Shop til you drop (Sheffield city Guide)

Alice Takes a Trip
Within Reason

The Old Sweet Shop

Doing up your pad? Fancy some retro furniture to give your front room an Austin Powers make over then check out Bullet who work with the likes of the BBC providing them with authentic retro furntiure for sets. If upcycled restored antique furniture is more your thing then Antic is the place for you.  

Home Sweet Home on Sharrowvale Road and The Old Sweet Shop are the places to go for homewares and handmade goods by local designers.  The Old Sweet Shop is dedicated to showcasing the work of talented local artists and designers and is in the lovely suburb of Nether Edge.

Within Reason, I could literally fill my house with everything in this shop!  From homewares to accessories and furniture to children's goods this place is one of my favourites in Sheffield.

Alice Takes a Trip, I bought the most fantastic bright orange upcycled dress from here with a bow thats bigger than my head - I love it!  Get yourself something pretty from her (the shop is closing shortly but the clothing range will still be available online and at Freshmans and Arcade on Division Street or Syd and Mallory, and you'll be guaranteed to be the only one rocking your one off frock. 

Toast, one for the boys (and girls) one of a kind quirky t-shirts.  They also sell club tickets too - and tea.

Work it baby! (Sheffield City Guide)

Craft Candy Workshop (Heather Dewick's bookbinding workshop)

All play and no workshop makes crafty people a bit cranky!  The following places organise regular crafty workshops

Craftastic (Scrapbooking, fimo making)

Craft Candy (everything from screenprinting to bookbinding)

Wool Baa (knitting and crocheting)

Patchwork garden (various sewing related crafts)

Hangingwater Studios (Painting and workshops for youngsters)

Cocoa (Not strictly workshop, but Cocoa hosts a knitting group and a regular book group)

Supply & Demand (Sheffield city guide)

These places are supplying fine wools, fabrics and more

Wool Baa, as the name suggests provides Sheffield's knitters with wools and yarns

ISH, specialises in upholstery fabrics

Karachi, indian saree fabrics

Fine Fabrics, all sorts of fabrics, buttons and beads at great prices.

Patchwork garden, fabrics for crafting and patchwork.

Feelin' peckish (Sheffield City Guide)

(pic via http://www.kipikapopo.co.uk)

WasabiSabi and Sakushi both do fantastic japanese food.  Whenever we have an anniversary or special date, WasabiSabi is always our first port of call and it never lets us down!  With sashimi served on huge wooden boats which can be washed down with wasabi cocktails. Sakushi also now to home delivery - a tasty takeaway

Broomhill friery - Sean Bean's relatives own this place and he has been known to pop in for a chip or two.  Aside from that, this chippie has a good reputation for a reason -as a (very) regular customer I can vouch for the quality of the food! They even have their own appreciation society!

Urban Deli - OMG! Great Yorkshire themed food at very reasonable prices. A croque Monseiur fit for a king and a hot Pork Sandwich that will practically have you in tears its that nice!

Jaru - A chinese style fondue place where you cook your own food including, if you choose, frogs legs and crabs claws in a hot broth!

UK Mama - this is a (sometimes surreal) experience not to be missed.  Eat authentic African cuisine and be treated to to the sounds of African drumming at the same time.  Its worth going just to read the menu which, on last inspection, had been 'signed' by the likes of Madonna and Lennox Lewis and also by an African General who claims the food is 'as big as his titty!'  The decor is fantastic genuine 80's style and Godson the hospitable owner will keep you entertained.  I have some very fond memories of this place - just don't be in a hurry to get your food or be surprised if you are placed at a table downstairs, away from other diners, near the loos among a pile of old Amstrad style computers!!  I had one of the funniest dining experiences ever here!

Drinking holes (Sheffield City Guide)

Bungalows and Bears (pic via mysticmogg)

Wig & Pen

All this exploring is thirsty work.  So a leisurely drink in one of these establishments should set you right!

Bungalows and Bears, in the town centre, this is a popular hangout with old beat up sofas and check out the fantastic fabric lampshades above the back booths.  As well as hosting regular music events they also host regular jumble sale/craft fairs too.

University Arms, an old skool pub with a big beer garden and good selection of beers (be warned - it gets packed during term time with students and often impossible to get a seat) but a nice spot to relax.

The Lescar, home to the Last Laugh Comedy Club, this was where Johnny Vegas performed stand-up in the early days.  The pub has since been taken over and revamped.  With fantastic food as well - everyone raves about the calamari including me! 

The Ranmoor inn, rub shoulders with the Howard's Way style bigwigs of Sheffield in this lovely old fashioned pub in the lovely suburb of Ranmoor.  With a courtyard garden, it is the perfect place to enjoy a Crabbies ginger beer or a pint of real ale.

Wig & Pen - In the law district, you will find the Wig and Pen, a lovely posh pub which does some of the best food in Sheffield, but its not cheap (They also own Platillos in the town centre which is a cheaper, but equally tasty alternative - specialising in tapas).

A fine vintage

There is a plethora of great Vintage stores in Sheffield including Cow, Freshmans and Bang Bang Vintage who organise regular vintage fairs too.  Also don't miss The Front Parlour, an antique shop which stocks all kinds of jewellery, china, fabrics, books and clothing and ephemera.  I love having a root around in here for a pre war bargain or two!

Sustudio space ..... (Sheffield City Guide)

If you are planning world domination Phil Collins style and need to on get your creative juices flowing if you are living in or moving to Sheffield, then check out Persistence Works, Porter Brook Studios, Vulcan Works, The Workstation and Bank Street Arts are all home to various designers, craftspeople and artists.  Keep an eye open for various vacant studios via Yorkshire Artspace.

other things to do.... (Sheffield City Guide)

(Pic via bbc)

Butterfly House.  A tropical butterfly house with 3 huge iguanas on the loose!  Also plenty of lovely birds and animals like meercats, skunks and don't miss the teeny tiny adorable harvest mouse!  Oh, and you can touch the baby chicks and ducks too - I know its supposed to be for kids but I love that!

Botanical gardens - a large park perfect for picnics with a tropical greenhouse with an old bear pit, no real bears these days only a bronze replica.

 

Wind Knitting Machine

With the power of the wind, a knitting machine designed by Merel Karhof knits from the outside towards the inside of the building. The knitted material is harvested from time to time and rounded-off in individually packaged scarves. Each scarf has its own label which tells you in how much time it has been knitted and on which date. How cool is that?!

Via Sailthouforth

Sheffield city guide coming soon....

Stay Home

I've had Canada-based Stay Home in my bookmarks to share for a while, so thought it was about time I did a post.  I love these angsty little indie dolls, many of whom have been made as commissions by Olivia of Stay Home.  I think they would make great presents and they are really reasonably priced too for the work that must go into them - so many cute little details like their little trainers and tattooes. Stay Home has an Etsy store and a Blog.

Birdie books

Spotted by my boyfriend - love those birdies via ffffound via mint

Moodboards

Zo? Tucker's board - a runner up for the Decor8 moodboard contest
Sandra Earl winner of the Decor8 moodboard contest
Jeanne Wallace runner up of the Decor8 moodboard contest.

I love swatchbooks and here is a pretty little one via Prettylittlethings
Pangea Handmade does regular moodboards like the one above on her blog

Ness Donnelly's lovely board

Pupillottchen's gorgeous scrapbook and designs via Flickr

Gathering of items for moodboard by La Belle Helene on Flickr

Lovely 3d board by db1920 found on Flickr.

Some moodboard and other inspiration formats.

Inspiration ......

Images above from Flickr - click on image to see list of designers

Since I began regularly looking at other blogs I have noticed some really lovely mood boards and sketchbooks.  Here are a couple of my attempts at mood boards - over the next few days Im going to have a look at other peices various inspirational sketchbooks, journals and mood boards etc. If you have any lovely mood boards or journal entries on your blogs, please leave a comment.

Still on the theme of craft fairs ........

Next weekend is Sheffield's Music City Tramlines festival, with lots of music around the city and also another craft fair run by Sheffield Craft Mafia, so if you are about in Sheffield, get yourselves down there - there is a vintage tea party too so you can get your nashers round some fantastic cupcakes!

Candy Floss Craft Fair

Siansbury's
Kiss Prudence
Charley Dreams
Dily's Treasures and Sophie Sylvester 
lilidrawspictures' stall

Lovelyscrummyfluffypuppies

A few pics of the craft fair at the weekend at the Millenium Galleries.  My stall was a bit slapdash so I havent put any pics up of it.  Here are pics of a few of the lovely stalls.  I'll put more up on Flickr soon.  The fair was great fun and I got to meet a lot of new artists and craftspeople.  The quality of work was fantastic. Can't wait for the Christmas one:)

Candyfloss Fair Tomorrow

Come on down to the fair Craft Candy Candyfloss tomorrow if you are in Sheffield - Im having a pitch there and there will be loads of great stalls, selling jewellery, homewares, ceramics and much more!

Darling Clementine

I have been a fan of Darling Clemetine's work for a while and was happy to see a local card shop stocking these lovely new cards by the Norwegian design team in collaboration with Nineteenseventythree.  Darling Clementine has also been featured in the fab new book, Naive - my copy is on order - can't wait to receive it!

Telle - Illustrator and Designer

Before I got carried away with my birthday and my fabulous cake, I had been posting about great illustrators, which I had been inspired by when I was in Paris.  

A while back I found Telle on the internet, a french illustrator who is the creator of these fantastic characters and plush toys. I really love looking at her great sketch book pages as well - such cute images!! She contacted me again recently and so I took the opportunity to ask her more about herself and her work.   I like her story as it shows you can follow your heart when it comes to your career, you just need persistence and also opportunities come along when you least expect it.

Telle didn't make it into art school and initially did German instead.  She worked in various jobs; hotels, banks and cinemas. When she lost her job, she told her boss that he given her a great opportunity as now she was going to become a children,s book illustrator. But things were not plain sailing as she didnt get as much illustration work as she had hoped but some time later when Telle showed her work at the Playtime show ( a great trade fair specialising in children's goods in Paris) she met a company called Trousselier who fell in love with her work! 

After meeting Trousselier she then worked for 6 months on the collection and in January 2009, the prototypes were shown on Maison & Objet, in Paris and now you can find her lovely plush toys in many stores - check her website to find out more.  

Whats next for Telle?  Well, she has lots of ideas and apart from finishing her book, which was her original idea she now also wants to design postcards, posters, coloring books and more!  Telle doesn't rest on her laurels - she is in the process of finishing a comic book to be available later this year and she is also thinking of more children's books using her characters Ninon and the Wolf who has been very successful in shops ( and who I adore!!).  

Sorry....

about the lack of posting, I've been so hectic lately, there hasn't been a minute to spare, but I promise to try and post much more regularly again, after the Candy Floss summer craft fair on 18 July.