It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

In preparation for the Christmas craft fairs I've been doing, I've been making lots and lots of these mini felt stockings. There are three designs: a snowman, a tree and three stars.

Silly bugger

It's been a bit of a lousy few days since my last post, what with the end-of-the-world weather (at least in Liverpool) and the economic apocalypse (at least according to Radio 4). I've been having my own mini apocalypse as I've had a cold (can girls get 'man-flu'?) and I lost my camera the day before the Winter Arts Market. I looked EVERYWHERE in my home and then looked again, and again, before deciding it had either a) been stolen by a mean person or b) disappeared completely, like a character in a Haruki Murakami novel. There followed a few days of utter confusion and sadness. And then I found it. Turns out I had just hidden it really, really well (underneath a pile of fabric in a drawer, since you ask) before I went to Birmingham for the weekend. I am a silly bugger.

The Winter Arts Market (photograph by Rhian Askins). My stall is just above the centre of this picture; you can see me talking to Mama Musgrove, who joined me for a couple of hours. The fair was good but I think overshadowed by the impending collapse of Europe and the incessant rain. Am I being melodramatic?

Ah, that's better. Some black cows and a single brown cow, spotted on a recent walk in rural Cheshire with Papa Musgrove

B'ham

This weekend I visited some friends who live in Birmingham and we went to not one but TWO arts and craft markets, which was very enjoyable and inspiring. First, we wandered round the Moseley Arts Market, where I saw some beautiful leather purses and bags by Gosia Weber Handmade. I'd like to try using leather in my bags, and the Gosia Weber products were so well made that they made it look easy, but I bet it's actually quite tricky. 

Leather pouches by Gosia Weber Handmade

After refuelling with food and ginger root tea from the Moseley Farmers' Market, we went to the MAC to visit a contemporary craft fair. I liked Jennie Ing's prints a lot and I'm sure I've seen them before but I don't know where. 

Artwork by Jennie Ing

Then we walked round a lake next to the MAC in the failing light, before heading back up the mighty M6 to L'pool. 

The MAC centre, Birmingham. There's lots going on here, even some carol singing

A twilit walk around the lake 

Portmeirion

I took the day off work yesterday and went to Portmeirion village in North Wales. I'd never been before but had always wanted to go, and it was absolutely worth the two-and-a-half-hour journey through driving rain to get there. The village was built from 1925 to 1975 by architect Clough Williams-Ellis (whose daughter, Susan Williams-Ellis, founded Portmeirion Pottery in 1960). The architecture was inspired by Italian villages and the whole place is just beautiful, with pastel-coloured houses, winding pathways through woodland and fantastic views of the sea. 

Portmeirion village, North Wales

Autumn leaves in the village's woodland

A robin at Portmeirion (photograph by Fergus)

Mushrooms

This week I went on a walk in the countryside with Papa Musgrove, with the cat trotting along behind us and jumping at butterflies in an idyllic, Disney sort of way. On the walk we saw this mushroom, which I think is really quite impressive, as mushrooms go. I don't eat mushrooms because I don't like the taste or texture, but I do like the way they look, so I found some sweet 'shroom-inspired designs to share. 

This is the mushroom I saw on the walk. It is a biggun

These amazing mushroom lamps are by a Japanese company called Great Mushrooming. They're made of glass, LED lights and waste wood and were on display at Design Festa 2010 in Tokyo

As far as I can find out, the mushroom lamps are not available outside of Japan. But aren't they just fabulous?!

I absolutely love these handmade wool mushrooms by UK Etsy shop astashtoys. They look so cute as decorations for a little house tree

Craft fair number two

Yesterday's craft fair was brilliant! It was so lovely to speak to people who were interested in my products and especially wonderful when they really liked and appreciated them. I also felt like there was more to see on my stand this time, although I still can't decide whether I prefer doing the fabric illustrations or the bags... I guess I'll just keep making both for now! 

My PandaPerdu stand at yesterday's craft fair in Leaf, Liverpool. I made a few little Christmas stockings at the last minute, you can see them in the top left corner of the photograph. I'll do a proper blog post about them nearer to Christmas

I'm still getting used to doing craft fairs and I've realised that if there's a lull in visitors for a while, it can get a bit boring. So this time I took some embroidery with me and sewed little snowflakes around this house to make a lovely wintry scene

Sewing frenzy

I'm spending every last minute of free time making more fabric illustrations in preparation for the craft fair this Sunday. I even missed Frozen Planet on Wednesday to do more sewing (it's been added to my iPlayer list so I will watch it eventually). In the meantime, here is an embroidery of some houses and a hot air balloon I did a while ago. 

Shopping

At lunchtime today I bought Elle magazine as a treat for myself and while reading it I got an overwhelming urge to go shopping (which is why I generally avoid buying fashion magazines). So I stopped off at Liverpool One on my way home from work and had a luxurious hour of wandering round the shops and trying things on. 


When I'm in the dressing room I sometimes like to pretend I'm in the film Clueless and there is a soundtrack of fun '90s pop music, and I'm about to start taking polaroids of all my sartorial ensembles (I actually do have a worrying amount of 'trying things on' snaps of myself on my phone which I should probably delete). 


In Elle there was a £20 Kurt Geiger gift voucher so I got some pretty bracelets absolutely free. I also got an orange 'duffel cape' from Republic which I am now not sure about, on the grounds of practicality. I also think it might be a bit weird-looking now that I've left the sanctuary of the dressing room, where everything always looks fabulous. 

These Kurt Geiger bracelets should have been £20 but I got them free with the Elle voucher!

I drew this picture of the duffel cape from Republic as I would feel silly posing in it, and you would probably agree that it does indeed look weird and I would feel sad. (Update: I took it back to the store in the end as it's just not 'me')

Exciting news

I'm very excited to tell you that I'll be exhibiting at three more craft fairs before Christmas - hurrah! First I will be at Capstan's Bazaar in Leaf on Bold Street, Liverpool, on Sunday 13th November. It's from 12-5pm and we'll all be upstairs drinking herbal tea and talking craft. 


Next, I'll be at the Winter Arts Market in St George's Hall, Liverpool, on Saturday 3rd December. That one's from 10am-5pm and I will be in the Great Hall, which is presumably the main bit of the building. 


Finally, I'll be back in Leaf on Bold Street for the Capstan's Bazaar Christmas Art Market, which is from 12-5pm on Saturday 10th December.


To celebrate, I made this rather odd montage of some PandaPerdu bags and wallets:

Magic circle

Here are some of the new pencil cases I've been making, arranged in a circle. 

Rhus typhina

I've been at Musgrove HQ today as I'm sometimes allowed to work from home on Mondays, which is very nice. The view from the kitchen table where I'm sat working hard (ahem) is so colourful and autumnal that I eventually ventured out into the garden to take a photo on my phone. Papa Musgrove tells me that the bright orange plants at the bottom of the garden are called Rhus typhina, and at this time of year they look positively tropical. Happy Halloween by the way! 

I don't know why there's a wooden crate in the middle of the lawn, but it does add a certain je ne sais quoi

Liberty prints

I've always wanted a silk scarf but they're one of those tricksy accessories that you have to wear at the right time, with the right outfit and in appropriate weather (not so hot that you get a sweaty neck but not so cold that you wish you'd worn something more woolly). Liberty's autumn/winter '11 collection of silk scarves are completely lovely and inspired by English winter gardens, and if I were in the market for a fancy new scarf, this is the one I would get.

My favourite Liberty silk scarf

This is some Liberty fabric, which I also love

Labels and pencil cases

Tonight I have mostly been making pencil cases and PandaPerdu labels. I make the labels myself using an inkjet printer, transfer paper and fancy satin ribbon from John Lewis. They're quite straightforward to make but I did more than 50 tonight, so I'm quite relieved that I won't have to make any more for a while! 

The brand new PandaPerdu pencil case design, made from fabulous stripy fabric I found in the Cotswolds

PandaPerdu labels, all lined up and ready to be washed (to set the ink) 

Starry starry night

I've been making a few more fabric illustrations over the last few days, mostly of houses but with extra details like the little stars in the night scene. I might try and do an owl on a branch next. 

A wonderful blog

A blog that I love visiting and look at quite often is that of Hilda Grahnat, a freelance photographer based in Sweden. Her photographs of everyday life in her home country and her travels elsewhere in the world (including Berlin and Japan) are absolutely wonderful and just really celebrate life's simple pleasures, like a cup of tea on a rainy day or autumn leaves on a pavement. Here is a link to her website: http://blog.grahnat.se/

A lovely photograph of Copenhagen in the sunshine, by Hilda Grahnat

Mary Blair artwork

I hadn't heard of Mary Blair until this morning when Google paid tribute to her, but now that I've seen some of her work, I can say that I like it a lot. She was an American artist best known for her animation work for Disney, but she also did graphic design and illustrated some children's books. I love how her illustrations are like self-contained, dreamlike worlds and her use of colour is just wonderful. 

Bug!

Last night I went to see Bug at Fact in Liverpool. It's basically a collection of interesting music videos played on a cinema screen, with the music nice and loud so you can appreciate them much more than when you see them on youtube. It's hosted by one of my favourite comedians, Adam Buxton. It was absolutely brilliant and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes music videos and funny youtube comments. You can see a Bug event from last year here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqRO1oIOPnI.

Animal tags

At the weekend I took photos of some of the graffiti animals in Garston, Liverpool. I've no idea who did them and I don't know if they're gang-related or anything, but I like them a lot. Especially the dragonfly. 

Sculpture in the park

Autumn is my favourite time of the year. I love the colours of the leaves on the trees, especially on sunny days when it looks like everything has been lit up especially for the season.

Here are some photos I took of Yorkshire Sculpture Park on a cold day last October.

A lightning sculpture. I wonder if anyone has ever photographed it being lit up by real lightning during a storm

Mmm, autumn-ey

Alien invasion. I don't know what this is meant to be