No.2 spirit doll

Such lovely weather that makes it difficult to knuckle down and work. However I have finished my second spirit doll - AIR - and because she was so white, I decided to colour her face with moonshadow hint of silver. I didn't realise it would come out so dark, but at least you can see her face.

The market took a nosedive this week, with everyone heading for beaches and outdoor persuits. We did get people going through but they were not buying so I came away in deficit this week. I am hoping it picks up soon or I'll have to find another job and that would be tragic.

I volunteered to pick up the newsletter from the printers for the U3A last week but once I'd been accepted I learned it also involved collating the pages, counting them, sorting into batches and giving them out at the lunch. That's the last time I volunteer to help out there. (maybe not...) We are also having a Jubilee party in June and we have to decorate hats to mark the occasion and a prize will be awarded for the best ladies and best men's hats. I decided on a spitfire logo (blue, white and red circles) and a spitfire aeroplane attached with a wire - hopefully! I'll add pictures once it is made.

 

I went down to Plymouth a couple of weeks ago to see my new granddaughter - Sara - such a lovely tiny baby who reminded me of a pixie,with her little pointed chin and ears. As good as gold she was and I came home and made her some little boleros and a buggy blanket. I fell quite in love with her and maybe I'll see this one grow up as living so far from my other 4 granddaughters has made this impossible in their case.

Where inspiration comes from?

Where does it come from? I have to say - everywhere - what I have found is that if you don't look for it, it seems to pop up right in front of you. I was reading my latest copy of Cloth, Paper, Scissors and near the back was a picture of a leaf, cut to look distressed and such wonderful colours. What came to mind was leaves printed on lutrador, burned out and layered over organza to produce a pocket for lavender. This could be a new sachet product for my stall. Also I came across a recipe for lavender bath salts on facebook of all places!

The only limit to all of this is the 6 x 4ft x 3ft tables I'm allowed at the market, which can look quite messy if too many products are put on them and my customers get overloaded with choice.

I recently added some Russian dolls, printed onto cotton and stuffed.  These have proved quite popular and I need to make them weekly it seems. My posies are also popular and I wondered if it was the price that attracts the customers or the novelty? I'll have to do some market research this year and then I can reduce my products to those that people are looking for.

Back to work now...