laurafallulah

We Make London Christmas Pop Up Shopping Experiance

2011-12-06T23:36:00.001Z

Still have some Christmas shopping to do or just fancy a fun and festive day out? pop along and say Hi at We Make London's Christmas Pop Up Shopping Experiance this Saturday 10th December at Battersea Arts Centre. It is always a great event and this year looks like the best yet. Do some screen printing, buy presents and even get them wrapped for free!! There is something for everyone. Take a look at the WeMake blog for more info.

Let the celebration begin!

2011-11-24T16:42:00.001Z

I know that a lot of you like me LOVE Christmas but im sure there are as many who get annoyed with the way people seem to start celebrating earlier and earlier each year. Well I have waited until a month before to do something seasonal so that is pretty late for me.

To celebrate my favourite holiday I have set up a discount code in both of my etsy shops laurafallulah and fallulahs. Just type the code YAYCHRISTMAS in when you check out and you will get 20% off all purchases.

Designers/Makers Handmade Christmas Shop

2011-11-22T17:32:00.001Z

Started your Christmas shopping yet? if you haven't then pop along to the Designers/Makers Handmade Christmas Shop on Exmouth Street, London for a really great selection of Handmade goodies, including Laurafallulah of course. Even if you have started go along anyway and treat yourself to something for being so god damn organised. As you can tell I am not one of those organised people which is why there is some hostility in that last sentence.

Renegade Review Guest Post

2011-10-11T17:52:00.001+01:00

Pop over the the fab Bugs and Fishes by Lupin craft blog to see my guest post review of this weekends Renegade Handmade Craft Fair in London.

I am very touched that Laura, the owner of Lupin Handmade, liked my writing enough to feature it on her popular blog. Check out all of her tutorials posts too, my favourite are her Christmas Crafting ideas.

New things - rings and earrings

2011-10-10T19:31:00.005+01:00

I've been busy applying for Christmas Craft fairs for the last few weeks as well as trying to retake all my product photos so that they are all the same. Today I finally got round to photographing some new products to put into my own shop as well as my Notonthehighstreet shop. These new earrings and rings have been selling really well with other stockists as well as at the Thames Festival last month so I decided it was time for them to go online.

I have only put a restricted range of colours online but if you come along to any of the events I am taking part in over the Christmas season then you will also be able to buy even more, or email me with a colour request and I can raid my stocks for you. Or check out HannahZakari for alternative colours. The earring photo above will give you a better idea of what sort of colours are available.

Sneek Peek

2011-10-09T19:53:00.001+01:00

Just a little something I am working on at the moment, this is just a small section of what will eventually, hopefully, be a larger print. I have never done any screen printing before but it is something I have wanted to try since I was at university and us weavers shared our workspace with the heat presses of the print group. I am very excited to finally getting around to giving it a go. I'm sure anyone else who works with fabric or pattern can understand the yearning of wanting to have a go and making their own. Well we will see how it turns out soon.

pins and needles

2011-09-28T14:55:00.001+01:00

I know how to live the high life. A new pair of shoes? or a manicure? Nah! when I want to treat myself I stick to haberdashery. I couldn't resist the grey pearly tops of these pins. I don't know what it is with pins, I lose them like they are socks so its just as well they don't come in pairs. Where as needles I seem to keep forever, I have only ever bought one pack, well now two, and I still have a couple of them.

Sneek Peek

2011-09-19T12:54:00.000+01:00

Im currently working on a project for a friend who has recently set up his own company with a few other friends. I love working with other people and making their ideas come to life in fabric. As most of you can tell this is a cross stitched design, I haven't really done any cross stitch for a few years and I am soon becoming a little addicted to it, I like repetative things.

If you are looking for a company to help you with your branding, advertising, marketing or webdesign then I urge you to check out Hatched, they specialise in working with smaller companies and have a real understanding of how to bring out the best in an independant business or designer.

I will show you the finished article when it is finished and framed.

Kitty Sabotage

2011-09-14T16:58:00.002+01:00

I am currently trying to get a little healthier, or fitter anyway. Although someone in my house is not really encouraging

Working out is not so easy with a huge black cat sleeping on your mat. He's not bothered by me jumping and flailing next to him, unlike my other cat who leaves the room straight away. I don't blame her, I would probably do the same if I wasn't the one flailing.

Going round in circles

2011-09-07T11:04:00.002+01:00

Busy week prepping for WeMakeLondon at The Craft Trail and making new stock for HannahZakari. It is become apparent that I have a slight addiction to making circular things in multiples.

Also trying to find time recover a 60s dressing table stool which I bought in April at an antiques fair. My pride is making me do it as my OH says that I will never get round to it and I just love proving him wrong. I am photographing it as I go so that I can share it on here. I am one of those people who love to have their feet up, infact I find it hard to sit with my feet on the ground. My last purchase of a beautiful indian patchwork pouffe was quickly stoled by one of my cats, as you can just see from the photo above, so this stool is planned for use by me and just me.

Craft Trail

2011-09-03T14:25:00.000+01:00

Only a week to go before the kick off of a weekend of fun and frolics at The Thames Festival along the river in London. I am having a stall in the We Make London area along with many talented designers as part of the Craft Trail which is a new addition to the festival.

The festival and the Craft Trail are on for the whole weekend of Sept 10 - 11 from midday until late. There are many crafty events and workshops which I am hoping I might be able to pop to some of if I can get someone to man my stall for a few minutes.

The Festival itself is a celebration of London. There is something for everyone from Jive to a night time carnival to barge races to a feast of food on Southwark bridge. All topped off with a firework display.

If you are in London or fancy a day trip then pop along and join in the party. Make sure you pop along and say hi.

Look!

2011-09-02T15:44:00.005+01:00

It was so nice today so I decided to make the most of the last drop of summer sunshine and take a walk into Blackheath village to get some supplies from the health food shop (im on a health kick at the moment) and have a sit on the heath.

But look what my lovely postie had dropped through my letterbox when I arrived home!!

The long awaited Hannah Zakari lookbook along with an adorable Gemma Correll Edinburgh postcard. And wasn't it worth the wait! I love a catalogue or lookbook and have a collection of them from when I used to work in a small boutique and this is one of the more lovely and succesful. I know I am a little biased as HZ stock my work but really it is wonderful. It gives you a great feeling of what Hannah Zakari is really about, great design, well made products and fun!

The first page is probably my favourite, what a brilliant image. I love that Rachael, the owner of HZ, is not afraid to do something a bit different and humorous.

Followed in a close second by the mix of necklaces by Uncommonly Beautiful. Simple but effective, how can you not love that mix of colour, wood and metal.

And of course I cant miss out the image titled Other Things We Sell which along with one of the sweet Lou Lou and Oscar Cat People shows some of my rosette brooches and fabric stud earrings (just had to get that one in there). This shot makes me want to go and visit the shop and have a good rummage.

Well done Rachael, it looks amazing and make me very proud to be part of the Hannah Zakari family. I'm sure that this book will be coming out year after year for me to have a good flick through.

Named and shamed

2011-08-31T17:31:00.004+01:00

Okay okay I know I am terrible at this blogging malarky but this week I was named and shamed on Twitter by the always lovely and never mean Sally Fort.

I was looking at my blog at the weekend and thinking that I should take everything off and start again but after reading some old posts and feeling fond of some of them I decided that I would carry on where I left off.

A lot has happened which I wont bore you all with but I have moved a fair few times and have now settled in a new flat in Blackheath which is my very own. It was terrifying purchasing a property and still is if I think about it for too long. For anyone who has been through the process of purchasing you will know what I mean. I have never felt so much like a child since I left home, being totally confused by lawyer speak and reading through the largest amount of paperwork I have ever had to read through. But anyway now we are in and at last I feel like I have a home, I am such a home bod.

Through my many moves I have been having a huge declutter. Many many bags of clothes went to my awesome cousin (biased as we have similar taste) and boxes of books/toys/cds went to the charity shop. But the biggest challenge was to clear through some of my massive fabric and craft supplies boxes. Some I can't bare to get rid of so I am going to hide it from my other half but the rest I am going to be gradually listing in my supplies shop on etsy. So if you are interested in picking up a bargin then pop over and have a look. I nearly didn't list the fabric below as it is just so cute but I was feeling ruthless.

There are also going to be many changes for Laurafallulah soon, I am currently working on a range of handprinted goods. I have been drawing like I have never drawn before. I have never really worked with just a pen and paper, being more likely to dive straight into fabric and 3D design, but I am loving it. Hopefully I will have something to show you soonish.

Smelling of roses

2010-06-19T13:29:00.005+01:00

You may have guessed from my work but I love flowers and in particular roses. I have about 15 different varieties in my garden from big frilly red ones to pretty white wild ones and just about everything in between. I don't know the names or really anything about them, I am not blessed with green fingers or the time to look into it but I still love there pop of colour and warm comforting smell. My current favourite is the huge pale pink roses that greet me at my front door, they have a slight yellow tinge to the middle and smell like heaven.

Of course the ones just outside my back door arent too bad either, such a pale pink that they are almost white. These hang over the balcony of the flat above us and are a real pain to look after as they grow so fast and weave round the railings. It is worth it though as they always look truely gorgeous.

I could moan that the weather has been rubbish, typical british summer when the sun can't decided whether to come or go but this year my roses are flourishing and this is due to the sun and rain so I am quite happy for it to continue. Of course a few more sunny days would be nice so I could actually go out and enjoy looking at them but for now I will just have to do with sitting in my living room looking out the window at these beauties.

fabric porn

2010-06-12T22:05:00.004+01:00

This week I have been finishing off some new products and with all that sewing comes the need (yes the NEED) to buy more fabric. I know I rave about her work all the time but the talented Lu Summers of Summersville fabric is an absolute delight to work with. I have been finishing off some of these scrumptious clasp purses using her weave fabric yesterday to put in my shop today.

Whilst looking around the web for new fabric I found lots more supplies that really inspire me to make more new items. I have been browsing Fabric Rehab for a while now but never bought anything so this was the month. I got some beautiful turquoise seed head print cotton and one of her bargain buy mini fabric bundles too. Only to go back on today and spot more new gorgeousness in the shape of this beauty called The big E bundle pink amber which is now on my shopping list.

Another place I like to look for fabric is on etsy, its a great place to find textile print designers. Whilst searching I came across the shop of the amazingly talented Melissa Bombardiere. Her modern take on nature is really stunning, a simple but really eyecatching style. So I swiftly added her Mix pack of hand screen printed fabrics in red and pink to my favourites. Pink and red is possible my second favourite colour combo after pink and green.

Better go and do some more sewing then to earn some money to buy all this lot, and also use up some of my ever growing fabric stash before it finally spill out from under the stairs.

sewing in the sunshine

2010-05-24T18:08:00.004+01:00

Warning this post contains the obligatory garden shots as I am english and there for obsest with the weather.

The weather is glorious here in the UK at the moment, im sure some of your have been lapping it up like I have. So today I decided to venture outside with my machine to do a bit of sewing al fresco. Turns out it is a pretty perfect way to spend the afternoon. I found myself a little bit of shade, being of the English rose variety I do catch the sun easily, and armed with my extension lead and folding table I set up camp. Hopefully my machine wasnt too noisy as to disturb my neighbors and I went right to the bottom of the garden so they couldn't hear my beautiful singing voice as I sang along to my Ipod.

I couldn't really think of a better place to work really, this garden is one of the places I am really going to miss when we eventually move out of London. Who couldn't be inspired being surrounded by all these beautiful flowers.

The temperature is supposed to drop off in the next few days so I might not get to do this again this week but hopefully this wont be our only glimpse of summer this year, last year we had about a week in September, and then I will be ready with my foldy table and machine in hand.

Finally!

2010-05-17T10:33:00.003+01:00

So this last week I have finally got round to re opening my own online shop. Go and take a look, you will see many new versions of the old favourites, like the vintage button coin purse. I will also be putting up some exclusive items over the next few weeks too.

Laurafallulah started with all items being one off pieces and now it has grown that is impossible but with my own shop I am going to re introduce that one of a kind design back into my work. So keep an eye out if you are like me and like the thought of having something that no one else has.

April Flowers

2010-05-12T12:35:00.006+01:00

This time of year is always very busy for me due to many many family birthdays. That means it is always filled with my favourite things, present giving, cake, food in general and just generally catching up with people I dont get to see as often as I would like.

Unfortunately it does not mean that I can catch up with my best friend as she lives on the other side of the world in Canada. Bless her sweet heart though when I came home from work one day to find these most amazingly beautiful and not to mention HUGE bouquet of flowers from her.

Abby you rule! I wish you could all smell them through your computer monitors as they filled the room with the scent of spring. With all this temperamental weather we have been having it certainly was nice to have a reminder that it is actually nearly summer here in the UK.

Anyway of course I was spoilt with lots of presents not to mention more flowers from another great friend who I did get to spend the afternoon with chatting away the hours. So thanks to everyone for a fab birthday.

Ps it isnt even over yet, I am going out with my oldest friend on Friday night to celebrate old school in a place I havent been to since I was 21.

My Sweet Heart

2010-05-02T15:23:00.004+01:00

So sorry my long neglected blog, I always mean to visit you more often but alas you are so often last on a very very long list of things to do. Please accept one of these sweet smelling Sweet Heart Lavender Pillows as my apology and I will really try to come around more often from now on.

Your sincerly

LuFallu xx

Hey there doll face!

2010-03-16T16:54:00.005Z

Look what arrived in the post for my Notonthehighstreet shop this week! I almost fainted from the cuteness that is these Paperfish doll face badges. I love how these remind me of those old simple childrens book illustrations that you used to get when I was young. Plus they have ribbon bows in their hair so whats not to like.

Also with them were these beautiful flora felt badges, slightly more grown up in feel but equally as delicious. Again they have added cute appeal as they have button centres, gotta love how Kirsty from Paperfish has a eye for those kinds of details.

So if you are looking to a healthier alternative to an easter egg or just fancy something to put a spring in your step now that the sun has finally shown itself, head on over to the shop to purchase these little darlings.

PS I am running low on both the Russian doll badges and the Teacup badges now so buy them now to avoid disappointment.

Heathly and delicious crab linguine

2010-03-10T13:47:00.004Z

Recently I have been on a bit of a health kick and being a girl who does love her rich food finding healthy yet delicious dishes is a constant quest. Having just spent some time on the South Californian coast as well as some time in the lovely harbour in Baltimore I have a new found love of crab. Although I might sound like a bit of a jet setter this couldn't be further from the truth. I have only very recently taken my first long haul flight and hadn't even ventured onto a plane until I was 18.

Anyway back to this recipe. We are lucky enough to have an amazing farmers market in the village which we live in and the other week the fish monger was having a two for one offer on crabs, too much of a bargin for us to pass up. I have however since tried this recipe with tinned crab meat which is much cheaper and works just as well, especially if you prefer the gentle taste of the white meat. This is so simple anyone can cook it, seriously for the work to taste ratio this one is a real winner.

Ingredients.

The meat from 2 smallish crabs or 2 tins of crab meat
2 cloves of garlic
1 dried chili, I use Chile de Arbol but you can just use any smallish hot chili plus it can be fresh if you want but we just have dried so that is what I use
Large pinch of salt
1 Lemon, zest and juice
A good extra virgin olive oil
Linguine
A bag of watercress (seems like a lot but it wilts a lot)

Put on a pot of boiling water and add your linguine, the sauce mixture will feed 3 to 4 people so add pasta for that many. Crush the garlic, chili, salt and lemon zest in a pestle and morter to make a paste, add in the juice of the lemon and a very very large slug of olive oil (about the same amount of lemon juice). Add in your crab meat and mix until combined. In another pan add the crab mixture and warm on a low heat, just as it is starting to warm through add in your drained linguine and mix. Stir in your watercress and cook for a minute or two until the cress has wilted.

And that is it, well apart from eating it. Since I made this a few weeks ago it has become a weekly favourite, I can't get enough of the lemony crabby goodness.

If you try any of my recipes I would love to know what you think.

Trying something new

2010-03-05T09:59:00.006Z

I decided at Christmas that I would like to make a completely different product this year, something that still goes in with the rest of my work but something new to me. I am one of those persons who makes lots of lists and constantly has to have a pen and paper on me incase I have an idea or remember something which I need to write down or I am likely to forget again. So this got me into thinking what sort of things I love and it was obvious, Stationery! So I began, as I always used to do, and made a fabric covered notebook for a present for one of my best friends for christmas. It turned out really lovely and then that was that my brain was full of ideas.

So off I went with spray adhesive in hand and as always metres of fabric and out of it all came these.

I made two different designs for my Not on the high street shop and then another completely exclusive design for Hannah Zakari, click on the link to see the cute cherry notebook. I think they came out really well and not only do they cure my need to use fabric but they also are handy for all those lists.

Blonde frustrated female searching for what is missing in her life

2010-01-28T19:49:00.004Z

That is a new sewing machine within her budget to replace her well loved and slowly fading machine. Poor Elna how well she has served both me, and my MIL before me, but she is on her last legs. It pains me to hear her chugging away and no amount of oiling and cleaning will stop the progress of her deterioration. The light connections have gone too, hence the lamp in the photo, I got a quote to get her fixed up a bit but it was more than buying a new one.

I have been looking for a while to replace my machine but have yet to find the perfect one which feel as good to sew on as this one does. Well I have but really I need to find one under £700. So the search is still on, any suggestions are very gratefully received.

PS I want to spend under £200 ideally and it only need to be a simple but hardwearing machine.

These are a few of my favourite things

2010-01-14T20:46:00.007Z

My mum found this article the otherday from a online magazine about Baltimore Style - Yarn stores in Baltimore

I know I have put this photo here before but it is the one they used for the article so it seemed to make sence to put it here again. It is about a couple of my favourite things, yarn and Balitmore. If you read the rest of my blog you will know that my partner and I have been to Baltimore twice and I also sell in a shop there called Doubledutch. I love it there so it is so nice to see my photo and nice comments about this blog as well as my work in an article about the place.

New year new start

2010-01-12T15:28:00.004Z

The new year always brings new things but this year I have lots of things to look forward to. I have just booked my flights to go to the wedding of one of my bestest friends Sini in Finland, i'm so excited as not only will I see her on one of the most important days of her life but also as I get to see a bit of Finland as we have decided to drive from Helsinki to the wedding.

Also before that I have a exhibition to prepare for at the central kent library in my hometown of Maidstone, Kent. I am going to be showing some of my designs that you all know as well as making some special one off appliqued wall hangings. I used to do a lot of appliqued work on my purses so am really looking forward to seeing peoples responses to some larger pieces of work.

I am also in the middle of doing my lovely paperwork for my tax return as well as making new designs for the new season. New items will be avaible soon in my Not on the high street shop as well as in other laurafallulah retailers so keep an eye out.

So really this post was just to share a couple of photos of new things and work in progress so you can see what I have been up to, but as usual I have babbled on so dont mind me.

Theres no baking like snow baking

2010-01-10T18:40:00.004Z

Being trapped indoors and freezing cold does make you crave comfort food doesn't it and what better way to to keep warm that a bit of old fashioned baking. As I have said before we get a fruit box delivered weekly and each week we have more bananas. Now I like a banana but there is only so many I really want and one a day for the rest of my life is probably a few too many. So I am always on the look out for ways to use up those brown ones which have been left to one side in favour of a juicy clementine or sharp kiwi.

This recipe is one that I found a while ago in my trusty 500 cupcakes and muffins book but completely forgot about. I made them just as a treat with a cuppa but they would be great warm as part of a fancy breakfast or taken to work as a replacement for that oh so predictable cereal bar. Its very easy and even the most messy throw it all together of bakers, like me, can't go wrong.

You will need a muffin tray, muffin cases, 2 mixing bowls and the following ingredients.
Muffins
225g/8oz Unsalted butter
225g/8oz Caster sugar
225g/8oz Self Raising flour or 8oz Plain flour with 4 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
225/8oz Mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
Topping
3 tbsp Granulated sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 tbsp Softened unsalted butter
4tbsp Oats
1tbsp Flour (SR or P)

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4/175C.

So in one bowl mix the butter and sugar until creamed, add in the eggs, flour and nutmeg and mix until combined. Add in the mashed bananas and again mix until combined.
In the other bowl mix together all of the ingrediants for the topping, it will be quite a dry breadcrumb like mixture, the smaller the crumbs the better.

Fill your muffin cases about 2/3 full. So here I divert from the books recipe as I find that if you add the topping here it just sinks into the mixture and you don't get much of a crunchy top. So I would cook your muffins for 5 minutes or until they are puffed up enough to fill the cases. Then quickly sprinkle on the topping mixture and continue to cook for about 20mins keeping an eye that the top isnt getting too dark.

Remove from oven and leave for 5 mins to cool in the tray and then cool on a rack, or if you are like me and impatient then tuck in taking care not to burn your mouth.

As modeled on my new cake rack which was a christmas present from my mum and dad, but better to keep in an air tight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Sale on hannahzakari. com

2010-01-07T21:52:00.004Z

Just wanted to tell everyone to check out the amazing sale on hannahzakari.com for some great post christmas shopping. There are many laurafallulah items in there as well as some beautiful jewellery, art and many other lovelies.

A couple of my favourites are this really cute top by Pretty Raccoon, love the chandelier print and there is a pretty awesome ship one also in the sale.

Also some great grettings cards by Yee-Haw Industries. Being a cat lover myself I would go for the Magician Cat myself but if Decapitation is more your thing then there is a card for you too.

Out with the old

2010-01-03T15:27:00.003Z

and in with the new! I am having a huge sale over in my Etsy shop with all older items reduced up to 50% off. Bags, purses, cosmetics pouches, brooches and lavender hangers all at great prices. This tote is reduced from $40 to just $24.

So go on over and grab yourself a bargin. I will be putting new sale items in through out the whole of January ready to start listing my new collection in February.

Twas the week before Christmas

2009-12-16T21:58:00.006Z

and there is still 5 days to go to order any last minute gifts from my shop before the last postage day in the UK only. So be quick and snap up presents for all the family.

A notebook for your brother

A badge for your sister

or a purse for your mum

There is something for nearly everyone, not much for the men unless you have a fella who particulary likes pink and flowery.

Christmas outings for laurafallulah

2009-12-10T10:54:00.005Z

Havent been around for a while as I have had so much on. Last week was WeMake christmas on the Kings Road in Chelsea which was a great day, lots of people and lots of amazing designers. This week I am preparing for Bust Christmas Craftacular at York Hall in Bethnal Green. I did the Summer event which was great fun so would definatly recommend coming along for the day.

Also if you want to buy online remember that there is only 10 more days left before my last shipping day in the UK, so better get a wiggle on.

busy busy busy

2009-11-26T15:07:00.004Z

I have been so busy this last few weeks with work, sorting out our flat after building work and generally stress in our building that I feel like I never have enough time to keep on top of things. So sorry for another brooch related post but I promise the next time I blog there will be no products in site.

I did have to just let you all see the most gorgeous new colourway of dachshund brooch from Paperfish that I received today and had to put straight into my notonthehighstreet shop.

Loving the turquoise and red combo. The green version has sold so well that I have restocked with that one too but I decided to offer another colour to give you all a choice. Hope you love it as much as me.

Winters day.

2009-11-17T16:58:00.007Z

I really love winter, it is my favourite season, and although so far this month has been pretty rainy and grey I am still much happier in a big jumper and a cup of tea than in a summer dress and a lolly pop (although I do love lollies). Plus getting to wear all those winter warmers is an even better excuse to accessorize yourself up to the eye balls. I am a person who does like a bit of costume jewellery, normally chunky and colourful. It is a great way to jazz up a otherwise boring black jumper or give a bit more life to your trusty winter coat.

To cheer yourselves and add some brightness to those short winter days why not pin on one of the fabulous brooches I have in my Notonthehighstreet shop.

Pin on this sweet Paperfish heart brooch for a surefire way to add some interest to a classic brown jacket, I think this would look fab on tweed.

With this set of pin back badges from Summersville you can mix and make colours and patterns to create different looks. Pin on singularly for a pop of colour or group 3 together for more of a statement.

Or these slightly sparkling snowflake brooches from yours truely. Hand beaded with little frosted glass beads to give an ice cold feel.

Christmas is coming

2009-10-28T17:31:00.004Z

I havent got a goose but I am plump enough already. This week I have been making some christmas themed brooches to sell on the Notonthehighstreet shop as well as at the few fairs I am doing in the run up to the big day. I love christmas and am one of those people who start writing my christmas list as soon as my birthday has passed (which is in April im afraid). I also try and buy handmade items for friends and family to go with some things made by my own fair hands and try to encourage them to do the same for me.

Although this year my biggest thing on my list is a new sewing machine, my old one is well on its way to technology heaven, I have got my eye on quite a few handmade items which are on the list too. So I thought I would share a few with you, obviously I dont expect you to buy me anything as I may not even know you but if you know my mum or boyfriend then pass the link on. Or indeed add some of them to your list and there are some real beauties on there.

Firstly something to brighten up my kitchen, this scandinavian hare print by Dee Beale is simple but so striking. I love red, it is my favourite colour and I love the way that the pattern on its fur mimic scandi knitting patterns.

Something to adorn my neck all year round and bring out the rock and roll in you. I love the tattoo inspired jewellery by Wicked Minky, this swallows and diamond necklace in my current fav.

Because it is getting chilly outside I will also need a pair of these arm warmers by Dollyknits, see this is me being practicle. Again red just coz and there is always something lovely and cosy about anything cable knitted.

Of course there is much more but I don't want to seem greedy. I would love to see other peoples handmade items on their christmas wish lists.

So sweet it makes my teeth hurt.

2009-10-18T22:23:00.004+01:00

So its a good job that I am going to the dentists on tuesday. My 6 monthly dreaded trip to the dentist has been made slightly better due to the fact that I have a new designer in my NOTHS shop. Paperfish makes super cute badges and brooches as well as many other items. I have known her for a while now and count her as one of my bestest friends. So I am slightly biased but she is one talented so and so.

Please pop along to my shop and see the new designs of Paperfish badges I have in there. Brooches will follow next week but for now you will have to survive with looking at these super sweet tea cup, russian doll and deer badges.

I have to say the deer is my favourite, he is possibly the coolest badge I have seen in ages. As soon as I saw him I know he had to be mine, but I am not a selfish girl so now you can all own one too.

As a naughter teesing taster from next week you will also be able to get this rather dashing fellow.

Happy Birthday Hannah Zakari

2009-10-09T11:48:00.004+01:00

One of my favourite websites, Hannah Zakari, is celebrating its 5th birthday this week, with 5 days of giving away presents. Of course I am slightly biased as she sells laurafallulah, but it is seriously a great place to buy lots of great handmade items. Click on the present below to see how to enter this fantasitc giveaway.

I am definatly going to enter on thursday to try and win one of these amazing Bunny vases made by Pretty Random Objects.

So go and try and win some freebies!

Home baking, theres nothing like it

2009-10-05T14:09:00.002+01:00

Well autumn is definatly here, the weather is grey and miserable and there is the smell of rotting leaves on the ground. Sounds horrible I know but I actually love all of it. Maybe it is just because I work from home so don't have to go out if I don't want to but there is something lovely about sitting in your living room looking out on a rainy day which warms your cockles (stupid english saying that I also love).

As well as working today seemed like the ideal day to do some baking, to me there is nothing like a just warm fresh out the oven cake on a autumnal day. So in raiding my cupboard to make my plain sponge a bit more interesting I found dried fruit which I normally have on my cereal. After a quick phone call to my superstar baker brother for the essential quantities, I was all set. He makes the best victoria sponge known to man so I always know that his advice will bring forth great cakes. I decided to make some cranberry and sultana vanilla buns (also known as cupcakes). Perfect little sweet bites of goodness which I can take for my packed lunch tomorrow.

Anyway so here is the recipe if you would like to try making them. I recommend them just warm with a good old cup of tea, nice and simple. Would also be good with a dollop of cream cheese icing if you have any cream cheese, which I didn't. Of course you can also use most varieties of dried fruit, also good are apricots, raisins and my all time number one favourite cherries.

2 large eggs
4 oz sugar
4 oz unsalted butter or margerine
4 oz self raising flour
half a tsp of vanilla extract
enough dried cranberries and sultanas so that you have them evenly distributed through out the mixture.

This should make around 9 large buns or 12 smaller ones.

Do the usual, preheat oven at gas mark 4. Cream butter and sugar and stir in eggs and add vanilla. Fold in flour, mix in fruit. Put in bun cases in a tin and cook for about 20/25 mins or until slightly golden on top. Leave to slightly cool on cooling rack. EAT!!! Or if you have more will power than me you can keep these in an airtight container for up to 3 or 4 days or if you are more prepared like my mum in the freezer for ages and then defrost before eating. Perfect for kiddies lunch boxes as it keeps everything else cold.

Weak at the knees

2009-10-02T17:34:00.008+01:00

I am slightly obsessive about fabric it has to be said. This photo from Laura of Lupin makes me sigh with pleasure everytime I see it. Felt is one of the most amazing inventions in fabric, I think. A fabric that doesn't fray and has so many uses you can never get bored of it.

I use it a lot in my own work and love seeing it being used in many different ways by other designers and crafters. Here are just some of my recent favourites.

Yummy felt treats from the talented British Cream Tea, this chocolate cherry cupcakes makes me want to put down my needle and bake.

Not only beautiful but practical too, Picciolo's felt storage boxes would brighten up any desk or workspace.

How could all of these items not inspire you! it makes me want to raid my supplies and start stitching and experiamenting with all the wonderful things felt can do. Or just take your inspiration from Fuzzyfish and just immerse yourself in it, literally.

Exciting new news for laurafallulah

2009-09-26T17:26:00.004+01:00

I have been thinking for a while of opening a shop, a real bricks and morter place to sell lots of handmade goodies from wonderful UK designers. Well so far I haven't been able to find a suitable place to have this so I started thinking of an alternative and what better place than the good ole internet. So my newly redesigned Notonthehighstreet shop is now this place. I have just started putting in my first wonderful items but the fabulous Lucie Summers of Summersville. I have loved her designs for a while now and desided to start using her fabric for my new season of laurafallulah products so naturally she was the first person I thought to ask about my new venture.

So welcome to the new and improved laurafallulah, plus watch this space for more exciting products from another designer soon!

New stuffs

2009-09-09T19:58:00.006+01:00

I have been working really hard on my not on the high street shop recently listing lots of new items as well as re-shooting my photos so that they are all streamline. It is really starting to shape up into how I imagined it. Photography is really not my strongest point and I have been practising a lot on the best ways to show off my designs. I really like the images and think that they work well, I hope you all do too.

I have also been making new rose brooches and experiamenting with purse frames to create a new range of coin purses. I am so happy with the results.

New brooch designs with double and triple bouquet brooches. These are great to create a much bolder statement with your accessories. I love this triple red, pink and fuchsia one.

The framed purses have also came out really well, I love the huge rose print on this one but there are also polka dot and check print ones to follow.

I also have lots of exciting new plans and ideas for my not on the high street shop too but I will tell you about that later on.

Roll up Roll up

2009-08-21T10:25:00.002+01:00

I know I never blog but I thought I would just let you know that I will be at the Bust Summer Craftacular tomorrow. So if any of you are free and fancy doing something crafty on a saturday then pop along. Not only will you be able to buy lots of crafty goodness there will also be activities to partake in and a pop up vintage tea room put on by the lovely team at lady luck rules ok.

Going round in circles

2009-05-11T21:33:00.003+01:00

I have become slightly addicted to sewing these brooches, going round and round in circles is so much fun. Or maybe it is just hypnotising me into slight craziness, who knows.

I am waiting on some more brooch backs to arrive to make more of them as these ones are off to a shop and I need to make more for my Notonthehighstreet shop. I am also shopping around for new fabrics to make a new design and think I may have found the perfect thing but that is a whole other post. I would say that half of the fun of making thing is shopping for the parts that you need to make your design. I never thought I would say this but fabric shopping is as fun as clothes shopping and if any of you have ever seen my wardrobes (yes plural) then you would know that this girl likes to shop.

We Make Christmas

2009-05-09T20:15:00.003+01:00

Yeah yeah I know what you are all thinking, Christmas already! But we have to be ahead of ourselves in this crafty world.

So some of you may know already that I am part of the We Make event organising team. We put on fairs to help support designers. So it is all very exciting at the moment in camp We Make as we have just booked a venue for our Christmas 2009 fair at Chelsea Town Hall on the Kings Road. Woop!

See the We Make blog for further details and some photos of the beautiful hall.

Birthday fun

2009-04-28T20:04:00.003+01:00

A bit late as always but I thought I would tell you about my fabulous birthday. It was two weeks ago now but I have only just uploaded the photos onto the computer as I have been too busy with work.

It was such a beautiful day and my lovely fella decided to take me to one of my favourite places for the day. Whistable is so beautiful, I love to be by the sea plus it has great food and some good shops so what more can you want. We walked all the way along the beach before stopping in a beachside restuarant for fresh seafood. I had shrimps and then local fish and chips washed down with a local cider. After lunch we went to some shops and the looked in some estate agents, as is the done thing if you belong to my family. I would love to live here, some of the houses here are beautiful, there are some renovated black weatherboarded fisherman huts which are just my ideal home.

In the late afternoon we went off to my family home in Kent to open my presents (WOOHOO) and then eat more food, this time a chinese, and of course the obligatory cake. My bro is the king of the cake and I have previosly requested an amazing sounding cake that we found in one of his cook books. It did not disappoint. Blueberry crumble cake is what it was called but it was so much more. Moist blueberry cake topped with a pecan crumble, we had it warm with cream but I had some more cold the next day and it was just as delicious. God I love cake, I want some more now after seeing this photo.

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes and to my wonderful friends and family for spoiling me as always. Now I will stop or this runs the risk of me starting some oscar speach and naming everyone I have ever met.

New look

2009-04-19T16:32:00.005+01:00

I decided to give my blog a make over, it was looking very un-laurafallulah-esque all plain white and grey so now it is pretty in shades of pink, red and green. I also thought while I was making it all colourful that I should try and learn a bit more about blogger and what I can do with this thing. So I have added in a etsy mini showcase for my supplies shop and also a list of all the blogs that I follow, I will add in more later when I have more time. I know to most of you this all sounds very easy, but those who know me will know that this is not easy for me as I am not great with computers. I am one of those people who can type lightning fast but ask me to change something and im screwed. One of my new years resolutions was to get better at the sides of my business which I think I am weaker at and computer based work is definatly one of those sides.

Also just because I cant have a post without something visual here is a picture of me talking to snoopy with woodstock hanging about in the background.

Home sweet smelling home

2009-04-11T15:47:00.003+01:00

More new things, this time for my shop on notonthehighstreet. I am expanding my range to cover some home items. These are my new lavender hangers, to make your home smell as good as these look. Also soon to be added are some cushion covers, a different type of lavender pillow for your drawers and a few more pretty things for you to adorn your house with. Hope you all like this new venture.

Domestic Goddess

2009-04-04T15:36:00.003+01:00

Well hardly but I do try. Not in the Nigella way that her kitchen is alway neet and tidy, as I am the messiest cook in the world but I do enjoy cooking a lot. We have recently had our flat renovated and the piece de resistance has to be our new kitchen.

I am a big lover of 50s design and we tried to emulate that kind of look in our kitchen. Cream gloss units, bamboo wooden work surface, travatine tiled splashback and the most gorgeous eau de nile coloured walls. As with all our rooms the main design had to be fairly plain and simple as all my storage pots and nick nacks are very patterned.

As you can see I have spots everywhere with the odd touch of stripes and florals. It is all practical but just pretty and over the top too. These polka dot mugs from Marks and Spencers are great, not only are they in my favourite pastel colours but they come in there own stackable storage tower and they hold a good big cup of tea. Plus the top is wide so they are great for dunking the odd digestive or two.

I do like a bargain and the last and next picture show some of my best. My £5 60s floral coffee pot, its such a great pattern, along with a tealight holder left for me from my lovely friend Sini when she moved away. Below is my £4.50 cupcake stand, or as I use it fruit stand from a DIY store, sitting next to another charity shop find these beautiful old rose teacups, the saucers and just out of shot. You can also just about make out my pink weighing scales behind which were a present from my lovely boyfriend. He also got me the most amazing cream enamelled pan set for christmas.

So even though I may not be the tidiest girl around I do try to make my home a nice place to be. Plus I do make a mean cheesecake so I can't be all that bad.

New things

2009-04-01T18:49:00.004+01:00

Some of your may know and some of you may not but I sell on a fabulous website called HannahZakari. It is run by the truely wonderful and also talented Rachael Lamb. Not that I am biased or anything. Anyway I just sent her some new items and they are up on the site already, lots of lovely new things for summer. I am one of those people whos brain never stops and am constantly thinking of new appliques, patterns and ideas, so I love it when I get to design something new.

My two new favourite things are my stripe circles brooch, I have been making the floral ones since before christmas.

The other item in my new circles flower purse using some of my favourite things, polka dots, flowers and felt, whats not to love.

Please pop along and have a look through Rachaels site, she really have selected a great range of designers and products. I must say it is very flatering to be represented along side such talented designers.

Springtime

2009-03-24T17:27:00.003Z

I love spring, it is possibly my second favourite season after winter. Our garden looks so lovely and bright after the greyness of the last few months, plus the sun is actually shining so I couldn't resist taking some photos. We seem to have lots of yellow flowers and then a few pink but not much else so I think I will be buying some more varied plants at the weekend.

We also have every kind of daffodil I have ever seen, these are my favourite with the white outside petals. We also have the normal all yellow one, yellow with orange middles, frilly middle ones, multiply layered ones that almost look like roses and tiny weeny ones. See I know all the technical names.

However this is my favourite plant in our garden at the moment (till my roses start coming through). I have no idea what it is, so if anyone does please let me know. The has long hard stems coming from the base with hundreds of these lovely yellow pompoms clustered around small green leaves. I know the sunshine is here when I see these flowers.

So heres to more sunshine and happy days. I was hoping to grow more veggies this summer but I think I am already a little late for most of them. I think a trip to the garden centre is needed soon to see what late bloomers I can get my little mitts onto.

Waste not want not

2009-03-20T15:48:00.005Z

I am a huge believer in making the most out of what you have got. I love to cook and try to bring my resourceful nature through into my food. Every week we get a fruit box from one of the many food box schemes which seem to be growing ever the more popular. We only get fruit as it is the only thing that we can't buy a huge variety of from our food market here in blackheath. Anyway we always get bananas every week, and I love bananas, but sometimes it gets a bit too much so by the next weeks delivery we have two or three browning very ripe bananas in our fruit bowl. So I decided to look up on the good ole internet a recipe to use them up. I added a few of my own little touches too as I am a sucker for spices. It was so delicious that I thought I would share it with you. Eat it still warm with a big cup of tea, it will store in a tin or container for up to a week as it is very moist.

4oz Marg or unsalted butter

6oz Caster sugar

8oz Self Raising Flour

2 Large eggs

3 very ripe Bananas

2 teaspoons Honey

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

Firstly grease a loaf tin, I add a small piece of baking parchment into the bottom so that it wont stick and pre heat the oven at gas mark 4. You will need 2 bowls, in one roughly mash the banana with a fork and add in the honey and spices. In the other bowl cream together the marg/butter and sugar until smooth and pale, then add in the eggs and beat until combined. Then mix the banana mixture into the other bowl and mix until combined, it may curdle a little but dont worry. The sift the flour and fold into the rest until completely combined.

Pour into the loaf tin and bake in pre heated oven for 40 mins then reduce the heat to gas mark 2 for a further 25-30min depending on your oven. If you are like me, and cant wait for something sweet, you can lick the bowl of cake mixture while you are waiting for the cake to cook.

It should come out looking a bit like this. The ends are the best bit as they are a bit crunchy and then the cake inside is really moist.
Please make this cake, honestly it is so delish I am actually hoping that we dont finish all our bananas again this week so I can make another one.

Busy, busy, busy

2009-03-16T17:27:00.005Z

It has been all go here since christmas really, decorating many flats and sewing like a mad woman. Well better to be busy that not I guess. So I thought I would share what I have been working on. I want to build up the stock in both my Notonthehighstreet shop and my etsy shops so it has been pedal to the metal all last week. Also been trying out some new ways of photographing my products and been learning all sorts of new things about my camara which really I should already know.

Green and pink is my favourite colour combination. So when I found this gorgeous minty green and white flower fabric I new just what I was going to put with it. This is one of a new range of floral coin purses each with an amazing little button from kirsty at bigfish.

I have been making cover buttons now for quite a while and up until now have been really just using them on purses. I have been playing around with this felt flower design for a while and only just put 2 and 2 together. I really love the contrast between the felt and the pretty flower fabrics. Plus they are pretty big and bold which is just what I wanted.

Take a break

2009-02-17T17:09:00.004Z

I had a very stressful year in 2008 for many reasons and we decided we deserved a break. As is was my fellas birthday he picked to go back to Baltimore. The weather was beautiful and, as always we ate and shopped and went to many museums. My two favourite days out this time round were to Hampden and Washington, they couldnt be more different than each other if they tried.

Hampden is a wonderful place, I really love it there, it is a small area of Baltimore which really shows off the place to its full kitschyness. There are great little independent shops and amazing food places. Two of my favourite shops just happen to be right next to each other at the end of the main street. Doubledutch is a fab boutique which sells a mix of great lables and handmade items. I bought a coat last time I was there and enquired about selling laurafallulah items there, cut the chase they now stock my new sling bags, zip purses, large rose brooches and leaf brooches. Other than being completely biast I would really reccomend a trip there if you are in the area. Next door is Atomic Books, bringing out the geek in me, a great book shop which stocks alternative literature such as graphic novels, zines and other types of info books on music and craft plus so much more. They also sell a great range of toys and cute homeware. The pick above is of a 'knitted tree' outside a cute yarn shop which is just along the road.

This time round we had a extra day so decided to go to Washington for the day. This was my first time here and I thought it was such a beautiful city. We spent most of the time in the museums as it was so windy that we could hardly walk outside. The path up to the white house was closed off by the police so I was a bit dissapointed as I like a bit of the touristy stuff. We snuck round the back though were there was no one around and I managed to take this snap. The back door was open so I said hello to Obama but I dont think he heard me.

Anyway we are back now and back to the grind stone. I have lots of sewing to do and also unpacking our whole flat now the work has finished. No rest for the wicked hey!

Booooo paperwork

2009-01-12T11:12:00.005Z

I am in the middle of collecting all my paperwork together so that I can sort out my tax return. It is incredibly boring and easily my least favourite bit of running a business. So as a little break I decided to edit my holiday pics. Now I am wishing I was back on the beach in Sunset, LA. Look how lovely it is, bet you wish you were there now too.

Sunset on Sunset beach

Enjoying the warm sunset on the beach

Well now I have to look forward to our already booked jollies this year, just need to get this workload out of the way first. Booooo paperwork.

Fallulahs

2009-01-09T18:06:00.009Z

Today I opened a new etsy shop to sell handmade supplies and commercial fabrics. I have only listed a few items so far but I am going to fill it with lots of lovely covered buttons, pin cushions and beautiful fabric.

sorbet felt cover buttons

I love fabric and haberdashery which is why I started making things. I studies textiles through out school and onto to university. Because of this I have a massive stock of fabrics which I pick up whenever I see something I like. I have always been a bit of a hoarder but now I decided to use this to my advantage and pass on my love of fabric to others.

red and pink stripe cover button

You can tell it is my shop I think as everything is quite girly and kitsch. I will be selling some different styles of fabric too which I have picked up on my travels. Keep looking as there will be more coming really soon.

Happy 2009 and hello again

2009-01-07T20:33:00.005Z

I know I always say that I am going to be blogging more but it is now officially one of my new years resolutions (I have writen them down and everything).

To begin this year I thought I would share a couple of things. Firstly a photo from christmas which was great and a well needed relax. I got some fab presents and was spoilt as always. In this photo you can see two of them, dress from my parents and legwarmers from my sister. I like action shot of my brother is running in the background.

I also have a new online shop which I set up just before Christmas. I will be selling lots of new designs, some of which will be exclusive to that shop. There is already a new size of my simple rose brooch in there which is very large indeed, a definate statement accessory (see below).

UK etsy street team

2008-07-16T21:22:00.005+01:00

I am a member of the UK street team for etsy and the members have been working hard to give the blog a fresh new look. I have just writen an article about summery things to buy on etsy, just click here to read it. My favourite item is by the very talented Cherrypips, she makes the most beautiful brooches and this mimosa one is just one of many I could have picked.

White

2008-07-14T10:29:00.003+01:00

I have always loved colour and hardly ever use white in my work or infact have anything white in my house. For my day2day photos this week I decided I wasnt to look at the texture and light in my photographs rather than the acutal image or item in them. Last month we moved into a different flat in our building and this flat is full of orignal victorian features. So in these photos you can see all the white features in the architecture of our building. Quite different from my last set which were all about nature, but that is the whole point of experimenting with my photography skills.

Dying beauty

2008-06-27T18:20:00.010+01:00

So in my last post I said about this new flickr group which I have joined to hopefully help improve my photography. Well it is the end of the first week and so I have finished my first set of 5 photos. I am actually really pleased with how they came out. I normally take about 30 photos just to get one which I am happy with so with these I decided that I would allow myself a maximum of 5 per image just to allow for my shaking hand.

Well judge for yourself, they are all based on dead or dying plant life. Suprising beauty in ordinary places is the theme of the group so I hope you like my representation of this. Just have to think what I will do next week now.

Day2Day

2008-06-24T15:52:00.004+01:00

I have decided to take part in a new flickr group set up by Abi Bansal which consists of taking a group of 5 photos during the week of everyday things. I really like this idea as I like natural photos and like the idea of a non stressful way of improving my photography. I think that too often we miss some of the most beautiful things as they are items that we might see or use all the time. I am hoping that this group will give me motivation to find inspiration in other areas and futher my design work as well as my photographs.

So the photo above is my first entry, a deadheaded rose from my balcony. I decided to look at nature, a common inspiration to my work, but in a different way. I love this time of year when all the flowers are appearing, but they do not last for long. This week I will be photographing the beauty and sadness of dead or dying nature. We will see where it goes as it is totally unplaned and none of the photos will be styled in anyway. I hope you like it. Take a look at the rest of the photos from other artists, there are some lovely ones.

veggies

2008-05-12T16:43:00.002+01:00

So this year I thought I would be really good and grow some of our own veggies and herbs. So as it has now decided to stop raining I thought I would get out in the garden on my day off yesterday and plant some seeds. I planted some rocket and cos leaves plus some tomatoes and carrots. I also planted some tarragon, sweet basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme together in one pot. They currently don't look like much, as you can see, but hopefully by the end of the week I should have some little shoots and can start to thin them out and eat the shoots. YUMMY!

I havent been able to blog much recently as I have been super busy but I am hoping to get back into it regularly soon. Hopefully with photos of lots of veggies

Belated birthday post

2008-04-17T16:02:00.006+01:00

So it was my birthday on tuesday and I was spoilt as usual. Richard got me this amazing chest of drawers and a super wicked lamp. I also got my yearly update of shoes, clothes, books and new perfume which was handy as mine ran out tuesday morning. Rich also got me a cupcake with a little bear on top and wrapped my vans up in the coolest darn Petra Bowse paper. Aren't I a lucky one!

I have also had a good week of making things and have new bags and brooches to send to stockists and put into my etsy shop. There is one sneaking in the background of the photo of my new lamp. So all in all a good birthday week, plus it didnt rain which is a first.

good mistakes

2008-04-03T21:49:00.004+01:00

Isnt it strange sometimes how things are arent quite right or not what you were expecting are really nice. I was taking photos in the garden today of my new bags and I really love how these shots came out. It wasnt the right angle and the colours are slightly wrong but I love them. I especially like the sky in the second one.

Good mistakes are nice suprises.

one leggy

2008-03-28T14:53:00.002Z

My parents love birds and do a lot to attract them into their garden. One of my favourite birds, who has been there for a few years, is the one leggy blackbird. It is so fun watching him hop around the garden. He can't go onto the bird feeder as he can't balance very well so he eats the berrys and seeds which have fallen on the floor. Having grown up around my dad who loves nature and especially birds I love them and think it is so relaxing sitting in my parents dining room watching them. Soon they will have all the babies around too which is lovely to watch. I bought my dad a birdhouse for christmas last year and they had bluetits in there within a few months, which is very unusual. It obviously make a cosy home as they seem to have some back again this year.

As we have three cats we don't really get that many birds in our garden so I miss them.

I love you more than rock and roll

2008-03-20T12:20:00.003Z

So I have a few loves in my life and this photo represents three of them, Tea, Rock and Roll and Richard. I bought this mug for him for Valentines day last year and I thought it was really romantic. I have had the whole music discussion with many people recently and it is amazing how important it is in relationships. Richard has one of the largest vinyl and cd collections I have ever seen. Although we have a few favourite bands in common we mostly like quite different genres. The most important thing is that we both love music though and I think unless you both love something the same amount it is very difficult to understand how much of your life can be taken up by that thing. If I didn't love music I think I would feel quite jealous of all the space it takes up in our flat and all the time it takes up in our lives.

Oh and plus we both love tea so that is good too.

Just like buses

2008-03-18T14:28:00.006Z

Ok so I know this is my second post today but I am on the front page of etsy again! I like today it is a good day. I am now starting to feel sleepy though as I got up a 7.15 today, earlier than I have been up in months. I am not a morning person.

Thanks to villadesigns for including me in their treasury and thanks to siansburys for the photo.

Front Page of etsy and I miss it!

2008-03-18T11:39:00.003Z

Typically the first time I am in a treasury on etsy and that treasury is on the front page and I bloody miss it. Oh well luckily it was made by a UKer and lots of people had copies. Richard said how can you have missed it you are on etsy 24 hours a days. This however isn't true I am only on there a little bit of the day but I probably would have been on there this morning to see it but I was walking back home from Catford. My bus was cancelled and I had to walk my bus route home which was a pain in the butt.

A treasury, by the way, is a group of items chosen by one person on etsy which shows off some of there favourite items. You should go and check them out on http://www.etsy.com/ as some people put together such beautiful combinations. They are like mini exhibitions of lovely stuffs. I am currently in two, the one above is the one which was featured on the front page and was put together by the lovely Curiosity killed the cat, whose wicked stuff can be found at http://curiositykilled.etsy.com/. She is also the only other person I know, outside of uni, who is crazy enought to be a weaver like I was. Thanks to Kala for the image.

Tonight I am meeting up with some of the girls from etsy so lets hope the day just keeps getting better.

2008-03-15T14:28:00.004Z

I have had these shoes for a while now wondering what to do with them. They are so cute, I bought three pairs when we were in Colombia last year. Whilst I was making some more of my simple rose purses I thought the same design would look really cute on the shoes, and I think I was right. I have black, red and yellow with contrasting roses on the fronts. I am actually tempted to keep them myself but I am gonna be good and list them in my shop. I will see if I can get some more so that I can offer other sizes and also maybe make myself a pair. I love it when you are making something else and you get that light bulb in your head. I got out my sketch book out last night and drew up a new slouchy bag design to go with this range, I will make up some prototypes today. So even though they hurt my fingers a lot hand sewing the roses onto the shoes, I hope they sell well so I can invest in a thimble and make many more.

a good weekend

2008-03-04T11:23:00.001Z

I had a wicked couple of day for a change. On sat we had a friend round and went out for dins which was nice. On sunday the family came round and I cooked a lovely lunch and then we played on the wii. Yesterday I went to help richard test his experiment for his final project so he took me for lunch at bloomsbury bowling lanes and we watched some students bowl, then we went and bought too many comics and then went to see Jimmy eat world at the roundhouse. I really like the roundhouse as I feel like I am at the theatre and feel all growned up.

I like days like these, I wish we were rich and that richard didnt have to go to work. We would have so much fun.

greenwich

2008-02-29T18:24:00.002Z

Today was not such a nice day, grey, rainy and altogether a bit crappy. I still went into Greenwich with my friend Sini for lunch and a mooch around the antiques market. There was one stall with the sweetest vintage dress on it, unfortunately the only one I could afford was too small. It has inspired me to start making my own clothes again though. I have a ton of fabric so maybe I will extend my line of designs to include some dresses and seperates. I also dropped off some new designs in the shop I sell in there, Red door. It is a sweet little shop which mostly sells handmade local items and also has a gallery at the back which shows the work of local artists.

We also went to my favourite fabric shop in Lewisham to get some fabric for a trade I am doing. Sini also makes bags with her friend Sanna so I knew she wouldnt get bored with my fabric shopping like most other people I know. You can see their shop on etsy to, http://siniandsanna.etsy.com/ , it is beautiful. As it was such a horrible day I didnt even get my camara out of my bag incase it got rained on. Instead you can look at a photo of Sini and my favourite bag in her shop.

why I love blackheath

2008-02-27T14:56:00.004Z

So yesterday in the etsy forum I was telling GUGAW why I love living in Blackheath. So when I was in my garden this morning and heard the lovely noise I have heard many times before I ran inside to get my camara. Lots of people dont know but there are thousands of wild parrots living in the south of London and down into bits of Kent. They are wicked awesome and I love seeing them. I normally only see them in Greenwich park or in a garden on my way to the post office easting from bird feeders. So this is why I love living in Blackheath, not only do you have the benifits of living really close to London city centre but you have fantastic wildlife. There are of course more reasons why blackheath is lovely like the fact that it is really a village so it has a great community spirit that you dont get in many places nowadays. Plus most of the shops are independant, not all to my taste but I support that they are not all chain stores. The only downsides are that is bloody expensive to live here and also that there are so many estate agents and chain coffee shops but this seems to be following the trend of most places. I wouldnt choose to live anywhere else in London though.

photography

2008-02-26T16:32:00.004Z

So I love photography and love taking photos but I get very frustrated when trying to take photos for my etsy listings. I have been out in the chilly garden taking photos nearly all morning so my hands were almost frozen. I filled up my memory card and wore out my battery but I think I got some good ones. Plus I wasn't alone, my boy was there to keep me company. As most people who know me know I have three cats. Spencer basically follows me around most of the time, I think really he is a dog. Whenever I go out to take photos he tries to sit on top of everything. As it was really sunny today he just sat next to me at did some sunbathing.

I am new to this so be gentle

2008-02-25T21:33:00.003Z

So I finally got one of these blogspot thingymagiggies. I seemed to have spent all day on the computer today sorting out photos and sorting out blogs. I managed to get a little bit of sewing done and take a few photos before the sun went behind the clouds.

Anyways this is a tester post to see if I can figure this out. I am going to put in a photo to see if I can work that bit out too. This is the purse that I added to my etsy shop today, more to come in other colours too.

I am excited now to blog here. I promise they will be far more interesting in the future.