Sew Simple, Taverham

We love having an excuse to go shopping for new fabric, buttons, lace and other decorative oddments.  With Christmas around the corner, we are planning some new designs for our range of small gifts and needed some extra supplies to finish them off.  We are lucky enough to have some lovely local shops that provide us with many of the beautiful fabrics and materials we use.

Today, we took a trip out to Sew Simple, a shop in Taverham on the outskirts of Norwich, stocking a large range of quilting supplies and craft materials.  We were very tempted by the new range of vintage style fabrics from Tilda but will-power prevailed and we managed to resist.

The button display was harder to walk away from but fortunately they were on the shopping list!  Red and pink buttons will be used as cherries for our new range of cupcake lavender hangers and bag charms.  Some black sequins, to give our Russian dolls sweet little eyes and some pastel fabric for icecream cones and lastly some pearl beads to finish off some beautiful hand-crocheted lace gloves – lovely!

Come back next week to see a sneak preview of our new range of gifts before we add them to our Folksy shop! 

LouLou & Will x

Butternut Squash

We were fortunate to be given a butternut squash by a green-fingered relative who had grown a bumper crop this year.  Not so fortunately however, we had never cooked one before but a quick flick through our many cookbooks gave us some inspiration.

We decided to keep it simple and roast the squash with some herbs and olive oil.  After cutting it into wedges and scooping out the seeds (good practice for Hallowe’en next month!) we drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and dotted with butter.  Luckily we have some parsley and chives still growing in our kitchen window box, so we added a handful of those, chopped finely, to finish off.

Half an hour in the oven at 180°C and we had a delicious accompaniment for our roast vegetable and mozzarella parcels! 

LouLou & Will x 

Burnham Market – 20th August 2011

After weeks of preparation the day of the annual craft fair at Burnham Market finally arrived. Our trusty vintage pink and cream campervan, Dolly, got us there in style and despite the threat of rain the sun shone on the picturesque village all day.  Lots of customers turned up to sample the delightful handmade designs on offer by over one hundred individually selected artisans and craftspeople.  There were a diverse range of products, including sculptural ironmongery, hand-knitted children’s clothes, vintage jewellery, miniature clay flower arrangements and home-grown wicker basketry.

Due to the good weather, we were able to set up the marquee and stock the stall unusually quickly, just in time for the brisk morning trade.  When things settled down after lunch, we left the stall in Daniel’s capable hands and had a little stroll around the fair.  We particularly loved the beautiful vintage-style Abigail Lou Designs, with its soft muted colours and intricate heart-shaped collage pictures.  It was also good to see the silversmith Catherine Downes again, with her unique handmade silver jewellery in gorgeous swirling designs.  Another favourite was the textile artist Abigail Mill with her quirky prints and cards based on her embroidered and appliqué works.

During the day we were pleased to have a visit from Georgie of The Jade Tree in Norwich who was looking to stock some Farrell & Holmes designs for Christmas this year.  It was also good to see Ann from M & A Cringle, a long-time stockist of our products, who usually pops by at the end of the day to restock her shop after the summer rush.

After an enjoyable but tiring day, we packed up Dolly and headed home, full of new ideas and inspirations for the next range of Farrell & Holmes designs and the hope to be invited back to Burnham Market Craft Fair again next August!  


LouLou & Will x