On Instagram in August

I can't believe we've reached the end of another month and it's time to share with you some Instagram photos from August. I have mixed feelings at this time of year- I'm sad that Summer is coming to an end, but looking forward to all that Autumn brings. I'm planning a Hot Chocolate themed post at the moment, hopefully that'll set the mood for Autumn! Until then, here's a few things I got up to in August as told through Instagram...

I was really lucky to visit The Cornershop in Bethnal Green, which is a full sized cornershop filled entirely with groceries handmade in felt! Find out more in my blog post. It was quite amazing, so clever and such a lot of work. My friends and I made a day of it, visiting Spitalfields, where this bottle top mosaic man caught my eye. I always save bottle tops as one day I'd like to make something with them, I'm told it's strange but I think they're too nice to throw away! We visited Colombia road flower market too, which is just round the corner from The Cornershop. I'd never been there before but I loved the bustling market atmosphere

August has been a month for hunting for vintage treasures. Last month, having followed the Channel 4 programme This Old Thing, where presenter Dawn O'Porter encouraged viewers to forgo the mass produced high street buys in favour of original vintage finds, I made a rule for myself that I wouldn't buy anymore brand new clothes for the rest of the year ( blog post on this coming soon) and instead I would seek out more vintage finds. So this month I bought this great vintage top from a vintage shop in Brick Lane and (applying my new rule to home ware shopping too!) also a mirror with a pretty metal frame that I'm probably going to spray paint.

I love love love A Beautiful Mess blog, written by sisters Elsie and Emma and this recipe for Peaches, Whisky and Ice Cream Float cocktails can be found on their blog here. They were yummy! Do check out their blog if you haven't before, it's the ultimate go-to blog place for handmade lifestyle inspiration

On a very Autumnal feeling August day, a good friend and I climbed the 52 metres onto the roof of the o2! There are great panoramic views up there and it was something fun and different to try, I'd definitely recommend it! 

I'm currently running a giveaway on Instagram to win one of my handmade knitted brooches. If you'd like to enter, head on over to my Instagram page to find out more!

I hope you've all had a good August, what did you get up to?

The Cornershop- a whole shop filled with groceries made of felt!

This weekend I was lucky enough to visit The Cornershop, a former derelict shop in Bethnal Green, London, which artist Lucy Sparrow has completely filled with everyday grocery items, all hand made in felt! Such a fun idea! The shop contains over 4,000 felt versions of everything you can think of that you can find in a grocery store, ranging from newspapers, tins of beans, packets of biscuits, chocolate bars and frozen chips! It's just like walking into your local corner shop, except the stock isn't edible and is much more cuddly!

Such is Lucy's dedication to her theme, even the till is made of felt and Lucy stood behind her counter (in front of the felted tobacco kiosk!) making more felt groceries. The whole project took Lucy 7 months to complete and Lucy's aim is to engage the local community within accessible art and through sewing workshops.

Guilt free Chocolate Digestives! No calories!

The shelves were fully stocked, just as you would expect in a regular grocery store. It really is a feat of the handmade and great craftsmanship that Lucy and her assistant handmade each of the 4,000 items themselves

Read all about it! In felt!

The felt confectionery was my favourite part of the exhibition, there is such an amazing amount of detail in each piece

The shop in Bethnal Green will be open until the end of August, before moving on to Brighton in October. Find out more and how to get there here! I thoroughly recommend a visit to admire the craftsmanship that's gone into the project and perhaps even buy your very own felt can of beans! Grocery shopping doesn't get more fun than this!