CHARABANCS AND RACING DUCKS

On Monday we were treated not only to a Bank Holiday (an extra day off work) but also a gloriously beautiful day - this is a rare thing at the moment in England. We thought we needed to make the most of both of these occasions and headed out to the sleepy village of Loose in the Kent countryside to watch some Duck Racing.

We were not disappointed, there was everything one would expect from such an event - an ancient old pub serving superb English ale, colourful tents selling homemade cakes and jam, and a coconut shy which proved to be a challenge for both young and old!

                              

                              

Then there were the ducks, all 200 of them, plus an array of handmade boats.

Unfortunately none of our chosen ducks crossed the finish line first but we all had a great time and enjoyed the slow-paced simplicity of the day. In fact this wonderful old road sign summed it all up perfectly!

DESIGNED INTERIORS SHOW

Phew! This year seems to be passing by in a flurry of show dates and it feels like we can hardly catch our breath. On Friday we made a welcome (but rather chilly) return to Greenwich Market and it was so good to meet up with some old friends again there. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can make this a regular date in our diary.

In the meantime we are taking part in our first pop-up exhibition with the lovely people from The Lovers Lights Contemporary Craft Gallery. We are very excited to be selling our cushions and lampshades at the Designed Interiors Show at Kingston Market Hall in Surrey on the 1st and 2nd June. Entry is free so do come along and say hello!

WE KEPT CALM AND CARRIED ON

A few days later than intended but finally we have caught up on some much needed rest and the back log of orders that came in whilst we were exhibiting in the Launchpad area of Pulse 2013 at Earls Court. This was our third trade show in as many months and we're now beginning to feel like old hands at putting together a display. Developing on from our stand at BCTF we created a picture wall to add to the homely feel but also to display our designs in an interesting way.

Things didn't run smoothly for too long though as there we were, pitching to buyers our beautiful creations in the slightly surreal environment of the huge hall, when disaster struck. The large white frame holding our Clementine & Bloom logo broke, cascading down the wall and taking out all the other frames with it!

But as "overcome and adapt" is one of our mantras that's just what we had to do. A re-jig of the tea towel, a bit of borrowed double sided tape from the lovely Roddy & Ginger,  we balanced the sign on the edge of the sofa and hey presto we were back in business.

Three days is a long time to spend standing up but as always it has been great to meet new people. Our neighbours Sally Nencini and Seven Gauge Studios made the days so much more enjoyable.

As that's it for us for trade shows this year we have already begun to put the cogs in motion towards designing and making our next collection. Exciting times indeed...

MARKETS UNITED

For those of you that were unable to attend Sunday's Market United event hosted by I Love Markets in Shoreditch Town Hall we have gathered together some of our photographs from the day. As always we met some really lovely people and ended up buying bits and bobs from the other stall holders - oops!

We like to share with you all a picture of our stall; it's always good to go to new venues to showcase our work as each place requires a new stall design forcing us to think about how we display our items. We were particularly pleased with how the trunk looked and it made it really inviting and accessible for customers to access the cushions rather than placing them on the table. Strangely enough though this had a negative effect on the tea towels (our most popular market buy) as they were effectively blocked by the trunk. It just highlights the importance of finding a good balance for displaying your products.  Definitely something for us to think about...

We absolutely loved the quirky clothing by YU Square Knitwear by the lovely Ringo Yu. The pictures we took on the day don't do the work justice so I have copied a few across from her Etsy shop. In true Clementine & Bloom fashion it's the fabulous combination of colours and patterns that make us want to own one!

And no day out is complete without a slice of cake from Utterfly Fluttery, although we couldn't indulge ourselves due to food intolerances (I know, poor us) we can verify on behalf of other stall holders that they were delicious! Really loved the personalised I Love Markets cupcakes, now all we need to do is have a Clementine & Bloom event all of our own so that we can order personalised gluten free cakes!

BIG AND BEAUTIFUL

We love our job!

On a daily basis we get to play with gorgeous fabrics in beautiful rich colours like this commission we recently finished for a customer in London. They live in a period property with large rooms and 9 foot high ceilings so needed a big lampshade that had impact and wouldn't get lost in the space.

We were sent a swatch of the wallpaper lining one wall of the room that they would like to coordinate with and then we  got down to some printing. The silk is a lovely raspberry tone screen printed with copper butterflies.

The finished lampshade was a whopping 65cm (our largest to date) and was fitted with a diffuser to cast the light across the space more effectively.

Big and beautiful - just how we like it!