Mayday Fair in Kettlewell.

Heads up everyone!

Wonderful Man and I had a super day at the Kettlewell May day Festival. The tag line for the festival was 'Made in't Dale, Festival of Wool and Ale'

And that's just what there was, lots of it too! 

Come and take a look.

 We were up early on Monday morning with a car packed full of felty goodness.

 Our short journey took us through Bishopdale into Wharfdale.

 We arrived in the little village of Kettlewell (of Calendar Girls fame) spot on 8am ready to set up our stall. You couldn't ask for a more picturesque setting!

 Here we are in the corner all set up and ready for the day, lets take a closer look...

I can see a bit of photo bombing going on! Mr Marmalade thought I wouldn't notice! 

We had notebooks, hand felted embroidered cards, little fat owls, 2 types of felt brooches, printed greetings cards of my felty creations, the last felt handbag, tea cosy and kitten kits, art prints of my field mouse and 3 brand new original felt artworks. I'd been a very busy girl over the last couple of weeks I can tell you. lol. Anyway that's enough about us, lets take a look at some of the other lovely stalls.

 Okay, not a stall but who could resist these very fluffy bunnies...awe!

 And of course we couldn't have woolly goings on without the lovely Lucy of Attic 24 and her friends being there to promote Yarndale 2014! We had a nice little catch up in the sunshine and I bought myself a very capatious Yarndale bag. It's huge!

 Looking lovely as always, Edie Pebbles stall, full of gorgeous girly bits and bobs.

Hooked by Design, rug hooking.

 I'm afraid I don't know who's this is as I was snapping while everyone was setting up before the event opened.

 A very smiley stall holder with more rug hooking.

 Even more felted bits and bobs.

 The most gorgeous woven wools from Laura's Loom.

 This one speaks for itself really.

This is my was my neighbour Yvonne's stall, with beautiful felt scarves.

 Gorgeous machine embroidered cushions.

 And last but not least our other lovely neighbours, Lorraine and her sister Deborah with yummy silver and polymer clay jewellery. It was their first craft fair so I hope it didn't put them off being next to me all day, lol!

 Well, the sun shone and the people came. There was live music playing, a fashion show in the village church and a local art exhibition in village hall.

 There were pies and cheeses, hog roasts and cakes...

 Spinning, weaving and gun dog demonstrations. There were even 4 week old puppies to see! We know this because all our craft tents emptied when the announcement came that there were puppies in the demonstration ring, lol! Who can resist a puppy!

 The beer tent was also very popular or so I believe...we didn't get chance to participate as we were so busy chatting to lovely customers. 

 My little felt robin picture flew off to a new home with two lovely ladies within the first hour.

And we hand delivered the hare to his lovely new owner on our way home. He'll be living in the most beautiful old farmhouse a little further up the Dale.

But all good things must come to an end. At 5 o'clock we started to pack away as the live music played and the beer flowed on.

 We left Kettlewell feeling tired but happy.

 The weather had behaved itself beautifully.

And we collapsed on the kitchen sofa and had a much needed cup of tea. 

Our next felty foray will be on June 28th and 29th at 

Art in the Pen

at Carlisle. 

I better get some felt on the go!

Love Fi x
Edited to add... Liniecat, the hare's eye is not glass it is all wool! Thank you for your lovely comments ladies x

Festival of Wool and Ale!

Just a quickie to say I'll be in Kettlewell tomorrow with my felty goodies at the 

Made in't Dales Festival of Wool and Ale! 

So if you're up North and fancy a day out tomorrow, Bank Holiday Monday come along and say hello. There will be plenty going on, live music, fashion show, craft fair, hog roast, BBQ, craft demonstrations, beer festival and oodles more.

See you there then!

Love Fi x

The Designer Maker Market

 Hello all. I thought I'd take you along to the Designer Maker Market in Barnard Castle. Fancy it? Good lets go.

 It was an early start on Good Friday morning but a beautiful one. We've set off from home and are heading to Barnard Castle in County Durham.

 Onwards to the A66 and ...

about an hour later we are entering Barnard Castle.

 Isn't this wonderful? This is the work of a very lovely lady called Leanne Owen who creates fabric taxidermy trophy heads. You can see more of her work here. Everything at the Market has been designed and made by the people selling it. A proper craft fair and we'll be back at The Witham, Barnard Castle to do it all again in November.

 The lovely ladies from Edie Pebble were my delightful neighbours for the two days. They make the most beautiful girly bits and bobs a real feast for the eyes.

There was Berkano Wood  with some interesting and very useful boxes.

 More wood but a very different kind from Margaret Garrard.

 Gorgeous glass from Suzanne Tweddle.

 Some very interesting and unusual paper and botanical items from Branching Out.

Millinery (I love that word) from Kayotique designs. I secretly wanted to try every hat on!

 The most delightful applique and free machine stitched artwork from Stitching for the Soul

There were many more wonderful artisans but unfortunately my photography skills were rather lacking on the day and the pictures didn't turn out very well, so apologies to those I've missed. It was a wonderful two days. Everyone was so friendly and chatty. 

And last but not least...my own little stall. 

The hare picture hopped off to a loving new home on the day and the daisy and field mouse pictures have since gone too but I'll show you some close ups of them next time.  

Well the journey home was just as beautiful as the one going. A big thank you goes out to my Wonderful Man for buying a new car with a huge boot to fit all my craft fair stuff in and for being my right hand man all day. I couldn't do it without him.

We'll be doing it all again in November but I don't think the journey photos will be quite as nice then...just cold and dark! lol.

Till next time

Love Fi x

Designer Makers Market.

 I've been busy for the last few weeks getting ready for the Designer Makers Market at Barnard Castle, County Durham. It takes place on 18th and 19th of this month, next Friday and Saturday in fact.

 I've been making beautiful felt flower brooches and little hand embroidered felt garden brooches.

 I always think I can make more things than I really have time for, lol. Along with several commissions and galleries asking for work, I'm struggling to keep up but I'm loving it. I loving seeing just what I can produce if I knuckle down, as I do have a tendency to procrastinate and float along if I don't have a goal or a target...And this year I have LOTS of targets.

So if you're in the area please pop along to The Witham and say hello. I'd love to see you there and I can promise you won't be disappointed, it will be full of creative souls selling their hand crafted designs.

Right, it's back to the felting table for me. I have something special on that table that needs finishing off.

Till next time

love Fi x

In all it's glory!

Here it is finished. 

Can you find the field mouse?

This is my completed commission piece, which is now parcelled up and on it's way to Connecticut, USA. It will be joining two more of my felt works, 'Wily Old Hare' and 'Robin Redbreast'.

Starting from the left, lets take a closer look. Lots of leaves, flowers and twiddly bits.

3 Bumble bees were requested.

And a little mouse hidden somewhere in the picture for grandchildren to find.

There is lots of free motion machine embroidery and some hand embroidered French knots.

Couldn't resist another close up. I love him.

The whole piece is made from wet felted wool and then embellished with embroidery. It measures approximately 34 inches wide by 23 inches high.

I must admit, I was quite sad to see this one go.

Till next time

love Fi x

Edited to add; For Liniecat and Virginia... This piece is completely wet felted. I used a single felting needle to add details to the bee's and the mouse only :)  As you can imagine it's not easy to get something that size and thickness under a domestic sewing machine without catching the odd piece. But everything on the design is there, and felted before it goes anywhere near any machinery. x

MarmaladeRose 6 Years Old!

Hello my lovelies! It's my blogiversary this week, 6 years of creativity and domestic ramblings! 

6 years of your wonderful company and unwavering support. Thank you. 

Thank you for sticking with me on this journey of creativity and artistic discovery. I couldn't have done it without you. x

The little mousy is hidden in my latest piece of felt, yes he really is quite small. 

You can see better in this picture, look how small he is compared to my fat fingers. 

What a cutey! Maybe next time I'll be able to show you the whole piece but as it's a commission I think it needs to stay a secret until it's new owner has given her approval...fingers crossed.

Thanks for sticking with me, it's much appreciated.

Till next time

love Fi x

British wildlife abroad.

I've been busy with the woolly stuff again people. I'm afraid your going to see a lot of this this year as I'm hoping to do a lot more art/craft fairs in 2014. Here's little Robin Redbreast in felted wool. He's now winging his way to new home in the USA with a travelling companion...

Can you tell what it is yet?

Here he is finished. A wily old hare, ready for his long journey to the States.

Love Fi x