Try TomatoTea!

Welcome to TomatoTea, the latest and, sadly, last Coriandr Express VIP (from this train anyway). It's been a great journey of discovery, the train's been bursting at the seams with so many talented people and it's been a pleasure browsing and buying such lovely items ... and at the wonderful TomatoTea's shop you'll find even more.

Katrina says that she loves to dabble in all things textile but frankly anyone who can hand dye and hand spin wool into lovely colours like this (and on a traditional wheel)

AND dream up fabulous patterns like this furry hood


AND then whip up lovely little items like these cute keyrings (don't they make a great mobile?)
has taken dabbling to a whole new level!

There are lots more of Katrina's creations in her Coriandr shop (with 10% off all yarns until the end of the month) and you can find out more about other special offers on her blog ... and for the answer to the question that everyone wants to know read her Coriandr Express interview.

Ruby Spirit Designs

I'm really happy to introduce the latest Coriandr Express VIP, Ruby Spirit Designs. This is the place to go for unique jewellery pieces which bring together new and broken or forgotten vintage items into a fresh new whole - beautiful and eco-friendly!

Having seen Tracey's work online, I was thrilled to meet her at my first market and was so taken with her creations that I had to buy one of her bracelets to mark the event. It's a beautiful blue bead charm bracelet, similar in style to this lovely summer pudding bracelet, and a real delight to wear.

There is such a range of lovely things available in Ruby Spirit Design's Coriandr shop that it's hard to pick just a couple. There are pretty bead earrings and unusual brass ones featuring swallows, butterflies and, my favourite, dragonflies.



And then there are these striking vintage button rings which are only £5 - and even better there's a further 10% Coriandr Express discount until the end of July. At that price how can you resist?



You can find out more about Ruby Spirit Designs at her blog and don't forget, there's a 10% discount on all items in her shop until the end of July. See you there!

What's new?

What with highlighting all the goodies of fellow Coriandr Express VIP sellers and having fun at craft markets, we haven't yet mentioned two new items to the myfuroshiki range:

First, we're really proud and pleased to have some big and bold corsages like those shown to accessorise with our flexible myfuroshiki bags. These were knitted with lots of love and care by the marvellous Mrs Yasue and finished with one-off buttons from the stash she's amassed over the years. The corsages have both a brooch pin and ribbon attached to the back so can be tied around a bag handle or pinned to your favourite outfit or bag. They'll be listed soon on our Coriandr and Folksy shops.

Secondly, the ideal thing to keep tucked in your furoshiki bag ... a furoshiki shopper made of calico handstamped with the myfuroshiki logo, with a pretty plaited cord and felt flower to tie it up when not in use or adorn it when it is. Again these will be listed soon on Coriandr and Folksy. Happy shopping :)

Standing in the sunshine

I had a lovely day at the Fairtrade, Design and Craft fair yesterday, standing in a sunlit spot in the charming Royal Arcade in Keighley. I'm sure there must be many people like me who never realised that just a short distance from the "high street" shops in the Airedale shopping centre are the hidden delights of the Grade II listed Royal Arcade - it certainly deserves to be better known.

The Arcade was built at the beginning of the last century but by the end had fallen largely derelict. There's a fascinating story of how the 1999 renovations uncovered a forgotten lower level arcade of shops, still with glass in their windows and signs.

The Royal Arcade is now home to a cafe, hairdressers and range of shops, including Blue Ginger, a perfect place to go for handmade jewellery, clothing and accessories. Blue Ginger is the creation of Louise, who organised yesterday's fair. Amongst the talents on display were:

• the fun and funky fused glass creations of Glassprimitif. I couldn't resist a sweetheart sushi dish. There are similar ones in her Folksy shop (hurry, there's a summer sale on some items!)
• the colourful jewellery of RubySpiritDesigns. I love the blue bead charm bracelet I bought earlier this year - it's like an instant holiday in the Aegean!
• the beautiful designs of Julie Mills. Having admired Julie's work when she was a Coriandr Express VIP a few weeks ago, it was great to meet her; her silk scarves are so lustrous, you really have to see them.
• The Little Gemstone Company whom I met last week at Keighley World Arts Market. Anne and Helen have a lovely selection of necklaces and bracelets where the stones just speak for themselves. I particularly liked one that looked like sea polished pebbles.
• personalised ribbons and cards and gorgeous papers from Sue Pollard Ribbons & Wrapping. I've ordered some cute ribbons from her for a special project so will be posting pictures soon.
  

It was a real treat to spend the day with such creative and enterprising individuals, and of course to meet some lovely new customers as well - thanks very much for all your hard work, Louise!

... and finally it's stopped raining ..

.. just in time for today's Arts Market. I'm really excited as it's in the resplendent Royal Arcade in Keighley and I know that we'll be in great company with jewellery from RubySpiritDesigns, glass from Glassprimitif and clothes and accessories from Blue Ginger amongst others. And I've got some new myfuroshiki shoppers and accessories too :)

Come and say hello if you can - we'll be there from 10am.

Exmoor Express

The Coriandr Express is now steaming its way through the glorious Exmoor countryside to pick up Hen of Heart and Soil Baskets.

As well as caring for woodland, pasture, meadow, river and miles of hedgerow in Exmoor, Hen weaves beautiful baskets from Somerset willow and carves curvy spoons! It's a real joy to come across lovely items such as these, crafted in a sustainable manner; here are a couple of my favourites.

You can find out more about Hen in this Coriandr Express interview and please have a look at her blog where the beauty of her woodland and her love of the environment shine through.

So sweet

Morning! It's quite early, the sun is out and there's that lovely new day freshness in the air; the kind of day when you should be wearing Debbie Thompson's Sweet Treat jewellery. Debbie combines vintage and new beads to create pretty drop earrings and delicate necklaces that look like a summer garden


or good enough to eat.


Debbie is the latest in a long line of fabulous Coriandr Express VIPs - find out all about them on Coriandr Express blog - and go and treat yourself to a summery Sweet Treat now.

Keighley World Arts Market - the pictures

Thanks very much to Jo of Keighley Arts Factory for organising a great World Arts Market yesterday - not only were there some lovely stalls of handmade goodies, but also food, music and dancing ... and she even managed to arrange the weather; no sign of the forecast heavy showers but bright breezy sunshine!

See the world ...

... come to the Keighley World Market tomorrow where there'll be Chinese food, Bollywood dancing, Polish music and tasty treats, a Great British barbeque, Indian food and a wonderful range of lovingly crafted jewellery, cards, glass and textiles ... plus, for a hint of Japan, our furoshiki bags and gift wraps and accessories. Here are just some of the things that'll be available.




So please come and find us at the Church Green, Keighley, from 10am to 4pm.

Small is beautiful

Welcome to the latest Coriandr VIP, Molly McCausland, creator of the charming Tiny Pretty Things, lovely little drawings of strange but cute characters. Molly's tiny drawings are not only beautiful but eco-friendly, being done on recycled and reclaimed packing card.

My personal favourites are the Inspiration Ninja


and this whistling giraffe (I always wondered what they were up to up there!)


but have a look at her shop to find the one for you.

Love, Light and Peas

Welcome to our latest Coriandr Express VIP, Lottie of Love, Light and Peas. Lottie has a great talent for transforming something old into something new. Here's what she says about her work

"I like to focus on using up stuff that other people would think was rubbish. In the past I've made baskets from drinks cartons, bags from plastic bags and jewellery from train tickets. At the moment I'm focusing on stationery sets made from unusable books. There'll always be some knitting and other fibrey goodness in there, too! I try to keep my waste and packaging to a minimum, because waste is just so unnecessary. It's very rare that something from my crafting sessions goes to landfill." There's more about Lottie's creations and inspirations in this interview with her on the Coriandr Express blog.

It's great to come across someone who is so committed to reusing and recycling. I particularly like this stationery she has on offer

New World Arts Market!

I'm thrilled, and a little nervous, at the prospect of taking part in the Keighley World Arts Market on Saturday. It's organised by Jo and the Keighley Arts Factory who ran the first market I did, earlier in the year. That was lots of fun with a great range of handmade goods on offer and this one should be even better, with food and music and dancing!

***************************************************************

Keighley Arts Factory, in partnership with Keighley Area Committee and Keighley Town Centre Association, is pleased to announce the Keighley World Arts Market on Saturday 11 July 2009

This exciting event, on Church Green Keighley, will be a vibrant and exciting market of arts, crafts, food and entertainment. The Arts Market will be on Church Green from 10am to 4pm with talented craftspeople selling jewellery, furoshiki, hand made cards, glass, textiles and gifts. There will be a variety of "world food" including Chinese, Indian, Polish and The Great British Barbeque. (There's even a chocolate fountain for those of us who love chocolate)! Live music and dancing will be there during the day including Bollywood dancing, Polish music and song and a blues band.

From 4pm to 6pm there will be live bands for the evening entertainment.

all things bright and beautiful ...

Welcome to the 14th Coriandr Express VIP, lej jewellery. Joanne who is the creative force behind lej not only makes a range of pretty, colourful jewellery but also bookmarks and suncatchers, which would make perfect gifts. There's a lovely summery theme running through her shop with a mermaid charm bracelet, seashore pendant and pretty shell bracelet. So get in tune with the heatwave and hurry along to her shop!