Talking Japanese!

I've been feeling a bit like Charlie-Boy the last few days, a bit worn out and just wanting to curl up. On Tuesday, I could resist no longer and a little trip to a certain emporium on Northcote Road saw me finally giving in to this delicious bedding, aided by a few of my hard earned pennies from the Fair. Charlie-Boy obviously approves!

Meanwhile, the old Miele had been taking a bit of a battering and some machine felting of the woollen blankets I bought in Ludlow has been taking place. One blanket is now a rather stunning shade of bright pink, one half of the other blanket has been left au naturel and the remaining half has turned a fetching turquoisey green. Although this half blanket was the correct weight to supposedly achieve the full bright turquoise colour shown on the packet, it actually came out as this jadey green and I think it's rather lovely. One of those funny quirks, had I wanted to dye the blanket this exact shade it would have proved impossible, no doubt!

Yummy.

I soon got to work chopping up a bit of the pink blanket and for what better cause than mine and the beloved's anniversary of the day we met 5 years ago. Only five?!

I enjoyed myself using the pink felted wool, my fave fabric which I bought from Donna at the Fair last Saturday, along with some vintage trims and buttons, also mainly bought from the Fair. I also tried out the lovely coloured ink pads I bought at the Country Living Fair - yes, yet more turquoise and pink!

I can't help thinking this would make a fabulous brooch...

Meanwhile, when we got back home on Sunday, I was very excited to find a little packet from Japan lingering in the porch. It contained this lovely book...

I first saw this via Jane's blog, Posy, and thought I needed to treat myself to it straight away!

It never ceases to amaze me just how fantastic the postal service is between here and Japan, a mere 5 days and you have your goodies.

So, Jane and Lucy (and anyone else waiting for this book,) look away if you don't want your surprise to be spoiled because I can't help but to show you a few pages and share the gorgeousness.

The projects are a mixture of knitting and crochet. The colours used are lovely and have you ever seen such fabulously simple but gorgeous styling?

Now the only little problem, which you may have guessed given the book comes from Japan, is that it is written in Japanese. Oh!

I also dislike the fact that the first half of the book is entirely made of page after page of lovely photos of the projects but that leaves all the instructional pages to the end so I forever found myself flicking between the photo page and the instructions page whilst I was crocheting away.

There are diagrams at the back of the book. Thank goodness because quite obviously, the Japanese writing is complete gobbledygook to me!

That said, I am still struggling to work out some of the diagrams, although I do normally like working from the stitch diagrams. I had a go at what I thought looked like the most understandable (easy!) project and I admit to winging a bit of it but I think it has turned out ok...

It was larger than I expected. I used a number 4 hook and mainly Rowan cotton DK. I have also blocked it to try and make it a bit more stiff and regular in shape (which has worked).

I bought my book on Etsy from here.

There are lots of lovely Japanese craft books in this store but I think I need to master this book before I move on to any more!

Buntylicious

Hello everyone. Sunny with you today? Well it's sunny here and I've had a rather nice day, you know. Nothing in particular, just pottering. Not sure I'd go so far as to say "domestic bliss" however!

I have a little quiz for you, today. Will you play along? What do you get when you take...

...some outrageously gorgeous vintage fabrics?

...some plain white cotton tape?

...and your trusty sewing machine?

This. Of course.

Or this.

Maybe this.

Definitely this!

You may recall that I made some bunting to edge my stall at the Fair last week. The fabrics are mainly from the divine Donna combined with some "repurposed" embroidered vintage linens (thank you, Mandy, for those). As I strung the bunting up on the shelves for my stall during my "practise run", my sister said, "You do know people are going to want to buy this?" And what did one of my very first customers on Saturday morning say: "Do you sell this bunting?" whilst eagerly fondling my beloved mini bunting!

I was pretty shattered after the Fair; the long drive in horrendous weather, a busy day (thankfully), the awful mattress of course, not forgetting my antics last week with my sister. I put things away on Monday, then did a spot of crochet but by later in the afternoon, I'd revived a bit and could no longer ignore the lure of the sewing machine. I obviously got a bit carried away (who? Me? Surely not?) cutting out the little triangles because once I'd made my bunting for the Fair, I had lots of little triangles left over.

So I turned to the pile of little triangles. But of course, I had added new fabrics to my stash at the Fair at the weekend so a bit more snipping went on.

And there you have it, the Den has gone all buntylicious!

There's some on the shelves in the corner which house the stash...

But there was some left over...

...so the mantelpiece got a bit too!

It's fabulous stuff, this mini bunting. I get to use some of my most beloved and beautiful vintage fabrics but I only have to use a leeeetle bit and there they are, on display right in front of me, everyday. When I finally use up each lovely piece of precious fabric (GULP!) I'll always be able to look at my mini bunting and remember. Ahhhh...

The Vintage and Handmade Fair

Hello my friends! This blog is brought to you courtesy of my hotel bed here in Chipping Sodbury! I'd like to be asleep but this is truly the worst mattress I've ever experienced. Anyway, enough of all that, onto the exciting stuff! Yesterday was of course, the day of the Fair. We battled our way from London to Chipping Sodbury on Friday evening, and it truly was a battle, with the most horrendous driving conditions, but luckily the morning of the Fair dawned clear and dry and we were at the hall to set up at 8am prompt. Most of my fellow stall holders were already out in force too. We're a dedicated bunch!

The Fair was, I'm glad to report, a resounding success. There was a remarkable turn-out of eager shoppers, especially given the horrendous weather conditions (yes, the rain and gales returned in the afternoon), and I take my hat off to those who battled the conditions. I chatted to all my customers and most had come specifically to visit the Vintage and Handmade Fair and were not going to be put off by the weather. The morning saw a particularly brisk trade and I was glad of a little respite in the afternoon to be able to visit all the gorgeous stalls and have a good natter with people. I even bought some goodies this time, hooray! I was able to put a face to several names, lovely folk I have met through blogging, including Pomona, Kelly and Victoria, Isabelle and of course, her lovely daughter Phoebe who kept the Munchkin amused. Thanks to you all for coming to chat, and to purchase, too! I do hope you all had a lovely time. I am pretty certain no one will have gone away empty handed. Before I forget, a massive thank you to Jayne and Michele who put such a lot of effort in behind the scenes to make the Fair the success it is.

Well, the good news is that this time, the stall was all set up and organised a good quarter of an hour before lift-off so I was able to rush round and take some snaps to share the Fair with you. I also love looking back at these photos between Fairs, they keep me going until the next! I haven't posted links to everyone's stalls because I'm a bit pushed for time but if you would like to visit the website for the Fair, you will find links to all the stall holder's blogs and web shops there.

Here is the lovely Lucy's stall, we were neighbours...

Nicky of The Vintage Magpie was opposite(ish) and I lusted over her gorgeous handmade furry friends. Sorry this photo is blurred but it's better than none?!

Cute elephants...

Ravishing rabbits!

Onto the stall of Clare at Daisy Darling with her stunning hats and pins. Her stall looked beautiful.

Next we find Jane of Country Cottage Chic, one of two ladies whom we have to thank for setting up the Fair in the first place, and here you can see her lovely array of unique vintage goodies...

Into the lounge, I have to confess that I dived on the marvellous Donna's stall. It looked so fab with those painted apple crates. Luckily, I took this photo (and snatched up some fabrics!) before the Fair opened to the public because by the end of the day, Donna's stall looked like it had been ransacked!

This is (I think) Lizzie, The Washerwoman's, stall. A display of vintage goodies...

I only have a little snippet of Amanda (Shabby Chick's) stall. I was too busy ogling everything and chatting about Totnes (where Amanda has a regular market stall)!

Here is Daniella's stall of Acorn & Will. She had some lovely vintage Christmas items - I'd already indulged in some on Wednesday as Daniella had a stall at the Country Living Fair, too.

Back into the main hall now, here we have the stall of Viv of Hen's Teeth, such beautiful things that Viv creates, truly unique is her style. A few goodies popped into the HenHouse shopping bag from there!

Here we have Michele's stall, the second brain we have to thank for being behind the Vintage & Handmade Fair concept. Look at the dazzling array of vintage toys with which no modern counterpart could possibly compete...

Next to Michele, was the lovely Sal of Sal's Snippets with her stunning display of papercrafts and also, lovely sewn and crocheted goodies. Definitely the prize winner for most colourful and festive stall.

Here is Annie's stall of A Saucerful of Secrets with her stunning needlefelted creations.

I particularly loved the owl and the pussycat..

Next door was to be found Niki, of Nostalgia at the Stonehouse fame. Her stall was laden with lovely items, both vintage and handmade.

And then we have Sue from Vintage to Victorian with her ever-so-tempting display of vintage treasures...

Last but not least, we've done a full circular of the hall now and find ourselves here...

Yes, hello, there I am, tucked away looking pink behind all the errm, pinkness!

I was very pleased with the way my stall looked. It didn't seem too crammed in this time but I hope there was still plenty to attract people's eyes. I was thrilled to receive so many lovely comments about the things I had made and the set-up of my stall.

The cake stands were a resounding success.

Mr HH cleverly nipped onto the stage at the front to take a picture of the stall from above. Look at all my lovely shoppers!

So there you have it, a fabulous day, many many items finding new homes, new acquaintances made, old friends chatted to and of course, the added bonus of a few pennies to spend on treats for me!

I do have some lovely items remaining for any of you who missed the Fair and fancy treating yourself or making an inroad into your Christmas shopping list. I'll be trying to list those soon but now, I really must get up for breakfast! Most importantly, a date for the diary, 1st MAY 2010. If you are reading this and are sorry you missed out, I know you'll be wanting to come to the next Fair and if you came yesterday, I'd be pretty confident (and hopeful!) that I'll be seeing you in May!

It's (Virtually) Here!

Hello dear people. Well, I can't believe we're here, six months has passed and tomorrow is the big day, the day of the fabulous Vintage and Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury. My deepest hope is that you shall be coming along and I'll be able to meet you in person, I'm very excited to meet those of you who have indeed told me you are coming. You'll find the HenHouse stand in the main hall in the back right hand corner, manned by the motley crew: yours truly, Mr HH and the Munchkin.

Today, I am a little like the proverbial headless chicken. I walked my sister back to the station, discovered that WH Smith no longer sell chalk, grrrrr, paid a hard-earned £12.01 customs charge to Royal Mail to release my fabric from America and promptly got soaked in a torrential rain storm on the way home. I started making my choccy traybake to take to the Fair and my scales informed me that the batteries were flat and were not going to weigh a thing. Aaarrgghh! I am so very glad that we spent yesterday getting organised as I just knew today would throw up unforeseen problems. We did a bit of a mock-up of my stall and then packed everything away and loaded the car ready. There was some last minute sewing, too, as my sister informed me the table needed some Princess and the Pea pictures. If they don't sell, she's going to be having two more pictures on her wall, I can tell you!

I'm really pleased with the way my stall is looking. I've put a lot more thought into "the look" this time. I am however, disappointed with the photos of it because it was late afternoon by the time we had finished playing shop and so they really do not do the stall justice, in my humble opinion. Might you like to see anyway?

It might look a bit different in terms of where the crib is placed and I also have another little set of vintage shelves to place but I will need to see what space I have around the table when I get to the hall tomorrow morning.

Here's a vintage suitcase our neighbour at the cottage gave to us, providing a great, handy spot to house my patriotic selection of goodies. Harold has popped in there too!

His contemporaries are in the crib, nestled amongst some pretty cushions...

Although one has escaped onto the table! I have my board again (thriftily fashioned from an old frame from the car boot sale and a cork board from a charity shop) to show off some pretty brooches and corsages and I'm taking along the basket Vanessa gave to me, it's so yummy!

Here's the little vintage suitcase I picked up in Bridport housing all the pretty vintage fabric wheat/lavender sacks. I finally found some chalk at the supermarket earlier on so that I can write my prices on those little blackboard signs.

But I am really chuffed with this section.

We bought these shelves from a stall at a village fete in Dorset back in the Summer and I've just this week given them a pink make-over. I've made some cute mini bunting from vintage cloths and fabrics to adorn the edges.

I have two cottage pictures for sale. They are really time consuming to make so I'm not sure anymore will follow!

I have a great selection of gorgeous vintage teacup candles with either lavender, rose, lily or a very appropriate Christmas spice scent. They make a fab Christmas present in their gift boxes with their own dinky fabric-covered boxes of matches.

That ever-talented other half of mine has come up trumps making these gorgeous cake stands with vintage china plates. We have just three of these, all with different plates, patterns and colour schemes.

So, my friends, there you have it. I hope you think it looks pretty and enticing...

My heartfelt apologies to everyone who has emailed me recently, sent me gifts and been in touch. I just don't know where the time has gone and I am so behind in replying to everyone, a situation I shall rectify next week. Now, I'm going to try to finish off a couple of pairs of wristies for my stall because it seems you have taken them dearly to your hearts!

Have a wonderful weekend - that's an order!

Shop, Shop, Shop

Hello readers, here I am, golly am I exhausted after a very full-on day, yesterday. Sister dear is currently in residence at the HenHouse so off we went, shopping bags, tickets and a few pennies at the ready. Might I explain that this is going to be a quick blog post as I really am very busy at the moment, with that fair just around the corner! Off we go then...

This is a bit of fun isn't it? Carnaby Street is currently decorated in a very glitzy style; couldn't resist a picture for you.

But our real destination was here...

Have you guessed yet?

Ah yes, good old Liberty. We always have to go there when Adele comes to stay! The window display at the moment is fabby. Loving this foxy lady!

Equally taken with this patriotic window display.

In we go then, and you are pretty much stopped in your tracks by this...

Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones fame has designed a collection for Liberty (really not to my tastes at all), and this display showcases his designs. Hmm, let's move on!

Before we get to the haberdashery department, we stop to admire this lovely (very expensive) selection of cushions.

They are made from vintage fabrics, the large ones like this one, are made from vintage scarves. Lovely but at over £100 beyond a modest budget!

We loved this tile but at £30(ish), that was also beyond our reach.

Satisfied after an hour of oohing and aahing over the Kaffe Fassett fabrics, the Liberty Tana lawn and the Rowan yarns, we left and enjoyed seeing the back wall of Liberty looking like this!

Off we dashed, the real focus of the day, of course, was going here...

In we go. Just inside the main entrance is this little summer house/gazebo/fancy shed! Now that would be handy in the garden..

I've taken a few snaps for you looking down from the first floor so that you can get a feel for what it's like inside the fair.

The mood of this fair is decidedly festive.

Time to shop though. We went off to meet Kathy whom I have had the pleasure of meeting through blogging and as a fellow stall holder at the Vintage and Handmade Fair. She also has a stall at the Country Living Fair which was stunning and it looked like Kathy had a very appreciative bevy of customers. (Find Kathy at Not on the Hight Street). I treated myself to a lovely necklace and some hair grips which I'm looking forward to wearing.

This was Caroline Zoob's stall which is the first you see inside the front doors.

Absolutely loved this stall which was new to the Fair this time around. It sold masses of Greengate and also the beautiful Pip range of towels which I've seen on a few blogs and I had to snap up a couple of those.

This stall I had not seen before either and had a lovely selection of handmade cushions (amongst other items) which were very reasonably priced.

Upstairs, we were delighted to find Made in Hastings which is always a treat with the fabulous works of the illustrator Claire Fletcher who was there in the flesh.

Also at the Fair for the first time was Poppy Treffry. What a delight she was, very down to earth and chatty.

Sorry but I can't remember the name of this stand; I know it's usually at the fair and very pretty with some lovely Greengate items.

Well, that's my little round-up, I did my best to get a few snaps but it was pretty busy and after a while, my hands were a little errm, full. We arrived home over 12 hours after leaving the house so it's fair to say we had a really top day! Today however, we are feeling a tad jaded. My apologies for the lack of links in this post, in particular to the sellers who had stands at the fair but I'm afraid time just doesn't permit me to do that today. Please do a quick google search to find them should your little heart desire.

I hope to be back briefly tomorrow to give you a little glimpse of my "practise stall" for the bestest Fair around so until then my friends...