Saturday 21 December 2013

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a


Merry Christmas
May you be blessed with peace, love and happiness.

MarjoleinX


Thursday 7 November 2013

A visit to Knit and Stitch

A few weeks ago I visited the Knit and Stitch Show at Alexandra Palace.
The show is a must for anyone interested in any kind of Crafts.
This time I was without my friend Maria who this year could not accompany me.
We have been coming for years and I missed her this time.
I was however there on a mission. I wanted to see the work of Mandy Pattullo. 
Mandy is a Textile Artist from Northumberland and
she makes the most wonderful patchwork pieces from antique and found textiles.
I wanted to see them for myself as they appeal to my love of re-using old and treasured fabrics.
I met Mandy and her daughter Alice who is an illustrator and printmaker.



Her work is absolutely stunning and truly unique.
You can find Mandy at 
http://threadandthrift.blogspot.co.uk/ 


Two more shops I enjoyed looking at

Just gorgeous!!

Marjolein

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Designers and Makers Fair 2

The fair in Amersham was a great success with lots of sales. There was work from Artists who are part of the Art Trail and who open their Studios during Buckinghamshire Open Studios in June and other local Designer/makers.
Some of my work at the Fair
 I found this lovely old striped ticking fabric at the Fair in Amiens I went to last month. I was able to buy lots of great fabric to use. Old and worn. Just as I like it! Some of it was just given to me as the seller could not really sell it as it was too fragile and ripped. I was very grateful for it.
 A series of three
 Fragments of the past 1
 Fragments of the past 2
Fragments of the past 3
Also

We were amazed how many visitors came through the door and what lovely comments we received. We certainly hope it will become a yearly event.

MarjoleinX

THE Fleamarket in Amiens

I completely forgot to post the photos of the Fleamarket in Amiens we went to last month. 
We never managed to see everything that the 2000! sellers had for sale. There was so much to choose from.



I bought, a small chandelier, old kitchen whisks and graters for my (small but growing) collection, sheets, vintage brooches,buttons and ofcourse, fabric, lace, and the loveliest fabric covered box with haberdashery bits. So much to choose from. It starts at 5 in the morning and lasts the whole day. We had the most amazing time and we certainly will visit again next year.
Amiens also has the most incredible Cathedral. It is a World Heritage site.

Inside is the statue of the Weeping Angel
How cute is that!

I took lots of pictures and looking at them reminded me of the lovely time we had.

MarjoleinX

Friday 25 October 2013

Designers & Makers Fair

Room for Change
will be at the
Designers & Makers Fair
tomorrow the 26th October at
St Michaels & All Angels Church Sycamore Road,
Amersham-on-the-Hill
10am-4pm
If you are in Amersham I hope you will pop in.
Marjolein

Thursday 10 October 2013

A holiday in Holland

It was so lovely to be back in  Holland seeing family and friends. Paul and I had a very enjoyable two days on our own in Amsterdam and visited the newly refurbished Rijksmuseum in that wonderful city. Unfortunately I left my camera at the Hotel and only took photo's with my phone so no photo's of the beautiful objects in the museum for the blog.  Paul and I walked around the museum  in the morning, ofcourse we lingered at the Nightwatch painted by Rembrandt. We called our daughter Saskia the same name as Rembrandts wife. In the afternoon we were taken on a "behind the scenes" tour of the museum by our friend Bjorn who was involved with the fire prevention in the building. Bjorn explained how much work has gone into the restauration of the building and how much thought was put into the display of the objects within. The result is the most wonderful museum and I can only say go and visit this fantastic collection and see for yourself.
Amsterdam, Well ......



The photo's speak for themselves. We had the most gloriously sunny day to wander along the canals, experiencing the delights of Amsterdam. We walked everywhere that day as everything is so central. At every stage you marvel at the charming gabled facades of the houses. We also visited the fantastic shop of Jane Schouten and her daughter Robin. Jane writes and posts about her shop and the fantastic things she makes on her  blog  All the luck in the world . I wanted to visit her shop as I have followed her blog for some time. Apart from her own designs there are vintage somewhat quirky finds and newer things too, all displayed  in a lovely creative  way. If you find yourself in Amsterdam  the shop in the Gerard Dou straat is well worth a visit. 
Jane uses a plus sign for positivity, often in bright pink and it is also displayed on the front of the shop.
You cannot miss it!



It is always difficult to leave Holland but this time it was easier as my sisters Mieke and Caroline travelled with us to France. We met up with friends Anke and Joe, and together we spent  a very enjoyable weekend in Amiens. We went there to find some bargains at the second largest Fleamarket in Northern France. We were not disappointed. Over 2000 sellers with the loveliest things and yes, I blew the budget! 
Tomorrow I shall post the photo's of the fair and the things I bought.

MarjoleinX

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Making cards




It seems a long time ago now but at the end of September we spent a very enjoyable evening crafting and the Ladies made some lovely cards
Edna provided some lovely biscuits again.

Much has happened since as I have just come back from a holiday "Home" to Holland where I found a lovely shop in Amsterdam  and France where I visited a wonderful Fleamarket.
  I shall post about that tomorrow and show you my amazing finds. I cannot wait to start sewing with them but today it was washing, ironing and cooking large amounts of soup as the vegetables on the allotment grew and grew while we were away.

MarjoleinX

Friday 27 September 2013

Pinterest

Room for Change is now on Pinterest!! I have to figure out how to put the button on the Blog to get you straight there but in the meantime

Just adding some more of my bags





MarjoleinX

Saturday 7 September 2013

Old Amersham Heritage Day

I have neglected my little blog over the Summer but it was lovely and sunny and I have been very busy making things. I have enjoyed making things with the lovely  fabrics from my collection.


Tomorrow is the Heritage Day in Old Amersham. The town will be full of vintage cars, some steam engines, old fashioned crafts and  I shall be there with these.
Hope to see you there and if you cannot make it I hope you will visit again soon as I will post about it next week

MarjoleinX

Thursday 27 June 2013

Buckinghamshire Studio's

My studio was open for Buckinghamshire Open Studio's during 3 weeks in June. I shared the space with my friend Maria. It was a hectic time beforehand to get it all ready but Maria and I were delighted with our visitors. It was a bit quiet the first weekend  but during the days that we were open, so many lovely and interesting people came to visit. Our visitors had tea in vintage teacups and fabulous cakes and biscuits.
We made lovely sales and quite a few people put their name down for the workshops!
It gave us a real boost and I have lots of ideas for future projects.
MarjoleinX



Saturday 27 April 2013

The 7th Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal

The wonderfully talented Susanna from 


sent me these lovely things to work with all the way from Finland.

Susanna made the large beads herself, even the cute rabbit/hare. Also with the beads came the wonderful clasp which Susanna's friend Solen from www.etsy.com/shop/solekoru made.

I am a textile designer who plays around with beads so naturally fabrics had to feature in it somewhere.



 Susannah's lovely beads
Earrings
 A bracelet on memory wire with some more of my hand made beads
A key ring with another of Susanna's beads

I started off aging some fabrics with vegetable peelings, ( yes the pinky red on the fabric is beetroot!) found some shibori dyed fabric made for an earlier project and made some beads with them. I looked through my boxes for various treasures. I found an escutcheon from my sister Caroline, fur given by an elderly neighbour, a piece of driftwood from Cornwall, a piece of treasured Mother-of Pearl and lots of recycled beads. It was lovely playing around with the gathered bits and pieces and the project grew.
When I was finally finished I thought that maybe the amulet with the hare on it had grown a bit too big. Although the right size for me! When the reveal date was postponed I had  time to change it slightly and add to it. So off I went to the local Workaid charity shop and bought some leather and now I can wear the necklace and it can be transformed into a handbag too.
I hope Susanna I have done your wonderful beads justice and a big thank you to Lori and everyone who helped behind the scenes for making this possible for all of us. I had a lovely time making these.
If you want to see what the other participants have made please visit

http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/2013/04/welcome-to-3rd-reveal-of-7th-bead-soup.html
and join the rest of the party

Marjolein X