I am Getting Married, so have a free gift!

I know the recession is hitting some of us pretty bad,so to soften the blow, I am offering a free gift with any Etsy purchase from my shop Phyllis b between now and the end of August. This is my way of saying thank you for everyone's support and to share my excitement at getting married. Wahay!
The first free gift is this bookmark for whoever buys from my shop next. See below.

Retail Therapy

Today I bit the bullet and went to the Birmingham Social Networking Cafe. I am not very good at these things, but met a lovely lady and we talked for ages, I should've thanked her for allowing me to latch on and dominate her attention.

After, as I was in the area, I went looking for supplies in the wonderful indoor market. Found a fab haberdashery stall, where I got tons of supplies. Also found a great fabric stall at the outdoor market where I bought some rather lovely floral cotton for 1 pound a metre. I rounded off my trip with a visit to the Fancy Silk Store where I continued to feed my fabric addiction.

When I got home I found the fabric I'd bought off Ebay had arrived!

I put the floral flavour down to Spring and the fact I am reading Proust - pretentious moi?

Mexican Inspiration

I have never been to Mexico, but felt compelled to make this board after listening to the wonderful Lila Downs. Lila Downs is a singer of tremendous talents from Mexico, who uses many influences including Jazz, reggae and Mexican flavours to create beautiful and evocative music.

The painting in the left corer is by Diego Rivera, and the portrait is of Frida Kahlo. The two quilts are by the Boodilly, a talented quilter. You can find more of her pieces at her Etsy shop. The lovely fabric postcard is by Mandie, you can see more of her work on Flickr.