My Little Bird :: An Update

Firstly let me say a big thanks to all of you who emailed me or commented on my post about my little bird which I was surprised to find on a card in kikki.K. I appreciate your concern and support, so thank you!

So... here's what happened... A couple of days after that post Kristina Karlsson, founder and owner of kikki.K, contacted me after a friend of hers alerted her to my blog post. A long story short, Kristina was very apologetic, open and willing to do the right thing by me as soon as she possibly could. She has been nothing short of wonderful and has compensated me for the use of my design.

I imagine (hope) that the designer responsible has learnt a valuable lesson.
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Monday Blogday :: Ric Rac

I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely, hilarious and kooky (in the best possible way) Jodie at The Stitches and Craft Show earlier this year. Jodie is a talented crafter of softies and her blog Ric Rac always makes me smile. Often I laugh out load.

Jodie creates stories which feature her softies in wonderful little sets.


A recent post titled Stayin' Alive is one of the funniest things I've seen online in a while. It started like this...

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk

I'm a woman's man

No time to talk.

Music loud and women warm,
I've been kicked around since I was born.

Go on over to see the rest... and try to tell me it's not laugh out loud funny.

Also don't miss Jodie's Etsy shop.
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Inspiration :: Amanda Vissel

Amanda Vissel inhabits a creative world of character toys that I know little about... but I know what I like. The Wood Labbit is a rare toy created by Amanda and below are some of the 10 that she recently customised as one-offs.



I'm also loving her paintings.

Image Source: Amanda Vissel
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Inspiration :: Moss

Using the '50s designs of Piero Fornasetti, and in collaboration with Fornasetti's son, Murray Moss has created a series of lovely retro looking silk scarves. I particularly love the unexpected use of the acrobats image.


The scarves are available from Moss (LA, NYC and online), along with other great examples of 20th Century design.


Aren't these Moss storefront shots great. I love the signage on the windows.

All images: Moss

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Market Hangover

I'm happy to say that Mathilda's Market on Sunday was a great success. There were hoards of shoppers waiting at the door at 9am and the frantic rush didn't slow for a couple of hours at least. Thanks to those of you who came by to say hello - some familiar faces and quite a few new ones.

Here's how my stall looked, including a shot of my little helper before she had her face painted by a nearby fairy and headed off to a birthday party. I did my best with the ugly concrete brick wall...


So now I have a market hangover. I worked like a maniac getting things done beforehand, including a 2am finish the night before, and only 4 hours sleep. Set up was from 7.30am, doors opened at 9. The day was hot and the stuffy heat in the hall was headache-inducing. Post market pack up is always a drag. I arrived home tired and starving to unload the car and be confronted by the huge mess I left when I fell into bed the night before. I slumped in a chair with a cup of tea and we all had an early night.

Today was spent tidying up, putting away and sorting out. I feel like I have a hangover. Does anyone else feel like that after having a market stall? Maybe I'm too old for this caper! I'd better get used to it or find a way to beat the hangover, because I have a busy schedule coming up in the next 6 weeks.

But... I'm really not complaining because I always enjoy markets - meeting people and chatting and getting feedback on my wares. And I was thrilled when I counted my inventory and realised just how successful the day had been.

I didn't get a chance to walk around and visit any of the other stalls, so I haven't got any photos to share, and I feel like I missed out somewhat. But on the upside I didn't spend any of my earnings, which is usually a danger when I find myself surrounded by beautiful handmade things.
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