When I say I have a lot of vintage fabric..... ( studio video )

I really do mean I have A LOT of vintage fabric....


I thought it was time  I showed you. Here's a quick look around my studio

So if you should want a custom made lampshade chances are I will have SOMETHING that'll ' float your boat' just ask me !

What fun! at Paternoster School , Cirencester

Just a quick post !

I had a lovely time at Paternoster School Spring Fair, chatty customers, delightful children, excellent cream tea and fabulous fiddle playing.

Jolly hot though! glad I had my gazebo to sit under.

I just heard that the school raised £1000 which is amazing - all the helpers worked so hard and were so welcoming, and I was very pleased I had been asked have a stall.

All in all a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon :)

January SALE !

Opps ... forgot to say ! SALE !

Sale on in AudreysCat Folksy ... lots or fab stuff ... AudreysCatSale

 

 

AND 20% off EVERYTHING in my Etsy shop using coupon code JANSALEAUDREYSCAT ...

check it out  here  .. my Boho bags are a particularly good bargain at that price ... BUT only on until end of January so don't hang about :)

I'm also doing a 'one a day' fabric destash on facebook check out my Audreyscat page

Here's a preview of fabrics to be sold

Just been featured in my Local Paper!

How exciting - a little ( well partically a FULL page !) feature in my local paper - the Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard .. FAME AT LAST ....!

Many thanks to Charlotte Shepard for the great write up - I enjoyed our cuppa and chat - and to Richard for , against expectation, managing to make me look half decent in a photo. Do not underestimate the difficulty this presents as I usually pull a stupid face !

The immediate result was one of my very lovely nieghbours popping round to order some Christmas gifts :)

A Vintage Hunters Guide to Cirencester

I am lucky to live in the pretty Cotswolds town of Cirencester. It's not a large town but it has an interesting mix of indepent shops and great places to eat.

For quite a small town we are pretty well able to cater for the vintage hunter if you know where to go! not to mention about 13 charity shops - well run with good quality stock too. For example we have bought many bits of funiture from the Sue Ryder shop ( near the town center Tesco )  - like this display cabinet.

SO vintage fans if you want to visit Cirencester here's a few places you might like to check out !

• Sheila at SheUnique . Although Sheila has closed her shop now she is still involved in many local vintage events and also provides vintage makeup and hairstyle makeovers - very much in demand for weddings and hen dos! her facebook page is here  https://www.facebook.com/sheuniquevintage.cirencester?fref=ts&ref=br_tf.
• For 20 century Furniture you need to head out of town to the Love Lane Business park to Mark Parrish's place. A treasure trove of great funiture ( that chair in the photo above came from there as have several other pieces of our furniture) here's a  selection of Mark Parrish's items. If you want to see what he has make sure you contact him first to arrange an appoinment !
• In the Market place there is a great antiques center with a coffee shop , The .Cirencester Antiques Centre people are very helpful and there's a great range of items. Open Mon to Sat.
• Every Friday 9 - 3 pm we have a great Antiques Market in the Corn Hall in the Market place directly opposite the Cirencester Anitiques Center
• If you have a nice bit of furniture that you'd like repainting to get that Shabby Chic look head out of town towards Stratton on the Gloucester Road / Cheltenham Road junction to the Lavender House Interiors and Coffee Shop  . The ladies there do a great job renovating old furniture AND you'll get a great coffee too AND they usually have one or two items from me!
• We also have  Lavinia's Tea Party  based in Stratton. Amongst other things they can hire out vintage tea sets for wedding and hen dos - very pretty things.  
• I noticed last week  that the little Jewellery shop Joli Beau run by Nicole near the Post Office had a cabinet FULL of the most devine vintage jewellery so I'd advise you to check that out! 
• There is often a lovely lady selling vintage clothes on a stall in the market place, and my friend Carole https://www.facebook.com/vintageupcycling often has a stall in the Corn Hall.  
• For General shopping info here's a good site Cirencester Shopping 

 and OF COURSE if you want to see a great range of vintage fabric for fabulous cushions , bags and other homewares contact me for an appointment - I'll put the kettle on !  I am based in Stratton - a mile outside of Cirencester Town Center - as well !

Events

 'Vintage and Artisan Fair'

 At the Corn Hall, GL7 2NY  Cirencester Sun 29th April 10 - 4pm . Organiser : Augusta Wreay 07970859703 - I believe some stall slots are still available. Lots of other shops. pubs and cafe's are open on a Sunday in Cirencester so you can make a day of it!

'Vintage Heaven' 
At the Organic Farm shop  Now Being planned for next Autumn, pencilled in for 15th Nov 2nd 2014 .
It was such good fun last time and Emma / Hilary did a great job organising it - lots of charity money raised too. Details to follow nearer the time !

'Cirencester Toy and Train Fair'

Organised by Ronnie Rocket , who also has toy stall each week in the Corn Hall Antiques Market each Friday. Details are here http://www.cirencestertoyfair.com/ . I think the next one is on August 2014 . The last one had about 40 stalls so it's worth a trip if you are a toy / train collector .

Our entries ( and some success! ) at out Local Horticultural Show

As usual we entered some crafts, baking and photos in our local Horticultural Show. 

Lots of beautiful exhibits and lovely things to see !

My eldest  won the bread section ( 2nd year running) with this bread rolls ....

  I won the 3 items of craft section ....

and we loved the veg animals made by some local kids .

I also got 1st in a number of the Art section and OH and youngest each had 2nds in various photo categories.

Our successful day was nicely rounded off as I won a hip flask ( YAY!) and a roast dinner voucher at a local hotel.

It was a lovely day, well organised by our local Stratton and Baunton Horticultural Society and I hope that then Macmillan charity raised lots of money from all the super events and stalls on the school playing field!

WOW! featured in House Beautiful

So those lovely people at House Beautiful contacted me regarding how I use vintage fabric in my home and they have kindly featured our house in their Sept issue ( out 1st August p64 ) . Enjoy :)

( the house stayed this tidy for a couple of days ... but then the piles of vintage fabric slowly invaded again !  )

.. and when I'm not sewing.... gardening and cooking !

So when I'm not sewing I'm gardening and cooking.

These are my outdoor Cucumbers

 ... and my courgettes ( zuchinni ...)

It looks like there will be a be a bumper crop of cucumbers and courgettes this year so I guess a few people might like this recipe. I use it every year and my Mum in particular is addicted to it .

1.5 KG of diced cucumber and/or marrow and/or courgettes
1.5 KG of diced cooking apples
225g of finely chopped onion
100g of Sultana, 100g raisins, 100g dried apricots, 100g finely chopped ginger, 50g almond flakes
1.5 kg of sugar
900 ml malt vinegar
60 ml Whsiky - optional 

Spices  4 teaspns Mustard seeds, 1 teaspn chilli powder ,  1 teaspn salt , 1/3 teaspn ground cloves, 1/3 teaspn nutmeg

Bung it all in a BIG pan and cook for 2 hours . Bottle / Jar up into CLEAN STERILISED jars. As with all pickles whilst you may use straight away it is MUCH better if left for a couple of months.Great Christmas pressie too ....

ENJOY!

These Brooches were a big hit at my 'Autumn Open House Event' and I'm in the process of loading them ( and bunting and Xmas stockings...! )  into my Folksy and Etsy Shops. Look out for them on Facebook too... https://www.facebook.com/pages/AudreysCat/255819394466640?ref=hl

2012 Autumn Open House Event !

Once again I'm having my Autumn Open House event - this year I'm donating 10% of offline sales to MacMillan cancer ( I did the same for my stall at a friend's coffee morning last Friday) . It's a good opportunity to get my stock out, take some more photos and drink tea with my friends :) ! ( and eat cake... obviously once I've had time to bake some that is...! )

This is just a glimpse of what is available - WOW I've got a lot of luverly stuff!

Bank Holiday ! local Horti Show, some family successes!

We had a good day at our local Horticultural show in spite of terrible weather. As a family we put in lots of entries and came away with a bunch of 1sts/2nd/3rds etc !

This joint entry of 3 items of craft by Mum and myself came 1st.


Son won 1st with this super loaf of bread.



I got Firsts in for a Watercolor, a sketch and for this collage


( please don't be too impressed - some categories don't have many entries - however the standard is really high and it's super to see how much talent is bursting out in our area!)

Having an 'At Home' sales event!

A lot of my older friend have been asking me already about Christmas present options and other newer friends have been asking me what I make. SO I decided it was time to get out all my stock and show it off! and it's nice having people drop by for a cuppa and a cake...