Curiouser and Curiouser...

....are these little things I have been making of late. 

Introducing my new Curiosities and oddities collection! This strange and wonderful assortment was born from a particular fascination of mine with dusty old Victorian curiosity cabinets, of nature specimens and taxidermy,  of butterfly shadow boxes and miniature world terrariums and anything small and precious encased in glass. 

I have started listing these pieces in my Etsy Shop  and hope to have them all up in the next day or two!

 

The Sky Arts Portrait Festival

Last Sunday I had the privilege to be invited to set up shop at the Sky Arts Portrait Festival at the Royal Dublin Society! As I was in the process of moving house that week, things were getting a bit hectic and stressful to plan until my wonderful friend Molly, the artist and animal lover behind the beautiful Etsy shop Ewe Sir came to save the day and offered to make a road trip of it and help me out for the day. So we made some coffee, packed the car and hit the road for an action packed two days in Dublin!

 

Naturally, the talent of work at an event like this is going to be breathtaking, but I was still so bowled over by the array of styles and immense beauty of so many of the pieces. Pictured above are just some snippets of the incredible work on show. The picture of the little boy above turned out to be my personal favourite of the day, although it wasn't easy to choose from such an array of talent!

 

We had such a fun, mad and exhausting day taking silly photos (did you spot my 1950s mannequins hand?), confusing LOTS of people with our polkadots, matching mustard yellow cardis and red locks and of course, meeting lots of new customers!                        

                             

 

 

 There was all sorts of cool stuff happening around the film set, I especially loved the work of street style artist Morgan. Not many people know it, but in another life, I spent a few years involved in street art here in Cork (before I discovered tea-dresses) and I still find this style of work, and of this beauty and skill so exciting to see!

Another wonderful artist I stumbled across was the lovely lady behind Carol Farrell Illustration. Her whimsical and colorful work is right up my street, and I love her bold use of colour and animal imagery.

I saw so many wonderful artists, who sadly, I did not manage to get around to photographing who also attended the event to trade. To name but a few: Nice Day Designs, Tanya Bond and Jokamin, so be sure and go and have a look at their beautiful Etsy shops so you can see for yourself!

So between the madness of moving house (and my studio and 4 cats) and preparing for the festival, things have been so quiet around the Boutique lately, and I do apologize for being so dull! Unfortunately I only have two hands, and my kitties don't make very good employees, but I promise I will get cracking on listing some new treasures on my Etsy shop few days!

In the mean time, I hope you go out and enjoy this fabulous heatwave!

Giveaway!

 Over at the Ruby Robin Boutique page I am hosting a very special collaborative giveaway for a pair of my 'Make a wish' dandelion seed earrings and a 'Feed your face' gift set full of amazing goodies from Cork based organic skincare company Bia Beauty! Don't miss your chance to win all these fabulous treats, the competition runs until next Sunday and you can enter here! Good luck :)

Latest offering from the Boutique!

Now you can enjoy 4 pairs of very pretty earrings for the price of 3 with my pick and mix earring set.

Enjoy!

Sneak peak from the Kinsale craft market!

 

Of some new designs all packed up and ready to go to the Kinsale craft market in the morning! I have a crazy weekend of trading ahead of me with my good friend Molly of Ewe Sir, with three fulls days of crafts fairs, so I'm really happy to have some new things to bring with me! 

I love how these little vintage thimble pendants turned out, I've been meaning to make them for ages and I think they're so wonderfully whimsical. The glass rose orb necklace is such a romantic and elegant piece, full of blushing cerise rose petals and suspended on a beautiful cobweb like bronze chain.

 I'm also getting to try out my brand new display tomorrow, so I hope I'll have some pictures of that to share with you soon! Hope you all have a lovely sunny Bank Holiday weekend where ever you are!

 

A business breakfast at Ruby Robin Boutique HQ

 

On sunny days we have our business meetings in to the garden. 

My work colleagues are all cats. 

The coffee's fresh and there's time to stop and smell the flowers.

It's not always easy, but sometimes I really love being self-employed.

Fun, fashion and frolicking at Le Chat Noir Easter Vintage Fair

Last Monday I had the pleasure of trading at the fabulous Le Chat Noir Easter Vintage Fair in my hometown of Cork City. This is probably the most anticipated vintage event in the South of Ireland, so it was an absolutely manic week of preparation and excitement for us traders! 

It's such a fun event, aside from all the beautiful vintage and handmade clothes, the place is jammers with some of the most innovative designers and craftspeople from the south of Ireland, not to mention there is a vintage fashion show, a pop-up vintage hair and make-up salon, cupcakes and coffee and some seriously funky tunes from the resident DJ to keep you pepped up for the day!

I barely had a minute to catch my breath all day, but when I did I snuck off to snap some pics off all the beautiful sparkly, delicious and colorful things on show!

 

 

Here is the Ruby Robin Boutique display, incredibly it took two of us one and a half hours to set this up! I had a bit of a brain lapse at some point, as I haven't done a market for about a month, and I somehow forgot how I usually did it, but we got there eventually :)

My two girlies Lynn and Trish of Re-Vintage looking very punk flogging teacup candles and all manner of other pretty lacey things! 

 

My dear friend Miss Molly Ellis of Ewe Sir looking adorable with her Maisy lunch box/cash register and beautiful display of needle-felted artwork and retro prints.

An incredible selection of antique home-ware from Number 5 Vintage and Antiques

The most beautiful and original display of homemade treats I've ever seen from Swell Bakeshop

 Beautiful girlie cushions and bunting galore from Pollys Pretty Prints 

 

Wedding treats, DIY supplies and more pretty wonderfulness from My DIY Day

All sorts of mysterious and vintage treasures from  Mona Bells Vintage and Curiousity Shop including a green velvet sewing kit and dainty little teacup full of buttons!

and the proprietor herself looking glorious!

Trims,fabrics and lace galore from I of the Needle

 Stunning handmade clothes and all manner of gorgeous sparkly wearables from the wonderfully talented Samantha of Samantha Kennedy Designs

 

Me and my market girlies having a much needed catch-up and giggle and the end of the day :)

 Thank you so much to the girls Jill and Leona for organizing such a fun and fabulous day out, I can't wait for the next one already!