follow the Flickr trail

Someone added me as a contact this week so I thought I'd take a look at their photostream, and that's where the trail started...

this made me smile so I looked further

and I loved this

then I clicked on their fave photos by other Flickr members and found these beauties

and then this ♥

and to a happy stitchery town

where will the Flickr trail lead you to today?

x

**edit: links now added to the photos Sx

Hebden Bridge - a hidden gem

how picturesque!

[well, hidden to me anyway - down in the valley, tucked away...what a wonderful place]


I had a lovely day out in Hebden Bridge with my equally lovely and smashing friend, Nina, of Little Blue Elephant fame...it was the last Friday before the school holidays kicked in, and the PERFECT way to refresh ourselves before the onslaught of picnics, parks, days out, 'clean your bedroom!' and so on and so forth.


It's also far easier (and quicker) to get to than I've ever realised....we never seem to travel in that direction. Funny that. When I think about it, we always 'head off for the day' on particular roads and in certain directions. Usually towards Clitheroe, Harrogate, Ilkley or up t'Dale. I think there may be lesson here in taking the road less traveled. 


Down we dropped into a beautiful scene of stones houses, shops, cafes with a river running through, and very easy parking. And cheap! 40p an hour! You don't get much for 40p in Skipton these days, not for parking anyway.

knitted cupcake bunting

Then is was simply a matter of where to begin - it all looked so inviting and cheery and, well, welcoming. There's a really artistic vibe about the place what with buskers striking up as we were leaving...it's also fairly bustling but never seemed busy...just lots of people going about their business.


We started a general mooch that last until pick up time, involving shops, a gallery, a spot of lunch and ribbons!!!!

haha!

Honestly I could have spent a whole lot more than I did, but I was being very careful with my pennies. Stepping inside the Heart Gallery was the surest test of my willpower, though...wow! It is truly beautiful. A fabulous space for displaying some of the most wonderful handmade work around at the moment...many names you will have heard of, and many more you will want to know. There is a general sense of ooh & aah about the place, and the credit must lie with Alison the owner...sadly not there on the day we visited but you can tell that Alison loves her place and is passionate about what she does, just by the way everything was presented...and the feeling of calm that falls over you as you walk through the door. I could have spent a good deal longer in there just admiring the workmanship and design of the pieces on display.


I came out with my pennies intact and a firm 'note to self' of... this is where to come for Christmas pressies...for me ;)

cracking window display

Nina and I also stumbled across haberdashery heaven and a brilliantly chatty shop owner at Ribbon Circus...great fun and very knowledgeable to boot! We'd have been hard pressed to have found a cheerier shop keeper that day.


A leisurely lunch, sat outdoors in true cafe culture style, finished everything of perfectly...then we sauntered back to the car, promising ourselves that we'd be back again to do the other half of town another day.


x


please excuse the pics - I forgot my camera so had to make do with my trusting iPhone

♥♥♥Little Blue Elephant Cuteness♥♥♥

•••new in at the Ditsy Bird shop•••

a trip to Masham

a lovely Masham house

so there I was on Saturday morning, frantically taking product photos whilst the sun shone (blazed actually but that's just being picky) and my other half says, fancy a night away?

I was fairly non-committal in that 'we haven't been getting on well this week and actually can't you see I'm really very busy?!' kind of way, and kept on with my snapping.

Fearby

About an hour later he was back suggesting a trip to Masham, by which time I'd warmed to the idea a little more (the picture taking was going great guns) and had actually warmed through myself - there's nothing like the warmth of sunshine on your skin to raise a girl's spirits.

beautiful gateway in Masham

Next thing I know, he's found a bargain B&B deal on late rooms and I now realise that it would, frankly, be churlish to say no and pass up a trip out on a day like that, to be, instead, sat indoors editing photos!
So that was it, night booked, stuff quickly chucked in an overnight bag, shades on, tunes blasting, roof down and away we went.

tree tunnel!

It was perfect! Just what we needed to shrug off the nowtiness of the previous week.
We stopped off on the way at a pub with one of the most fabulous beer gardens I have ever had the pleasure to sit in...a tiered affair down to a river view. Gorgeous!

what a glorious view

Next stop, Fearby...home of our, erm, home for the night and The Black Swan pub. Now if you happen to go there and then drive round the back to find a g't field full of caravans, fear not! They are very pleasant caravaners☼ creating a lovely, happy atmosphere in the beer garden and pub as you sup and scoff.
We got shown to Room 1 which was luverly and new and clean and biiiiig!

huge bed

We then oohed and aahed a bit before dumping our stuff and heading back out for a quick hour or so mosey around Masham.

What a delight!

Such a pretty, pretty village with beautiful homes and buildings, good pubs, a sweet shop, wine shop, butchers oh and, erm, a brewery or two.

The first visit was paid to The Gallery - with a fabulous exhibition currently showing called Impression: "An exhibition of work from 5 printmakers. Impression showcases extraordinary talent in different areas of printmaking as well as a range of striking images. Artists are: Hester Cox, Janis Goodman, Helen Peyton, Angie Rogers*, Catherine Sutcliffe Fuller"
*I was really very taken with Angie's work. Really.

The Gallery

The Gallery also have a regular stock of pieces, some of which by lovelies you may have heard of...Leigh Shepherd and Helen Russell (Mercury Arts) to name but two.

snicket

After perusing and drifting away into creative nirvana, I was quickly snapped back by the need for cash...the Co-op is the place to go!

full to bursting window box of joy

which quickly lead to us wandering down a snicket and ending up at Theakston's Brewery, with half a Lightfoot. Well, it would have been rude not to.

rusty old barrels

More wandering was the order of the afternoon along with another sunshiney beer garden and then it was back to The Black Swan for us.

There we sat in their beautifully scenic beer garden, reading (him the papers and me Mollie Makes), chatting and plotting & planning for our future before disappearing inside for a slap up meal before bed.

view from our spot in the Black Swan beer garden

A leisurely drive back the morning after, passing many vintage cars all out for the day, stopping off a Pateley Bridge & calling in to see rellies finished it off perfectly.

the market square, Masham, looking skyward

And then it was back to the photo editing, feeling happy and content and loved. I am a lucky bird.
x


PS ☼I have nothing against caravans or caravaners at all...it's just that, when you've booked a night in a remote pub and you tip up and find a (big) field full of caravans and motorhomes and not just the 12 en-suite rooms you'd heard of, well...it's a shock!

Pinterest Pretties

I recently pinned this to my Quilting board but thought I'd share it with you non-pinners
It was sadly sold in December 2010 by Splendorfalls28 on Etsy...beautiful nonetheless, don't you think?

how about this for a paper cut!

i followed the trail back to discover that it is the work of Julene Harrison and you can see her work here

A day trip to Clitheroe Part I

Hello!

I took Mum & George out for the day today - a day of being more tourists. So off we set in the sunshine along the A59 to Clitheroe over t'other side of the border (& the entirely wrong colour rose) into Lancashire.

First stop - The Emporium! (of course!)

This is a favourite haunt of mine (though I don't get there nearly as often as I'd like ...every weekend would be good, no?!?!)...a converted Methodist chapel which is lavishly filled with dark wood tables and chairs, big squishy sofas, over-sized mirrors and huge globe lights. Oh, and the fretwork frame around the mirror behind the bar even had George awestruck there for a while!

A pot of tea for her, a massive whipped cream hot chocolate for him, and for me? Why, it was the strong dark hit of an Americano to give me the oomph to hit the town!

And off we went on our merry way, moseying about, oohing over buttons and ribbon, delighting over charity shop finds (more about this another time - delighted I was! Yoda, I sound like) and spending longer than is indeed proper in a butcher's shop! No ordinary butcher's mind you, but Cowmans with their award winning sausages and my, oh my, so much choice!

We went with - Pork, Stilton & Port; Moroccan Lamb and Hot & Spicy aswell as...Garlic Butter Chicken Thighs, Cajun Chicken Thighs and Lamb Kebabs. A veritable meat feast!

Then it was a leisurely climb up to pay Clitheroe Castle a visit - stunning views

and some beautiful old buildings...

and time for a photo opportunity with my ma and my boy

[what is it with boys and either cheesy grins or crazy face pulling]

then it was back to the Emporium for a delicious lunch and a lazy, scenic drive home in the glorious sunshine.

Oh happy, happy day!

(oh and then the internet and my laptop were playing silly beggars and it's taken my around 2-3 hours to actually post this...hey ho, at least I posted tho aye?! x)

Wednesday Words

found on Pinterest but originally from Tumblr


I've been having a shop makeover this evening, want a peek..?
x

Friday working

Friday working
Originally uploaded by DitsyBird

Morning folks!
I'm say at my desk with the window open, birdsong floating in, stitching away and enjoying this beautiful Friday.
What's everyone else up to today?
I'm doing my first not-sharing-a-table craft fair for a long time, a week on Saturday. So, I am plodding through some current makes, trying to get them finished...plus thinking about packaging and display (and trying not to worry).
I hope you're day is relaxed with much ticking off of those dastardly To Do's
x