Florals on Folksy

As regular readers of this blog will know, I take a great deal of pleasure and inspiration from my garden, and so do a lot of my fellow Folksy makers and sellers. Here's a selection of some of my favourite florals that are available from Folksy NOW. Click on the photos themselves to go to the individual shops. Enjoy!


Felted Flower Corsage - £15.00 - Fibrespace


Crocheted Daisy Pouch with Handle - £8.00 - Dinky Daisy


Metal Frame Clutch Bag/Purse - £11.50 - Girl of the Sixties


3 Rosebud Pink Flowers - £12.50 - hmsdesign


Linen Applique Flowers + Bunting Cushion - £55.00 - Ticketty Boo


Polka Dot Tote Bag - £15.00 - Polka


Vintage Retro Elephant - £12.00 - Zoe Sharp Crafts


'Portman' Flower Bracelet - £18.00 - Viva La Beader


Flamenco Rose Bracelet - £18.00 - Kath Good


Garden Journal - £5.50 - Slugs & Snails

I love them all! Is it too early to write my letter to Santa do you think?!

Model Customer # 2

Fanfare, drum roll, huge round of applause for my latest 'Model Customer'...

This is Tamara from Aberdeen. She is the proud owner of my 'Romance' scarf. Tamara says: "The scarf is really cosy and warm - and pink is my favourite colour." I can see why it's your favourite colour Tamara - it really does suit you!

And still on the knitting theme... I've been looking through all my old knitting magazines tonight for a nice baby pattern. My nephew's partner is due to have their first baby in October so I'm keen to clothe the little one in something handmade. I've been so busy experimenting with crochet and making stuff for my Folksy shop that I've left this quite late really. I should have time to make a couple of items for my new Great Niece though. I'll post a photo when I decide what to do...

Mam's new greenhouse

Those of you that have read my blog before may have already seen the post about the demolition of Dad's Old Greenhouse after thirty years of use. Well this Saturday was another big day for us, with the erection of Mam's New Greenhouse.

The new greenhouse was delivered only three weeks after ordering so it was really good service by The Greenhouse People. However, we found that the instructions were really quite hard to understand. As with a lot of instructions the diagrams were quite basic, and though each piece was numbered it was difficult trying to work out which way was up, or which was the front or back of the various pieces. The written instructions were even worse: 'Attach thingamiwotsit to flibbertigibbet making sure that you don't forget the doofer' (honestly!!!).

Anyway, we managed it in the end - though it took us 12 HOURS to finish it! Actually, the instructions mentioned to leave a weekend to erect the greenhouse, so that was probably about right. We started at 9am and it took us til about 4pm to do the framework, so we just decided to carry on and get the glazing done that day too. Saturday was hot and sunny so were flagging a bit in the heat - and my legs are still aching two days later with all that bending. But it was well worth it. Mam is really pleased with her new toy and she thinks Dad would have loved it too. She's looking forward to putting her plants back in, once the new staging has been erected - another day!

Last week, when us girls were at the flower show, my brother-in-law lay some new paving to act as a nice level base for the new greenhouse.




The sides and roof were all put together separately and then attached to the base. Here's my sis and her hubby trying to work out the next bit - the glazing plan.



And here's the finished greenhouse. It's not far off the size of dad's old greenhouse - the same width but about three few feet shorter lengthways. Doesn't it look lovely? It doesn't have the character of the old one, but it will be safer and easier for mam to maintain in the future.

It was starting to get dark as we finished, so it was ideal timing really. Mam took this picture of her workers - look, we're STILL smiling!


Mam has spent a little while today getting her new greenhouse all spic and span - cleaning our mucky fingermarks off the glass, sweeping the flags, and putting 104 (she counted!) little black covers on the bolt heads. She's put a couple of her big tomato plants in already, and once the staging gets built she can move the bonsai plants into their new home too; and the downpipes need to be fitted for the water butts - and then we're done!! Mam did a disappearing act whenever the camera came out, but I'm sure I can sneak one of her when she moves all the plants back in...

Yummy teardrop keyrings

I've added a couple of new items to my Folksy shop today - two lovely crocheted teardrop keyrings. I haven't made any keyrings for sale before and I'm really pleased with these; I mentioned about experimenting with beads and sequins and stuff to make keyrings in an earlier post. They'd make a boring bunch of keys look really chic, I think! Or how about attaching them to a bag? Or a belt loop?

The first is a pretty candy pink with shiny black beads on the body, and silver, black and clear beads in the tassels. Very glam!





The second is a peach teardrop with 'chocolate chip' beads on the body, and chocolate, silver and clear beads in the tassels. This reminds me of a yummy peach and chocolate summer dessert. Mmmmm!





I've made up a few more teardrops in other candy colours; I just need to sew the beads on and then I'll list those too. I hope you like them - let me know what you think.

My romantic hubby

After a long, tedious day at work - and a seemingly never-ending journey home due to heavy traffic caused by roadworks elsewhere which everyone is trying to avoid - hubby suggested that we go out for tea. It was a lovely warm night, and the sun was still shining, so we had a nice walk down to one of the pubs near our home.

I have a tendency to get bored with a main course halfway through, so I was pondering at getting a couple of starters for a bit of variety when I spotted the 'Sharing Platter for Two' - chicken pieces, onion rings, breaded salmon pieces, BBQ dip, garlic ciabatta slices, potato scoops with cheese and red onion, and tortilla chips with cheese and spicy chilli relish. We decided to order a side salad too, to even out all those carbs a bit...! Some things were better than others, but overall it was really tasty. And with the warm evening sunshine and lovely conversation it felt just like picnic-ing(?) on holiday. Bliss!

On our way home I spotted a couple of conkers that had fallen and hubby risked life and limb to collect them for me (well, he waited for a car to pass and then nipped across the road!!). He never buys me flowers as he claims the ones in our garden are much prettier (cop out!), so this was a true act of romance on his part.


Flowers? Pah! Give me conkers any day...

More from Gateshead Flower Show

There were a few nurseries outside selling their plants, but fewer than in previous years I thought. They travel from all over the country to exhibit and sell at flower shows like this, but I guess with the recession they may have had to stay closer to home this year.










As well as the plants, there were some great garden sculptures for sale.


And some gorgeous furniture too. I loved this arbour from Henderson Garden Products. I can just imagine sitting outside on a warm summer's night, with a glass of wine and a good book, lantern burning cosily...




Street entertainers wandered up and down the main aisle, doing their best to give everyone a good laugh and brighten up the gloomy grey skies.






Inside the main plant marquee Gateshead Council showed off their silver-medal-winning Chelsea garden 'A Window of Opportunity', sponsored by Northumbrian Water. The plants in the garden are watered via pumps which are powered by two static bikes. Water runs down the frames and trickles down through the terraced edible planting in the rear BBQ area. The idea was to show how growing plants to eat can be fun, and the importance of water. It looked really attractive, and I'm sure all the herbs, fruit and veg tasted fantastic too!












Here are some of the other exhibits which I liked:


Chesters Grove Garden Centre won a silver medal for their cottage garden - with lovely arbour!







Cowell's Garden Centre won a gold medal for their showcase of hanging baskets and container planting.



A silver gilt medal was awarded to the Cottage Garden Society for their colourful, tranquil retreat.







The Northern Fruit Group had a really juicy and colourful exhibit.




I especially like the gold medal garden created by the Durham Organic Gardeners' Association, full of edible and attractive planting - and all in containers.




Willowbog Bonsai displayed a fantastic array of exquisitely pruned bonsai, and were awarded a gold medal for their efforts.




Students from East Durham College created a really striking planting scheme to run either side of a rill, complete with heron ready to snatch an unsuspecting fish!






And students of Finchale Training College created a bright and colourful garden workspace.





I had a great time in the Craft Marquee too, doing a bit of birthday and Christmas shopping. I love to buy handmade gifts that you can't find on the high street; and it's good to support fellow makers too.


Sue Fenlon uses watercolours and pastels to create some exquisite artwork. The colours are so dreamy and soft.






Elizabeth Bailey displayed lovely pieces of handthrown earthenware pottery; some decorated with simple, quirky animal images. I loved the mouse plate - great for cheese and crackers?!


Ingrid Wagner (of 'Coat for a Boat' fame) had an exhibit showcasing her Big Knit products. A simple but beautiful rug can be knitted in only four hours using BIG needles (40cm to 1.2m in length!) and recycled BIG yarn. I had a try of her big crochet hook too; it was a bit awkward at first but after a few minutes the results were quite attractive. Not an implement to be used on public transport though!


I also had a lovely chat with Alan Birchall who makes original stoneware ceramics. He really enthused about the different clays, slip and glazes that he uses. That's why it's so lovely to go to craft fairs like this because you can chat to the makers and find out exactly what they do - and why they love doing it. You don't get that sort of enthusiasm from your average high street retailer!

First Prize in the Gateshead Summer Flower Show

I got a First Prize for my crochet bag!
Woo hoo! There were quite a few entries in the 'Other handicrafts not mentioned above' class so I'm really chuffed. I just entered it to get a free entry ticket for the show, so I'm thrilled to get some recognition too.




Unfortunately my mam and sister didn't win anything in their class (Cross stitch work framed), but there are tonnes of entries in that section and it tends to be the unique items rather than the pictures from kits that the judges favour (there's still a HUGE amount of time and effort put into them though).

I took a load of photos today; here's some from the Amateur Classes marquee - the general public show off their stuff! It doesn't matter what you're good at - whether it be working with yarn, fabric, wood or metal; growing fruit, veg or flowers; baking or preserving; photography or painting - there's a class that you can enter.

Gorgeous items of handicraft, and tasty bakes.










Exquisite single flowers, and beautiful arrangements.



Huge specimens, and colourful varieties of vegetables.







More tasty and attractive baked goods, jams and honey. Mmmmmm...










And the kids had a few classes of their own to enter too. This fantastic garden is by Megan from Winlaton.

There were some gorgeous arrangements in the Floral Art marquee too. Some pieces told a story, others were traditional and colourful, some were structural and unusual - all of them looked fantastic!














We had a great day today. The weather was a bit wet and windy to start with but it did improve after lunch. At least we could dash into one of the marquees when the heavens opened; the poor stall holders outside couldn't. I hope the sun shines on them for the final day of the show tomorrow!

If you want to see more of the show, please come back tomorrow and I'll show you the work of the 'professionals' this time - plant displays from the nurseries, societies and colleges; and stalls in the Craft Marquee that I liked.