It must be nice to swim with the Fishes...

 JUMBLE SALES - Rural Life still clings to it's long established fund raising traditions. People queue from far and wide to come to the annual WI Jumble Sale. The WI ladies have their own 'areas' and i don't think that order has been deviated from since time began. I forgot to thank Mary (on the coats and accessories table) for her large bag of fantastic pine cones she dropped round last week.

 I had to fight the WI Crockery Lady for this set of Staffordshire SUN plates (in yummy heavy glazed pottery) and the jug is just heart warmingly cheerful.

Dinner plates were specifically on my list of "Things to look out for at the Jumble Sale" so i was well chuffed with my little self. I had filled my bag with lambswool pullovers and Old Man trousers (for gardening) plus a Laura Ashley fabric wad (all on my list) and Marjorie was just emptying this lot from the 'box under the table' as i was leading my way out of the hall. MaFish and i don't need to communicate in words - she just took my heavy bag swiftly from me as i needed two elbows to get into the scrum and grab the crockery. It is years of fine tuning that makes a great salvaging team like this.

Please don't think i changed any names here - *any resemblance to real names and actual persons is not purely conincidence but actual and quite bewildering* sometimes i have to pinch myself that this Rural Community does really exist... because it feels like we all fell out of a Joanna Trollope novel.

 And i love the fact that they kept a box of stuff back to give to my mum later (for a future fund raising event) as they thought it was "too good for the Jumble Sale dearie"

And we looked inside to find OUR OWN donations that we had given to the Jumble Sale!

We chuckled.

 Later that day, back at home, and i helped PaFish with the shelving in the studio, inbewteen cooking 'Coq au Riesling' for supper. Give it 2 weeks and i *think* we are ready to start moving stuff in (don't jinx it Kirsty.... don't speak too soon....)

And, at the end of a wonderfully normal day, MaFish and SmallFish performed their very own, not very well rehearsed, chaotic and vastly amusing, CLOWN show :)

SmallFish's teacher said to us last week "It must be nice to live in her world" (i think she meant her internal world, ya know...) but it got me thinking... yes, it is nice to live in our world. Whatever happens, if we lost everything we own tomorrow. We'd still have each other. It is nice to swim with the Fishes for sure xxx



What a Difference a Day Makes.... less than 24 little hours.....

 Really, the story needs little narrative.

I moved house. I needed studio.

I built one in the garden, with a little help from some Men.

 Ben laid the concrete base, with some help from Tom.

Steve discussed the requirements we had and Dave made sure it was pre-built to Spec.

 Dish #1 made sure all the wooden parts arrived and were put in the correct places.

 Dish #2 wore a fantastic Tool Belt and did stuff with insulation and electrics.

I was sitting in the garden, over on the swing, with a cup of coffee and my zoom lense....

 'Dishes' left the site and Ma & PaFish came to Ooohh and Aaahhhh at the beautiful Wood smelling, Willow Green structure with whitewash windows *sigh* tis too cute.

(i am feeling inspired to write children's books now)

 Exit the Men - Here come the Fish...

 Yep, the door works.

Yep, the window works.

 Yep that nasty garden chair in the foreground needs to go the tip....

 Now PaFish needs to design a racking / shelving system that allows us maximum work and storage space. He loves this bit.

And yes indeed, too many Pennies from Heaven have been spent. I must get on with sanding down an old cutting table and getting the floor sorted.

Cheesy Grin.

Life, Business, Loving, Living.... must all begin again.

Come on in....!

 A brief tour of a few moments in my home....

Welcome to 'The Office'. We call this 'The Office' with a wry comedic smile because we are sooo funny and ironic in my family.

 Most of the Living Room is, in fact, completely taken over by my life, my business.

I feel immense GUILT that you might not even know a child lives here. I have pushed out all domesticity from our cosy abode

 And me.... sat at the LapTop trying to get my business back on track...

(should I cut my hair again? I hardly recognise myself)

Meanwhile, this pile of Cememt Mix and Ballast is all i have of my *real* office / studio.

Sat in bags on the drive, it feels like a long way off right now.

 And life waits.... stacked up against walls.... waiting for the business to move out of our home and into a place where i can shut the door on it when i need to.

I never thought i would miss looking at my pictures soooo much! Strange, the pictures of our life that we come to rely on seeing, day in / day out. maybe a shake up is what we all need now and again?

 Knick Knacks of life and living seem to be sat,  shelved,  waiting for 'the time' to begin again.

I have been most amazed at how much junk i can quickly amass... and how little i actually need in my life to get on.

 A wooden Memory Box, salvaged from my deceased Great Aunt some 10 years ago.

Yet another thrifted suitcase... ( i swear, they breed in my house)

Upcycled cupboard unit. Was a white GPlan and is now a vintage-y Sage colour with pretty glass-look handles. This was a quick job that made me so much happier.

I spy... oh yes, ANOTHER vintage suitcase, balanced upon boxes of unpacked stuff and stock for the shop....

i was really looking forward to moving in and starting my new life...

Moving OUT was fairly swift in all it's practicalities.

Moving IN seems to be taking forever.

This is for you my dear x a sneak peek.

Craft Exhibition - Boddington, South Northants

As promised, i took a few photos of my display at the Art & Craft exhibition over the weekend.

It was a really long weekend - 10am till 4pm on both days, which is exhausting but it means i can put up a really nice display... which i enjoy!

The above 2 are quilts that i have made recently. The floral extravaganza is made from 14 different Cath Kidston fabrics. It is available in PaperFish.etsy.com and will be in my *new* shop http://www.lovepaperfish.com/

The animal baby boy Cot Quilt was a real success.

On the wall at the back here - i displayed the quilt i am currently making for my daughter. I had alot of nice comments and chats with craft and fabric fans - about colour choices and getting projects 'finished'!

I used lots of my vintage homewares and a pot of yellow Gerberas to help make my display stand ZING!

These are also new... The above are 12 scallop pennants i call "Artisan Bunting" with each scallop a different mix of linens with hand embroidered and machine stitched embellishments. These were really popular and i have plans to make many more. They are designed for the grown-up bunting and craft lover, to hang on shelves or on a mantlepiece. I am so proud of these and can't wait to develop this idea.

I hung mixed bunting all across the ehibition room too. It was a real 'country fair' english shabby feel and the reactions from the public was so much fun. Sometimes when i sit and 'make' in isolation i worry that people won't enjoy the same things that i do. It is a great feeling to get positive reactions and sales. Also to chat with people who always supply me with new ideas (Thanks Juliet for the Pockets Thing!) 

Vintage suitcases to add height and interest and because i love them and because i can carry my products easily in suitcases. I sold many lavender cushions which was such a compliment.

I also put out books and magazines and freebies on the stall to help engage people in conversation aswell as set 'the scene'..... i even sold some Christmas Decorations this weekend! i apologised for my prematurity but customers were easy to forgive me and liked to see what new Christmas 2010 stock is on it's way.....

Mini Lavender and Clove cushions with off-cuts of Cath Kidston fabrics... the smell!

And i had a small area to sell some supplies were i put a portfolio of me and my work and also displayed my sketch book and all the craft artciles i have written.
All in all it was fun. I took some money and people loved their 'finds'. I chatted much about sewing and crafts and patchwork and .... ahhh, so much other stuff.
Thanks for looking - hope it inspires you a bit xxx