summer...vintage crafts...lakes

Saturday...hot...summer...sun...a trip to Penrith in summery clothes...where in the Evergreen Hall we found Nostalgia Meets Design... beautiful vintage craft fair...and daughter mine and I made a few lovely purchases...could have bought everything! note to self...next time prepare mentally for such deliciousness...need to follow intensive training programme by going to many more such delightful crafty affairs!!

 

I have wanted a Priscilla Jones piece for ages...and I finally treated myself...isn't it beautiful...

 

and a wee delicate teacup and saucer...just to look at...

and now we're ready for the Jubilee thanks to Cool Crafting...who also do fab crafty workshops

then for a good rummage in all the local charity shops...picked up a yummy picnic lunch (have you tried Five the wholefood cafe run by Mind in Penrith?)and then drove to Ullswater...found a little private spot and lazed and ate...daughter mine is sooo brave, wetsuit on and into the water with many shrieks about how cold it was! a tranquil afternoon, hot with a breeze...could have just done with a hammock....note to self..always carry a hammock in the car in case of opportunity...

a small boat and the steamer...a gentle hint of Swallows and Amazons...


 
cold (very!) water on a hot hot day...

perfect picnic spot by cool lapping water...

tall trees and dappled shade...

and wildlife...can you spot the woodpecker?

a mermaid on the rock...and a little extreme crocheting?...well al fresco...happiness is making wherever you are...

hope it's still summery where you are..even if it's just in your head!xx

It's Friday...it's summer..and I'm loving...

that I am now a freelance textile artist...as from 1st May I am self employed...so everything I do is towards my own 'Starship Enterprise'...I decided I don't like the word business...too much like 'men (or women) in suits...so husband of patience suggested the word 'enterprise' which I like very much as it's so broad in meaning and much more positive sounding... so here goes...

that it's Friday so down-shift husband is at home...actually he works to make sure he gets a weekend, and he has done the shopping since I broke my wrist (one of the many positive aspects of that my dears! must remember to tell him when it's better...)

that being self-employed may mean lots of work at strange hours and being responsible totally for my own income...but I can go and sit in the sun anyime I feel like it!!  and I can sit and work in the garden too if I hand sew...or plan...or read up on my next venture...

that breakfast was outside again in pjs' with NO fleece or hat or socks... such a pleasure as it is so warm, sunny and has that wonderful smell of summer...

that it was so lovely yesterday i just lay on the grass and shut my eyes and listened to the birds and felt the sun on my face...and the chickens pecking my feet...

that there's a lovely craft fair at Penrith this weekend as a treat...

Nostagia Meets Design at the Evergreen Rooms, Bluebell Lane Penrith...can't wait to go and see all the lovely makers including my favourite Priscilla Jones...

   

that we are going to have a lovely family weekend when daughter mine gets home from school...hope she's not too hot and tired...

and now I'd better 'step away from the computer' and go and get on with my enterprise...get down to the studio full of lovely fabrics and textiles and get on with my machine embroidery and making... Woolfest won't wait! I love what I do and do what I love...

hope you all have a wonderful sunny relaxed weekend too...

making at the studio workshops...

here we go again...making lovely things.. trying something new...exploring our creativity...meeting new people...in a beautiful relaxing place...having fun...eating homemade cake too...mmm what's not to like? 

click Making at the Studio for more info or leave a comment...

I just love it so maybe you will too...printmaking, making a handmade book, sewing, free machine embroidery, crochet, applique....

keep calm and keep sewing...

...Woolfest is now only a few weeks away and I'm sewing and making and trying to remain steady...keeping my fingers crossed...which can make sewing a leetle challenging...trying to blog and facebook and make business cards and design my stall and...make a few choice items to sell...

it's funny how pulling out one lot of fabric and starting to make and sew one item...leads to a studio full of...well it may look like chaos but it all makes sense to me....I think!

  

meanwhile the weather has been bright and sunny luring me out into the garden and along the road for fresh air...spring is moving into early summer, despite being cold the flowers keep coming...don't you just love May for the freshness and greenness and hopeful delights of early summer it brings...makes you just want to lie down among the frothy cow parsley and disappear from the world for a while...

so many simple wild flowers to see in the verges and hedgerows...

just remember.. there is all the time in the world...

 
and if you look carefully there's always something to makes you smile...

hope something makes you smile this weekend...xx

cakes...crafts and scarecrows...

and still more cakes...well done the cake bakers and craft makers and all the other events at the Dean Arts and Scarecrow Festival...so great to see lots of families and young and old out and about on bikes and on foot and in cars taking part and supporting a local community event!

oh and my stall at the craft fair..looked very happy!

some of my favourite scarecrows...and there were soo many more amazing clever and funny exhibits...it's amazing what people hatch over the long winter months in the pub...and then put such a lot of effort into their creations...

I think this one should win the star prize...I mean...a horse that looked so like a horse you really thought it was coming over the wall into the road!

slight bias with this one...as our Guides made them!! fantastic!

 and our Leader..Lyn..very lifelike! bit worried she's on the drink again...told her to stick to orange juice...

perhaps HM should have the last word...as it's her Jubilee maybe she should win?!