it looks like it might be fun. Photos to come...

Wednesday 20 March 2013

London Days with My Mom

I had a great time while my mom was in town, but, alas, she's gone home now. While she was here though we had a great time. I took her back to some of her favorite places, Liberty being on the top of that list, and my mom also loved Islington, which is a great neighborhood. In Islington we went to a handful of places but the highlights were Ottolenghi (delicious food), the Camden Passage Market (small but nice antique market though too expensive for me), Loop (a wonderful knitting shop!), and Maison d'etre, (which has the best coffee in Islington and is adorable too). My mom loved every place we went to in Islington. We could have easily spent more than one day there. We also went to Ray Stitch, which is a fabric store and cafe and where I look forward to taking a class sometime in the future.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Decorating and Making (trying to anyway!)

I'm still working on making our place more homey. The front room is coming along, finally! It was a complete mess a few weeks ago. Uh, see below, slobs!

Saturday 2 March 2013

Sew Over It

Last week I finished my first dress-making class! I've been wanting to sew a dress for myself for a few years now, and I have some patterns, but I'm always so intimidated by patterns and sewing terms I'm not familiar with that when it comes to actually doing it, I end up setting it aside and working on something else. I even had a "how to read a pattern" one on one session with someone a few months ago to help me get started, and I STILL felt intimidated to get started. I've made a few dresses for Lois, but girls dresses are quite easy in that they don't really have to fit well anywhere beyond the shoulders. So if you mess up a little, it hardly matters. And the dresses I've made for her were incredibly easy.