American Museum in Britain

Today's post is a little different than usual because I'm writing about something other than myself! On Wednesday I went with family to visit the American Museum in Britain; I was given a National Art Pass for Christmas and am trying to utilise it as much as possible - the AMiB is one of their places.

whut

meeee

 The fancy gardens are being worked on at the moment so we didn't get to see a lot of those which was a shame. I did spot this rather lovely Art Deco-ey sculpture thingy though, which is maybe some kind of sundial...?

My favourite parts were the Native American costume, with all its colours and patterns:

And the Room of Many Quilts, especially this Thistle-Disguised-As-A-Pineapple quilt:

is it a thistle? is it a pineapple? you decide

And then I spotted a few hidden gems too such as this skull in a frieze:

Wallpaper that understands and celebrates the glory of corn:

Aaaand a quilted horsey!

There was of course lots more things to see as well but you will have to go and have a look yourself if you want to see any more! The current exhibition about WW1 includes a fascinating display about early plastic / corrective surgery and prosthetics and there's lots of dressing up in period costume to be done throughout the whole place. It is a joy!

My top tip for the AMiB would be that although the onsite cafe does very nice typically American food it is a little bit pricey so if you're on a budget and the weather is good enough you can take your own picnic and sit in their picnic area to eat. 

They also have two great gift shops with fantastic textiley things, gifts, cards, books etc. I tried to resist but I couldn't help buying this Kaffe Fassett ribbon, which I just loved on sight:

That's all for today! It's Dorset Art Weeks for the next three weekends, so you'll probably be hearing more from me soon.

Dorset Etsy Team Spring Fair

The past few weeks have been very busy for me as I prepare for my very first proper craft fair. It's being organised by a team of my fellow Dorset-based Etsy sellers and there will be over 60 locally based stalls there selling crafts, arts, vintage and antique goods so it all sounds very exciting indeed!

There's lots of elements for me to think about as it's my first one; such as how to present my stall, the equipment I need and packaging and marketing materials... and that's even before I've thought about all the stock that I'll need! With three days left to go I'm finally getting there, I've been checking things off my list, ironing tablecloths, etc. and I wanted to share a few of the new products I've been working on that will be featuring on my stall.

First of all there's my new stickers:

which come in two fabulous space age designs; 'Planet' and 'Cow Abduction', the latter of which is based on my original linocut, which you can also buy as a print:

Prints Drying on the Line

These black and white A4 prints will be a limited run of 50. In the above picture you can also see a glimpse of the green apple card which is another new product I will be featuring on Saturday.
Nextily (and possibly my personal favourite thing) will be my line of Temporary Tattoos:

The ideal way to look instantly cool without having to suffer all the scary bits of actually getting tattooed. As you can see, these feature the space age designs again, but also some of my animal designs; peacock, crocodile and lion and even a little apple to remember me by! Great fun for kids, adults and everyone else and super easy to use; simply cut out your chosen design, peel off the backing, stick it to your chosen body part, apply dampness and slide the fronting away to reveal your new look. No ouchies involved! These are super super limited at the moment (until the postman arrives with more), so if you like them then you'll have to grab them!

Along with those, I'll have my usual range of cards, postcards, brooches, jewellery and goodies to sell.

Fabulous Lion Badge!

Extra Super Birthday Badges!

Magic Colour Changing Goodies!

I look forward to seeing you all there, please do say hello if you're passing by. In the meantime I'll be organising myself, creating gorgeous things and planning for future exciting things!