June Loons!

Well after a grand total of 3 weeks on Folksy I am already feeling like part of one big, happy, crafting family. Admittedly I am spending far more time on the forum than I probably should but the what the heck, I'm sure the novelty will wear off sooner or later... well maybe...

For the last two months some of the more 'hardcore' (ie- slightly bonkers! ) forum regulars have set themselves a challenge to list one new item in their Folksy shops every day plus tweet/facebook/blog etc to the max to ensure that everyone gets a bit of extra publicity, shop views and , with a bit of luck and a following wind, a few extra visits from the sales fairy!

So April Fools and Mad Mayhemmers have become June Loons and this time I get to join in too!! Woohoo!!

We're Home...

Monday night - once we had unpacked the car we took Riley down to the beach. He couldn't wait to get in the sea (which was FREEZING!) for a paddle! So much so that on Tuesday, after taking him for his first ever trip to a swimming pool we went back to the beach for a bit of wave chasing (and jellyfish dodging!)

On Wednesday we went to Llandudno and  took a ride on the tramway up the Great Orme. Unfortunately the weather was a bit dull and grey, not to mention very windy, so the views were not the best they could be but still pretty spectacular. Then it was back down to the seafront for fish and chips on the beach.

On Thursday we visited Dibley Nurseries who specialise in growing Streptocarpus (or as they are commonly known - Cape Primrose) The greenhouses were packed to the rafters with beautiful flowers in many different colours and my mum was particularly pleased to be able to purchase the Harlequin Blue that had just been announced as the Chelsea Flower Show's Plant of the Year!

The gardens around are beautiful and well worth the £1 it cost for a stroll round and we even had a guide - Macsca the cat (the name is Hungarian for 'cat' in case you are wondering)

Last stop on the way home was Llangollen a lovely (but VERY touristy) town with a full working steam railway. The little station was cute and there were some great vintage advertising boards around - I particularly liked the one for Great Western Railways comparing Cornwall to Italy! Riley loved watching the train pull away from the platform... he also loved the shop stuffed to the gills with 'Thomas the Tank Engine' merchandise! Toot Toot!!

So now we are back home it's time to get stuck into rather more mundane things...but not after I have spent a couple of hours taming the jungle where my garden used to be!

We're all going on a summer holiday...

That's right folks me and the little man are off to North Wales for the week with my mum and dad.
Nothing special - a caravan on the coast - but I am so looking forward to a change of scenery and a few days of not having to think about business... and I bet Riley is gonna love spending a week with Grandma and 'Ganda' :)

The Folksy shop will be set to holiday mode so you won't be able to purchase anything till I get back (booo!) but any questions/queries/requests can be emailed to forestflower@hotmail.com and I will answer them as soon as I get back home!

In the meantime hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Let me introduce you to Spotty Cat...

This is Spotty Cat

He is a very special little kitty with jointed arms and legs and the most magnificent curly tail.

Wouldn't you just love to take him home?

Well now you can - he has just been listed in my Folksy shop !

Time for a change?

I have been spending a lot of time the last few dys looking at other peoples blogs and enjoying the vast amount of creative blogging that is out there... It's made me think that my own little blog could do with an update of some kind.
Hopefully I will get a chance over the next couple of days to rethink it so but, as with everything around here it will be a work in progress.  So if you do pop by and things are looking a bit...well...untidy then you know why!
Please bear with me and I will get it sorted as soon as is humanly possible! :-)

**Forest Flower Launches...**

Wow - what a weekend!
After a very frantic Friday trying to get everything set up - Folksy shop , facebook page , cards and leaflets with relevant web addresses etc designed and printed - Saturday was a breeze!

We arrived at Gorsley Village Hall with plenty of time to set up our tables and were welcomed by the smell of bacon butties wafting through the door from the little kitchen out the back...mmmm...

Setting up the stall didn't take too long

My mums hand knitted soft toys in the vintage suitcase got a fair bit of attention!

Once we were all set up I got a chance to wander round and chat with everyone else and there were some wonderful things on display!

Next to us was Frankie Martin who makes the most wonderful mirrors - go and have a look at his website Imagine Mirrors for some truly unique and practical works of art! I fell in love with the big woodland mirror complete with otter and kingfisher, but sadly it was a little out of my price range! Still - it gives me something to aim for!

Sarah Teague makes the most amazing miniatures in fimo clay and had on display a conservatory complete with pots of flowers and trees, a gorgeous pair of pink wellies and even a little black and white cat sat on the sofa! Plus a mini market stall packed to the gills with miniature cakes, pies and treats. Sarah is purely a hobby crafter and does not sell her work- although she could without a doubt!

Another interesting lady I spoke to was Ann Allen whose hobby is basket weaving ( again she doesn't sell her work) and has even woven her own coffin! She is involved in a group called Transition Newent which is part of a grass roots movement aiming to raise awareness and seek local solutions to the twin problems facing the world: Climate change and Peak Oil.  Their purpose to help communities prepare for the transitional time ahead when cheap oil is no longer an option and it will become necessary for communities to pull together and become more self sufficient. They encourage the re-learning of essential skills such as horticulture and environmentally friendly construction and the boosting of local economy by supporting local business and producers. Do have a look at the Transition Culture website and if you are interested in joining in there are groups popping up all over the country so there is bound to be one near you...

There were plenty of other things for visitors - patch working, cake decorating, spinning, plants, a vintage car restored to it's former glory, rag rug making, stamp collecting and even a pet dog show! A steady stream of visitors all the way through the day kept the atmosphere buzzing.

The weather was absolutely perfect and Riley had great fun in the little children's play area outside with all the other local children that turned up and, as promised the surroundings were perfect for a picnic.

All in all it was a fab day and I really hope that another event like this is organised for next summer - and that we are invited again!

**BIG**DAY**

So today is the day I have been building up for over the past couple of weeks - the proper launch of 'Forest Flower', my own little enterprise producing handmade lovelies. Yesterday was a crazy day spent setting up my Folksy shop (more about that later but if you are impatient just click on the link opposite...) and designing and printing off cards, price labels, leaflets etc with the shop address on them. As ever in my life everything was left to the last minute but maybe it's cause, secretly, I thrive on stress!!

We are off to Gorsley Village Hall very shortly to set up our tables at the Hobbies Fair I mentioned a couple of posts ago. After a week of grey, drizzly, windy (even frosty!) mornings we woke up this morning to beautiful clear blue skies and the promise of a beautiful day to follow. I do hope so as the village hall is set in lovely surroundings and I know the organiser has arranged for a number of 'outside things'. It should all make for a great family day out so if you are in the area, bring a picnic and come and join in....

Needless to say a detailed account and lots of piccies will follow... ;)