Time for Some Crafty Crochet

Too much work and too little play makes Gorgeous Things a dull lady - and dull is not a word I like to be described as! So after all this "work" stripping out and re-doing the shop, and sorting out all the masses of stock I now have at home, I decided it was time to get the creative juices flowing again by doing some crafting. What better than to resurrect my "crochet project"?

After reading about the Granny Stripe blanket by Lucy at Attic 24 I had to have a go - that was started a year ago. I DO love it - the freedom of choosing colours - any colours I fancy - doesn't have to "match" any interior, it just has to please me - what a great concept!

Obviously, this is one BIG blanket, and it isn't finished yet... I wonder how big it is going to be? This is a tricky decision. I didn't want a tricky decision, though, I wanted to do some crafty crochet! I wonder if it is nearly ready for a pretty picot border? Looks quite good there on the vintage Ercol day bed I'm thinking...
Well, while I'm pondering over that thought, maybe I could just line up a new project, do a few test pieces etc etc. Try out some new designs.... like this snowflake. And I've learnt how to join them together - woooo, now that's clever, I like this effect.

I have fallen for a new blanket design I have seen all over blogland and ravelry - the "flowers in the snow" - I particularly liked this blogger's version  Mias Landliv - and what a lovely blog - if you haven't been over there I thoroughly recommend it - full of bright fresh loveliness!!. It is made up of circles which are then combined into squares which are all crocheted together - using my new found skill of joining with crochet.

So I have bought some coloured cottons - unfortunately, my local yarn shop didn't have lots of bright pastel colours, so I took what I could - as I just HAD to start immediately (you know how it is?). So now I have lots of pretty piles of circles - and it is such FUN.

Sort of heathery colours - ok I think. Now I have to decide "how big" and I have to decide what colour to use to join them all together - obviously it is supposed to be white, but I'm thinking maybe a cream might look better - Hmmmmmm!

Anyway, whatever I decide, there are a lot more circles to be done yet - and that is just fine!

Vintage Festival at The Maltings - DONE!

Well, I survived...... just!

Oh my, all you guys that run stalls at the various vintagey and crafty fairs must have endless energy! I have huge respect for all you people who put such a huge effort into making these events successful. The Vintage Festival at The Maltings was definitely a SUCCESS! So a big thank you to Sally Mills and the team at The Maltings for all their hard work!

There were lots and lots of rooms with lots and lots of stalls - I really wish I had been there as a visitor, rather than a stall holder to be honest - I would have loved browsing around all day. And such a fantastic array of vintage goodies - clothes, jewellery, lighting, homewares, linens..... everything! And there was a vintage fashion show, and demonstrations, and all sorts of good stuff that I couldn't go to - cos I was running my little stall! Lots of people came in vintage dress - and they looked AMAZING! I wish I had taken some photos to show you.

I started setting up the evening before and then continued early in the morning of the Big Day. It is amazing how much time it takes. Lots of packing, unpacking, arranging and rearranging!!

Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera, so I had to take these shots with my phone as I was setting up. But you get the idea...

I really enjoyed meeting both customers and other stall holders. And I have learnt sooooo much.

Obviously, I was exhausted by Sunday evening, after packing it all up to take and the packing it all up to bring it home again, but I was feeling inspired, so on Monday I was straight up to the shop and started on a complete revamp! I packed up all the bits and bobs, reorganised the bits of furniture and added some nice new pieces (new to the shop, that is!!!)

But, oh dear, my house is now overflowing with boxes of stuff - all needing sorting out!! Aaaargh!

But the big question is........ will I do one of these again????

On Sunday night I was saying "never again".... but now?  ... Hmmmmm. I think I could be very tempted!!

Vintage Festival at The Maltings in Farnham

Here's a date for the diary - Sunday 8th May! If you are around, why not come along - it should be lots of fun? It's the Vintage Festival at The Maltings in Farnham.

Gorgeous Things will be in the Long Kiln Room if you wanted to drop by and say hello - I'd love to see you. I've never done a vintage fair before, and so I am both excited and terrified about this event! I've been busy buying extra stock in readiness (quite a hardship, but it just HAD to be done!!) - I've found some fab stuff, I am soooooo looking forward to displaying it. I think I've probably gone a bit overboard, but I'm thinking that it is probably safest to be that way.

I've also been busy rigging up a "dummy" stall at home... mainly to check how much space I have to fill. I managed to get hold of a set of folding shelves a couple of weeks ago, so I've spruced them up with a bit of "Stone Blue" from Farrow 'n' Ball. They should hold quite a bit of stuff. But I have a LOT of work to do yet - I think the key to this stall thing is maxing out on the display space. I have been checking out all the blogs from stallholders of the various vintage fairs - it is soooo useful to get ideas. I still need to get some hanging space - I think I'll be visiting the tip every day next week, hoping that some sort of hanging rail turns up.



Little Thing 2 and I had a lovely time the other day "upcycling" a mannequin, which I might bring along to the fair. You can just see part of him in this photo. I have no idea why I got him - the fancy just took me!! We've covered him in colourful fashion magazine clippings.

And I have been collecting vintage luggage - I thought that it is a great thing to bring along to a fair, as I can use it to pack all the goodies in to get to the fair, and then I can use them to help display. I thought I might use one case to put my pictures in...

Well, lots more work to be done here! If any of you have any tips for me, I'd love to hear them. I've got lots of embroidered pictures - they are really pretty, but the frames are a bit boring, so I shall have the paint pots out on those next.

I'll let you know how it goes!!!!!