New present ideas in Handmade Happiness

Bunny egg covers £14 knitted by Sue Inglis

New mugs, bowls and  night light candle holders by Ali Cooper

Yesterday afternoon Ali Cooper came in with new things she has made. Some of those things are pictured above with a crochet blue tit and woolly lambs by Michelle Green.

 On Thursday Sue Inglis came in with these delightful bunny egg cosies she has knitted. 

Today will be busy in the shop with new stock to price and everything to get ready for this evening's party at Salon Sixteen. 

 I am lucky to have Kate Box, who makes the wonderful wrist warmers and baby blankets to help me tonight. She'll collect everything from the shop and set up at Salon Sixteen ready for the 5pm start so that I can be present in Handmade Happiness until closing time - also 5pm. Tonight Kate will be showing four new cushions she has made which I can't wait to see.
Now I must iron a big white sheet to go over the Handmade Happiness table. That takes me back to craft fair days...
Come to Salon Sixteen if you can 5-7pm. It will be fun - things to buy, people to meet, free drink and canapes. Several of Handmade Happiness' makers will be there. Will you? (Details in the post below.)

An Invitation to Salon Sixteen, Saturday 5-7pm

Rosie Packham-Boyns who owns the hairdressers Salon Sixteen off Lavant Street, Petersfield is hosting a party tomorrow night (Saturday) and everyone is invited. Bubbly and canapes and a chance to see what local businesses have to offer.

 Handmade Happiness will have a stand there showing a selection of lovely handmade items; Stella and Dot jewellery will be there; NYR Organic beauty products; Forget me Not clothes; Paint, Pots and Parties and Claire Vennis artworks. Entry is free and Salon Sixteen is next to Swan Street car park so easy parking. Why not pop in? 

Permission to make

Michelle Green's needlefelted dog in Handmade Happiness now £60

 When you work full time whether it's for someone else, for your own business or in bringing up children your time is so structured and in demand it's hard to give oneself 'permission to make'. There's a tussle going on and it feels like there's no time for you to do anything some might see as unnecessary.  I still feel sometimes that making things is a kind of selfish indulgence that I have to give in to and I felt that much more strongly when I was younger. Do you relate?

Now we no longer have to use our creative powers to feed and clothe and shelter ourselves we are inclined to try to ignore that urge to make because we think we don't have time to indulge it; but I think it's still very much there and to use it whether it's in a workshop with others or alone at the sewing machine or drawing in a notebook is so very satisfying. It does us good.

 Being given permission to 'make' by ourselves or by someone else is necessary to maintain our balance and  self-esteem I think. And for 'make' feel free to substitute 'play' (an instrument or just play generally), write, draw, decorate, wherever your creative spirit wants to go. You need that time for yourself. Make time to be creative in your life.

A lot of people who visit Handmade Happiness tell me they aren't creative. But I know that everyone is creative. It might come out in different ways - in cooking a nice meal or in conversation but I do believe we are all born with the need to use our creativity. Perhaps some of us have repressed that need to be creative for so long in order to serve others that now they think they don't have it. Give yourself permission to make.



  

Liberty, Fenwicks and Zara

Colours chosen by Amy at Liberty

Fabrics chosen by Amy at Liberty

Co-ordinating fabrics and yarns at Liberty

 This baby will be a fashionable baby with a sophisticated wardrobe! My daughter is quick to decide on what she likes and what she doesn't like. Not knowing what sex the baby will be means clothes made now mustn't be girly or masculine but equally suited to either sex.

London yesterday started at Fenwicks which has a Caramel baby and child concession.  We admired everything except the prices. This label specialises in unusual colours (tan and olive green for instance) in best quality fabrics and some things look hand-knitted.
We also love the 'Jellycat' supersoft white bunnies.

Zara, a Spanish company, has an interesting range of baby things, a bit different from other High Street companies. A white t-shirt with tiny pineapples and co-ordinating yellow leggings nearly got bought but first we wanted to see what Liberty had to offer.

By now we had noted that for such a tiny scrap of material needed to clothe a newborn prices were surprisingly high. And we were thinking about making the little tops and bottoms needed for a summer baby ourselves. 

The dark haired lady assistant at Liberty was super helpful. She had made clothes for her grandchildren and knew what was practical and what wasn't. Amy quickly picked out yarn colours for little cardigans, socks and hats and then chose fabrics to co-ordinate. (Only half a metre needed of each the  assistant assured us.)

 As soon as I got off the over-crowded train home I started on a little cardigan in the green size 0-3 months. It will be sweet. In fact I am thinking that if Handmade Happiness has womens' clothes why not a rail of handmade baby clothes as well? First I'll need to talk to the talented knitters that supply the shop and see if they are willing...

Making bags

Rich colours for an across the body bag by Jenny Stacy

This Jenny Stacy bag goes well with Seonaid Noble's orange cashmere cardigan

Cashmere cardigan by Seonaid Noble £95 with handmade bag by Jenny Stacy £20

I made this bag and two others - one blues, one greens on Friday in the shop, finishing them off yesterday. The blue one is my favourite - its all hand-felted with a toning velvet button fastening but I'd happily wear this one too. 

I see this as a travel bag; to wear close to the body with tickets, purse, lipstick and possibly passport in. The base material is a heavy duty felt which I've sewn into. It's a dark red, just visible top left corner. You learn as you go when making don't you and if I make more I'll know how to make them quicker.

Petersfield textile artist Pam Dew brought in a dress she has made. I really like it. Simple shape with long sleeves and button fastening in the front. It is short enough to wear over jeans or leggings but long enough to wear as a dress when the weather is warm enough. When Handmade Happiness starts selling womens' clothes I don't want them to be too expensive. Dress making is not quick but if I can help Pam source fabric that looks good, drapes well and is a reasonable price I reckon HH will be able to offer its customers really wearable natural fabric dresses this summer. 

Needlefelted birds and dogs by Michelle Green

A wren and a bluetit in their nests by Michelle Green £38 each

Long-tailed tit by Michelle Green £29

Lurcher dog by Michelle Green £60

Long-tailed tit, barn owl and large owl by Michelle Green

Michelle Green's clever needlefelted birds are always popular in Handmade Happiness.

Her robins, wrens and bluetits are regular visitors and this week she has brought in long-tailed tits, owls and dogs. There is another dog but sorry, my picture was too blurred to share. I'll take another picture of him today.

My anti-ageing mission has back-fired lately what with pulled hamstring/ trapped nerve in leg from emergency yoga and the boiler has broken down so no heating and hot water. I'm told a new boiler will cost between £1800 and £1900 so no chance of that. I always wonder how other people cope in these situations. Perhaps they are prudent and have savings for life's emergencies. I've never been able to do that. I glide through life on a wing and a prayer and trust that nothing bad will happen. How dumb is that?

Right now the sun is shining in a perfect blue sky. How lucky I am. It's going to be a good day!

Knitting chicks (or ducklings) for Easter

Chick with Cadbury's creme egg inside and bunny , knitted by Joyce Holland Hill with mini creme egg inside on blanket by Kate Box

Another knitted Easter duckling(?) by me on one of Kate Box's baby blankets

 The pattern for this Easter chick (mine have turned out more like ducklings) is easy to knit. My knitting friends say that charities are giving out the pattern in the hope that lots will be knitted and sold to raise money for charity. 

If you want to make your own click onto the bold words above. Then it is up to you whether you give some to charity or just make a few for family and friends. The pattern I have linked to is on the mothers' union website. There are similar patterns on the Francis House Hospice website and the Pompom Emporium website.

There are a few knitted chicks in Handmade Happiness for £2-50 each including the egg. The nice thing about them is that after they've held chocolate eggs for Easter they can be used as boiled egg cosies for the rest of the year.

I want to get up to the Country Living magazine Spring show which starts today. But my leg, which the doctor looked at yesterday and reckons is just a trapped nerve, is not reliable. I now plan  to go there on Friday assuming all is back to normal by then and I can find someone to shop sit. The show runs until Sunday at the Business Design Centre, Islington. The Spring show is more home and garden focussed and the November show is all about Christmas. 

Colour

My dress by Cos

I love this combination of colours - green, blue, indigo, violet - half of the rainbow. The colours of a peacock's tail.
Some people have an instinctive feeling for colour and always get it right. It's not just about choosing which colours go well together it's  positioning  those colours to achieve a balance that pleases the eye. Witness Kaffe Fassett ... or Ruth Ellacott in Handmade Happiness, who no matter how many colours she uses in her rag rugs and patchwork always achieves a piece which looks 'right'.

I've realised recently (it's taken me a long time) that there are colours that look expensive and colours that look cheap. I would put neutrals - cream, grey, and beige into the expensive category and cold, harsh colours - puce, royal blue,emerald green and anything neon into the cheap looking category. There are 'safe' colours like navy and black and highlight colours like lime and shocking pink. Plus millions of shades of each colour. And then there's fashion. Fashion should not be allowed to dictate on colour since what suits one person is wrong for someone else.

Learning about colour could take a life time. All I know is that nature is the best colour guide. Not garden flowers as we have tampered with their colours too much but meadow flowers or animal colours or landscapes -infinite combinations that will always inspire and always look 'right'.  
  

Sheila Barrow's new embroidered pictures

In the New Forest by Sheila Barrow

Bluebells in the New Forest by Sheila Barrow

 Artist Sheila Barrow delivered four more of her embroidered paintings to Handmade Happiness this week.
 Glen Wellstead dropped by yesterday with more of her popular stacks of dyed wool blanket to make with and a brightly coloured cushion she has made with them.
 Kate Hackett came in with her ceramic egg plates to add to her display of mugs, plates and bowls.
 Carol Smith topped up her applique fabric cards and Penny Diggins, pencil artist extraordinaire brought in more of her cards and a poster advertising her drawing classes.

I am battling with a rebellious leg having slightly overdone the yoga this week! I call it 'emergency yoga' as I feel I should make a big anti-ageing effort before becoming a grandmother this summer.

 A yoga teacher who visits the shop says it's good to be upside down to reverse the downward pull of gravity. Being upside down used to be easy when I was young. I remember often standing on my head when in my twenties and thirties but now it seems too extreme. Apparently you get some of the same results by just having your legs up against a wall...

Another visitor to the shop said she'd just completed a course to become a nutritionist. During our chat she said she was looking for someone to practice on would I be interested? So my free consultation will be at the beginning of April. Perfectly timed. Emergency nutrition advice just before my birthday which is also in April and impending grandmotherhood!

 I am looking forward to finding out from an expert exactly what we should and should not be eating. It's confusing trying to follow the fads spread by the media. No sugar is the current message.

 Vegetables seem to be the only thing everyone can eat as much as they like of without feeling guilty or as if they're harming themselves. Carbohydrates and proteins dip in and out of fashion. And chocolate is sometimes thought to be good for you, sometimes recommended to be avoided. Porridge always seems to get a good press - that's what I'm off to make now for breakfast. But I can't eat it without sugar can I?!
  

Penny Seume's lampshades and cushions in Handmade Happiness

Artist Penny Seume's velvet cushions and lampshades

Urban landscape inspired fabrics by Penny Seume contrast with rustic table and sea pots by Roly Phillips

At Contemporary Textiles Penny's stand sang out. I feel her sophisticated, 'now' look is just right for Handmade Happiness in Petersfield, an 'area of outstanding natural beauty' where people also have strong links with London, only an hour away on the train.
To find out more about Penny Seume and see more of her work visit www.pennyseume.co.uk

Bits and pieces

Spring flowers

Seeing rag rugs in the shop prompts lots of memories. This one by Ruth Ellacott

Popular needle felted birds by Michelle Green. £29 each.

 This time yesterday saw me painting rag paper (paper with a high cotton content) in the colours of hydrangeas (pale green, pink, pale blue to cobalt blue, lilac etc) and in the shop I cut out petals. I want to have lots of petals to make into jewellery. Paper, protected with layers of matt varnish can, I hope make nice jewellery. We shall see. 

Sheila Barrow visited with four more of her embroidered paintings. Two views across the South Downs and two woodland scenes of the New Forest. As usual with Sheila's work these are pictures I would love to own.  Photo coming! Sheila also delivered lots more of her original art work cards which people love to buy to frame.

One of the artists whose work Amy and I particularly admired at Contemporary Textiles in London is Penny Seume. I am delighted that her lampshades and cushions will be in Handmade Happiness by the end of this week. Contemporary, abstract, tactile - her work has the 'Wow!' factor.

Pam Dew came in yesterday with an interesting cushion she has made. Known for her wonderful quilts and applique work, Pam is now combining her passion for sewing with her passion for cycling. This latest cushion is printed on with bike parts and embroidered bikes. She's also promised earrings from bike parts and possibly necklaces. I have every faith they will be desirable and wearable and only keen cyclists like Pam will recognise the materials she has used!

New from Ali Cooper

Blue and white porcelain jugs by Ali Cooper

Blue and white bowls by Ali Cooper

The lovely faded denim colour of this delicate bowl by Ali Cooper

One of Ali Cooper's dog mugs

 Making ceramics is a long process. First there's throwing the clay on the wheel to achieve the shape, then leaving your mugs, bowls or plates until there have dried out sufficiently. Then after glazing and decorating there are two firings in the kiln.

 I love it when Ali Cooper brings in the latest things she has made. And if the customers waiting for pink spotty mugs and gold lustre decorated stoneware are reading this - those things are en route!

This year we're appreciating these sunny days more than ever after so much continuous rain. Sitting on a bench looking out over the Ashdown Forest yesterday with my mother beside me soaking up the warm sun was blissful. 

There's a sign on the road nearby giving the number of collisions car have had with deer in the last year. I noticed the number had gone up in the last week from 187 to 191 meaning four deer crashes in just a few days. I always look out for deer. Great to see them but not so close up that you have to hit one!

Contemporary Textiles event and Pam Dew's latest cushion

Pam Dew's 'The View at Elsted' cushion 

Flower shop tulips en route to Contemporary Textiles at Teddington

Last night I met daughter Amy in London and we sped to the feast for the senses that is the Contemporary Textiles show at Teddington. 76 textile artists.

 What I liked best were the painterly abstract printed velvets and silks made into scarves, cushions, lampshades, dresses even. Rich colours but never gaudy. I loved leaves pressed into wool making natural organic dyes. Texture - the nubbly delicate embroidery in silver jewellery. Vintage fabrics juxtaposed piecemeal to make interesting applique dresses. 

Talking of dresses, we also enjoyed looking round TCS a beautiful clothing boutique on Teddington High Street with imaginative clothes that would suit all shapes and sizes.
Amy and I agree there is a real gap in the market for lovely clothes for larger sized women - the designer shop she works in only goes up to a size 14 . Over our shared meal at Carluccio's we sketched out dress designs on paper napkins. 

I'm now going to contact three of the textile designers we chatted to last night. Fingers crossed you'll be able to see their work shortly in Handmade Happiness.

New from Jacqui Watkins - notebooks

Notebooks £3.50 each by Jacqui Watkins

Notebooks by lino cut artist Jacqui Watkins £3.50 each

 Regular shop visitors will recognise these notebooks as being the lino cuts of Jacqui Watkins whose square cards are so popular. Jacqui also sent coasters with her card designs on them but I can't photograph them because they sold the same day they arrived! If you're visiting the Country Living fair look out for Jacqui's stand on the mezzanine (middle floor) under her business name of Linen Prints.

I have a card machine in Handmade Happiness but until yesterday I hadn't I confess used it for payments over the phone. Now I have done and it was easy. So let me offer you this service.
 If there's anything you like pictured on the blog - and I'll do a special selection before Mothers Day on March 30th - ring me on the shop number 01730 267711 during opening hours with your card details and I'll put it in the post the same day. Small parcels cost £3-00 to send first class so this would be added to most orders.

I'm thinking a lot about my grandchild to be at the moment and how I would like to be on hand to help Amy once he or she arrives. So recently I've suggested to visiting makers that they might like to volunteer to work one day a month in the shop. The suggestion has gone down well so far and it's reassuring to think that by July I will hopefully have a schedule in place so customers have a chance to meet some of the lovely individuals whose work is sold in the shop. Makers will want to make while working so watching them and chatting to them will be another attraction for customers. 

Knowing that I don't have to work all the time the shop is open will also enable me to visit the exhibitions and shows I sometimes have to miss at the moment. Not tomorrow though. Tomorrow Pam Dew who makes wonderful quilts and applique cushions will be in the shop in the afternoon so I can go to the first night of Contemporary Textiles at the Landmark Arts Centre, Teddington. 76 textile artists. The show is also on Saturday and Sunday if you want to go yourself. I can't wait!

The pencil drawings of Elizabeth Diggins

Cards showing the drawings of Elizabeth Diggins

Natural history detailed drawings by Elizabeth Diggins

Pencil drawings by Elizabeth Diggins

Handmade Happiness stocks cards by Elizabeth Diggins, natural history artist.

Occasionally I am blown away by someone's talent. Elizabeth Diggins, who has recently moved to the area draws with an assortment of pencils building form and texture in layers of painstaking detail. She uses all the grades of pencil (HB apparently means hard black) from soft to hard to make her pictures. The glass jar impresses me most but the more I look at these cards the more I like the mossy undergrowth contrasting with the smooth hard branches of trees in the card above right. The original drawing is huge she says. Originals that haven't already been sold can be bought through Elizabeth's website.Visit her website by clicking on any card above.

Seeing both ends of life

Painted silk, glitter and gold paper. Golden wedding card by Jenny Stacy

A tiny cardigan for my grandchild-to-be with old buttons

Same cardigan different view. The fabric behind is brushed cotton.

 I often think about this baby that is to be. What can I teach it about the important things in life. To be kind to everyone and to treat people as you would like to be treated by them? To never stop learning and to take every opportunity to learn throughout life. To try to do good and not to be afraid to speak out against wrong doing. And above all to listen, to really listen, watch and make your own mind up about things.

Today is Sunday when I see a lot of elderly people in the residential home where my mother lives. Seeing her there gives me heartache. The place is clean and the new building is light. But what is there for people to do? Sit down and watch television. I wish there was an alternative. It seems too big a change from living at home looking after yourself as much as possible with the help of visiting carers to living in an institution where everything is done for you and you are simply required to sit, eat and sleep. 

I must find out how our British system compares with what happens in other countries. Maybe the government can take its focus off education for a moment and consider whether there is a better alternative to residential care for  people living into their eighties and nineties.

Knitting socks etc.

I have never tried handling four needles for sock knitting. Most patterns require four needles but the Debbie Bliss pattern in her book Baby Knits for Beginners needs only two needles. These socks above are knitted for a three month old. They look a bit big but this may be because I don't always use the recommended wool (above picture) and I knit fairly loosely. I have just made one pink sock but there the wool ran out. I've finished a little white cardigan but want to find nice buttons before I take a picture of it. I've also nearly finished the blue romper. It too looks a bit bigger than I imagined it would look.

Last week I had an order for Golden Wedding invitations. I enjoyed making those. They're all different but I'll show you a picture of the one I like best next time.

I'm also making some unusual jewellery. I hope people like this style. Necklaces but different. Picture coming.

In the meantime the hunt is on for car paperwork. Why am I so disorganised? Today I need to get a new road tax disc. Most people will have car papers neatly in a file marked 'Car'. Not me. Having spent a fruitless half hour looking through papers upstairs I must now look downstairs and then, if no joy look in the shop though I can't imagine why car info would be in the shop... I could do with help from a neat, organised person. Someone who doesn't find paperwork as boring as I do. 

However I did take a baby step towards self-organisation yesterday by attending an hour and a half of yoga. It reminded me of a lot of muscles that don't normally get used and despite getting a leg cramp half way through I intend to go regularly from now on. It's an early morning class which makes you feel chilled out for the rest of the day.

Brighton

Seagull on train in Brighton Station

Ok I realise that my Brighton pictures are lettering, but they tell you Brighton is different. It's a bit bohemian and a bit funny and a bit dirty. It has style, edginess and sometimes it has energy. 

I used to love visiting Brighton when I lived in Chichester to tap in to some of its creative energy which Chichester didn't give me. Brighton is the best place for people watching. Individuals expressing their specialness through what they look like. Loads of different nationalities and students from all over Britain attending the two universities and art college.
Fashion and dreadlocks.

On Monday I noticed a lot of dogs. The sort of dog on a short lead that could turn nasty if its owner felt threatened. I noticed how dirty some pavements were. But this is Brighton off-season. Winter-time with hardly any visitors. In summer I know it paints a different story.

I visited Ditto, my favourite fabric shop. Ditto has mostly natural 100% cotton fabric and a good choice of buttons. www.dittofabrics.co.uk And Brighton Bead shop where I bought some supplies. Brighton Bead shop deals as easily in wholesale quantities as in small quantities. Bags of 100 of this or 200 of that are ready bagged up making it quick and easy to stock up. 
I visited Appendage which showcases some good makers and I walked a lot and took pictures looking up.

Tete a tete

That's what these miniature daffodils are called: Tete a tete

Found in the garden: a bowl of bulbs coming into bloom.

 No, I've not gone all pretentious, but the name of these little flowers does seem appropriate. Head to head, literally, though my computer can't oblige with an accent on the 'a' or the 'e's but also a tete a tete conversation which is what blogging is all about.

Having a shop is a kind of imprisonment. I volunteered to be imprisoned and I never regret it but at the same time I can't take off when I want to and just close the shop. It has to be open when it says on the door that it's open which is every Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and often it's open half an hour earlier and half an hour later than that. But I did feel a bit twitchy at the weekend when I knew 'Unravel' the all-things-knitting show was on at Farnham Maltings and I couldn't go. True I could have gone on the Sunday but that would have meant not seeing my mother and it's important to me to spend Sundays in her company and to get her out for a breath of fresh air when she spends all week cooped up in a residential home.

Today, Monday is my free day, my me day, my day full of possiblilities and I like it that way.
True I have to do some paperwork in the morning but once that's out of the way I can take off. Maybe Brighton today?

I like to spend some of the time in the shop making and as my desk gets quickly cluttered with whatever I am making I plan to install a little table where the sewing machine can be left out. A real work table so my desk can be left tidy and clear for just wrapping purchases and taking money not strewn with bits of fabric, yarn and knitting needles as it is now. I'll tidy tomorrow. Today - Brighton here I come! 

In the window this week

A selection of goodies in the window of Handmade Happiness

 Today, buoyed up by recent comments, I have written two posts. When you have read this scroll down to read about Jill Poole and her lovely artwork.

Pictured above are one of my collage boxes £2-50 and Jenny Shutler's bracelet £32; a rabbit and teddy (£6-50 each) and Easter egg in chick £2-50 by Joyce Holland-Hill and mini picture of the South Downs by Sheila Barrow £38.

Kate Hackett's chicken toast rack (also good for storing post) £25 and spring flowers jug £18.

My lavender stuffed cashmere hearts £8-50; Sue Flux's purse on a long strap knitted with her own spun yarn £12-50 and Sue's interesting spun yarn with a touch of silver £10 for 50 grams.

Bee Mellor's beautifully made silk collage specs case £19-50 and Ann Hutchins' stump work butterfly embroidered picture £45.

Yesterday's flashes of sunshine were a gentle reminder that winter is drawing to a close and soon we will enjoy being outside again. Every year at this time I dream of food self-sufficiency from the garden (no, it's never going to happen!) and a continuous supply of flowers to cut for the house (slightly more possible.) 

This winter has felt far too sedentary for me (sitting in the shop) and I yearn to be more active. So I've signed up for a yoga class in Petersfield and I'm looking forward to getting back into the walking habit now that we can maybe risk leaving the umbrella at home.

Jill Poole's art work

Two of Jill Poole's cards

 Artist Jill Poole has a degree in illustration and creates pictures and cards all with a delicate, individual style.
Handmade Happiness sells her cards (15 different designs) and will soon have some of her original framed pictures.
Jill's garden and countryside themes are very appealing and in the tradition of Handmade Happiness her cards could be bought to be framed.
To see more of Jill's art work visit www.jillpoole.com