My Creative Space

My Creative Space today was ever so slightly hi-jacked at lunch time when a text message reminded me of a deadline I had forgotten about.

The simple question "Is your bear ready for the Teddy Bear Trail ?" lead to the one word answer "oops"

I've mentioned a few times about our various window competitions here in Alyth.

The teady bear trail is slightly different in that there is no prize for any shop keepers. The idea is that by having a Teddy Bear theme in all our windows over the summer will encourage people to take a walk around town, looking in windows and answering the questions on an entry form along the way. The hope of course is that people will become more aware of what is available in local shops and will therefore be more supportive to local businesses.

This years teddies will all have different flowers which have to be identified.

The long answer to the question was that my flower was ready but Teddy ( who I had decided, perhaps a little rashly, to knit ) only had one arm, his head was in the bag with his ears and his body was only half stuffed. Poor Teddy.

So this afternoon, instead of making jewellery, I was knitting, stuffing and sewing him all together.

Before he got down to work, posing in the window with a fetching button-hole flower, he had a wee shot on the rocking horse.

To be honest, he is a wee bit chubby, and his head is a wee bit wobbly but he is quite a cutie.

I hope people will recognise what kind of flower he is wearing because for once in my life I actually followed a pattern for this one.

Feel free to answer that one but unless you are prepared to walk round Alyth on a rainy summer afternoon there's no prize for getting it right.

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My Creative Space.

This weekend is the annual Federation show for Angus SWRI. It's open to the public on Friday and Saturday at the Reid Hall in Forfar. Today was set up and judging so my creative space was cleared out this morning when my friend Cathy came along to collect my entries. If you were reading here last year you may remember me saying how bad I am for leaving things till the last minute. The schedule for the show comes out in September, and like last year I ticked off a few things I would like to enter for and this time told myself that I would work at a steady pace and get everything ready well in advance.

So ... what do you think happened ?

Well I finished off my 'Novelty Doorstop' on Monday afternoon.

My 'Button Necklace' wasn't so much of a challenge as I make lots of these to sell in the shop, but I did have a bit of a challenge just choosing which one to enter.

My 'Knitted Toy' was a bit of an afterthought.

 I have been busy crocheting bunnies for Easter and had kind of forgotten that I had said I would knit a toy.

This little guy was knitted on my day off on Tuesday, sewn up and stuffed on Wednesday and has his nose and eyes sewn on at 11pm on Wednesday night. I really should be better organised in future....

And finally this 'Christmas Themed Cross-stitch' was re-framed on Wednesday afternoon as I realised the original frame exceded the size specified in the schedule.

I think I now qualify for a big fish supper from the chippie for tea tonight. Or does that sound like a reward for being disorganised ?

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Hats hats hats

The problem with telling your friends that you have a blog is that they tend to hide when you produce a camera. Calls of  'that better not be going on the blog' are accompanied with silly faces and (sometimes) rude gestures. Well sorry girls but it has to be done....

Here are Elaine and Mel wearing their Easter Bonnets. We were at a Legs ( League of Extraordinary Gentlewomen) get together in one of Mels holiday cottages.

Mel also modelled my crocheted bonnet. Mainly because I was the one with camera but also because I have one of those heads...... I love hats and spend ages looking for just one that actually suits. There is sure to be a hat somewhere that doesn't make me look like a muppet but I have yet to find it.

Sadly, only 3 entries to this months' competition so we were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. I fear that had there been more entries then we wouldn't have been so lucky but it was good fun.

The evening progressed with me giving a bit of a jewellery making demonstration. This was good practice for me really as I get invited to demonstrate 2 or 3 times a year and I usually get myself into an awful fluster beforehand. Good natured heckling from my friends will surely make a civilised audience a lot less intimidating in the future. My friend Val proved herself 'a natural' at crocheting with wire. I may have found myself an assistant there.

Now here is my latest crochet project. Great fun to do and part of a bigger project, but I think I can safely show him without giving away the Top Secret project that he is part of.

He is quite a cutie I think. I still need to embroider a little mouth for him but keep putting it off as I'm not sure how to do it yet.

Federation Show

At the end of last week I had my work cut out for me trying to complete a few projects for this years show which is in the Reid Hall, Forfar, on Thursday and Friday this week.

I had mixed results but finished these ones on time. Cathy, who sells her engraved glass in Buy Design, and just happens to be a good friend of mine is popping round soon to collect them so here are a few pics before they go. First is a beaded spectacle chain.

I have sold similar ones in the shop. It is made from fine wire and seed beads knitted on a french knitting dolly. You may remember these as four nails tacked into an old wooden cotton reel. We made loads of scarfs for our dolls with this when we were wee but now I use a fancy bobbin to make necklaces and bracelets.

Next up is a Fathers Day card. I used to make all my cards for birthdays, Christmas etc but don't do so much now so it was good fun getting my little scissors out again and making this one.

One of the classes for the show is a gents knitted hat. All the hats will be donated to the seamans mission after the show, so it's nice to know this one will be going to a good home.

This is my knitted, lacy scarf. It's possibly more of a shawl than a scarf but I really like it. It's really light weight and the yarn is more like ribbon.

Cathy has just been and gone and my projects have gone with her.

If you are anywhere near Forfar why not pop in to see the show. Hundreds of handcrafts on display and a nice cuppa and cake.

Federation Show.

The Angus SWRI show is next week at the Reid Hall in Forfar. Set up is on Thursday and it is open to the public in the afternoon and again on Friday.
If you are in England, think Womens Institute. If you are anywhere else in the world I'm not sure what you would call it.
Basically "The Rural" is made up of women's groups all over which meet each month, have guest speakers or demonstrators, and have competitions based around two main areas. Housewife's and Handicrafts.
Once a year there is a regional competition open to all members with lots and lots of categories from jam, preserves, homebaking, needlework, papercraft and pretty much everything in between.
The schedule appeared way back in September and I happily ticked off a dozen or so things which I would work on over the following months and enter in the show in March. Sounds like a plan eh?
Obviously, to anyone who knows me or has experienced my cooking, I passed on anything in the Housewife section.
So am I organised? Have I completed even half of my projects? Mmmm Have I even started some of them.
Ooops.
Will keep you posted and let you see what I finish this weekend.

A winner at Buy Design

Yesterday's pictures went a bit wonky due to the fact I had so many I wanted to show and wanted to give a mention to everyone as much as possible. Anyhow I hope is wasn't too untidy.
Another great bit about yesterday was that we chose the winner of our Christmas Hamper. An innocent passer-by was asked to pick the name out of the basket to make sure it was completely fair. I am delighted that Pat Johnson is the winner. It's a funny thing when you set a competition to encourage new customers that you secretly hope one of your regulars will be the winner. That is just what happened, so well done to Pat.
Another great part of the day was the switching on of the Christmas lights which are possibly the best in Perthshire, or I may be a little bit biased.
I wasn't able to record the parade and photos of lights in the dark are a bit tricky but I shall see what I can do in the next few days and share what I can.
Fiona x

Victorian Day in Alyth

What can I say about Victorian Day !!! We had such a lovely day in Buy Design. Here is my lovely Megan looking like a shop assistant in a novel by Jane Austen. Don't know if there are any Jane Austen shop assistants but if there were they would look like this.

There is a competition amongst all businesses for the best or most original costumes and we are really chuffed to have been awarded third place today.

We spent the day having photos by complete strangers and smiling madly. The last time a spent a whole day smiling for photos was my wedding day 20 years ago.

This lovely couple work in Costcutter and were given second place.

The ladies in the chemist reliving their school days.

Andy Pandy and Teddy in the Post Office.

Michael Kay, the demon barber of Airlie Street. Michael is a very active member of the Alyth Business Association and did loads of work to make the day a great success.

This lady doesn't actually have a shop but she and her little grandaughter dressed in Victorian style and visited all the shops.



A lovely snowlady in the hairdressers. I think this is a great costume as she was able to work as normal while looking fab.

David here, was standing on the corner watching life go by and took photos of everyone as they passed. He has a really good pic of me which I didn't know he had taken. He is doing a photography course and I think Victorian Day is a bit of a project for him.

The Toy Soldier was serving in the newsagents today. She has also decorated a fantastic Christmas Window. That's another competition here and our windows will be judged in two weeks time.

Most of the windows were done for today and are looking great, especially as the Christmas lights have now been switched on.

The Co op staff turned out as the cast of a Spaghetti Western

Dorothy and the wicked witch at The Dirliebane coffee shop.

The Spar just did their own thing really. Paul had a bit of a problem with his parrot which did not want to sit on his shoulder,but all was resolved in time for a photo.

Now, Margaret at Meg's Mini Market has taken recycling to a whole new level with her bin bag dress and litter accessories. Will it become the fashion of the future? Mmm just have to wait and see on that one.

This cowboy and his squaw were helpers at the scout coffee morning in Airlie Street Hall. Here they are outside Buy Design.

Sadly I don't have a photo of the winners today. The Alyth Hotel had dressed as the cast of Allo Allo. By the time I got round there to visit they had changed into normal clothes since the costumes weren't suitable for working in the kitchen and for handling food. Hopefully I will get a pic e-mailed to me and I will post it later.

All round it has been a super day. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Christmas Shopping Evening

I have just set the date for our Christmas Shopping evening which will be on Wednesday 9th December. We will be open from 6.30 till 9ish. Last year I made mulled wine for the first and since I wasn't entirely sure what it should taste like, I wasn't entirely sure if it was any good. Apparently it was, so I will try to do the same again. There will be seasonal nibbles too, so you can always pop in on your way home from work instead of rushing home to cook.
Not sure if I mentioned before that 28th November is Victorian Day here in Alyth. Coffee morning in Airlie Street hall in the morning, Charity Stalls there in the afternoon, and Christmas Lights switch on at 6pm.
We will be open till 7pm. Not giving too much away, but along with the other shops in the town, we will be in Fancy Dress on the day. Megan, my Saturday girl (and daughter) and I were off trying on our costumes last week and can't wait to wear them for real.

Buy Design Hamper

November is the perfect time to visit Buy Design
Today I started making up a special hamper of handcrafted goodies which will be won by one of our lucky customers. Throughout November, everyone who makes a purchase in the shop will be entered into the draw to win our hamper full of lovely gifts in time for Christmas. So far we have Santa, obvious really since he is so big, but no Christmas would be the same without him. There is a selection of my jewellery, engraved glass , stained glass, lavender heart, pyjama bag, a selection of hand made Christmas cards, a storage jar with a handturned wooden lid and a Dippy Bear.
Mary is coming down later in the week to add her festive cones and ribbons, and will also be bringing a whole new range of her flower arrangments.
There is no minimum spend but we are sure that if you are visiting for the first time you will be charmed by the range of goods we have on offer.

I'm A Winner

Sometimes a little boasting is okay. So long as you don't overdo it. Well that's what I think anyway. For anyone not living in rural Scotland I shall explain a little bit first. I am a member of The Rural. For any one living in Scotland who has just raised their eyebrows, that does not make me as old as your granny.
The Rural does have a bit of a reputation for being full of old ladies and I did think that myself until my friend Cathy Arnott asked me to go along a couple of years ago. It's kind of social, fun, and it's a night out. There are a couple of competitions each month. One food and one craft. So, to the point of todays blog. This month's craft was a knitted corsage and I won with my bunch of Lavender. Am pretty chuffed and now I can tell customers that I sell prize winning corsages!!!
Fiona