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Finally made it!: #Craft Showcase #Handmade #Folksy

Finally made it!: #Craft Showcase #Handmade #Folksy

Ringmore, Devon, Birthplace of "Aliki Bags"

For the traditional Ringmore Village Christmas Fair 2010 I travelled down with my dog Senta to stay with Alison. You may remember that Alison is my friend and also my partner in "Aliki" bag making crime..... Even our dogs, Zeta and Senta, are good friends and playmates !






Alison and I - Kiki - became friends when we both lived in the village, brought together by our love of nature, gardening, dogs, all things art&craft and textiles. It was in 2003 that I made myself a large shoulder bag out of one of Alison's skirts and together we created a "fashion and culture fusion" shawl and silk bag for an English/Indian wedding. We had so much fun and satisfaction sharing the creative time and end results, that we decided we would continue making bags 'for real' : the birth of "Aliki Bags". Here we are at our 1st big Craft Fair at Harbour House in Kingsbridge, Devon.




Alison and her husband Mike live in a beautiful house at the edge of the beautiful village, snuggled into the protective hills and surrounded by her rambling gardens and amazing vegetable plot. We usually enjoy our times together by talking "Aliki" business, bags, bags, bags..... evaluate ( and admire ) our latest design ideas.

Alison's Chicken Wire Stable Boy

Alison has been knitting and felting the most beautiful bags, using a book by Bev Beattie, esbn 978-1-4081-1553-4, A.N.C. Black, "Knit and Felt Bags". Sadly, for copyright reasons she is only making the as gifts for Christmas, BUT, we strongly recommend you to look at the brilliant book on amazon if you are a knitter yourself or have someone to give an inspiring craft book to this Christmas.

As you can imagine, Mike is not too impressed with all that but cooks yummy curries, if we behave ourselves.

We walked the dogs, socialized with shared friends and this time I went totally mad and kept a huge bonfire going, burning last summer's garden debris in the crisp dry cold - absolutely wonderful and therapeutic !

I'm back in Formby now, preparing for the last little Craft Fair here.......x

All Rumours of my Demise have been Greatly Exaggerated

Hello All,

I feel the quote is not correct but it felt right.

It seems incredible now that I should have given up on the exciting world of blogging for such a long time ! So much has happened - a lot of it not good - that I have just about survived by doing my basics of life, let alone carrying on with this blog.

 

On the bright side I would like to report that my glass is half full again because : things in my family are looking up ,

• I managed to carry on - albeit at snail's pace - with my beloved AlikiBags,  
• I have had a steep learning curve on the computer , enjoying the new world of facebook,
• I have made lots of new friends, artists, makers, computer-brains, not "geeks".

It will be so lovely to look into our blog world again ! I intend not to bore and irritate you with all my mistakes - easy to say, because I'm going to have help from Erin  (www.boxoffmycomputer.co.uk)

Just to show you that AlikiBags really are alive and kicking, I include some pictures of the
" Disappearing Jacket". This is/was a  vintage Designer Jacket made out of an absolutely AMAZING material : the pattern is created from tiny diamond cut pieces of metal , magically attached to the base velvet ! Each little piece glitters and sparcles in the colours of the rainbow, difficult to capture on a photo.

The jacket was very expensive , even in a Charity Shop , and I think the material is sooo special that I am going to only use it as PART of a bag . That way more AlikiBag lovers will have pleasure in my find.

Hope you enjoyed having a look again into my little needlewoman's life and I promise to at least keep you updated with the story of the "Disappearing Jacket".

Goodbye for now and hope to see you all back here soon, Kiki x







         

Wardrobe Challenge - June 2010

Here it is, I feel very good about my choices but anxious about getting the blog and photo attachments right.

First I was tempted to just totally try and "glam myself up" but sensibility and truthfulness prevailed and I chose things I actually do wear in mydog- and grandma-fied busy life.

I am wearing AlikiBags and Oxfam clothes and accessories, collected over my years as a volunteer.

Jeans: Funky Style Image and Design - Oxfam Formby

Bag: AlikiBags (my own)

Shoes: San Malo - Shush (when it exsisted in Formby)

Dress/Top: Quiz - Oxfam Formby

Jewellery: Lifetime collection - Oxfam

As I'm always feeling cold I'm hardly ever without a cardigan and warm shoes to hide my warm socks and possibly even long johns (sorry!!!)

Jeans, bag and top as before

Cardigan: Per Una - Oxfam Formby

Boots: Dorothy Perkins - Oxfam Formby

Jeans as before

Top: Cotton Traders - Oxfam Formby

Shoes: No Label - Shush

Jewellery: Beads - gift from Germany, Bangle - Oxfam Lichfield Staffordshire

Bag: AlikiBags (for sale)

Bike: Oxfam Formby (brand new only £60!)

Dog: My Senta who is actually very good at running on the pavement on the lead.

Jeans and top as before

Jewellery: Oxfam Formby

Bag: AlikiBags (For sale)

Corsage: AlikiBags (the corsage can be worn clipped to the handles of the bag or as a corsage).

Shoes: Calzino (£1.99 - on loan from Oxfam).

Dress: No label, made in Italy. This is actually a skirt which I tied with an old Oxfam belt to make it into a dress.

Bag: AlikiBags - (For Sale).

Shoes: J'esjimo - Oxfam Formby

Jewellery: Dress watch - gift from Germany, Bangles and Beads - Oxfam Formby, Acrylic Ring - Craft fair at Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk.

I would like to say that I would not have been able to participate in this competion without the photos taken by my grandson James (10 years) and my patient neighbour - friend Sarah (she of the kids craft session fame).

The drink was sadly only apple and elderflower (from tesco, cheap and absolutely lovely). James and I had a glass to celebrate the successful photo session.

Wardrobe Challenge - June2010

Finally climbed up into the loft and found all the items I hope to wear. Will have to do some serious sorting up there.... It was sooo depressing to see what I have let accumulate and lovely to find "old friends" : books, clothes....

Hope I can manage to get the picture of my 5 selected items to show you - otherwise it all has to wait until I can get help from my young friends tomorrow.

Anybody knows where I can get an IT brain implant?