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

Spring Flowers

The promise of Spring has been in the air, though today is wet, cold and grey!
We need a little colour....

Is this bright enough to bring a little cheer? My beautiful daughter has spent months stitching away in her free time.

She seems to share my love of hexagons, stitched by hand over papers, the traditional way.

She stitched together 14 rows, 161 flowers, 1127 hexagons. I can't imagine how many tiny little stitches were needed to make up this gorgeous lap quilt.

The finished top was tie quilted onto sky blue, polka dot fleece to make it super snuggly, then she stitched all the way around the edge.

It sits on her chair in the window, brightening my days. I will have to make the most of both of them before they both go off to university later in the year.

Wishing you a lovely weekend and a special Mother's Day to all Mums on Sunday. xx

Artisans in The Palm House

I'm very excited to be taking part in Artisans in the Palm House at Sefton Park on 21st and 22nd March.

I'll be bringing similar goodies to those above. It looks like a beautiful venue and will be filled with high quality items and food. The difficult part will be stopping Mr Dotty from spending all my takings on coffee and cake. (Of course I'd never be tempted to do that.....)

If you can make it, I'd be delighted to meet you and I'm sure it will be a great day out.