myfuroshiki advent calendar 14

* Day 14 *

... and the final lot of fabulousness from the Coriandr Express!

Tiny Pretty Things
Sweet Treat
Heart and Soil Baskets
Ruby Spirit Designs

Tomato Tea

myfuroshiki advent calendar 1

* Day 1 *

A little celebration of the approach of Christmas and a look back at some of the lovely things we've seen and done this year.

It's got red, it's got stars and tiny silver baubles - a gorgeously christmassy red rainbow pin from the lovely Ruby Spirit Designs

Happy birthday, Coriandr!

Coriandr is one year old! It's a great young site run by the incredibly helpful and committed, Mat, and I'd just like to wish it Happy Birthday and even more success in years to come. Take a look here for a fantastic collage that Mat has created of some of the fabulous Coriandr creations.

Also, if you're very quick, you can catch some of our gingham furoshiki featured on the front page today, alongside a selection of beautiful earrings from fellow ex-Expressites, the lovely Ruby Spirit Designs
and Sweet Treat,
and from Sarabuk, another talented Yorkshire jewellery maker, who was kind enough to mention us in her recent featured seller interview (thank you!).

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!

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!