Christmas Craft Cafe

Just a couple more days to go the the Christmas Craft Cafe at the Northern in Didsbury. There will be a few familiar faces and there will be new ones selling brilliant crafts. There will be funky knitwear, jewellery, photography, graphic design, willow items (hope there is a skull there) and lots more.

The next Craft Cafe will not be until next year. For info and applications please email craftcafe@hotmail.co.uk.

In the meantime information about exhibitors is posted on the Facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Craft-Cafe/119085868181793

And for now I shall make some more jewellery!

Being green

Remember these? In April they were only an inch high and not long after they had grown into some respectable shoots. In August however there was no sign of any fruits andI was told I was the only Dutch person who could not grow a tomato. By September they had grown into something monstrous but not in a successful way.

And as the conservatory was starting to feel like the Day of the Triffids with six of these all around my I was on the verge of throwing them out. Watering them felt like a real waste and then all of a sudden I noticed one small tomato growing. In the meantime this one has been eaten; shared between me and the monkeys. However boy monkey told me tonight that we've got 13 tomatoes growing! Well that is not bad going for an initial layout of about a pound.

On another green note I have really enjoyed trying these Ecover products. Regular readers might know that I am a very keen supporter of green cleaning products due to my monkeys' sensitive skin but also I really like the smell; so much better than all the chemical ones.

Anyway I will not go on about how wonderfully clean my house is now and how fresh it smells but I just wanted to let you all know that Ecover is giving away two iPads every two weeks until December, when a grand prizer winner will also receive a holiday. All you have to do is photograph youself enjoying the 'Ecover effect' and register your entries on Ecover's online magazine: www.the-splash.co.uk. The competition celebrates Ecover's all new plant-based packaging and will be decided by public vote. I think I might check this out myself and see if one of the monkeys can take a decent picture of me that doesn't just show my legs and is blurred.

Oooh that looks nice !

I know that many of you are very keen on self-sufficiency, crafts and the 'make do and mend' trend. This vogue seemed to have really caught on in the last decade and hopefully will keep going strong for a long time to come. What with all the cuts and the *brilliant* politics provided by the teletories, no doubt we have no choice but to join in.

However, as with festivals, I have noticed a waning interest in craft fairs. There seem to be too many rules and regulations to keep some going and at times it feels that the interest is stabilising rather than growing. Do we think that making items and selling them for a marginal profit is not sustainable? Are the running costs and fees for market rights becoming too high? Has it taken the WI feeling out of the fun. Or have we come to a conclusion that we really are not living in the 50's any more and we also need to keep up with what modern D&T is producing? I always said I would have loved to live in the 50's, would have made my life so much easier I think with everyone knowing their place in society, families staying close and not moving too far away (let alone to another country!). Or am I living in a dream world? Whatever it is, whatever anyone feels about bygone times and the eagerness to make and mend, one thing that seems to be on the up is the vintage style packaging of goods in the supermarkets.

Cath Kidston seems to have had a big influence here and many magazines and shops do not just show and stock her items (it's becoming a bit too much almost, at some point they were exclusive, last year Tesco's had her bags!) but her flair for florals and chintzes are evident in many photo shoots and shop windows.

(I know I have used this image before but it is a lovely happy image. Just like my kitchen, full of bunting and cakes :-)!).

But when it comes to packaging in shops I noticed Marks and Spencers started with pretty cakes in lovely 50's inspired boxes. Today I saw this lovely box of chocolate eclairs at the Coop. It would have look good in any tea room so obviously I could not refuse to buy one. Mind you I did share.....

And then the other day I received this lovely parcel:

Initially I thought it looked like a lovely box of soaps and tissues but much to my surprise it was a box of feminine goodies. Lil-lets have asked for the advice of a group of young girls and have clearly gone to town with their new packaging. All wrappers can be taken off and no one can guess what's inside! Products even come in 'whisper' wrappers. The teenage market will be delighted. I know how embarrassed my little one can get at times when this topic is mentioned but with this new pretty packaging that doesn't scream about WHAT YOU HAVE GOT IN YOUR BAG, no doubt this range will catch on.

They've even done away with the obvious blue cords (that seem to stick out of bikinis at times when you are trying to be cool) and replaced those with a pretty "Candystripe" red & white garden twine like cord. And the best bit of all: lovely ribbons. Can I suggest other manufacturers have a look at this and get inspired?

Three down, three to go

And with that I mean the weeks of the summer holidays. I cannot believe that we are halfway there. There are always lots of mums moaning at the start of the holidays saying that six weeks is too long: they all find it a drag and kids get bored. I absolutely love it! So does girl monkey although boy monkey loves school so much that he misses it. The solution is a bit of home schooling to give him structure in the day and we are all happy.

So far it's been a "staycation" but with an international feel. The six weeks started of so nice with plenty of sunshine, the Manchester Mela, a visit to Roman Chester and lunches at Cafe Rouge. We've packed in plenty of picnics in the park and especially the dinner time ones had a calming effect on all of us. The days when the sun wasn't out we had plenty to do inside; the monkeys love making up things so we had a home cinema and French cafe to name a few. The hospital one was a good one although I was really not well and in bed but it gave the kids an excuse to do something different. We always like home cinema: curtains drawn, drinks in bottles and a big bag of home made popcorn all go down well. To fill the time the monkeys made tickets for the film, arranged the seats in the lounge and put stickers on, created a counter to sell sweets and crisps and it all made for a fun time. A lot cheaper than going to the cinema and a good way for them to practice a bit of maths and earn a few pennies as I wasn't allowed in without buying a ticket and sweets!

I have always liked the idea of home schooling as I do not always agree with the standard state school education but at the same time I wouldn't like to take the little ones away from their social life at school which I believe gives them a good grounding for secondary school. However the summer holidays are always a good opportunity to do more at home and the monkeys came up with a brilliant idea: "French Cafe". We had a cook, a waiter and a very smart guest. We prepared a french style lunch with pate, cheeses, baguette, salad, jus d'orange and salade de fruits. It was a great way to learn about home economics, table settings, geography, to practice french words and maths.

In the holidays I don't really have the time to do any crafts but I started on a quilt for girl monkey.

Both monkeys are a bit too young to get involved although they helped me choose the fabrics. The theme really is Dutch fabrics and turquoise. I've sewn the squares on and am now hand quilting with apple green, I think it is going to be very nice.

I am writing this as I am still in bed (oh the joys of summer holidays!) before going to Oulton Park race course to see Mr G. do a crash course in skidding. If any of you are looking for something different to do in the South Manchester/Cheshire area, there is a lovely place called Coffee au Clay where we went yesterday. This is a lovely light and bright cafe with good coffees and cakes and nice pottery items to paint. The monkeys had a ball choosing items and colours and it is so well organised and presented that it made for a very relaxing experience (most mums do not associate paint with relaxation) and I even thought I should have brought a book.

Apart from pottery painting they also do letter decorating with fancy papers that you are able to take on the same day so I have a feeling that that is what we will be doing next week. For now enjoy the summer holidays!

Home sweet home

I have just come back from a fantastic and relaxing weekend sans-enfants to find some lovely goodies on my doorstep. The Avon lady has left me a bag of lovely toiletries and then there is the latest Mollie Makes with a lovely flower felt kit to make, very Busy Betsy! I can't wait to sit down and start browsing. Recently I raved about Making magazine which seems to have become less to my taste with every issue so am pleased to see the latest addition of craft magazines.

And lastly there is the delivery of Thirst Pockets Multi Cloths to try out. I am slightly intrigued by this new product. The press release read that they are "the innovative new household helper with a split personality". I wondered whether that would make me very confused, there is enough drama in my house at times! It then followed with "Is it's [sic] a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a brand new product from Thirst Pockets - the Thirst Pockets Multi Cloth. It's no surprise that this innovative little household helper is having an identity crisis - because it looks like a kitchen towl and performs like a cloth. "

Now that explains. I think I will put them to use tonight as I have come back to a house full of icing sugar and dough as girl monkey made a cake for her dad on Father's Day. On that note Happy Father's Day to all the daddies in the world.

With love X.

Forgive me I am not a photographer

I have just come back from a fabulous weekend in Liverpool where Redeye organised the National Photography Symposium (NPS3) at the Bluecoat coinciding with the launch of Look11 the first Liverpool photography festival. It was an absolutely amazing weekend with very inspiring speakers and photographers and an astounding amount of great photography shows all around the city.

It has been so overwhelming that today I am just trying to catch up with some news, digest some of the information and look through some of the great publications I brought back. My feet are aching and I have a need for a foot rub (anyone willing?).

Look11 is on for another 6 weeks and I urge you to look at the website to see what is on. Below I have only listed the very few shows that I managed to see. This is not a deliberate exclusion of others, purely time constraints. To list all that is on would be madness and besides it is great to discover yourself what is on where. Anyway one of the few shows that I did see was Excavating Utopia: Park Road at St George's Hall. This was put together by one of the Redeye Lightbox groups. I loved the set-up, the fabulous wall paper by Leila Romaya and Paul McCann and the well designed catalogue.

On Friday night the Bluecoat organised a hog roast to entertain the visitors of Look11 launch and Lightnight. I tweeted this and in about 5 minutes I had every hog roast restaurant in the UK following me on Twitter. No doubt they'll unfollow me soon when they realise I am not in the catering business!

There is a very good exhibition at the Bluecoat Confined that had chillingly good images. Well done to Sara-Jayne Parsons for putting this together. The show is on until 10 July.

Also at the Bluecoat was an installation by Sharon Mutch (see below) who is not only one of the Excavating Utopia photographers but also photographer in residence at the Bluecoat.

As I spent most of my time directing people to various lectures and shows I didn't really get the chance to listen to many of the presentations but I did hear the lovely David Moore who spoke about his work in the Confined show at the Bluecoat as well as some of his other work. Totally fascinating. A list of his books is available here.

I also had the pleasure to listen to the delightful John Stoddart. Not only does he take brilliant shots of A list celebrities, he is also utterly charming and very funny. His road to stardom did not come easy and it was refreshing to hear about his early career.

As I met and heard so many wonderful photographers I am kind of embarrassed to put up these snapshots from my phone. Forgive me I am not a photographer, but I would like to shout about those who are and I hope that many of you will get to Liverpool to see the wonderful shows that are up as part of Look11.

I am now going to have a quiet moment with some of my new books Is Britain Great? 2 by Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale from The Caravan Gallery and Still Life Killing Time by Edmund Clark.

For reviews from NPS3 please see the following so far:

http://mythoughtsarecurly.wordpress.com/

National Photography Symposium

and follow the hashtag NPS on Twitter #NPS3

Something old....

Something old....

... and a few more old things, then add something blue and then there is something new:

I am quite pleased with this result. I don't think I was ever going to wear these white shoes again and thanks to the wonderful world that is Ebay I found a rainbow of colours in sprays.