Love it: Mothers Day Pop Up... Part Two!

We had had such a lovely day last Saturday, on Sunday It was our turn to bring some pretty along to the pop up shop. We set up our little table with as much lace, ribbons, trimming and buttons as possible and waited for our crafters to arrive.

We were joined by some new faces in the pop up too their pics and links are below, do check them out there was some very lovely crafts on sale.

 

Our first visitors of the day were My two Gorgeous God-daughters Amber and Summer aged 3 3/4. they started off in style making a corsage each for their Mum.

 They were big fans of Auntie Sam's button jars.

H and I had fun making up some examples and wrapping up some gifts. Getting some inspiration for our own Mothers day gifts. I have gone with the spotty bag blue ribbon and tag combo for the Necklace I bought for my Mum.

 Our friend Sam (yes another one) also came down to have a go, and ended up taking home two lovely brooches, one of which I am reliably informed is now adorning her daughters bedroom door.

Our lovely friend Anna also had a go and came up with this very 'on trend' neon design, I am tempted to make one like this for myself!

This lovely was made By my friend Denise founder of Little Pickles, a class for 3-6 year olds based at Bovilles in Maidenhead, can you tell she's an artist!

Denise emailed me on Wednesday and told me that she has used this idea in some of her latest pieces to be sold at Art on the Street, in May this year, She sent me some pics and they looking great! cant wait to see them later in the year.

So that's what we got up to, let me show you who else was there.

Sunday Stall holders...

 Elissa Jane Jewellery

 I couldn't resist a pair of plectrum earrings they just had to be mine.

  Lauren Denney Ceramics

Oh yes and quite a few of Lauren's Magnets and that divine button dish also came home with me.

 Cookham Candles 

 Glass Farthing

 Rohanna Jewellery 

Crafty B's

The lovely lady at Crafty B's (who's name I didn't get {sorry} let us try some of her yummy truffles,

 I regret not bringing any of those home,

but  I did indulge in one of Happy Cakes lush Lemon tray bakes.

We were not the only workshop available on the Sunday there were also workshops by

 Felicitations Jewellery design

And of course Teresa Mills

Who b.t.w. is going to be in the Nicholsons shopping Centre again this Saturday, so if you missed your chance to have a go last weekend get on down and join in! I am planning on going down and having a go, and asking Teresa if she can make me one of her Skull mosaics, because I need one of those in my life!

Teresa Mills Mosaics

We had a great day, being a part of the Craft Coop is such a Joy! 

This weekend H and I are off to Stitch and Craft, and on Sunday the Husband and I are off for an  look at the new Star Wars Miniland Experience at Logoland Windsor... Yes we are geeks and we love it!

Live it. Love it. Make it.

Sammy xxx

Love it: Mothers Day Pop Up.... Part One

Last weekend Maidenheads most talented were out in force again at the Craft Coop Mothers Day Pop Up shop! This time Live it Love it Make it were amongst them. As we are now official members of the Craft Coop we thought it was only right to throw ourselves in at the deep end and put on a drop in workshop on the Sunday. 

This post is part one of two because there was simply too much gorgeous to put in to one post! 

Saturday for us was our chance to visit,  I was working in my shop and Heather had popped in to help out, So our new friend Anna from Thumbelina Design came in to the shop to pick us up on her way down, and we all strolled up to see what lovely crafts were on  offer to buy for our mothers.... and for ourselves, well it would have been rude not too! 

Saturdays Stall holders were...

Beads and Bracelets 

 Church Farm Wood Craft 

Billy Button Gifts

 Bluebell Glass

  Daisy Crowe Jewellery - follow her on Twitter

Flora Bird 
(Hats by World of Crochet)

 

 Karefully Made

 Monda Loves...

 String Theory Crochet

JC Card Designs

So that was lots of the lovely Craft Coopers we saw, there were some that I missed with my camera, and some who's work you will have seen at the Valentines Pop Up shop, but you can check out their sites if you click on their links below.

Sally's Cards

Gil Hoolie

Tukkana Jewellery

More than Divine

World of Crochet 

Sarah Jane Lewis Handmade Jewellery

Oslo's Dad

Chandlers Candles 

 Just before my Mum phoned in a panic.. we had left her holding the fort at Sew Crafty.. we had time for a cup of tea and some yummy cakes at Happy Cakes Vintage Cafe, what a perfect way to spend a Saturday!

Come back tomorrow for Part Two!!

Sammy and H

Love it: The Great Egg Hunt

I'm sure it has not escaped the notice of those people who either live or work in London about the Eggs that have been appearing everywhere!  They are part of the Faberge Easter Egg hunt which has over 200 eggs all over London for you to find!

You can read more about it a the official web site but this is the but there is a great competition attached to the hunt...

'With hard work comes reward, and for one lucky winner this will be The Diamond Jubilee Egg valued at over £100,000! The grand prize is open to all. All you need to do is text. Each egg has a unique keyword at its location. Simply text this word to enter. Each egg is worth one entry, so the more eggs you find, the more chance you have of winning! Find a dozen or find them all – it depends on how hard you want to win!

Text entries are open from Tuesday 21st February until Tuesday 3rd April. The winner will be chosen at random.'

All of the Eggs have been decorated by different artists and designers and placed around London.  I am luck enough to have an extended family member who's egg is number 165! How great is that!  I just have to find it now!

On my wander around Southbank last week I found these two beauties!

So that's numbers 26 and 130 ticked off, I think I am going to keep my eyes peeled for a few more.

Love it
H

Love it: More Exhibition Adventures

H has been a culture vulture this week!  I managed to fit in two museum visits which is always a bonus as far as I am concerned!

So first up was the Tate Modern!  I wanted to go see the Yayoi Kusama exhibition which I have heard so much about.  The leaflet says 'she is perhaps Japan's best-known living artist.  Since the 1940s she has worked obsessively, developing an extensive body of work that encompasses painting, sculpture, drawing and collage as well as the immersive large-scale installations for which she is best known.'

As usual there are no photographs allowed in the exhibition, so you will have to go and see it yourselves to know what I am truly talking about.  There were a large amount of painting, some of my favourites were with thousands of dots all over the canvas/paper.  Due to the constraints of money and availability, some of her work used acrylic paints and sand as well as thousands of the airmail stickers that had come on her families letters from Japan to her then residence in New York.

Yayoi became well known for her performative experimentation, encouraging people to paint polka dots on each others naked bodies.  This after all was the sixties and seventies and free-love and hippie culture was thriving.  Film-makers picked up on her work and it was known for body paintings and orgys to happen in the her installation environment.

She was influential in the 1960s and 1970s with the New York avant-garde, yet when she returned to Japan she found it tough to readjust and admitted herself to a hospital that has remained her home to the present day.  She has continued to work and now works in a studio opposite the hospital she lives in, mainly working on drawings and paintings.

I loved her polka dot work, well I would, I am a little obsessed with dots at the moment, they are everywhere, Fashion, Interiors, Jewellery, so why not love them.  I particularly loved the entrance way to the exhibition with polka dot balloons as seen above.

So what to do with a day at Waterloo!

I took myself off to the Hayward Gallery on the Southbank to have a look at the David Shrigley exhibition.  You may have seen the posters of a stuffed dog holding a 'I'm Dead' sign.  To get to this exhibition however I first had to walk through an exhibition by Jeremy Deller who is a Turner-Prize winner.  He classes himself as a conceptual artist and mainly uses his interest in people and their relationships to each other.  There were banners and newspapers, along with Valerie's Cafe which was giving away free Tea!  always good.  There was a whole area devoted to the coal miners strikes of the 80's, which was really interesting, using a timeline and newspaper articles to show what was happening at that time was great to see, especially as I was very young at that time and so did not really know fully what was going on.  Plenty of films to watch also, one even in 3D!  Then I saw some embossing machines and so had to have a go, see below, what do you think?

So then I got to walk up the stairs and open the 'Don't Linger at the Gate' Gate into the David Shrigley exhibition.  Most people will know his work from the greeting cards he has done in many a good card shop, but it was great to see more of his work, from animations to posters and a big old cup to tea, with actual tea!  And of course the stuffed dog!  I think its definitely worth a visit as it brings the fun back into art, sometimes that's just what we need!

Live it
H

Love it: A Very Colourful 30th

As H posted, last Saturday it was my Big 30, and we celebrated in style. Birthdays in my house have always been a shared experience, My Grandpa and my Mums birthday are either side of mine, by a day and when I met My husband Steve, we found that we had our Birthdays on the same day (his five years ahead of mine) 

I had planned a family dinner for Steve and I on the Saturday night at a local Restaurant /bar in Windsor, but I wanted to do something with my girls, after changing my mind several times I settled on an old school slumber party! complete with midnight feast, This also worked with my plans for my birthday cake.

Well we had such a lovely time, all my girls came over dressed in their finest PJ's and we spent the night watching girly films and catching up on gossip. 

then there was the feast... Heather had helped me to put on a Rainbow Buffet, which I must say looked awesome! and at the middle of it all was My six layered Rainbow cake, inspired by Pinterest of course! as were many of the ideas for my party. Pop over and check out my pins and you will see where many of these ideas came from!

After food, we set down to open presents.... OMG I am such a lucky girl, so many lovely thought full gifts. Heather had got all the girls together and bought me an Alexander McQueen bracelet, I was so overwhelmed, it is so gorgeous! and I will love it forever, because it will remind me of all of them! I also got some nail varnishes, all in shades of Purple, my fave, a cute little sewing bracelet and a cherry make up bag. I was so spoilt.

Here are some pics of the decorations and gifts from my lovely birthday weekend!

My six layer Rainbow cake made for me by Ann Jackson at Cakes Unlimited

 

 the table and my banner

Fruit Kebabs, these were so much fun to make!

 Steve and I's cake on Saturday

 My D.I.Y table centre

 Our thank you favours

My McQueen Bracelet.

 some of my gifts

some of my cards

I feel so loved by all my family and friends, I am a VERY lucky lady!!

Loving Birthdays!

Sammy xxx

Live it: International Women's Day

So today is International Women's Day and if you have Sky tv, on Living tonight there is a program called Five, an anthology of five short films about breast cancer, I can't say I'm looking forward to it, that's not quite the right phrase to use but I'm sure it will be an emotional watch.

Our local Art shop A. Boville Wright in Maidenhead celebrated by filling their windows with postcards of art work by Female artist, famous and non, all of which were selected by their customers.

Did you do anything to celebrate??

Live it
Sammy xxx