Craft Guerrilla Summer Market

Last Saturday was the second of four markets in the East London Craft Guerrilla's summer market series. It was held in the lovely garden of Beautiful Interiors, a sweet little shop in Walthamstow Village.

Here are a few pictures from the market:

My charming and handsome assistant helped out for part of the day.

It was a really warm and sunny day. As you can see in this photo, we lucked into a spot under the gorgeous fig tree, but my fellow sellers in the open ended up with red noses, I'm afraid.

Such a lovely day! I can't wait to go to the next market with my pennies burning a hole in my pocket. And I've got a few new folks to feature in an upcoming I Spy or two, so stay tuned!

Holy crap

I woke up today to an inbox full of queries, much more than normal. I had a suspicion, headed on over to Offbeat Bride, and sure enough there was a post about the lovely Cath and Iain's wedding, one of the first for which I did a bouquet.

So, congratulations again to Cath and Iain, and welcome to all of you visiting Bookworm Eats Flower for the first time! For obvious reasons, this is my busy time of year, and I'm busy putting together lots of bouquets for some lovely brides. So please excuse me if it takes a little while to respond to your email or query at the moment. It's not that I don't want to get back to you, or value your wedding. It's just that someone else's big day is coming up a bit sooner than yours, and I've just gotta make that one my priority.

Believe me, when your wedding is a month away, you'll be glad of this. And I promise to respond to all the new queries within the next few days.

I Spy Friday

One of the many (far, far too many) blogs that I subscribe to is Retro To Go. It has a strong mid-century modern focus, maybe because MCM is in at the moment. That stuff is generally a miss for me. But every now and then Retro To Go has something I fall head over heels in love with that makes up for the other 75% of things I'm not into.

Today they featured a really cool wallpaper from the site Bouf, which is an online marketplace for indie designers. I went over to check it out and, well, let's just say that my husband is lucky there's no way to elope with a website. I agonized over it for a while and managed to narrow down to a few favorites.

Large Chemistry Flask by 95% Danish

Does it get any better than that round stopper? Nope.

Knitted Vase by 95% Danish

Apparently I love 95% Danish. But just look at this gorgeous thing. Can you blame me?

Lotus Felt Lampshade by Studio Mold

Ever since planning our wedding, I've had kind of a thing for lotuses. (Lotusi?) Also it's on sale. Score.

Mint Peacock Cake Stand by Let Them Eat Cake

This type of cake stand is quite popular these days, but this one is particularly lovely and elegant. And it comes with 4 matching side plates!

Pouring Bowl from Linda Bloomfield

These look like they'd be too big for my little hands, but I don't care. That aqua one is particularly gorgeous.

Plaid Roman Blind from Karen Willis

Best for last. I'm taking a leaf from David Sedaris' book here: you will be mine! I will have you! There are six other designs that are equally amazing.

I Spy Friday

I know I've been lax recently, but that's because I've been super busy. I'll post on some of the orders I've been busy with in a day or two. But I've also been working on something entirely new that I'm pretty excited about. Watch this space for a teaser next week and a pretty big announcement within the next few weeks.

This Saturday I'll be participating in an East London Craft Guerrilla summer market in Walthamstow. I'm super excited about this opportunity, because the ELCG is a fabulous group. Here are the details:

I know Walthamstow has a mixed reputation (for those not in London, it's the kind of place where you instinctively clamp your elbow down on your purse a bit). But, on the other hand, it's full of families and different ethnic groups: lots of fun and spice. The kind of place where you can choose between amazing Thai and fabulous South Indian food (and a few other choices) in the same block.

Walthamstow Village is particularly fun. It has a few historic gems to check out, but here are some of the great shops and restaurants in the area.

 

The market will be held at Beautiful Interiors, an amazing shop combining boutique, handmade, and vintage decor and clothes. I'm kind of in love with their children's section. Plus, they have a shop cat (pictured) and a lovely back garden with the most beautiful fig tree that has to be seen to be believed.

Right across the street from Beautiful Interiors is a furniture restorer/vintage shop called Finamore. Since the shop is a sideline for the owner, it's only open when he feels like it or by appointment. I was lucky enough to find it open a few weeks ago, and had a lovely time browsing and chatting with the owner, Mark. This place is a gem. (Sorry for the tiny picture.)

There are a bunch of great restaurants in Walthamstow, but I decided I had to pick one for this post. So, check out the Orford Saloon, just down the street from Beautiful Interiors. It's got amazing tapas, the friendliest staff I've encountered in London, and beautiful decor.

There's so much more going on in Walthamstow than I have tme for here. For more recommendations, check this out.

I Spy Friday

Recently I've been thinking about reorganizing my studio. It's so tiny and I have so much stuff that I end up doing my work out in the living room and using my studio as storage.

So this week is all about office supplies. Who says gorgeous and utilitarian have to be mutually exclusive?

I love this beautiful corkboard set from 4 Eyes and Ears. It comes with either a burgundy or black frame, and either blackboard or whiteboard finish.

I've featured the amazing calendars by Cavallini in the past. I think I might like their post-it notes even more. They're available online at Lytton & Lily and other places.

These erasers and wooden tape dispenser are both available from Present & Correct. I especially love the selection of vintage erasers from around the world.

These sweet little fabric-covered pushpins are from PaperPumpkin. They'd look great on the wine corkboard above.

Patterned masking tapes are all over the place, but I don't think there's any place with a wider selection than Happy Tape. I like the idea of using some of these instead of ribbon on bouquets, and I can't wait to try it out.