A very French Christmas...

This year we enjoyed a very snowy and very French Christmas... with orders all posted and things in the studio just about under control, I decided that a few days either side of the big day itself might be one of the only chances I would get to take a break for a while, so I jumped at the opportunity!

Before starting CMT I spent a couple of winter seasons as a chalet girl, and I've kept in touch with a lot of the people I met during my time in France. So I asked on a whim about the availability over the festive period, and to my delight there was space for us! We packed our suitcases and jetted off to France for mulled wine, cheese... and even turkey on Christmas Day!  

Joyeux Noël xx

noël

As we are winding down for Christmas there is just enough time amidst the last-minute order posting to show you a few festive images from Pinterest... snowy scenes, twinkling lights, baking and cosy homes......

...it's my favourite time of year and these lovely photographs depict everything that is wonderful about winter, I hope you enjoy them and Merry Christmas to you all! x

Festive Frolics

And so our last festive fair is done and dusted... phew! On Saturday I scooted over to London at 5am for the Selvedge Christmas Fair, and what a cracker it was. The hall was decorated beautifully as usual, this time with swathes of Lewis & Wood fabric adorning the walls (a company local to me, so I felt right at home), tea and cakes from High Tea of Highgate (always a highlight) and so many wonderful customers, it was like chatting to old friends. 

Even with the early start, the day flew by, and before I knew it and with last minute sales even as I was packing away my goodies, it was time to hit the road again... but not before saying au revoir to my 'fair friends' (new & old), in particular the ladies from Mud Rabbit, Emily Maude and Cath Ball Ceramics - all beautiful work.

I arrived home to a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, and will be making more tree decorations this week, as I completely sold out at the weekend! I hope you are all getting into the festive spirit and are keeping warm, x

The Makery Christmas Market

This weekend we spent two lovely days at The Makery Emporium in Bath, where we had the opportunity to set up shop for the weekend at their first ever Christmas Market. We met wonderful customers, other designer-makers, and The Makery staff too, who were fabulous - thank you ladies! 

When I'm next in Bath I know where I'll be heading... straight back to The Makery, it was like home from home amongst the fabrics, threads, cotton reels and all sorts of sewing/crafting delights...

...and ever so festive when it got dark in the evenings and the Christmas lights were turned on... Happy December everyone!

Festive Fairs!

After a delightful day of shopping (and selling!) at the Christmas at the Orangery fair in Clifton yesterday, we have spent most of today catching up with orders and writing lists of what to make for next weekend and our next festive fair! 

Next weekend (3rd & 4th December) we will be at The Makery Christmas Market in Bath. We are so excited to set our little 'shop' up again, this is honestly our favourite time of year. 

Seeing the results of all our hard work culminate in a stall full of goodies is so rewarding, and I would set up our stall every day if I could!

So if you are out in Bath next weekend, or nearby and fancy popping in to see the wonderful array of handmade delights at The Makery Emporium, sat nav BA1 5AR and come and find us at 16 Northumberland Place in Bath... hopefully I can restrain my excitement until Saturday! x

The French Market

The French Market returns to Tetbury a couple of times every year, and each time we head on over to get our fill of delicious cheese, a wide range of saucissons, meat and other French delights.

This time was no exception, the smells of Camembert and Reblochon wafted over us, the air was filled with the scent of traditional crêpes being cooked and the general hubbub of shoppers getting into full market swing was delightful to see. We only wish they would return more than twice a year, but perhaps that's just a little greedy! x

Country Living Christmas Fair 2011

Yesterday was a day of recuperation and unpacking after the Country Living Christmas Fair which finished on Sunday. We had a fantastic week and met so many wonderful people over the 5 days, and now can't really believe that we're home again, what a whirlwind! 

So here are a few snaps of our stand, that we shared with the fabulous Julia Davey (Julia Davey Ceramics), who helped the week to fly by - thanks Jules :) 

We are now catching up on orders after a week away, so have plenty to get our teeth stuck into, hope you all have a lovely week, and if you didn't make it to London we will be selling lovely Christmas wares (both our own textiles and Julia's ceramic goodies) at our next festive event, Christmas at the Orangery in Clifton, Bristol on the 26th November, hope to see you there! x

The Country Living Christmas Fair

 

On Tuesday we are off to set up for the Country Living Christmas Fair, I am equally very excited and very nervous! We have been featured in the preview leaflet that went out a few weeks ago and also in an email that was sent this week from Susy Smith (editor of Country Living) to all subscribers and mailing list, which was so wonderful! With most of our preparations done and only the packing of our suitcases to go, I think we are just about ready! 

If you haven't quite got around to buying your tickets for the fair you can call the Ticket Hotline on 0844 848 0152 or head to www.countrylivingfair.com/xmas and enter the code CLXMAS9 to get a discount on your tickets. We are looking forward to seeing lots of lovely people there and to begin the festive season in true Country Living style! x

Tickets to Win!

Would you like to WIN a pair of tickets to the Country Living Christmas Fair? Well look no further! I have a pair of tickets up for grabs... 

Valid from Wednesday 9th - Sunday 13th (but excluding the Saturday) and all you have to do is leave a comment below and let me know what you are hoping to find under the tree (or in your stocking!) this year...

I will announce the winner on Tuesday, so don't delay!

And don't forget if you don't win this time you can always use 

our code CLXMAS9 to get a discount on your tickets :)

I am also running this competition on my facebook page... so feel free to 

'like' our page and to leave a comment there! https://www.facebook.com/charlottemaceytextiles x

Printed Chickens

Today we have been busy printing our new chicken gift tags, so I thought I'd share a couple of photos of the new additions... these will be available at the Country Living Christmas Fair in a mere few weeks and in the meantime are also now on our website, http://charlottemacey.co.uk/manilla-chicken-tags.html, £3 for 5 lovely manilla gift tags.

Country Living Christmas Fair

We have been hard at work here in the CMT studio for the past couple of weeks preparing manically for the Country Living Christmas Fair, and there are now only a few weeks to go!! We will be sharing a stand with Julia Davey Ceramics and absolutely cannot wait to get our stand all set up!

So here is a special discount code for you to use if you would like to come to the fair, I know we'd like to see lots of your lovely friendly faces!

Use the code CLXMAS9 either online or by phoning the ticket hotline on 0844 848 0152 to get £1 off the standard ticket price. And do pop by stand P42 on the mezzanine floor and say hello!

So for now, back to the sewing machine... x

New Bits & Bobs

Evening all, hope you have enjoyed a lovely weekend, we've been hard at work in our temporary new studio (much bigger and can fit two sewing machines in, which is a bonus for preparing our stock for the Country Living Fair in November!) We are getting by on lots of tea and very little sleep, but loving the fast pace of our stock making due to the extra help!

I have two little announcements this week...

Firstly, our popular chickens tea towel is now available in lovely natural cotton! Available here on the website.

And secondly, we've also been adding a couple of new things to the 'bits & bobs' page, including this lovely vintage cotton braid, in French blue and white. We've decided it would be perfect for sewing projects, using around your home and even wrapping presents! Plus it's only £2.50 for 3 metres, so we're quite fond of it!

Linen Letters...

I am excited to announce the addition of my new and exciting 'letters' range of homewares. I have just finished adding these two lovely linen tea towels to my website. Available in two unique designs... 'home' comes in a lovely jolly red and 'tea' in deep brown stitching. Both are available on my website now, I hope you like them! x

Hello everyone! Following on from last Sunday's post I just wanted to let you know that 'bits & bobs' went live this week on my website, and has so far had a wonderful response, so expect more bits & bobs cropping up in the future too!

Even though next week is meant to be warming up, it has felt very Autumnal in the past few weeks, I've started snuggling up in woolly jumpers and have been doing more baking... so here are a couple of my favourite 'Sweets & Treats' pics from my board on Pinterest... hope you all have a lovely week x

Coming Soon...

I've been planning on adding an all-new section to my website for a while, and this week I started to build the pages for it. The new section will be called 'bits & bobs' and will feature little extras and great stocking fillers, from peg bundles to plain gift tags to decorate yourself, to spotty egg cups, and with plenty of other things in the pipeline too! 

In the absence of having a real-life shop and the space to store lots of bigger things, this new section will  also co-ordinate wonderfully with my own range... it will be dedicated to  bits & bobs that I find and love and hope that you will too. x

Robins & Puddings

This weekend I have been hand-drawing lots of card and gift tags for one of my stockists, so thought I would introduce you to a few of this years festive cards and tags...

robins card...

figgy pudding card...

small pudding tags...

and last but not least, small robin tags...

Red & White

Two of my favourite colours: red and white. Simple, pretty and cosy. I don't know whether I am particularly in love with this combination at the moment because of the launch of my Christmas Shop, but as Autumn is beginning to set in and I have started to dig out a few more woolly layers, I thought I would share a couple of pictures I found on Pinterest this week... x