winner!

The giveaway is done.

A list of entrants was compiled, each was assigned a number, and the random number generator has been consulted this very morning!

And the winner of my giveaway to win a handmade apple pendant is…

Sue Schlabach!

Get in touch via my Commissions page Sue, and let me know your address so that I can post off your prize!

Thank you to everyone that took the time to enter and follow and pin and like.

Commiserations to all those who were unsuccessful this time around.

And if you really can’t contain yourselves, remember you can always buy yourself a consolation prize apple pendant from my shop! x

disillusioned

When I was younger I used to go to festivals.

I went to Glastonbury in the 1980′s, when people still pitched tents in front of the main stage and you could climb over the fence and get in free, if you were brave enough.

There were lots of other, smaller festivals too. Generally, I had a great time.

But then it all turned sour.

Someone staggered into and destroyed our tent in the night. An extremely drunk couple thought our tent was theirs – and refused to leave. Too many aggressive, scary people around. Knives and threats. Lots of drugs and alcohol. Huge expense to be there in the first place.

So we stopped going.

We only recently started trying out a few festivals again. Just safe, friendly ones. Because kids get a real sense of freedom on a smaller site, meeting others, trying new things. There is some great music to be enjoyed. And the culture has changed from those days when it just didn’t feel safe.

At least, that’s what I thought until this weekend.

We went to Ashleyhay Festival. Small, friendly, local. We went to have fun.

But someone visited a good proportion of the tents, including ours, and, whilst we slept only inches away stole whatever they could reach from inside. Including all our money for the weekend. Even the small change. Even a child’s pocket money.

I’m amazed I didn’t hear them. But what would I have done if I had?

People were nice about it afterwards, but I didn’t want to be there any more. I just wanted to go home.

And I feel sad and angry and disillusioned with festival-going all over again.

Am I over-reacting? Possibly.

Do I think my feelings will change? I don’t know.

But I don’t want my child to be frightened of people coming in the tent in the night, going through our stuff. Actually, I don’t want to be frightened either.

So sadly I think that, for me at least, it’s time to admit that my festival-camping days are probably over.

giveaway time!

Today, at long last, my apple pendants have gone on sale in my Etsy shop.

I know I have said quite a lot about them on here already, so I will try not to bang on about them again. Instead, I’ll leave that to Chris of The Life Creative, who has featured them at number one of his top seven creative finds this week! Thanks Chris x

However, I will allow myself a small celebration – and I’d like you to share in it!

I am giving away one of my apple pendants to one lucky blog reader.

This is the one that’s up for grabs:

It has a silver-plated toggle clasp and, when finished, will hang from a silver-plated bail. The central button is made from a 1960s Dekoplus fabric and the string is made from Rose Walk, a 1970s fabric designed by Heather Brown for Heals.

The rules are simple, all you have to do to be in with a chance to win is:

• Become a modflowers blog follower  (if you aren’t already).
• Leave a comment on this post.
• If you are a Pinterest user, pin a picture of my apple pendants to one of your boards. (Any picture, as long as it’s of one or more of my apple pendants, pinned to any board you like – I’m not fussy).
• And for an extra chance of winning, you can like my Facebook page.

The giveaway closes on Sunday 5th May 2013 and I’m happy to post worldwide.

Good luck!

I haven’t done many giveaways, but I’m so pleased to actually have something to give away at last.

I think it’s about time.

Update – giveaway is now closed. Winner to be announced shortly!

stressing out

One of the unwelcome changes that I find has come upon me as I get older is that I get stressed about things. I didn’t used to.

Yesterday I did something that made me very stressed indeed. I applied for inclusion in this year’s Wirksworth Festival.

It involved filling in an online form. This is something I virtually used to do for a living, having submitted assessment reports via online forms as part of my job – every single day for years.

So it should have been easy. It should NOT have been stressful.

But it was.

First, I had to include a CV (or resumé). My previous employment seems somewhat irrelevant to the matter in hand, so the task called for a spot of lateral thinking.

Then, I had to select four photos to represent my work. Oh, decisions decisions…

There were very specific requirements for the photos, requiring edits and techie stuff. So of course, my laptop saw an opportunity to corrupt a few files and constantly quit a vital application. Thanks, laptop.

These (and the one at the top of this post) are the pictures I chose:
My rationale was to include one picture of jewellery, one of cushions, one of a “novelty” item and one of a quilt or quilt panel.

I got my application done and submitted by the deadline. Eventually. After quite a lot of pfaffing and a little bit of cursing at my laptop and possibly even a tear or two.

My heart rate is just about slowing down now.

I love the Festival Art Trail – you may remember, I went last year, so I know that the reason I got stressed (apart from the recalcitrance of technology) is because it would mean a lot to me if my application was successful.

This, in other words.

Anyway, there’s nothing to do now but wait. My hopes are not high but if I don’t have a go, I’ll never know.

Wish me luck!

the ballad of april fête

At Langar Hall I had a stall
Up at the April Fete.
The people came in thousands and the time they had was great.
Granny Turismo whizzed round on their gizmos
And made us all laugh with delight
The pizzas were tasty, though the queue wasn’t hasty -
And so get one I didn’t, quite…

The kids had a ball, up near the Hall,
They bounced until they were worn out
Then they modelled balloons, watched the band (out of tune!)
And thoroughly loved it all.

The wind blew a gale, my cake was quite stale
But still I remained pretty mellow…
Though I have to confess, my head was a mess
Spending hours in light that was YELLOW!

i like ‘em wiry

Whenever I have a stall coming up, as today, my mind tends to wander towards display.

After all, there’s no use making pretty things if you then just sling them in a heap on a table. No, you need to show them off properly propped and primped up to beckon to buyers.

It’s nice to have a few props to help. Although I don’t want the props to steal the limelight, if you see what I mean.

So no shouty stuff, just something that does the job and enhances rather than eclipses.

I’m currently loving some of the stuff Cox and Cox have in their catalogue, which plopped onto my doormat the other day. If money were no object I would certainly invest…

I can imagine my strings of vintage fabric bunting fluttering from that chandelier (although I’m not sure what exactly I would hang the chandelier itself from!)

And I can see my pendants and brooches dangling from this:

And I could stuff these wire baskets chock-full of colourful pincushions:

I think I’m starting to see a bit of a theme developing here…

You can catch my stall (minus any wiry display items) today at the April Fête which is happening at Langar Hall. Pop by the marquee and say hello!