Selvedge Report

The second part of my crafty weekend last weekend was spent at the Selvedge craft fair in Chelsea Old Town Hall. The hall was really beautiful, more grand than I was expecting, and it was laid out well, giving each artist / crafter a nice amount of space. I didn't give every stall a close look as I had the baby with me and she was a bit fidgety so I spent most of my time at tables that quickly caught my eye, like Jess Quinn's table. I think her work stole the show for me. I just love her dolls! They each have so much character, and the details are really amazing.
Don't you love the expression on the elephant doll below? It's wonderful how tiny embroidery stitches can often have the same effect as a pen. And her shrink art brooches were really great too. You can see more of her display here and even more of her work in her etsy shop.

At these sorts of fairs I usually buy a few small things to support the artists and because it's fun to have little handmade things to keep or give as gifts, but I often wish I had bought one very nice thing rather than a bunch of little things. So this time I did! I bought one of her dolls, this one  below, "Little Oshi," and I love her! Her eyes and hair, her clothes and the way she's made...just everything. I think I would have been equally happy with any of her dolls, but I really love her. Here she is below after I brought her home. 

See, she's beautiful, isn't she?!

I also really liked Miwary's work. I especially loved her tea cup fascinators. I tried one on and had a nice giggle seeing myself in it, but I wasn't sure that'd I'd really wear a tea cup on my head, so I bought one of her rings, which I'll use as a pin cushion as I sew. 

Georgina Bell's work also caught my eye. I loved her little houses and her felt plates (unfortunately I didn't get a good photo of the plates, but they're off to the right in the photo below, and you can see two of them here). I'd like to have a collection of her felt plates all together on a wall. 

And of course it's always great to see Jessie Chorley, one of my favorite artists ever. I haven't been to her shop in a while, but I always love to go. Here's more on her shop from an article I wrote a while back. 

I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked because of a squirmy wee one who I was bopping as I walked, but I also stopped into Anthropologie on the way home and was very impressed with their displays, as usual. Below is a hydrangea display that had wow factor. It draped over both sides of this cabinet and just look at how big it is! Each bloom is made of paper painted petals. Can you imagine painting all those petals and then putting this together? I love that Anthropologie is always part art gallery. I'd like to make a big bunch of these to have in a vase. No water changing necessary, just a bit of dusting now and then.