Inspiration Hunting

Last week Chris and I and some friends went down to London to Top Drawer and Home at Earls Court. These 2 shows are big trade events for retail buyers to find new products and ranges. All the big retailers go to scout out the latest trends and must have items, in our case the little retailers go too. Our friend Cathy was looking for new products for her wonderful shop LoveOne in Ipswich.

I went to find some inspiration for how I can improve Hello Pushkin to look more professional and make my market stalls look more interesting and appealing.

My favourite part of the whole event was the "Spotted" section where the smaller businesses looking for wholesale orders can be found.

Fracas Studios http://www.fracasstudios.com
Sarah Ray http://www.sarahray.co.uk
Claire Gaudion http://www.clairegaudion.co.uk
Sarah Knight http://www.stormyknight.co.uk
Tamasyn Gambell http://www.tamasyngambell.com
Roddy and Ginger http://www.roddyandginger.co.uk

Were my favourites. Hopefully LoveOne will have some of these brands in soon. I'll keep you posted!

I've spent my week preparing a wholesale order for a new retail client. Lucky me! Here are a few pics of what I've been doing. More news on that soon.

My paint mixing looked like a dolphin!

What could be better than glitter?

I've been busy making for the past few weeks, even over Christmas and have some new necklaces to show you. I've also had a couple of commissions which I will post some pictures of soon. These necklaces are not available online and will soon be in Loveone on St Peter's Street in Ipswich. If you like these necklaces and are interested in them please leave a comment as I can always do some custom orders.

All my new range are hand painted with acrylic paint varnished twice to protect them from the elements.

Finally, this last necklace is not available to buy. It is my first experiment with using glitter on my jewellery and I am so happy with the results that this one is just for me. I will be using glitter more in the future so again if you like this one let me know. I'd love to hear your opinions and feedback.

I have since noticed the little bits of glitter on the rest of the necklace and rubbed them off, little blighters!

The Saints Summer Street Fair

Well what a day we had! And PHEW was it hot!! With my fair skin I am so surprised I didn't manage to get sunburnt it was a scorcher!!

Well we started the day very early to make sure all the market stalls were set up in the right places and all the stallholders were happy with their stalls. They were and so were we!

Our sellers always seem to be so clever with how they decorate their stall and display their products. I am always so excited to see how they show off the wonderful things they've made and it always suits what they make so well!

So we officially opened at 10am but when you're on a street it pretty much starts as soon as the first customer parts with their money! As far as I could tell that was pretty early because before we knew it the street was heaving with people and I was running around trying to sell raffle tickets for Joel Millerchip's fantastic paintings and signing people up to our mailing list.

I couldn't move around LoveOne for all the people in the shop, it was so busy and lots of people heading to the back garden to get a delicious cream tea from Simpson's Deli. They went down a storm let me tell you! And their brownies
went very well with my evening cup of tea.
So here are some pictures of the stalls and some of their holders.

Check out our facebook for more pics


Jack the Cat. Lucie Ellen. House of Ismay. Kluck and Jess Lucking.

WOW Sorry everyone!!

Sorry again! After making the last post all the way back in December BEFORE Christmas!!! I told myself I would get back to updating on a regular basis, well so much for that huh?!

Chris and I have been busy looking for houses! Me oh my has it been hard work! So many that look good on the pictures but when you see them in the flesh (or brick!) they just aren't all that! But finally we found it, the loveliest little house you ever could see! Hehe! And so we are now just waiting on our moving in date and excitedly collecting housewares and furniture.

The jug was a Christmas present from my landlady, I have coveted this jug for some months and I am now picturing it
in our new little house with a big bunch of flowers in!


So I treated myself to the matching tea towel from LoveOne! I mean we can't wash up the dishes without something to dry them with now can we?

I got excited about buying an iron the other day, how silly!

As soon as we move in I will be taking pictures of how we are making out little nest our own. But before then I have lots of things I want to show you all, just need to get some decent daylight to take some pictures.

Finally, we are now arranging the second I Make Fun Stuff Craft Market for Saturday 27th March at the Town Hall Galleries Ipswich. More in depth news soon. But if you are interested or know someone who is please go to www.imakefunstuff.co.uk

Woodbridge Vintage and Comtemporary Fair & A Sorry!!

Hi everyone!! Firstly i'm sorry i've been so incommunicado for the last few weeks. Very few updates I am very sorry! I started back at work at the college and am working so many hours then popping out in the evening to Chris', my folks' and to see friends I am shattered every night! I haven't even had time to make anything and have bought magazines I haven't had time to read. Now i'm feeling a bit more with it (its Saturday thank god!!) I must not neglect you again!!

SO!!!! Here are some images from the second Woodbridge Vintage and Contemporary Fair. This time LoveOne had a stall which I helped run with Nicola who you can see in the picture sitting at the back sending a text hehe! Isn't the stall lovely?? We had such a successful day! Oh my goodness so much better than the last few events Cathy and Myself have done. It was an excellent day and I got some goodies myself which I will try and take photos of tomo. I was giddy with vintage excitement! OooooO!!!!

There were so many excellent stalls over flowing with goodies and beautiful things to buy. I sold lots of union jack bunting and badges which was so exciting!! AND had a few shop owners interested in my stuff and several stall holders interested in our fair at the end of November (post about that coming up)

What an excellent day we had! There is another on 12th December and if we don't get a stall this time we'll definitely be visiting!

Art on the Prom

Just had to show you all the pictures from Art on the Prom that Cathy from LoveOne (my stall partner) took! They look really good. As does our stall, even if I do say so myself!

It was a warm, cool, very windy day! I was putting my scarf on, taking it off and my cardie too all day. Coat went on at the end, and we left pleased with ourselves and with pink faces! In my case, VERY pink!

How good does the bunting look in this seaside setting?? There was a fantastic beach hut just behind us and to the right that was exactly the right colour to compliment out stall. It would have looked perfect if I could've sneakily hung my bunting over it and taken a pic, but sadly it was being used and i'm not that cheeky!

There we go you can see it there on the right, what a great colour!!

The wind was so strong in the afternoon the pegs that were holding my bags to the fencing pinged off and I kept running about putting them back on! Cathy was fighting with her pinnys to keep them from attacking her where she sat!

It was all very funny for us but there were several stallholders further up the prom fighting with the wind more than we were as they had no beach huts as windbreaks.

These are the ladies themselves. I say ladies as each of the styles of pinnys have their own name. Gloria and Ivy to name but a few. They are made from hawaiian shirt fabric. Aren't they amazing. My favourite is the yellow, pink and brown one. I do believe that one was sold on the day. Damn it!

You will find us at several fairs in the area soon.

LoveOne will be at
Gay Pride at Christchurch Park, Ipswich on Sunday 13th September
and
Woodbridge Vintage & Contemporary Fair on 26th September

Cuppa Tea And Cake will be at the I Make Fun Stuff Craft Fair at the Town Hall Galleries in Ipswich on Saturday 28th November.

Pens Pens Pens

Hello dear readers, I must apologise for such a long absence. And I didn't warn you either! For the last two weeks I have spent very little time at home due to circumstances I won't discuss in such a public place but now I am back and can focus on updating you all on what I have been doing.

Look!! The drawing on the left just happened on Saturday afternoon while I was working at LoveOne. I had been thinking of doing a design featuring pens for a new run of mini bags for Art on The Prom in Felixstowe on 30th August.

The drawing itself may also be included in the exhibition I am a part of at St Mary At The Quay in Ipswich 28th August til 6th September.

So the end of this month is going to be rather busy! I also start back at work on 1st September in the NEW college building!!

So here is the new mini bag design. A bit more refined than the original drawing because the more pens, the smaller the stencils and the harder it is to cut! I am rather pleased with it though. This was a very small run but I am already considering doing more in different colours.

I do hope you are all well. I am sorry again for being a way so long!!

All is not lost!

I have managed to do a few things whilst trapped in a mental block! I wouldnt like to say anything about coming out the other side or anything, don't want to jinx anything.

I printed the shapes this morning. I thought of it last night, i'm not sure about what is going to happen to it next but i was very pleased it was successful and came out how I imagined.

There has also been more tea cups. Some patterns and some fondant fancies produced. I've also had lots of ideas and had lots of inspiration so lets hope things are on the up.





I have also been looking after LoveOne while the owner is on holiday which is so much fun and also gives me time to read and draw between lovely customers. The shop is wonderful and makes me want one of my own! Not really an option but its fun playing shop keeper for a while. I'm there this Thursday and Saturday too so if any of you happen to be in Ipswich and fancy exploring St Nicholas Street and St Peters Street (I recommend you do!) pop down and say hello!

Its fun for me to see how well my products sell and the kind of people who take an interest in them. Its all rather fun and exciting I must say.

The Fondant Fancy is going to be used in some kind of stationery way, mini notecards, invitations, notelets. Maybe all three!

Sorry the picture is a bit dark, the weather is so odd here, can't seem to make it's mind up!

Another week gone already!!

Blimey! It's been a week since my last post. I didn't intend for that to happen. I've had rather a busy week, apart from yesterday when I was feeling poorly and didn't do very much at all.

Monday I went to visit my friend Laura and her little girl Alice. I love going to see them, watching Alice grow up and learn to talk is just wonderful. Tuesday I had an eventful one trying to fix the electric windows in my car. I won't go on about it because that's not very interesting is it? Anyway they work now, they shut as well as open haha! I've also sewn and printed and drawn up new badges and visited LoveOne.

This is quite cool, they are putting my bags in the window and so I was asked to write a little 'about me' I decided to embroider it which would have been fine, it didn't take very long, but my grammar went awry in the middle and it doesn't make sense! Take Two on that one!

Chris and I have also been busy trying to get the craft fair off the ground. It is really going quite well now. We are still needing stallholders so please do get in touch if you are interested. We have a website coming together. We've had quite a good response from interested sellers and have made a link with the local borough council which is brilliant. So watch this space!!

And the picture above is of Southwold. I have posted it because we are going on a little holiday to Southwold next weekend and I am very excited.

Busy Busy Busy!!

I have had a busy few weeks creating new things for a craft fair last weekend at Suffolk Food Hall. Now i'm updating you on the new designs and creations now available on CuppaTeaAndCake Etsy and CuppaTeaAndCake Folksy.

On the left there is the new Cream Teas tote. I love this one, I have a feeling I am going to be making more of these as they seem to be selling well. I had an exciting moment this week when my stockist at LoveOne text and said she'd sold 4 bags to a friendly American lady and could I take more over. Apparently the lady was exclaiming "How cute and British!" I was chuffed to bits. She took them home as gifts. So I am now an international seller!

Also new on the scene is this lovely blue striped chappy for keeping your brew perfect for sipping when you're enjoying these sunny afternoons and evenings! I hope you have been as lucky with weather as we have over here in Suffolk. New tea cosy is a plump fella with some stretch so even tho he's pictured snuggled over a 2/3 cup teapot he'll squeeze nicely over a larger pot! The beauty of the tea cosy is that it is insulated for extra warmth but also gives that stretch for those of us drinking tea by the litre!

And finally my latest venture and it is terribly exciting, for me anyway! These are the new Cuppa Tea And Cake badges! I have made more than this 8 but luckily for me they are already being sold in LoveOne in Ipswich. Once they are packaged up they'll be available on Etsy and Folksy. They are so cute I'm really pleased with them and hope you like them too!

LoveOne

LoveOne is a wonderful little shop on St Peter's Street in Ipswich. I have mentioned it on this blog several times before because it stocks my stuff, as you can see in the picture on the left. For some reason I can't get it looking clearer than that, sorry!! Anyway, doesn't it look lovely. I'm really happy with the way my work is displayed at LoveOne.

Here are some pics of other items stocked in LoveOne. Super bright and cheery aprons made by a local maker. Camper Van and Beach Hut crockery by Jam Tart. I love this stuff! There are also tea towels, peg bags and aprons in the same designs which are also stocked here. And loads of other locally made and gorgeous things including a great range of handmade cards including ones by Angie Lewin of St Judes Gallery in Norfolk. Some delicious new pampering products for your bathroom also made in Norfolk, I love these because some things come in those jars with the clippy lid! Some beautiful jewellery made from precious gemstone beads and silver and diamante. And woven plastic bags and baskets made by the Innipooh company based in Bury St Edmunds.

The atmosphere of the shop is friendly and it always smells delicious, which is yummy in itself. LoveOne is especially good because a lot of the products are made by local makers and artists which I think is something we all need to recognise about where we live. We are surrounded by talented and exciting people.

A bunting time of year.

Well after my little down moment last week about my things not selling, bunting has been sold from LoveOne in Ipswich and will hopefully soon be selling from Wild Raspberry in Manningtree!

I am also doing a swap with Claire Palmer Designs who is sending me one of her lovely Eiffel Tower necklaces and in turn I am sending her some lovely bunting to hang in her kitchen. I love how it's so versatile. You can hang it outside during the summer for a tea party or whatever or in your kitchen, living room, or bedroom if you are so inclined! A new design may come about this week so keep your eyes peeled!

Another post soon showing my finds after a charity shopping trip to Felixstowe and a Saturday morning trip to Needham Market Antiques and Collectables shop.

A Sunday spent....

Today has been a funny old day.

I woke up at 7 (actually 8 thanks to the clocks going forward) to the dog yapping as he wanted out. Then I tried in vain to sleep some more. No such luck. So I took the bright morning sun as an opportunity to take some photos of the latest set of brooches i've made. There they are attached to my knitting bag. I have plans for that bag! More of that later this week hopefully.

Then Chris and I went to the cinema to see The Damned United. Oh it was good! I do actually have an interest in football though it isn't really needed. It's more about Brian Clough than the football. Michael Sheen is awesome. What a great impersonator, we saw him in Frost/Nixon too and he was brilliant.

Then we walked into town taking a wee detour to look in the window of LoveOne where my bags, bunting and brooches (all the B's) are being sold. Nothing has gone :( Though some of my business cards have. I am finding all this lack of selling rather demoralising now. I love making things to sell but if no-one buys anything what's the point of it all?

I must be patient and stay positive. And remember the big plans Chris and I have! (very exciting if it happens) and I may have a group exhibition coming up so that's something to look forward to as well. Back to the sketchbook!!