A not so brief update!

Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's been so long without writing, I've been so overwhelmed with activity the last few weeks I just couldn't find the time to blog. The main reason for my disappearance has been that I have been working like a lunatic to get my new little business venture the 'Ruby Robin Boutique' off the ground. Aside form making, packaging and marketing all the stuff for the shop, try and fit into this equation a part-time retail job three or four days a week, a boyfriend to hang out with, some semblance of a social life to maintain and four cats to cuddle things get pretty hectic. This post has actually been three whole days in the making,  so I hope you understand and keep patient with me while things find their feet :)

My biggest excitement of late came in the form of my new business cards (above)which arrived yesterday, look how pretty they are! I am so, so happy with them! What do you guys think?

 The culmination of all this recent mayhem and madness was my taking part in a three day long flea market last weekend. It was my first time putting myself and the stuff I make out there, so naturally it was a bit nerve wracking. My number one fear being that people would have no interest in it, but at the end of it I made myself a tidy profit, met some really great people and got lots of positive feedback on my stuff! 

Victorian inspired cat portrait pendant in a decadent brass and filigree setting.

I flogged off some beautiful old lace and bit and bobs from my sewing stash..

 

Teacup brooches..

Wooden butterfly rings (above)

It goes without saying that I found myself some treasures at the market too, far too many to be blogged about so here are some of the finer  specimens..

 Exhibit number one (pictured above) is this super girlie and pink gilded china trio from Holey Moley Vintage and this little retro owl pot from my friend Lorna. You can't see inside, the the cup, saucer and plate a lovely little floral design painted in the most vivid pastel shades.

 I couldn't resist this; the tackiest, shiniest and cutest ashtray with a little dear on the side just to make it even more shameful and perfect...

and we also added considerably to the fantasy VW collection.

 Among the new people I met at the market were two seriously funky local craftspeople: Mari of Beetree and Vicky of Kooky Cute Crochet

 Mari, who is the design force behind Beetree, transforms old, unassuming furniture into gloriously retro and colourful statement pieces.

Pictured above are her immensely cool Wizard of Oz and Marilyn inspired sewing tables.What modern seamstress doesn't dream of such a thing in their craft space!? I am seriously considering investing in one of these beauties, I've never seen anything like them.

Not only is her stuff exceptionally fun and funky (and often painted a glorious shade of robins-egg blue), but it's also so reasonably priced considering the style injection any of her pieces would give your home, so be sure and keep an eye on her Facebook page to score your next bargain
 

Vicky of Kooky Cute Crochet was manning the stalls alongside her incredibly sweet and fun mum Kim, together they comprise a crochet mastermind duo, with Vicky being designing these cheeky little Amigurumi toys, and her mum a range of the sweetest little baby cardies and booties in a host of beautiful colours and some of the coolest tea cosies in town.

The fact that these guys actually designs this stuff from scratch is amazing, that takes some serious skill. My personal favourite are her devilish little cupcakes!

Vicky's creatures are available form her Etsy shop and she is available to take requests on her Facebook page too so be sure and have a nosey there too!

 

In non-work related news, we are now auntie and uncle to an insane Bengal kitty called Sputnik that our friend Judy (who lives upstairs) has adopted. Here he is pretending to be a good kitten really (for the record, he's not fooling me).

Words can't begin to express just how mental, naughty and fun this cat is, and I have a feeling he is doomed to become a YouTube celebrity one day. His favourite leisure activity is tormenting the crap out of our brood and attacking everyone, whether innocent old-age pensioner or innocent toddler who dares to set foot on his terrace. When he isn't busy killing imaginary buffalo in his imaginary Serengeti he likes chewing up doormats and gnawing on sticks.

Doesn't he have the most enchanting amber eyes!?

I also had the pleasure of meeting our friends gorgeous new kitten Crackers yesterday. He's the most sweet natured little creature and has a perfect little black dot right in the middle of his pink nose.

I spent most of the day today setting up for a two week long pop-up craft shop in The Courtyard Gallery in Midleton, as part of Cork Craft Month. and getting stuff ready for my stall at the Bar-Boot Sale at one of the local clubs here in Cork on Sunday. Between the sudden bout of sunshine, kitten-cuddling, markets stalls and all the new people I've met it's been a really great week all in all. 

I'm really starting to enjoy my venture in potential self-employment and even though it's exhausting and there doesn't ever seem to be enough time in a day, I'm secretly thriving on the challenge. I do have to wonder sometimes if I'm not a bit of a masochist with the things I get myself into!

It's set to be another jam packed one this weekend with work in the shop tomorrow, two markets to figure out and a car-boot sale to hunt for treasure at! Hopefully next week I will have a bit more time to devote to this place, especially as I have a great little sewing/up-cycling tutorial in mind for you guys :) 

Hope you all have a great weekend too!

Recent Ramblings

We’ve been living in a glorious kitten filled haze for the last week and a half, nothing makes a cat fanatic as happy as having a naughty, frolicking kitten galloping around the place. After getting over the inevitable excitement that comes from rescuing an adorable helpless little ball of ginger fluff from the middle of a busy main road we’ve accepted that as much as we would love to have him, we have neither the time nor the lap space for another cat in our home and so he moved to his new home in the country and his new mum (my mum) today. Mum has a serious soft spot for stripy ginger cats and my parent’s home is a pretty idyllic safe haven for cats so it’s a happy ending for everyone concerned, even us though we’re more than a bit heartbroken by it all. Here are some of his cutest moments:

Falling asleep mid-assault in the cushions

After his bath, he managed to get inside our disused range and got covered in soot!

Trying to kill yet another house plant.

 In other news the weather still sucks here. I hear recently, that it's been the worst June in fifty years and I find that very easy to believe, everyday it’s grey out and what’s worse is it’s just warm enough to know that if the clouds just buggered off for a minute there would be a gloriously sunny day waiting behind! Everyday we hope for sunshine, but everyday is grey, I've given up on summer this year and am looking forward to a nice Autumn instead!

Inevitably I suppose, I’m getting pretty bored with my clothes, I’m mainly still wearing my Autumn and winter clothes (I can’t belive I’m still in tights everyday!), and have only gotten to wear my summer dresses a handful of times. The exception to the boredom  being the few things I get the time to make. Here's some stuff I've been wearing lately...

 I found this little bicycle ring when I was returning stuff from the fashion show to New Look not a shop I would usually bother with (along with pretty much the whole rest of the high street) but I do love this little cutie!

I made this dress using Burda 7494, after being inspired by this lovely ladies version with a half circle skirt, I decided to have a go myself and adapted the pattern to use the Linda Skirt from Burdastyle. Instead of using facings (as per the pattern) I decided to fully line the dress as my cotton was so light.

 Although I LOVE the circle skirt (I always do!), after wearing it once I’ve realized I’m not crazy about the fit of the bodice at all, the neckline at the centre back seam gapes quite a lot and there is a lot of excess fabric across the collar bone, although this may be an inevitable effect of the raglan-esque sleeves.

The princess panels on the bodice also need to be deepened a lot more for my shape, as it is it’s a bit formless around the waist and bust.  I’m going to have a go at re-fitting it, but it is a bit late in the process so I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to manage. I don’t know why I didn’t see it when I was trying it on for fitting ages ago!

This wrap dress (butterick 5030) which I finished yesterday turned out a lot better! The pattern was really straightforward to follow, with lots of info on the pattern pieces themselves (which Burda suck at!) and you could probably make this in a day if you got up early enough!

I used some beautiful soft, drapey vintage cotton I got on Etsy added a belt, wide-brimmed felt hat and the result is a super-chic 70’s style little number. My only qualm about the pattern is the neckline gapes quite a lot on the wrap panel, so you need to wear a little camisole underneath for modesties sake!

In my opinion an overlocker (I use an Elna ) is kinda necessary to finish the seams on this pattern if you any bit the perfectionist. All the seams of the dress are exposed, and although they recommend using a zig zag stitch to finish them off, that would (I know from experience) look really crappy and not wear very well over time. 

All in all though this is a very flattering and comfortable dress, I love the wrap around circle skirt, the giant lapels and the ¾ length sleeves are just the right length, very Farrah Fawcett indeed! I think I feel a seventies style dress-making extravaganza coming on… I’m not sure what I’m going to start next, I have some pretty wild patchwork print vintage cotton I’m dying to use but I have no idea what sort of dress it would look good as!

 Other stuff I’ve been making this week… a kinda kitsch photo garland for the sitting room, that’s my mate Dave looking super cool  (as always) in the first pic.

Face muffins, make ‘em of your nearest and dearest, the aim being to offend as much as possible, so much fun!

Decoupage brooch pins.. featuring cats.. of course

Sewing enthusiast’s felt brooches..

I’ve been trying to practise my photography lately too, I just bought myself a Mini Diana toy camera (for taking cool retro style shots) and I’m trying to get a grip of all the different  settings on our digital SLR before I start shooting my first roll of film (*exciting!*) I've ordered all sorts of very cool and very expensive film from Lomography.com so should be ready to start clicking some extremely retro shots in the next few weeks. 

After being inspired by Selina Lakes book; Homespun Style, I’ve also been out foraging in the charity shops for mix-matched kitschy floral china (after years of just collecting blue and white, which suddenly seems so boring to me!) and am stacking them haphazardly in random corners of the dining room/sitting room.

Work is a bit manic at the moment, what with preparing for the summer sale and the like, so I won't get a chance to do much for a few days, I did  however, get some pretty sweet cupcake making kit today though, so I’m dying to get a recipe post up soon, first chance I get promise xx.