hello little man

my friend drew , who i have never actually met or spoke to,(don't worry he's not imaginary) has a really brilliant etsy vintage shop called kitsch cafe.. and just today he has made it all stupidly festive by adding this little guy... and i love him, (santa, not drew, i havent met him remember)...... and he lights up... what more could you want...

i love old stuff

i love searching etsy for vintage posters and just saw these, i LOVE THEM.. they are from here, the car ones my favorite, the colours and the graphics are just lots of fun...

im outfit of the week

one of the dresses i made has just been featured in outfit of the week, over at carry me home, my main stockist, it that there London town.. nice picture ain't it...

first snow

the last few days around here have seen the first snow of this winter, and according to the news that seems to think snow is headline grabbing stuff, its the earliest snowfall for decades... in this country we get a few inches and its chaos, whilst in other places around the world that get far more, they just seem to get on with it... but it still looks lovely and I'm not complaining.. let it snow let it snow let it snow....

such a warm picture

i just saw this here, and its so nice and is just like my ikea curtains that i have in my room...

i know bunting is everywhere now and has been for some time, but i still want to make my own.. one day soon i will...

i love this

simple as that, i just think this is bloody lovely... and its from here

busy busy

the last few weeks i have been working much harder than i really like, i actually don't much like working at all, but that stuff printed on paper i suppose wont make itself.. so i have to work to get it.. and all this activity that saw steam rising from my sewing machine was for the markets i have been doing recently and this weekend i went a ridiculously fancy country house hotel to take part in a Christmas fair.. this was my stall, i really liked how it looked.. i didn't sell much really,it seems that cupcakes and jams are what most people will be getting this year as those stalls almost sold out..

i love this

this is from one of my favorite etsy shops, the wheatfield and i think i might just have to buy it..

i certainly dont seize every day, but i try to.. this print might just make it easier.

i love these

so its already in every shop and nearly every advert on TV is telling us about what deals can be had this year , yeah so its pretty much Christmas already, i have already consumed many many mince pies and i think my mam would put up our tree and decorate every surface now if she could, and i was just browsing around vintage etsy and saw these and they are so very lovely, and i love them, so there..

they can be found here in this shop.. dont tempt me

first market done...

so as i said a few posts ago, i took part in my first market this weekend, and well, lets just say i learnt lots. firstly, where the stalls were positioned was rubbish, away from the main Halloween activities, and the weather was so horrible with lots of rain, BUT i did sell some dresses and i covered all costs, which was good.

when i do the next one i will know what to expect. i now know how big the table is, how big the stall that the table goes in is, and how to set up the stall to make it look good.

and mainly i learnt not to forget chairs... it would have been a very long dull day without having borrowed a chair from a neighbouring stall. so it certainly wasn't brilliant, but I'm confident, and hopeful that things can only get better.. god i hope they can.

my favorite model

meet Scarlett, again, i first introduced her here, and just look at her now. on my recent trip back to London i gave her a dress i made and here she is showing it off like seasoned pro... i love how well coordinated she is...

just imagine how many lovely things ill be able to make her as she grows up...i cant wait..

busy busy

this last few weeks all i have been doing is making dresses, then some more dresses, you see this weekend its the first market I'm doing since i joined made in cumbria, there was once a time when i was a regular stall holder down in London, and i loved it.

but its been so long that I'm panicking ill forget something crucial.. like bags for people to put things in.. or change to give them if they don't pay the exact amount. but look, dont the ones i have made look good hanging together.. I'm doing 6 more markets before Christmas and will add more products as the weeks go by, but for now my 30 dresses will do just fine..

oh and please pray it does not rain, the weather has been miserable here the last few days...

let there be light

i saw this today in a shop in keswick, in the lake district, and i want to do it in my house.. i have seen it before in magazines and on blogs but having now seen this in person i want my own cluster of vintage shades hanging from my ceiling, definitely one for the memory bank of future must do's.

i love these

i was just rummaging around the biggest vintage store in the world, or at least my favorite one.. yeah I'm talking about etsy... and i sometimes just type into the search box random words to see what comes up, and today i put in education and i saw lots of lovely things but my heart was mainly stolen by this globe.. i love it... but don't need it and probably not going to buy it but i will love it forever... its from mila treasures

comissioned

i was asked by a friend of mine to make a personalised gift for her friends new baby girl and this what i came up with.. i have done a few of these birds now and really enjoy bringing them to life.. the legs are always the last things i paint on, and only then are they ready to fly...

and i made a soft toy also, i really want to start making toys again, but i dont have enough pairs of hands to do that.. just in this last few weeks 3 new shops have asked about my dresses so im up to my eye balls in them.. useless etsy does not work for me but at least other places like them... anyway here is the toy..

lovely accessories

i think this fabric is one of my absolute favorites, its the accessories lovers dream design with shoes bags hats and many more items all in one.. and when made into a cute little dress it looks even better. i have been buying lots of fabric recently because of the Christmas markets coming up soon, I'm building up a good stock ready to sell.. or hope to sell ? and i know this print will prove most popular.

they are now in the shop

new ink

i got my new tattoo today and i love it, its exactly as i wanted it to be, clean and unfussy, the stars and words are new, the tribal style band part is ancient, and if anything represents the old me... the words here are so important to me and are part of a phrase that i read daily.. i blogged about it here some months ago and knew i wanted it not only to be in my head but part of me..

and I'm very happy with the end result, it flows around my arm really nicely, and i don't care what anyone says tattoos bloody hurt... but worth it..

i love these

i like nothing better than looking through etsy at vintage books and ephemera, especially childrens books, and i love these , i want them on my wall, framed or just propped up on my shelf.. should i ?... ill have a think, they are from here

no longer in love

so i am back from 3 days in London, and for the first time ever i couldn't wait to leave, i lived there somehow for nearly 13 years, and towards the end couldn't wait to get out, i just now find it a hectic crazy busy place that actually just drives me slightly mental, getting around is just hard work, the public transport sucks and its just not home to me anymore, and never will be again I'm sure. maybe i was rushing about too much trying to fit in everything i had to do and all the people i wanted to see ?. ill always go back to visit friends but will always be happy in the knowledge i can leave. so for now here are some of the sights i snapped with my little trusty phone camera.

can you guess which of the above images is my favourite one...

from top to bottom, 1,2 and 3 greenwich antiques market, 4, all the fun of the fair, 4, john lewis, 6, fur coat no knickers, 7, view from window on way home

im in the big city

I'm back in London for a few days visiting friends and doing some essential shopping... fabric shops watch out I'm coming....(liberty and john lewis i love you) is it wrong to spend birthday vouchers on fabric that i can turn into things that ill sell for more profit ?.. or should i buy pants ?.. but my main reason for coming back to this stupidly busy place is to meet and greet a new box fresh tiny baby, and if course i had to make him some gifts, first a picture for his wall with his name on...

and secondly he needs his own happy accident to play with, so he got an extra special one with a big letter Z on the back,and a few extra ribbons in its hair..

i cant wait to meet him, and ill take some pics of him with his things, hes 2 weeks old now so surely he can sit up and pose with his gifts right...

im very jealous..

don't know if i told you this but years ago i used to own a shop with some friends in central London, it was so exciting and something I'm gagging to do again.. but for now I'm sharing the excitementt of my friend Zoe from love from Hetty and Dave who is about to open her very own shop.. and this pic was taken just as she moved in.. i think it was already there but it so reminds me of my shop as we had one too, it hid our tiny cupboard full of rubbish... every shop should have one....

im getting inked,

isn't that what the cool kids say, inked ?.. well in just over a weeks time im finally getting a long thought about tattoo, i already have one around my wrist, and i have for a long time wanted to add to it, and this picture is just a tiny part of my design, my right arm will never be the same and i cant wait..i will of course blog about it once its all nice and healed... you dont want to see it all bloody and sore do you ?

i love these..

im already stockpiling a list of faves over on etsy for potential xmas gifts for myself and i love these from pepper beaumont, feel free to buy me the no place like home one, thanks very much..

a cape fit for any super hero

its not just superman who needs a cape, small tiny girls do too, so i made them one.. OK i actually started making these last year and they sold so well in the shop in London where i sell lots of things, that i have started them again now that there is a nip in the air and a few leaves are falling from them there trees.they are roomy enough for arms to freely throw snowballs and will easily fit up to 4-5 yrs.. i love making them so expect to see more here soon.