Dorset Team Christmas Fair 2014 - Wimborne Allendale Centre - 6th December

Hey everyone,

Happy Friday! Where did the whole of October go?! The Dorset Team Christmas Fair is now fast approaching and will be here before we know it. It has been months in planning so am really excited for the big day and seeing everyone's hard work come together.

Today I wanted to show you the work of David from Beneath Bright Waters. David sells fine prints inspired by the rivers which he likes to fish by. His shop is beautiful with minimalist black and white prints of the fish he encounters at the riverside. They would make a wonderful Christmas gift for a keen fisher or just someone who appreciates unique and unusual prints. 

David says of his work ''My prints are the result of days spent by the river over the last few years. Sometimes alone, sometimes with friends or family. Occasionally there's a picnic, often a beer, but there's always a smile as I squint through the sunlight on the lookout for rising trout.'' 

If you like David's prints, please come along to our Dorset Team Christmas Fair to meet him in person, see his beautiful prints and browse around the fair and see what the rest of the Dorset Team has to offer and their beautiful handmade and vintage items.

Date: 6th December
Where: Allendale Centre, Wimborne
Time: 10am - 4pm
Entry: FREE, children welcome

You can find more information about the fair on both our Facebook event page by clicking here and also our Event Brite page which you will be able to find here


Thanks for reading and hope to see some of you there!
The Dorothy Days X

Cool Video to brighten up your day - OK GO - The Writings On the Wall

Hey everyone,

If you are like me, you will find yourself quite often getting lost on Youtube looking at various videos. I watch everything from vloggers to funny animal videos to music videos and craft tutorials. I particularly like watching videos which are really creative and so today I wanted to share with you all a music video from a band which is just that! You know the video of those 4 guys on treadmills who glide across the treadmill, go under it, over it etc to music? It was a viral video a while back. Well its the same guys in this video.

Take a look and I hope it brightens you day a little :)

Dorset Christmas Fair - Wimborne Allendale Centre - 6th December 2014

Hello everyone!

Well Tuesday is normally my day for telling you what I am up to in my shop or what I am making but at the moment I have been busy busy busy with preparations for the Dorset Team Christmas Fair so I thought I would tell you about that instead!

The Dorset Team are a team of over 300 Etsy sellers. We come together to support one another with our online shops and have a fantastically active forum which we use to share tips, cross promote and ask and receive advice. As well as being active online both on our team forum and social media pages, we also like to put on events! We hold meet ups and organise craft and vintage fairs. We have held several fairs in Christchurch and for the first time we are holding a fair in Wimborne Minster.

The fair will be our biggest fair to date with 80 stalls all by members of the Dorset Etsy Team. It will be wonderful to get together so many members of the team selling at the same event. Lots of the sellers have very successful Etsy shops so mainly (or sometimes only) sell online so this is a fantastic opportunity to see their wares in person and also meet the seller behind the shop.

Above is a photo collage I made of some of the items made by stallholders coming to the fair. This is just a very small selection of stallholders who are coming. To just mention a few.....

*Katie Rewse who is a local designer who sells surf and skate items including prints and decorated decks and surf board fins

*Nicolette Dawn who makes amazing wire sculpture animals. You can see her ducklings on the far left second row.

*Jilly from Jilly Bird who makes retro and Scandinavian inspired home wares including mugs and prints

*Susan from Bound who makes beautiful hand bound leather books

Lots of the stallholders are offering special discounts and you of course will save on postage fees by coming to the event. I have also heard from many stallholders that they will be bringing exclusive items which have never been shown on their online shop so a really great opportunity to buy some unique Christmas gifts.

The Details:

Wimborne Allendale Centre, Wimborne Minster

Saturday 6th December - 10am - 4pm

Free Entry


We will be posting lots more information, fair updates, photographs etc on our Facebook event page as well as sneak previews and exclusive discounts so please pop over, tick that you are coming and see all what the fair has to offer by clicking HERE

We also have an eventbrite page with all the information in one place Please take a look here!

Erased de Kooning Drawing - Robert Rauschenberg - An Art blog post!

Erased De Kooning Drawing, Robert Rauschenberg, 1953.

The work is in the collection of SFMOMA and the image above is copyright of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation with the photograph by Ben Blackwell. 

Hello everyone,

While I was unwell it was what would have been Robert Rauschenberg's birthday. I have not blogged about art in ages so, even though his birthday has now come and gone, I thought I would share with you this clip of Rauschenberg talking about his piece Erased de Kooning Drawing. I once gave a presentation on Rauschenberg and since then have always found his work interesting. This is mainly because his work pushes the boundaries of art and what can be considered art, an area in which I always love writing about.

Robert Rauschenberg (22nd October 1925 -12th May 2008) was an American artist. He is not normally considered to be part of any one artistic movement but his work was extremely influential especially to the Pop Artists. His work is often discussed because of his use of appropriation. In art, appropriation is when an object or image is taken from one source and made into art with little or no changes being made. This is image or object is normally a 'non-art' object but is appropriated and becomes art. One of the most famous examples of this is Marcel Duchamp's Fountain in which he places a urinal on a plinth and signs it 'R. Mutt 1917'. This ordinary object them becomes a work of art. Here Rauschenberg takes an artwork by one of the most famous artists of the time from the Abstract Expressionist movement, Willem de Kooning and erases it. He therefore is appropriating De Kooning's work but unlike Duchamp, where the urinal was before a non-art object, the object was already an art piece before he appropriated it. He transforms a work of art into a totally different work of art therefore allowing new and different interpretations to what was originally intended.

In this clip Rauschenberg talks about how the work came to be.




'The power of Erased de Kooning Drawing derives from the allure of the unseen and from the enigmatic nature of Rauschenberg’s decision to erase a de Kooning. Was it an act of homage, provocation, humor, patricide, destruction, or, as Rauschenberg once suggested, celebration?'
- SFMOMA

Rauschenberg once said 'An empty canvas is full' and here, even though the canvas only has traces of the original artwork, the canvas is still full of meaning. As the SFMOMA puts it, 'Erased de Kooning Drawing eludes easy answers, its mysterious beginnings leaving it open to a range of present and future interpretations.' 


Hope that you enjoyed this blog post.

Let me know what you think about the work in the comment section below and if you would like to read anymore about this work please take a look at the SFMOMA website which I have linked. It is full of information and is where the image and video is from.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Style Saturday - Bedroom inspiration

Now that the colder weather is here and the darker nights it is nice to have somewhere warm, cosy and relaxing to come back to. I really love this collection. The bed is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and would be like waking up every morning feeling like you were in a luxury hotel! The rocking chair looks super comfy for curling up and reading a book in. The trays would be perfect for being brought breakfast in bed and the candles for romantic evenings in. The whole room looks very tranquil and relaxing and would be perfect to come home to each evening.

What do you all think? Would your dream bedroom look like this?
Let me know in the comments section below

Thanks for reading

The Dorothy Days

P.S To see my previous week's Style Saturday please click here…. http://thedorothydays.blogspot.com/2014/10/yellow-and-black-fashion-inspiration.html

Hellooooo!

Hey everyone,

Sorry that I have been so quiet on my blog recently. I have unfortunately been really unwell (much better now!) and also super busy with the Dorset Team Christmas Fair planning! It is really exciting but also means that I am not finding I have much time for blogging, tweeting or making new bits at the moment.

Feeling back to my normal self so thought I would write a little blog post to say hello! Thank you to everyone who has been reading my posts.

Actually managed to do some creating and making today. Was so nice as I haven't done much lately. Super excited about sharing which I made but will keep you in suspense for a little longer!

Thanks for all your lovely get well soon tweets, very kind and cheered me up even when I was feeling really poorly!

The Dorothy Days Xx

Heidi M Illustration - Dorset Christmas Fair in Wimborne, 6th December, Allendale Centre

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday to you all, did you have a good week? Over the last few weeks I have been showing you some of the stallholders who will be coming to our Dorset Team Christmas Fair. If you would like to see last week's feature please click HERE and see the wonderful work of Isobel Barber.

This week I would like to share with you Heidi's work for Heidi M Illustration. Heidi's paints with watercolours magical storybook style characters. She is inspired by Quentin Blake and Shirley Hughes, two of my favourite illustrators. I particularly like Heidi's cat lady illustrations! 


If you are reading this from Dorset please come along and meet Heidi and the other sellers at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair. It is a large event in Wimborne for Christmas shopping and celebrating the work of local artists, crafters, artisans and vintage sellers who form our Dorset Team


Date: 6th December
Where: Allendale Centre, Wimborne
Time: 10am - 4pm
Entry: FREE, children welcome

You can find more information about the fair on both our Facebook event page by clicking here and also our Event Brite page which you will be able to find here

The Dorset Team is also organising a fair on 26th October. please see the Facebook event page for details by clicking HERE. The fair will be in Christchurch

Yellow and Black fashion inspiration

Hello everyone,

Welcome to another of my Style Saturday blog posts. For those who are new to my blog, every Saturday I post a style collection to my blog. Collections include fashion, interiors, DIY style etc. Last week I posted a wonderful Mint Green outfit inspiration for you all to enjoy. The colours were really sweet, dainty and pretty with floral garland crowns, white roses and a beautiful floaty dress. This week I thought it would be fun to do something totally different and show you a collection which is bold but still chic!

Yellow and black are pretty hard to pull off together without looking like a bumble bee! However, I think that this collection has managed to make this colour combination look totally chic and stylish. The outfit itself is very plain and unfussy so it lets the colours remain the focus. The turned up sleeve of the blazer gives it a more casual look and the simplicity of the LBD allows for the boldness of the yellow in  the blazer. Isn't the lego clutch cute?! I also love the earrings and the shoes.

What is your favourite part of this outfit? Would you wear it or not be seen dead in it?! Let me know in the comments section below

The Dorothy Days 

Isobel Barber - Dorset Etsy Team Fair - Wimborne 6th December - Dorset Fairs - Christmas Fair

Hey everyone!

Another wonderful stallholder from the Dorset Team Christmas Fair to share with you all.... this time I wanted to show you all the work of Isobel Barber. Isobel is from Bournemouth and is an artist and illustrator. She makes her prints using recycled paper. She says of her work ' I am inspired by colourful snippets of day to day life and create bright and playful illustrations made to make you smile or capture a moment of nostalgia.' She has recently been featured in the local newspaper, the Blackmore Vale presenting her limited edition print to Wimborne town crier Chris Brown. You can find the article HERE

Isobel will be selling her work at our Dorset Team fair, we would love for you to come along, meet our sellers and browse their beautiful works. There is plenty to see and it is going to be a fantastic Christmas shopping day out (I have already started to write my Christmas wish list of my family and friends for the fair!). There is a huge range of different craft and vintage stalls. Crafts include paper cuts, jewellery, ironwork, illustration, painting, fabric items etc.

Please come along and meet us all and see what the Dorset Etsy Team is about. Details for the fair are....

Date: 6th December
Where: Allendale Centre, Wimborne
Time: 10am - 4pm
Entry: FREE, children welcome

You can find more information about the fair on both our Facebook event page by clicking here and also our Event Brite page which you will be able to find here

The Dorset Team is also organising a fair on 26th October. please see the Facebook event page for details by clicking HERE. The fair will be in Christchurch

The Dorothy Days - Vintage and Handmade - Happy Tuesday!

Good morning everyone :)

Busy busy busy here at the moment in The Dorothy Days HQ! Lots of preparing for Christmas... working on some new stock and also preparing for our Dorset Team fairs. Very excited about the run up to Christmas and running the shop always makes me feel more festive especially when I am gift wrapping! I feel like a little Christmas elf!!

Hope you are all have a great week and thanks to everyone reading my blog so far this week. Been looking at where people are viewing from and been getting views from all round the world which is so exciting. 

Please let me know in the comment section below where you are reading this from :)

The Dorothy Days X

20 things we should say more often - Kid President - Inspirational message

Hello everyone,

Normally I post a quote on Mondays but for a change, today I thought I would share with you some inspirational words from Kid President.

Kid president, for anyone who hasn't already watched one of his videos, is both adorable and inspirational. In this video he talks about 20 things we should say more often. Hope that you enjoy the video and make a special effort to use some of these words more frequently this week.

Enjoy!

The Dorothy Days Xx

The Dorothy Days - Things I am loving this week...

• Blueberry Muller Rice (I can't get enough of this at the moment!)
• Mint tea made from fresh mint leaves and boiling water
• Thick socks!! It has certainly been cold this week so my thick socks have been in high demand!
• That it feels more like Autumn. I miss the sunshine but I do also love the Autumn and can't wait until it is cold enough to get the fire lit!
• Spending time catching up with friends and family. I have been doing a lot of it this week and you just can't beat it! 

Mint outfit inspiration

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. For this week's Style Saturday (do you like my new banner?!) I wanted to share with you all this beautiful mint collection. I LOVE the dress she is wearing on the left with the big chunky ring. White roses are one of my favourite flowers and mint green one of my favourite colours. In fact I love pretty much all of this collection! I hope that you like it too!!

The Dorothy Days X

Dorset Team Christmas Fair - 6th December - Wimborne - Nicolette Dawn

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday! I hope that you are all having a wonderful week so far and looking forward to the weekend.

Today I wanted to share with you all another Dorset Team Christmas Fair stallholder who will be coming to the fair on the 6th December. Nicolette from Nicolette Dawn will be selling her wire sculptures which she makes at her home in Christchurch. The sculptures are made from chicken wire and then painted. She makes different animals including chickens, robins (perfect for a Christmas gift or decoration), rabbits, ducks and even penguins and dogs! She is makes beautiful hand knitted bags.

Please come along to the fair to see Nicolette's and other members of the Dorset Team's stalls. There will be a huge selection of different high quality handmade and vintage items as well as food stalls.


Date: 6th December
Where: Allendale Centre, Wimborne
Time: 10am - 4pm
Entry: FREE, children welcome

You can find more information about the fair on both our Facebook event page by clicking here and also our Event Brite page which you will be able to find here

The Dorset Team is also organising a fair on 26th October. please see the Facebook event page for details by clicking HERE. The fair will be in Christchurch

5 Kitchen items I love this week

Hello everyone,

Today I thought I would share with you some more items which I love from Etsy. Hope that you are enjoying these posts and the items that I am showing you. 

This week I thought I would show you items which would be perfect for if you are hosting a supper party or just want to brighten up your kitchen now the darker nights are drawing in.

This serving bowl in turquoise and red would certainly brighten up your kitchen this Autumn. It has been handmade by Theresa in Everett, WA, United States

Alyssa and Carla from San Francisco made these funky kitchen utensils, perfect to add some colour to your kitchen!

Wonderful colour combination of blue and orange on this dish towel/ tea towel made and designed by Nadine Westcott

This stack of kitchen bowls print has been made by Allison and Craig, a husband and wife duo from Pittsburgh who run their shop Strawberry Luna

Bright coloured crocheted cotton cloths in persimmon, snap pea green and black currant.

Please take a look at these shops, they have wonderful handmade items in each and buying from them will be supporting independent sellers. To browse Etsy in general please click here

The Dorothy Days Xx

The Dorothy Days - Tea cup necklace with blue flower charm

Do you love tea....or are you more of a coffee fan?! As you might have probably realised I am a big tea fan so I couldn't resist making some tea themed jewellery and started making these tea cup necklaces. They have proved to be really popular with both tea and coffee fans and so I have started to make them with different colour flower charms. This is my blue flower charm necklace, all the different colours are listed in my shop. Please click here to take a look to have a look at my blue flower necklace. The flower is removable so can be worn alone on the necklace or with the tea/ coffee cup and the teacup/ coffee cup can also be worn alone.

The necklace has a vintage look about it and would make a fantastic gift for a tea/ coffee lover or just someone who likes quirky jewellery!

The Dorothy Days Xx

Duke Ellington inspirational quote

Happy Monday everyone

An inspirational quote for you all to start the week by the great jazz legend Duke Ellington.

I hope that you find this inspiring and have a wonderful and productive week.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Dorset Team Autumn Fair and Christmas Fair - Christchurch and Wimborne

 Hello everyone,

For anyone reading my blog from Dorset I just wanted to remind you all that the Dorset Team, a group of small shop owners who sell their wares on Etsy.com, will be holding two craft fairs this Autumn/ Winter. 

Do you love handmade items? The Autumn Craft Fair will be in Christchurch and will have 40 stallholders selling a variety of different products. Dorset Team Autumn Craft Fair - Click here to view the event page which will give you more information about our fair and also a taster of some of the products to expect at the fair.

Looking to buy from independent sellers this Christmas and pick up some really unique gifts? Our Dorset Team Christmas Fair on the 6th December 2014 is the perfect opportunity to do so! Please click here for more information. The link will take your to our Facebook event page. This fair will have 80 stalls again selling a variety of different handmade and vintage items as well as some wonderful festive themed items.

Both events are not to be missed! Please come along and say hello, there will also be an opportunity to speak to Etsy sellers and gain advice about starting up your own shop and gain some more information about what the Dorset Team is about.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Style Saturday - Creative weekends outfit

Hello everyone,

Hope that you are all having a wonderful weekend so far. Today is my Style Saturday so I thought I would share with you all this outfit collection. I love creative weekends and so this outfit would be perfect for just that and would be stylish too! The jumper looks super comfy and cosy and I love the jeans too but my favourite has to be the shoes, I LOVE them!

What is your favourite part of this outfit? Let me know in the comment section below 

Dorset Team Christmas Fair - Wimborne - Featured Stallholder: Lynn Davy from Nemeton

Hey everyone,

How are you all? Thanks for stopping by my blog. Getting very excited about the Dorset Team Christmas Craft and Vintage Fair now so I thought I would share with you all another stallholder who will be attending the event. Local jewellery designer Lynn Davy from Nemeton will be exhibiting and selling her amazing necklaces and jewellery at the fair. Lynn often is featured in beading magazines and her jewellery wins competitions. I have been lucky enough to see Lynn's jewellery up close (and also had a little tour of her bead room - it is AMAZING!) and it is even more impressive when you see it up close rather than in photographs. Each piece is so beautifully intricate and cleverly put together and is like wearable art.

Lynn is one of my Dorset Team leaders so plays a very active role in the Dorset Team. She is also a very experienced Etsy seller, having been on the site 6 years. If you are interested in buying a new necklace you should most certainly head down to the fair to meet Lynn and see her jewellery. Lynn will also be selling kits so if you fancy giving beading a go it is a great opportunity to meet Lynn in person and gain a few extra tips! She is also a fount of knowledge on all things Etsy!

Date: 6th December
Where: Allendale Centre, Wimborne
Time: 10am - 4pm
Entry: FREE, children welcome

You can find more information about the fair on both our Facebook event page by clicking here and also our Event Brite page which you will be able to find here

The Dorset Team is also organising a fair on 26th October. please see the Facebook event page for details by clicking HERE. The fair will be in Christchurch