Fascinating and Sparkle

There has been a bit of a demand for decorative hair accessories recently, weddings ladies day and trips to St Pauls cathedral for special events.

This  plum and orange piece adorned the head of a local lady at St Pauls Cathedral.

Kelso Ladies Day was the outing for this Navy, green and red sinamay headpiece, the colours matched the ladies dress perfectly, I must admit  I was unsure about using all three colours but I am pleased to say it worked.

A black and white button hairband was the request from a lady from Leeds, she has one already in shades of purple, the black and white one is to keep her hair in place at work.

This double row swarovski crystal and pearl alice band is for a bride who wanted something simple but very sparkly. She is having an up do with  a long veil just from the bun at the back but wanted something at the front as well.

It's an age thing!

"Slow down, you move too fast. You gotta make the morning last...... just kicking down the cobble stones......looking for fun and feeling Groovy!!"

This Simon and Garfunkel song was taught to us in primary school, I reckon it was probably primary 4. Half way through the school term we got a new teacher, Miss Wyse, she breezed in  the classroom carrying a guitar. There was great excitement as it was probably the first time I  and most other pupils had seen a real guitar! To cut a long story short Miss Wise taught us a lot of songs including This Simon and Garfunkel song.

Recently I have found myself singing it from time to time, it is a cheery little tune after all, but I have been thinking about the words and how apt they probably are! Maybe that is where "the age thing" comes in. "Slow down you move too fast...." there are always far too many things to do and not enough time to do them in. We are probably all guilty of that. It is worth it though , just occasionally to sit back and take time to just relax  and appreciate what is all around us, family, friends and all that mother nature provides for us.

Many moons ago, I, and many others I guess, on the working treadmill would find that Monday mornings were something that came round all too quickly and were something to dread. The weekend always seemed to be a long way off! These days though I find that there are never enough hours in the day, never enough days in the week to get done all that I want to! Time always seems to run away, I mean we are half way through May already and it only seems as if it was last month the Christmas decorations were getting put away! It must be an age thing!

Another aspect of "an age thing!" Memory!  How often do you open the door to the fridge and stop and think " What did I come in here for?" or you open up google and think "what was I going to look up?"

I guess it takes to reaching a certain time of life to actually appreciate how much of a valuable commodity time actually is and as for age, I reckon it is something to celebrate not worry about!

For now I best go and kick down some cobble stones and walk puppy dog!

I am not sure what picture goes with this blog but here is a lunch bag I have very nearly finished with a message that I reckon is quite apt.

When is a hobby a business or business a hobby?

If you read my Rothbury Daily blog last week you may remember I had a winge about the price of coffee and cake. It might have seemed that I was maybe disapproving about this particular establishment but really I was stating that the price was more than I personally was willing to pay. If this lovely quirky business can get other people stopping and enjoying what they are offering and they pay the prices then I say "Good for them!"

Our County of Northumberland is stunningly beautiful and it needs unique businesses like that to thrive and offer both locals and visitors something different to maximise enjoyment of the area.

The coffee price thing has made me think about us crafts people and how we price what we do.
At Coccuveda, over our 5 years, we have sold art and crafts from over 60 local crafts people and many of our customers have remarked on how reasonably priced our goods are. Are we selling ourselves short?

Most of Coccuveda's crafters, myself included love what we do, that's a good start, we take great pleasure out of the fact that people want to buy our creations and most of us put a sellable price on it, after all the point of making it is to sell it, not for it to remain on display for ages as a pretty piece out of the price range of many a customer. Then there is a dilema, we do actually value our work and want the customer to value the work involved in designing and handmaking each unique piece too. Getting the balance right is a tricky one! Many crafters will be earning much less than the minimum wage but does that make it a hobby?

Coccuveda is definitely a business though, we have all the overheads that go with having a bricks and mortar shop, a shop alongside many other lovely independent establishments that enrich the individuality of Rothbury. So pricing is an important factor, we don't try and compete with the mass produced things that can tempt people, we just want to offer things at good fair and honest price that keep us all making and selling with maybe a few bob in our pockets as a reward!

Business that are hobbies, must be a real luxury! In my opinion they are businesses that have been set up with no expense spared in their layout and design, they offer beautiful things in beautiful surroundings that make you hang on tightly to your purse in case it just opens without too much thought. These are businesses ,again in my own opinion, that are there and are bringing pleasure to the proprietor whether they actually sell things and make money or not, that must be a hobby, a delightful pastime.

I think if my numbers ever come up I will have a business that is a hobby! Maybe that's my goal! But for now I will keep Coccuveda as it is and how the local crafters and customers like it.

A Guided Tour

For anybody who has not managed to visit my Coccuveda World here is a little guided Tour.

As you come in the door the first thing is the information leaflets and books and maps.

The new counter and my crafting area where wire is twisted, beads are threaded, fabric and felt are sewn and headpieces and Tiaras are constructed.

Left turn into the main local craft retail and display area and you find bags and buttons galore. Loose buttons to buy by the bag or funky button jewellery.

Next you discover the very colourful hand painted glass, most  are one off pieces.

 Coccuveda has a good range of turned wood, this is a few of the smaller pieces, larger bits are on display in the window at the moment. Also in the pic is a basket of knitted cupcakes and battenburg.

The glass cabinets at the back of the shop display my headpieces and Tiaras, beautiful  stained glass and fused glass jewellery all made by a very talented lady.

Twisted wire with beads and pearls have been used to make this range of bridal hair combs and statement earrings.

Here are a few of the handmade greeting cards that we have, the red squirrel cards are always very popular.




















I hope you enjoy the guide tour of Coccuveda, there are a lot of other things not quite made it into the tour but will save them for another blog.

I have Confidence!!!!(Of the Singer Variety)

I have Confidence of the Singer variety! Here she is here.

With my little pot of redundancy money from my job (and I mean little pot!) I decided that I would only dip into it to buy something that would be useful and helpful and earn it's keep in Coccuveda. So hopefully my new little toy will do just that.

Last November I was on a" Sewing for The terrified" weekend workshop with Sally-Ann Provan from Edinburgh. With her gentle coaxing and encouragement she let me touch her much loved Bernina sewing machine, the first time in about 40 years I had been able to even look at a sewing machine without shaking at the fear that had been instilled in me from a school teacher.

Without breaking Sally's machine I had a very enjoyable time and am very proud of my what I managed to make.

So with a bit of research into machines and a lot of "will I won't I", The Singer Confidence ads spoke to me and reassured me that this was an easy uncomplicated machine for beginners. So I am now the proud owner.

 I am just staring on small things at the moment as that suits me, I want to build up to making bags before long, but  believe slow and steady wins the race.

With my owl key pockets I was brave enough to press the zig zag button, that is good progress in my book! My cutting out and precision skills do need a bit of work but hey one step at a time!

I hope all you expert sewers are not laughing at me!!!

Respect for Designers

I really admire those artists and crafters who sit down, take their time and meticulously plan, sketch and design their work, well before the production actually starts.

 I suppose that comes from loads of studying for art degrees and qualifications.

 Me on the other hand, I have  no degree or training, not even an art O level. My designs all develop "organically" I very rarely know what is going to happen when I sit down and start, whether it is a fascinator or a tiara or anything at all really.

If I decide  in the morning when I open up Coccuveda that I am going to make a headpiece that day, I will first stick the kettle on and have a cup of coffee then i will rummage through my materials until wham something jumps out, it may be the colour that provides inspiration or the fabric or perhaps a texture. I then sit down and play and sew maybe manipulate until I have a piece that works, or in fact it may not work then it will get shelved for another occasion.

I think at the moment I am fascinated by the randomness of working with wire. I have always loved jewellery, especially unique one off pieces, so when I am playing with wire and beads, especially nice sparkly stuff, my fingers and pliers work in harmony until my eyes tell me "that'll do!"

I would love to go on a proper training course so I can master a lot of the techniques I find a bit tricky from the lovely books I have. Linda Jones is a real inspiration so doing one of her workshops would be
a real education for me. I think I will start saving my pennies now!

Below are a couple of my  pendants. I think I am better with the wire than I am with my camera, the real thing looks better than the photograph!

Life After Redundancy!

It takes a bit of getting used to, being redundant. I enjoyed my job as an Information Assistant at Northumberland National Park Rothbury visitor centre, I think I was quite good at it too. Although I had about 18 Months to get used to the idea that I was going to be surplus to requirements, the last days of work  felt like the rug had been pulled from under my feet and I was falling!

This has been the second time in 10 years that I have been made redundant, I reckon from now on I will just create my own work!

To keep myself positive I have to look at this situation as an opportunity, an opportunity to put my heart and soul into Coccuveda ( as if it hasn't got that already!) and build on the skills that I have developed since opening in Feb 2008. It is hard to believe that Coccuveda has been open now for 5 years and I have put in nearly 5 years of working 7 days per week between my Job and the shop. I now get  Sunday lie in again, sheer bliss!

I have learned quite a lot over the past few years, learnt to sew and make fascinators, I enjoy working with lots of lovely beads and wire to make tiaras and jewellery, I love using felt and buttons to make what ever takes my fancy really. In other words I love crafting and am more than happy to spend my working day creating all sorts and selling them to all Coccuveda's lovely customers.

Multi coloured pearl necklace

Feather and bead buttonhole brooches