New Recycled Ear Fancies!

I've been busy making a whole load of new earrings - including lots of lovely new recycled bottle top designs and some very unique dominoe dice pairs. They should all be available from my website www.laurabaxendale.co.uk just as soon as I get a moment to pop them on there! If not, come along to the Backyard Market on Brick Lane this Sunday and buy them direct from me at my stall, or even send an e-mail to info@laurabaxendale.co.uk and let me know which ones you would like!

Here's a little preview of only half of my new goodies...

Black & Gold Dominoe Earrings - £5.00

These dominoes are made of bakelite and are originally from Soviet Russia.

Blue Lego Brick & Pearl Earrings - £4.50
Recycled Red Ring Pull Earrings - £4.50

Silver & Black Recycled Ring Pull Earrings - £4.00

Green Is The New Black

I've just finished reading 'Green is the New Black' by Tamsin Blanchard and it is an absolutely fantastic book!

It was published in 2007 but is still super relevant and has so many good tips and crafty projects to do; I really recommend getting yourself a copy to read. It has loads of info on where and how to shop ethically; what companies to choose, how to challenge other companies and a directory of shops & websites.

I managed to get mine for only £3.99 on sale in Oxfam!

See here for some more info:

www.greenisthenewblack.typepad.com

Abergavenny: Discovery Beautiful Countryside & Knitted Treasures!

I was lucky enough to get away camping for a few days this August Bank Holiday Weekend; the destination being Abergavenny in Wales, situated between the Brecon Beacons & the Forest of Dean; MTB perfection! We had some fun treking to the tops of some rather big hills on the bike, with our dog closely following, to discover some wonderful views such as this:Without boring you all too much with my holiday snaps; here's only a couple from a beautiful little cycle we had along a canal one day too:

On my final day there we spotted signs for a Gift Fair that was being held in Abergavenny Town Hall and had to stop off for a quick peak! It was definitely worth it; there was everything from stalls of old-school comics & action figures; to books, craft supplies (wonderful!), local hand made food, jewellery to name a few!

An absolutely fantastic find was Odd Balls stall; chock full of fabulous bags, broaches, phone holders, purses and such, all made my a lovely lady named Belinda. She uses 'odds & bods' to create some very irrestistable recycled goodies!

Here was my handmade souvenir from her; a big & beautiful purple flower broach! Please e-mail Belinda on bee.oddballs@gmail.com to find out more!

My second fantastic knitted discovery was Amanda Bland's stall. She is a knit wear designer who creates unquie hand knitted scarves; not only does she sell these but also an amazing array of yarn, needles & all the patterns so you can recreate them yourself too!

My favourite was the 'Big Necklace' and after a lot of umming and ahhh-ing I finally went for a green - purple - yellow - sparkle eyelash style yarn to take home with me!

Here is my creation of it all:

A close up to show off the super snazzy yarn used to make my new scarf / necklace!

Please e-mail Amanda on a.j.bland@hotmail.co.uk; there was a wonderful selection to choose from!

On my list of things I wanted to find this holiday was a pot of locally produced honey; which was being sold in the gift fair. Already started on it as you can see; it tastes delicious! Also came away with a handful of jars of various chunteys; which have all been sampled and are so, so tasty! Buying local honey something we should all be doing, it is a super easy way to help support all the bee keepers and help save the honey bees!

I also have to mention the brilliant caravan / campsite we pitched ourselves up at; which I really, really to recommend staying at if you are thinking of visiting the area for a few days: www.blossompark.co.uk

The owners were so friendly and accomodating! It was in a perfect location; stunning scenery, short drive/ride to the village, lovely clean toilets/showers, electricty, cheap to rent a good size pitch... The owners even lent us a pack of playing cards on a rainy night! (I'd forgotten my knitting...)

So; all in all, a fantastic trip!