Jam-Packed May Day Weekend

Who doesn't love a long weekend? I most certainly do and although the weather hasn't been the greatest, I've had a fantastic couple of days!
On Saturday my mum and I headed to Bristol on the bus for a day full of shopping and craft.

We went nice and early and had a quick wander round the shops before heading to Outlaw Craft Fair in The Passenger Shed, part of Bristol Temple Meads Railway Station.
We got to the fair just before 11 and had a workshop booked at 14:30 so we had plenty of time to explore. First thing first, we headed straight to the cake! It's important to keep your strength up after all ;-)

There were so many gorgeous stalls, they were packed full of wonderful treasures made by extremely talented crafters and artists, as well as others with goodies to craft with. Regular demonstrations were also taking place and there was a "make and take" theatre but unfortunately we missed out each time on those.
Boy did we shop though. We took money out at a cash machine on our way to the venue in a vain attempt to set a budget but it wasn't long before the card came out! It was all just so irresistible and when you're supporting local sellers, surely it would be rude not to?!?

Here's the majority of my stash! I bought a brooch too but that went straight on my coat and other cards but they went straight in the post.

I made 3 purchases in total from Boodle Boutique-  firstly a card and then a wooden badge. I did have my eye on a bumblebee print but couldn't think where I could put in the house so didn't buy it. Later I decided I would regret my decision when I got home and went back but they had gone! 

However, the super nice Bethan Buss of Boodle told me I could order one online and not pay P&P, great stuff... But she later came and found me at another stall as she had discovered she had another with her. I was delighted, such great service and so lucky as I had been in the workshop and only popped out for a moment- it was obviously meant to be.

Our lunch was delicious as well as nice and healthy, thanks to The Cornish Hen Delicatessen. My mum was very impressed with her homity pie and salad which she enjoyed whilst modeling a pair of silver earrings, she bought them as a retirement present from one of her sisters.

In this photograph she is picking them out, it took a while as everything in the display case was so gorgeous.

Our lampshade making workshop was great fun & we were both pleased with the finished items.

The day just flew by and we were shattered by the time we got home.

Sunday was spent at helping my former boss, Pete, at Tyntesfield House, a Victorian property owned by The National Trust. Each month they have a Food & Craft Market in the former stable area, now the ticket office, cafe and shop with a court yard. 

The market is a lovely mix of stalls ranging from bakers to stain glass window makers to natural remedy producers. 

Pete makes apple juice from a variety of different apples ranging from very sharp (Bramley) to very sweet (Egremont Russet) along with a pear juice made from Concorde pears. He also sells his own cider again made from his very own homegrown cider apples.

On top of the juices and cider is his honey- available both as runny or set, he currently has 3 hives and thinks blackberry blossom and other hedgerow flowers are they're main pollen source rather than the apple blossom in his orchard.

I made him a couple of aprons with his logo on a few of years ago, along with matching name badges. I was wearing the other one and they're still going strong I'm pleased to say.

Despite the very changeable weather we had a good day and Pete was pleased with the sales, even if we got a little wet making them. We also enjoyed some yummy produce from the stalls around us, brownies, tartlets and a scotch egg. Again we had to keep our strength up!
After such a busy Saturday and Sunday, it's lovely to have Monday off work to relax & get a few of the household jobs done (as well as admire my purchases).
Until next time, craft in earnest! Craftin' Ernest x

Wool, Bees & London!

Ooh I've been a little lax of late post-wise as so much has been going on!
The weekend before last was truly wonderful thanks to the fantastic City of Bristol! Although I live in South Wales I am just a hop, skip and a jump from the border with England and thus only 20 minutes from Bristol (where I actually work and got married).

Bristol is such an amazing and colourful city, it's quite small but has a lot of diversity and has a truly ethical spirit. It has it's own barter currency, it really promotes supporting "local" and has a real artsy feel about it. The famous graffiti artist, Banksy is from Bristol and there's always some impressive art project taking place, for example see my previous post about Knitted Bristol here.

Being such a great place, more often than not there's something that attracts my attention but that weekend was extra special... Bristol hosted it's first WOOL FAIR and a BEE FESTIVAL!! Whoop, whoop, two of my favourite things :-D

I volunteered for 3 hours at the Wool Fair, my duty was to stand at the entrance/exit gate collecting people's tickets and giving them a wristband. It was a lot of fun and I met some interesting people, many of whom were quick to give their opinions (most of which were positive thankfully) and saw lots of sheep and a couple of lovely alpacas. 

For the few hours of volunteering, I had free access to the event and felt totally justified spending the money I had saved on the entrance fee (and a bit more too) on woolly goodies!
Here is my lovely haul...

If I really had to choose a favourite it may be the pair of 11mm rosewood knitting needles from The Little Knitting Company. They're such a pleasure to knit with and what made me love them even more was my husband thought I'd bought myself a Harry Potter wand when he first saw one of them.

The Bee & Pollination Festival was hosted by The University of Bristol's Botanic Garden which is a wonderful venue in itself. There were lots of exhibitors, talks and demonstrations and, as it was a beautiful day, there were lots of bees and pollinators about, doing their thing, buzzzzz!

After the fun of the weekend I had my birthday to look forward to so made a week of it. I headed to London for a girly break with my sister for a few days. We shopped a lot, caught a West End show, "The Pajama Game" which we really enjoyed and it included sewing (it was set in a pyjama factory), perfect!

We returned in time for my birthday on Friday, this was spent exploring the amazing Roman ruins in Caerleon which is only 15 miles from where we live and eating lots of cake.

Then on Saturday I hot-footed it back to London for a long weekend, this time with the hubby for more sight-seeing and BBC Radio 2's Festival in a Day. 
Of course, I took some crochet with me to keep me busy between the bands.

Again we had a fantastic time and we got to see the incredible poppy art installation at The Tower of London, "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red". It marks the anniversary of the First World War and by the end of Autumn the Tower's dry moat will be filled with 888,246 ceramic poppies, each one representing a British or Colonial soldier killed during the war. The last poppy will put in place on Remembrance Day. Already it is a pretty incredible sight and very moving.

So all in all I've been pooped since we got home on Monday, I returned to work on Tuesday and I have only just returned to "normality"!
Thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate it.
Until next time, craft in earnest! Craftin' Ernest x

Briswool and Shopping

I'm just back from another jaunt to Ireland for family visiting and Hen Party Shenanigans. I went from Thursday to Sunday but had the added pleasure of a Bank Holiday Monday the following day and as I hadn't seen him for a few days the hubby was "happy to do whatever I wanted" on our bonus day off- YAY!
Top of my list was head over to Bedminster in Bristol to see "Briswool", this is an incredible (and ongoing) effort by a group of Bristol folk to recreate the whole of the city out of wool, mainly knitted or crocheted with a little nod to needle felting. To say the least it's impressive, when you first lay eyes on it you think it looks pretty neat but it's when you start to spot all the little details you really start to appreciate how wonderful it is.
I think anyone can appreciate the amount of work involved and enjoy the overall look but if you know Bristol at all you realise how amazing all the little details are.

You may recognise this street from The Antiques Roadshow

It's located in a lovely little craft shop, The Paper Village- http://www.radisol.co.uk/paper-village/, at the moment so can't be displayed in it's full glory until they find somewhere to exhibit it properly and like any real city it's still growing and transforming. We chose the perfect day to visit as it was quiet, I think a lot of people may have thought it would be closed for the Bank Holiday. The very friendly owner, Vicky, was super enthusiastic and told us they had had a couple of days where there were queues stretching down the street and she couldn't actually sell anything due to the volume of people in the shop. Thankfully I was able to purchase a few items, well it seemed only right to support the shop after it made such an effort (any excuse huh?)
We then went for a wander and stumbled across another lovely shop selling lots of handmade items created by local artists- Dadswell Glass, full of lovely stuff and I was delighted to pick up a couple of treats for up-coming birthdays http://www.dadswellglass.co.uk/category/shop/
We then headed to the city centre to one of my favourite shops in Bristol, Made in Bristol. http://madeinbristol.blogspot.co.uk/ 
As soon as I step in I'm always in awe, I walk around and everything I see makes me think "I want, I want, I want"! When we saw Alice Shields' ceramics we couldn't resist, I treated the hubby to an slightly early anniversary present and he did the same for me. We're both suckers for bumblebees...

Always good to support local makers. Craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x