HANDMADE IN BRITAIN

After a lot of hard work and some anxious nail-biting as the deadline raced towards us, the opening day at Handmade in Britain was upon us. After attending the Selvedge Winter Fair the previous week we did feel right at home in Chelsea Old Town Hall and were even placed in almost exactly the same position!

This beautiful old building was the perfect backdrop to highlight all the exquisitely hand-crafted items on display. 

We were feeling very privileged to be showing at this prestigious event and relieved to be unveiling our new Entomology collection in all its colourful glory. With only one week to spare we planned and built a combination of wooden boxes to display our selection of beetles and butterflies and echo the placement of the archiving of the insects we'd studied months ago at the Natural History Museum.

At the end of three busy and enjoyable days we came away with plenty of new friends amongst the other exhibitors (including our lovely neighbours Alys Power Design and Torn Edge) and a real buzz from all the positive responses we got from people in the industry. Plus the silk Archive cushions have proved so popular we have decided to introduce them in two more colourways (which will be added to the website soon!)

Despite all our nerves about taking the leap into larger events we needn't have worried - already there are more exciting opportunities on the horizon which we can't wait to share with you. So as always, watch this space ...

SELVEDGE WINTER FAIR

As avid readers of Selvedge magazine from its earliest days we felt excited and eager to participate in this year's Winter Fair at Chelsea Old Town Hall on Saturday and we have to say the day did not disappoint. We were keen to preview some of our new Entomology collection alongside our previous work and fortunately the two ranges sat well together. 

Our fellow exhibitors, who travelled from all over the country to attend, made the day more enjoyable.

As always it was great to meet and chat with customers and so great that people stopped by to say hello (especially other mother/daughter combos!). 

Even though it was a busy day we still managed to make a start on our Christmas shopping while we were there.

So for now we are putting the finishing touches to our stand as we're back there on Thursday for Handmade in Britain. We can't wait, hope to see you there!

A BIT OF BLING

While we were screen printing in the studio the other day we decided to print one of our Entomology images onto leather. We gave our decorated hide to the very talented people at Leather Bound who have a stall at the market in Greenwich and asked them to make something beautiful for us.

And here it is, a very lovely hand crafted notebook using our very own design.

Little things like this make us feel like we have such a great job - not only do we spend our days doing something we really love but we get to meet so many other people who are passionate about their craft and are keen to produce beautiful objects with care and attention to detail.

Over the last couple of posts we've shared with you a few sneak peaks from our new Entomology collection, a little more will be revealed tomorrow at the Selvedge Winter Fair and then later in the week the whole collection will be available from Handmade in Britain. We love the support that we get from all our readers and this week if you find yourself in the Chelsea area why not stop by and say hello!

NOTES FROM THE STUDIO

The countdown is certainly on as we rapidly approach the first of our Christmas fairs at Selvedge. We've been working our way through the never-ending list of jobs and for the last few days that has entailed spending time in the studio participating in one of our favourite activities - screen printing.

There's nothing more satisfying than seeing art work that you began working on and evolving months ago reproduced in colour by your own hands. The sketches and drawings of insects we did at the Natural History Museum are now printed onto beautiful creamy unbleached cotton tea towels using environmentally friendly pigments in rich teal blue and vibrant burnt orange.

All the hard work was a bit much for one member of the 'team' - he just needed to take five minutes out for a little snooze. It's alright for some!

FOR THE LOVE OF GOURD

As we rapidly approach the end of October and those dark chilly nights are drawing in, our thoughts turn to Halloween and all things spooky. We love any excuse to decorate and spruce things up a bit and at this time of year we love to decorate the porch in anticipation of all those little Trick or Treaters. The pumpkins have been bought and are waiting to be carved into, the bats and the ghosts are ready to be stuck to the windows and this year there will be a new addition to the scene - a springy witch on a broomstick.

This lovely lady, and many other designs too, are for sale from El Piolin at Greenwich Market. These cute characters and toys are made from gourds from South America and are incredibly hardwearing and robust. Dried naturally and waxed to give them their rich colours they can be hung outside and will last for years plus the all natural materials make them environmentally friendly.

We think these are lovely and make great gifts and as it is nearly Halloween red and black witches will be available to buy from our stall on Friday and Saturday - please come and check them out if you are in the area!

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

I know we sound like a bit of a stuck record lately but my goodness we are busy! There is nothing we like more than getting up each morning and cracking on with a to-do list as long as our arm except the last few weeks have been quite frustrating; you know that feeling when despite all the hard work you haven't moved forward enough?

As you all know we've booked ourselves up for a very full November, not just trading at Greenwich Market every Friday and Saturday but the Selvedge Winter Fair on the 12th and the following weekend our first big, three day exhibiting event with Handmade in Britain. When we signed up all those months ago we were already whirring away behind the scenes to create a new collection and there seemed to be plenty of time to get everything finished.

To date readers we are about half way there - all the silk cushions are made, our new silk lampshades are ready and waiting, and last week we even did the first test run of our screen prints. But, and this is a big but, we are still waiting for our digital prints. As a small business we are trying to do things the right way - small print runs printed in the UK - and yet trying to find a reliable printer with a consistent quality and not extortionate pricing has been challenging!

Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully the print side of things will be resolved this week and the stress of this will soon be a dim and distant memory.

In between grappling with the print suppliers we have taken the opportunity to create a range of Christmas cards. So for all those organised Christmas shoppers these three different handmade designs will be available at Greenwich Market from this weekend.

MADE IN CHELSEA

More exciting news and another date for your diary...

We are thrilled to reveal that we will be exhibiting at Handmade In Britain at Chelsea Old Town Hall from 16th - 18th November.

This is going to be a big step for us, so far we have only showcased our work at artisan/handmade markets but this is a really exciting opportunity to show alongside other talented British designers and makers and we hope to learn so much from the experience. This time we have to think big...with three blank walls to fill it is the perfect setting to exhibit our new collection which will be entitled 'Entomology'.

So back in our studio there are lots of preparations still to be done, not just the fun bits like our stand display and making plenty of stock but we are also busy tweaking the website, taking press shots and attempting not to get distracted by twitter when we should be promoting! 

More details of the other exhibitors and show information can be found here. 

See you at the show!

A BUG'S LIFE

Way back in the summer when things weren't quite so busy we ventured up to London for a visit to the Natural History Museum. This place is amazing and we have been popping in here on a regular basis for years - there's just so much to see.

This time we chose to spend our time in the Cocoon, an area designated to the study of insects.

There is something intriguing about the rows of pinned beetles and moths; the order that is created and the time taken to place them together which then form patterns and highlight the vivid colours.

The colours of these 'pests' are undeniably beautiful so it's no wonder they have been used throughout history as adornment.

Ellen Terry's beetle wing dress c. 1880

Victorian beetle brooch c. 1870

The architecture in the old part of the museum is stunning too and we often find our gaze wandering upwards at the wonderfully decorated ceilings and hallways.

So if you find yourself in London and you're stuck for something to do head to the Natural History Museum as this place is so inspirational.

PERFECT TIMING

Remember this post? Well after weeks of planning, designing and making we are proud to reveal The Very Hungry Quilt in all its colourful glory. We enjoyed every minute of making this little beauty which combines embroidery, applique, patchwork and quilting to tell the famous story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (we even sneaked in a few of our own fabrics from our new collection.) This ever popular story has lasted over several generations and we did have a chuckle when we googled it and found it applied in unusual ways!

It really was perfect timing for this quilt though because as we were applying the finishing stitches on Sunday morning a certain special little lady who it was commissioned for also decided to make her very first appearance! So congratulations to the proud new parents and we hope you enjoy ......

A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY

We are really excited to announce that we are going to be part of the Selvedge Winter Fair which takes place at Chelsea Town Hall on 10th November. For anyone who is interested in textiles you will be aware of this beautiful magazine that celebrates, educates and generally revels in the gorgeousness of all things fabric related. We would recommend to everyone to take a look at this publication if you get the chance as it is full of beautiful photographs and interesting articles.

Our new collection will be on display, plus all our other popular items. So put this date in your diary and get ahead with your Christmas shopping - the best gifts are always handmade!

CHANGES AFOOT

Suddenly it's October and it already feels like Autumn is in full swing. The days are rapidly getting shorter and there's now a chill in the air and the plants in the garden are showing signs of the change in season.

Every few months we like to change our blog banner, to keep things interesting but also so that we get to have some fun styling! We've gone darker too - think cosy corner of your home where you display all your treasures.

We're just two days in to this new month and exciting things are already taking shape here in the studio (follow us on twitter for all the sneak peeks!) which we are just bursting to share with you but don't want to ruin the surprise just yet. There's also a new collection brewing and some fantastic opportunities in the pipeline that we would love for you to come and see us at. All will be revealed in good time, until then... stay tuned!