myfuroshiki advent calendar 4

* Day 4 *

Really happy to see our green Father Christmas wrap featured in the Folksy hot picks, alongside this gorgeously lustrous silk scarf from Handmaid by Julie Mills.

ps ... and it's reduced to just £20 ...

Cakewalk

One of the many great things about the Saltaire Makers' Fair was meeting Emma Straw, whose stall was crammed with unique accessories and artworks which Emma creates from her textile finds.

Emma also sells her work at her shop, Cakewalk, in Ilkley. Tucked away above Emporio Italia, it's a tiny treasure trove of vintage finds, art and local artists' and makers' handcrafted work, including the beautiful silk scarves of Julie Mills. Cakewalk is the perfect place to find unusual gifts and quirky treats, with a wonderful selection of clothes, jewellery, textiles, accessories, original prints, cards, ceramics and ... myfuroshiki original design screenprinted furoshiki!

Cakewalk is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm at

Arcade at 7a
7a Railway Road
Ilkley
West Yorkshire
LS29 8HQ

Tel: 01943 604222

Mich - in wet & windy Yorkshire :)

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!

Coriandr Express furoshiki challenge

Life's been a bit busy the past couple of weeks so I've a bit of catching up to do on a challenge I set myself of doing a little fun furoshiki something for each VIP on the Coriandr Express. So far I've managed a sort of fish shaped wrap with a blue fish design furoshiki for Blue Fish Handmade (how easy was that!)


and a bird wrap for Julie Mills with all her beautiful bird designs.



And here for my latest offerings are a panda furoshiki as a pirate bandana for the bucaneering Pirate Pixie Crew (featuring one press-ganged son)

and for Mrs Toad Designs, the nearest amphibian I could find - a frog patterned furoshiki :)


Still pondering .. Dig The Earth, Kitty Ballistic, Creativesque and Nic's Knots....

Birdsong

The Coriandr Express has just made its third stop and picked up the latest VIP, Julie Mills of Handmaid. Julie draws her inspiration for her gorgeous silk scarves and purses from the English countryside. Birds are a recurring theme as in this cute pink bird scarf


and this beautifully handprinted and embroidered leather purse.
Pop along to Coriandr to find out more about Julie and her lovely designs.

... and here is a little furoshiki bird wrap in her honour!