Silent Sunday

TREASURE

On Sunday I travelled down to London to do my part in overseeing the Seek & Adore Boutique at this year's Treasure event.  I travelled down by train which took half an hour longer than it should have done being the weekend.  At least the train was quiet.

It's been a little while since I have been to Somerset House so coming out of Temple underground station I was a little lost.  After asking the ticket man from the underground, I ended up helping a visiting American who was desperate for 'the restroom'.  As we walked towards Somerset House she shared with me how she was on a weekend visit to London.  Gosh she is going to have some jetlag I was thinking on the return home.

We were greeted by a plain black and white decorative sign which marked our arrival and then another more decorative directional sign. I rummaged in my bag for my passport as it was required in order for me to claim my stand badge.  As I looked up who should I see but a twitter friend Pip Jolley that I had met at the #SBS (Small Business Sunday) Theo Paphitis event that I had attended earlier in the year.  She was wearing a couple of her signature pieces aka hair rollers.

I have to report the standard of excellence from the whole show was one to be envied although a little overpowering. It featured an abundance of precious gems and metals alongside plastic, latex and resin.  I was pleased to see Tatty Devine was there (not in person) and the fish and dinosaur pieces that had caused so much controversy on Twitter were there.  They look a lot more effective in person. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to photography for obvious reasons but I was able to take a few of my favourites from the boutique I was a part of.  The event also hosted a VIP area where guests could be taken for a glass of bubble, just wish I'd been able to pursuade someone to treat me. 

Although there was a lot of variety in our area, I have to say my three favourite makers from the Seek & Adore Boutique were:-

 

Anna Calvert

Lorraine Gibby

Grainne Morton

Silent Sunday

Sunflower Lights

Hot Cherries and Pancakes

Yesterday, I escorted my friend Sharyn Dunn to Harrogate to deliver some paper lamp shades to a quaint lighting shop called 'Sunflowerlights'.  Surprisingly, the weather was beautiful and sunny even though the weatherman had predicted heavy rain for 3 days.

We set off about 9.00am and made good time, traffic being quite calm and arrived in Harrogate around about 11.30am.  On the way we stopped off at a Little Chef where I decided to have a coffee and some pancakes.  I was pleasantly surprised at what the waitress brought me.

Globall

Once there, we found the shop quite easily and after introducing ourselves to the proprietor we moved the car so it was just outside to make unloading easier.  Sharyn delivered four pieces in total, and as each piece was unwrapped I saw the delight on David Shawla, the proprietor's face.

I was probably as excited as David to see the pieces as I knew a couple of them were new designs. The first one (on the left) is called 'Globall' which Sharyn showed at the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate in April.  The next piece was called 'Toob' which was a new design.  I was intrigued to see how this would look when installed.  

Toobs

Once all the pieces had been unpacked Sharyn proceeded to install all the pieces as a window display.  David took care to remove the existing display and it was changed to a white theme.  I think you can agree the final display was truly eye catching.

Once the window was complete, we went off to have lunch.  I suggested Betty's Tea Room as I had never been.  What a treat!  We were greeted at the door and shown to our table, fussed over and generally made to feel very welcome.  I wish I had taken a picture of the food we ate, it was an art form of its' own.  Sharyn had a muffin with scrambled egg and smoked salmon and I had Mushroom Croustade which was mushrooms in white wine mounted on a toasted brioche, breadcrumbs, herbs and pine nuts and it was absolutely delicious.

Window Display