Grassmarket Festival

Hey folks don't forget The Grassmarket Festival is here this weekend. Ok, so blogger has trimmed the poster squint but look there are my little egg cups! Saturday and Sunday this little NIGHT OWL shall be in attendance, 12 o'clock to 8pm in the cities Grassmarket. It's my first out door do' with the full shebang - so I really hope no little raindrops come visiting!


It would be lovely to see you there - rain, hail or shine!

on the weekend...

I had a lovely time last weekend selling my stuff and generally blethering my head off to any passer by. I was at the Out of the Blue Arts Market last Saturday. The night before I grabbed a couple of stems of cherry blossom or 'sakura' to decorate my stall and ended up trailing a stream of blossom confetti all the way there.


I think the rain on the day may have put a few folk off but it certainly didn't deter the punters for the food stalls which started ahead of the arts market. Once the first rush had died down things were quite relaxed which meant that I had lots of time to get chatting and enjoy some interesting, informative and entertaining conversations:


• A lady who works at the Drill Hall Café came by to say that the shower cap she'd bought from me at Christmas went down very well with her friend. "She wears it all the time!" she said. "I mean - not just in the shower!!" Now that's what I like to hear.

• A wee boy came past, asking how much of my merchandise I'd actually made myself: 
HIM: "Did you make that? And that?!"
ME: "Yes, yes I made it all!"
HIME: "And those? Did you make them?" (pointing at my jug a pheasant-eye lilies)
ME: "Well no, you've got me there." 
HIM: "Hmm. Do you do anything without flowers on?"
ME: "Eh... well, um, not really."
HIM: "Could you make me one of them without flowers on?" (pointing at my Dotty Miss Daisy tablecloth)
ME: "Yeah, I could do that. What would you want on it instead?"
HIM: "H.F.C."
ME: "Is that Hearts?"
HIM: (with steely glare) "No, HIBS!"

• A lady picked up one of my wildwood flower brooches. I told her I thought it was a primrose. "No it's a cowslip which is why I'm going to buy it!". Apparently, (I did not know this) a primrose is a cultivated cowslip so of course I have now re-titled my brooch. She went on to tell me a lovely story about her Grandmother, who used to post a biscuit tin of cowslips to her mother each spring. She said the place where her Grandmother picked them has no cowslip left in it anymore. I loved her story and told her my own similar one as my Aunty used to post a posy of snowdrops to my Mum in an empty Silk Cut packet. The snowdrops wrapped in damp tissue would come out a little bedraggled but would soon perk up after a wee drink and possibly some fresh air. 

On Sunday I was at the Collective for the Craft Sunday Market with A Wooden Tree and Annabel Bartle. I've known Kirsty since I've been doing craft fairs and Annabel and I worked together on this project, four years ago. It was great to see them both and have a right good natter. Although I did so much nattering I forgot to take more photos of their lovely wares!


We were asked to give a poster to advertise our stalls in the lead up to the market. That's my effort at the back there. I couldn't get any pegboard so I drilled my own. Yes I'm mad.


You can see I grabbed a couple of stray narcissi from the park on my way by too.

I loved our tables which were assembled from plastic drinks crates on loan from Barrs. They were quite tall and just the perfect height for getting a good eyeball at everything! 


Course I also got the chance to try out The Feral Trade Café. Oh yeah! I'm gonna have to tell you abut that later but I'll be ticking off all the items on the menu over the next few weeks let me tell you!


If you are interested in getting involved with the markets over the next few weeks contact: 

jennyrichards@collectivegallery.net 

The dates are:

 Sunday 1 May - Artist's Multiples 

Sunday 8 May - Illustration 

Sunday 15 May - Publications 

Sunday 22 May -  Anything goes

How to turn the world by hand runs until 29th May at Collective, 22-28 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh.

lazy monday afternoon...

As I'm always working weekends, I try to give myself Mondays off. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't but somehow, no Monday-off is ever quite like a Sunday-off; a lazy-day to do just as I please.


Today I was supposed to be catching up with the paperwork. We didn't. I'd forgotten to set my alarm and slept for a whole twelve hours. I assume I must have needed it. When I did wake up I had tea in bed and a read of: Answered Prayers. It's rather rude (about everything and everyone) and makes me cackle. The only part I'm not looking forward to is finding out why it's 'unfinished'. 


Eventually I made lunch. A bargain-basement composition from last night's swag-bag of Waitrose reductions (I got tender-stem broccoli, french beans, helda beans and British asparagus: all for 10p a pack. ha.) I lightly burned my reduced muffin, slathered it with butter and topped it with a slice of leftover Milano salami. Steamed some reduced asparagus over my perfectly poached eggs. Slathered the asparagus with more butter (I'm not that fussed by asparagus but being 10p improves it). Took a bite. Took a photo. Le nom. 


Then we watched the next instalment of Battlestar Galactica which is becoming a nightly obsession. Although last night I conked out before the opening credits were done. Then I got round to packing up a couple of orders and made a dash to the Post Office where I was greeted at the door with a smile and a hello. (They must have missed me).


When I got back to the ranch the sun was splitting the sky and I had to stop and take a few photos. The camera on my new-ish phone is no great shakes but the Vignette app has transformed it. I love the toy camera setting, particularly as I miss my old toy camera. 


And I love the pheasant-eye lilies which are nodding demurely at the end of our street. 


And I love lazy days off.

Edinburgh - Paris - Tokyo and back again...

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Just two weeks away but it feels like a month and a day... 

Thought I'd share with you the Etsy treasury I put together pre-departure as a sort of scrapbook of ideas whilst planning my holiday wardrobe. Please note: the sold sign doesn't actually mean I bought it, alas, but my capsule collection of  old favourites, some new socks (a Japanese essential!) and a very lovely new scarf (a present) served me very well. And my compact collection would have served me even better if we had managed to find a laundrette in Tokyo (funny such places don't have English language websites... aherm). I was very glad to have my quick drying, no-ironing and easily hand washable green dress. Phew! 

I didn't really need my raincoat as the weather was perfectly pleasantly warm for us but wish I had purchased the lovely konnichiwa tee as I kept getting "good morning" (ohayoo gozaimasu) confused with "ta very much" (argatoo gozaimasu) - oh what a funny inter-continental traveller I am! 

Two essentials were my notebook and pencil (and an eraser, being me) for collecting rubber stamps in and keeping my travel log book. And also a hankie for spontaneous bursts of tears at the sight of my boarding pass, an Edo-period silver incense burner (seriously),  chanting monks and the thought of going home.

One handy item now missing from the above list was Asking for Trouble's Tokyo Shopping Guide, as the proprietress is currently off to Japan herself. I did do a lot of shopping and have brought home a hefty weight of fabric and a large collection of silly stuff. A little too much silly perhaps as I very much regret not buying a beautiful bowl in a Kyoto garage sale. It's a world away from me now, just wish I wasn't...

dahlias of york

The other week and at very short notice I paid a visit to the beautiful City of York. I had a wee while to wander before my train home and what wonderful wanderings there were to be had! I came home bearing some much needed buttons, a bargain bag of chutney, a poke of runner beans and sweet perfumed quince and, to cap it all a delightful bunch of dahlias, for the princely sum of one pound!!

Every autumn I plan to treat myself to a bunch but can only ever find them at Morningside prices if you know what I mean - too much to pay for such short lived blooms. The next day they were looking a little weary after their long journey north but I wanted to capture the occasion and got all artsy-fartsy in the process. I love the intensity of their colours and their complex shapes which look to me like folded paper puzzles.

Much more to come about my wanderings ... later. The 'results' have a couple of weeks yet to mature. What shall I get up to in that time? I wonder!

meh peh

I paid a wee visit to my hometown last week and no visit to Dundee would be complete without wrapping my wallies around one of these and partaking of the opportunity to thicken my arteries at the same time. Bingo!


Meh peh, (for those of you requiring translation that's "my pie" in Dundonian) was purchased from Bayne's on Crichton Street - an irregular choice some may say. Although the crust lacked the delicate crispy bite of an A1 specimen the filling sure made up for it. Unctuously meaty and delicious, my pie ranneth-over with greasy-juices which I deftly saved from dribbling down my skirt. I still got the moves y'ken.

That spring-timey feeling

I thought I'd share some photos I took on a late afternoon walk last weekend. I wanted to see some snowdrops and wasn't disappointed. We found this tree stump covered in beautiful, frilly fungus - I wonder what it was?


After some online nature-swotting, I think I've identified the lovely yellow catkins which were decorating many trees as hazel catkins. Apparently the yellow ones are the males and sure enough you can just see the little pink bud of the female in the middle of the image above. Yes, you may need a magnifying glass but it's there! 


We are fortunate to live so close to The Braids of Hermitage which never fails to revive you. I was also very excited to find my work included in this Etsy feature which is inspiring me to continue with my spring cleaning efforts. I hope spring is blooming in your neck of the woods!

Blue sky thinking

Sometimes it's great not to have to be in a hurry. I took the time on my walk to the studio yesterday look up and enjoy the brilliant and beautiful blue sky. Spring was definitely in the air and I got the first glimpse of the giant old horse chestnuts which line our street beginning to stir. The branch tips and shoots sprouting from the trunk were bursting with glistening, sticky buds which sparkled in the sun. 

Further down the street, yellow blossom was just breaking on a bush I couldn't quite identify (any ideas?). Anyway, it was the sherbet lemon shade my eyes have been 
patiently craving.