My New Venture

I am delighted to tell you that I was recently accepted to take a studio/ selling space at the Makers' Place at the Heritage Centre in Macclesfield.

It is a bright, airy space where a number of makers create and display their work and there is also a museum, shop and a lovely cafe.

I began to set up last Thursday. My space is between two corner spaces and has a big windows on either side letting in lots of light. I have acquired a lovely big unit with plenty of storage space for my fabrics and a good-sized table to work on.

Much as I love the bright stripes at the front of my unit, I think it calls for something a little more neutral, which I hope to put up this week.

I will be selling small textile artworks as well as larger quilted wall hangings.

This is part of my work space. I will be there on Thursdays and Fridays and also some Saturdays. I also aim to be there on some of the Sundays when the Treacle Market is held in Macclesfield as the cafe and Maker's Place will be open.

 This is my view as I sit working, looking through the doorway to the cafe. I am enjoying chatting to the public about my work and people are often interested to see what I am up to, especially when  my needle-felting machine is clattering away (must find a way to reduce the noise pollution!)

 I plan to be really productive on my studio days. It will make a big change to go out to work and to get away from the many distractions that present themselves when working from home. It will also be amazing to have other creative people to talk to- I have felt increasingly isolated at home recently. It also means that on my days at home I can enjoy doing things there without feeling resentful!

 There are still a few more things to do. I'm going to make a sign for the top middle of the wall and possibly a shelf .

                                       The view through to the shop.

So, if you fancy a trip out to Macclesfield- you could combine it with a look around the Silk Museum- do pop in and have a chat with me, have a cuppa and a browse. I'd love to meet you.

New Venture

Coming soon.... a new venture, a new space to make and sell my work and new creative colleagues to share with....

Lisbon 2015

Hello lovely people.

The sun is shining and I'm holding on to the holiday feeling after our wonderful trip to Lisbon.

I'm slowly working through my photos and the tonnes of washing (thank goodness for the dry weather) and easing my way back into day to day life. It has been so good to spend time with my family- walking, eating and laughing. Come September our daughter will be moving away to uni and the following year one of our sons will probably be on his way too, so these times together are very precious.

I will bring more pictures here later in the week.

In the meantime, I'd like to show you my shiny new website;

www.dottyb.co.uk

I'd love you to pop by and have a browse and let me know what you think.

Have a lovely weekend.xx

Sefton Park Palm House

Last weekend the weather was very kind to us for our first (hopefully of many) event with the Artisan Network. We set up my Dotty B stall in the very beautiful Sefton Park Palm House amid a festival atmosphere. The mood was buoyant as the sun shone through the palm leaves.

There were amazing stalls full of beautifully handcrafted, quality products, fabulous food and drink, music and fun activities. We had over 11,000 visitors and Mr Dotty and I really enjoyed talking to everyone who came to see us. We met some lovely people, both visitors and stallholders. We bought a couple of nice things including an item from Jenny Barnett which I can't show you yet as it is a surprise for someone.....

We ate delicious brownies from Treats Bake Shop. I (only just) managed to resist the temptation to succumb to a large G&T from Liverpool Gin, which I can assure you took a huge effort of will as they looked wonderful, clear and refreshing!

Richard of RG Pens was our next door neighbour for the weekend. Mr Dotty was in his element as Richard handcrafts beautiful pens from a range of materials, including exotic hardwoods and wonderfully coloured acrylics. No two pens are ever the same. Mr Dotty purchased one for himself and one for our son (they both have special birthdays later in the year).

We also met Stef and her husband, a really lovely, friendly couple, originally from South Africa. Stef paints beautiful, vibrant watercolours. We share a love of little houses and Stef very kindly purchased some of my pieces!

Anne and her friends from Sew Nautical were great fun. Her stall was full of gorgeous, little driftwood houses and harbours. Anne also makes colourful  paper and stitch collages.

 On Sunday our neighbour was Alexis Valentine and his high quality Walking On Glass pieces. Alexis creates his engravings entirely by hand and specialises in engraving glass for those who enjoy the great outdoors.

We had such a fantastic weekend. When we had packed up and were heading back to the car we both felt a little sad as though had been on a little holiday and were leaving behind new friends.

I'd like to say a big thank you to all the visitors, staff and stallholders, Sefton Palmhouse,the people of Liverpool and further afield and especially to Larry and Mandy who make it all happen.

Hope to see you all again soon. xx

Christmas Shopping

I'm really excited to announce that I'll be taking my "Dotty B" stall to the "Off The High Street" Christmas Market at Castlefield Market on 5th, 6th and 7th December.

My sewing machine has been smoking, my rotary cutter has blunted and I have to keep cleaning fusible web from my iron as I've been busy, busy making lots of goodies to sell.

The Christmas Markets in Manchester are wonderful and the Castlefield events will be a great addition, full of gorgeous food,vintage and quality handmade goods. If you can get over then I'm sure you'll find lots of lovely Christmas presents as well as having a fabulous, festive time. It's indoors and there will be plenty of cake!

The markets will be held at Uppercampfield every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 28th November to 21st December.

Be there or be square!!! :D

Sticky with Treacle

What an amazing and busy weekend. The weather here has been really hot and Mr Dotty and I spent a rather sticky day under a gazebo at Middlewich Food Festival.

(please excuse the photos- they were taken on my phone & I haven't quite got the hang of it yet)

I set up my "Dotty B" stall as part of the Makers Market. We had a fun day chatting to people in the sun.
Next to me was a lovely young lady selling interior decor- Kiki Interiors and behind me was a man from Vanilli's cafe wafting the smell of the most amazing chocolate fudge cake in our direction. (I'm not telling whether or not we resisted!)

We arrived home with tired legs and hot feet, so we sat in the garden with a cheeky drink to recover!

On Sunday we went back to the Treacle Market at Macclesfield and had a lovely day out. It was buzzing- lots of sun, food, music and stalls selling beautiful wares.

We hadn't been there long when I spotted this little fellow...

I think he was hoping for some cool water in his bath. Lying in the basin just to the right was his friend...

I have quite a few collector's teddy bears, all traditionally handcrafted and I had decided that my collection was complete, but there was something about this little guy. I knew straight away I needed to give him a home. He looks like he'll make a great sewing assistant.

The pads of his paws are very worn, so he won't be doing any walking. The stallholder thinks he may have been made in the 1920s and he came all the way from France.

I'm going to find a comfy spot for him to sit and think of a name. Any ideas?

Oh, and Vanilli's had a stall at the Treacle Market too so we did succumb and shared a Manchester Tart (the ones on the right with a cherry on top). It was delicious and no mean feat to eat it on a bench in a public place- we had cream on our noses and jam dripping down our wrists, much to the amusement of the passer's by! Very sticky, but worth it!!

Hoping for a quiet day today. have a good week.xx