Shelagh Duffett is a photographer, painter and dreamer. She lives in the wonderful province of Nova Scotia surrounded by salty air and blue water and paints almost daily. Shelagh’s work is distinctive with its use of brilliant, vivid colours and cheerful subjects. She paints things that make her happy.

You can buy Shelagh’s artwork from www.aliceinparis.etsy.com and http://en.dawanda.com.

As well as capturing the world around her in paint, she is also an accomplished photographer and sells her photographic work through www.broomhillpictures.etsy.com.

And why Alice in Paris? Alice is Shelagh’s grandmother’s name. She was an enterprising woman who opened a small sweet shop in Scotland while her husband was away at sea. And Paris? Shelagh and her daughter share a love of the city and plan to return one day. . . .

These delicate floral surface patterns were created by textile designer Sarah Bayley. The floral designs combine watercolour painting and embroidery with hand embellished detail.

Sarah’s current range includes purses, pin cushions, lavender bags, brooches and cards.

For English garden inspired accessories and other pretty trinkets go to www.sarahbayley.co.uk.

If you find yourself anywhere near Glasgow this weekend, make sure you fit in a trip to the Glasgow Craft Mafia Mini Market. You’ll find the lovely Glasgow Craft Mafia familia selling their highly coveted handcrafted jewellery and accessories. The line up includes Hannah Zakari, Asking For Trouble, Cotton Candy Corsage and Natalie Farrell.

What: Glasgow Craft Mafia Mini Market: Jewellery & Accessories
When: Sunday 13th April, 1pm - 6pm
Where: Mono, King’s Court
More Info: www.glasgowcraftmafia.com

And Fresh on the Market is back for its third year. The team is currently looking for artists, designers and crafters to sell their wares. The City of Preston will be celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the town twinning with Almelo in Holland. The first market in April will coincide with the celebrations and so the city centre should be buzzing.

What: Contemporary Arts Market
When: 27th April, 1st June, 29th June, 27th July, 24th August, 28th Sept, 26th Oct, 23rd Nov, 21st Dec
Where: Large covered market, Earl Street, Preston

For further details and to apply for a stall please visit www.creativelancashire.org/freshcreative.asp.

Lady Wurlitzer, purveyor of fine lather, cordially invites you to her new online home. Lady W made her sudsy debut at the Miso Funky Market back in June 2006. Since then she’s been keeping us well groomed and squeaky clean with her indulgent bath soaks, silky balms and rich lotions.

And who is Nana Moon? A bit of an enigma, Nana Moon is drawn to anything shiny, pretty or handmade. She has recently teamed up with the glamorous Lady Wurlitzer and the two of them can be found sipping tea and eating cupcakes in their elegant parlour. (Well they do in my head.) Having accumulated an impressive hoard over the years, Nana Moon has thrown open her lavender scented cupboards to vintage lovers, handmade aficionados and retro romantics everywhere.

You can buy online at www.ladywurlitzer.com. And while you’re there check out We are Fuzzy Felt Folk for vintage and thrift events, gigs and parties.

Friday at last and what better way to round off the week than with a Day In the Life of feature. Today’s article is written courtesy of skilled designer and seamstress, Katy Goy of My Little Empire.

Dreaming About Dresses

I am usually awoken at 6.15am by a screaming cat. I then lie in bed for an hour or so thinking about dresses, fabric, things I’d like to wear, and attempting to doze while the cat attempts to suffocate me.

After all the hard work of thinking, I generally get up feeling inspired and excited for what I’m going to do in the day. The first thing I do in the morning is to check my emails. Email checking is very important for me as I like to be as speedy with my delivery of pieces to customers as I possibly can, so if there are any urgent orders then the whole plan for the day can change.

I don’t like to eat in the morning, I never have. When I was little coffee and bourbon biscuits were my thing. Now I’ve mellowed and am on softer things like fresh orange and innocent smoothies.

Inspiration Through Blogs

If the emails have not been filled with quasi emergencies, then I like to read what Susie Bubble has to say for the day. This is essential reading for me; I hate the whole snobby side of fashion and this is as far away from that as you can get. It’s a riot of instant inspiration on your screen. Then it’s over to Indie Quarter to see who my new crafty crush is this week. Often from these two blogs I’ll go off on an inspiring journey through the net for an hour or so, stumbling upon magazines that I simply must read (Lula, Preen etc.) and designers that I must learn more about (Jane Carlstrom).

What happens next depends greatly on the time of year. There are many stages of designing anything - the ideas stage, the sample stage, the production stage, the ‘it’s all wrong and I hate it’ stage. So my day can either be filled with sketching (competently) sewing (brilliantly!) or attempting to do the business side of things (with room for improvement).

Just Me and The Fluff

Generally my interaction with people is fairly minimal during the day. Sometimes I’ll be able to play with my friends from upstairs - they are involved in the film industry which is exciting to learn about. Or I’ll go and meet my musical friend for three curries and rice in Manchester’s NQ [Northern Quarter]. But mostly it’s just me and The Fluff. She’s very helpful and gives her invaluable opinion freely!

I Don’t Think That You Switch Off if You’re a Designer

The working day lasts generally as long as is necessary, so if there is lots to do I can still be going at 10pm. I always stop to eat with my partner and housemate though, as working by myself a lot can get lonely.

My favourite evening of the week is Tuesday which is often spent at The Pinch and feels like being at home except someone else makes the drinks and there is usually an interesting live music act on. I don’t think that you switch off if you’re a designer. You’re always partly at work. So going to nights like these are like design in action for me. I find myself cataloguing every outfit I see that I like, the ones I don’t like and why. This is people watching with a purpose!

After a drink and a soak up of the sounds and a chat to the gorgeous The Bangs girls it’s off home to sleep, sort of. As when I close my eyes I see designs, the fabric to use, or just the general colour pallet, or silhouette that I want to design the next piece I make in. I have to try really hard to remember all these ideas because I never remember to bring my notebook to bed, which means I go to sleep eventually through worry that I’ll forget something.

Things I Like About Being an Indie Designer

The best thing about being an Indie designer is the feeling of satisfaction I get from expressing myself creatively on a daily basis. It makes me feel complete somehow, seeing a flat piece of fabric become something three dimensional and tangible and having the skills to do that myself is really important to me.

I’m Not So Enamoured With . . .

I am however not so enamoured with the whole business side of being an indie designer. I find that I am far too timid to approach people, and promote myself as I should be doing. Oh, and I hate numbers so the accounts bit of it isn’t that great either.

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Thank you Katy.

To check out Katy’s beautiful creations go to www.my-little-empire.co.uk.

I couldn’t resist these, especially the mother rabbit with the little babies. They all hail from the magic paint brush of the uber-talented Amber Alexander. What I like about them is that they all imply a story and look as though they’ve just jumped off the pages of your favourite storybook.

Amber’s beautiful characters can be purchased as original watercolours, cards, prints and ACEOs. Go to www.amberalexander.etsy.com.

I went to a networking event a couple of weeks ago and in amongst the consultants, virtual PAs and accountants, I met Michelle McKenna, aka Clippy of Clippy’s Apples.

Clippy’s Apples makes mouth-watering, lip-smacking jams, jellies and chutneys. Their preserves are all lovingly handmade in small batches from 100% British apples. They are passionate about what they do and dedicated to the preservation of British apples.

Clippy’s Apples will be appearing at a number of festivals, markets and other venues around the UK this year. To catch up with them visit their website at www.clippys.com. Their preserves are stocked at a number of delis and specialist food shops. Check out their Stockists page for further information.

Today we have a day in the life of feature by Cherylline Price of iLE AiYE. And I know you’ll be curious about the name. iLE AiYE is a Yoruba word literally meaning ‘House of Life’. When translated into English it means ‘Mother Earth’.

Over to Cherylline.

‘Quite often I’ll pick up my knitting needles before 7am . . . ‘

Most days, even during my holidays, I wake up at 6am. I adore early mornings. I love the lighting, the stillness, and my quiet time before my partner and son raise their heads. Not to mention my noisy parrot.

The first thing I do is put the coffee pot on and almost simultaneously switch on my PC. Then I sit for at least half an hour, checking emails, my website activity, paying bills, processing orders, or browsing the web. Quite often I’ll pick up my knitting needles before 7am and start my favourite pastime. Knitting. I’ve always got a project on the go, so I feel better about myself if I can knit a few rows before I head out to work.

I work part-time at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, such an inspirational environment which I totally soak up. I head out of the door at around 8.30am. I can’t stand London Transport so whatever the weather - rain, snow, sun, wind (I hate the wind) - I’ll cycle to work which generally takes me 30 minutes. By 12.30 midday my shift is complete and it’s time to head home. After running errands - grocery shopping, posting orders, collecting some beads from the bead shop or buttons from the button shop - I generally reach home by around 2ish.

‘If I’m Sitting I’m Knitting’

When I walk in through the door I make a fresh herbal tea for my partner and me and sometimes a light snack. I’ll sit for a few minutes to settle into the environment, then within no time my hands start twitching and I’m reaching for my knitting needles. I’ll generally knit straight out until around 6ish. After making and eating the evening meal I’m back with my needles and knitting until around 9.30. I can’t sit around anymore just watching TV or listening to music. I read someones slogan recently - ’If I’m sitting I’m Knitting’ - that’s me too. But if I’m not knitting then I’m beading or updating my websites, or cutting up fabric and attempting to make a skirt, or a dress, or a bag or a hat. Or organising artists for the weekly Art fayre that I run each Saturday in South West London.

If I’m on holiday from my little part time job then from first thing in the morning till last thing at night I’ll be making something, or experimenting with something else and mostly during holidays I’ll be wet felting. I love felting but I find I have to dedicate extra hours to this process, so I tend to only practice it when the college is closed and I’m on a long break.

‘I love my freedom to express, experiment, learn, and play’

My days just run away with me. I love everything about my days. I love my freedom to express, experiment, learn, and play. I’m my own boss 90% of the time. I love knitting with new yarns and visualising what will come of my new ideas. I can’t read knitting patterns so everything I do is inspired from what I see around me, the colours and texture of yarns, fashion on the streets of London or fellow textile artists.

The worst thing about being an independent designer is that there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I need at least 48 hours! I have so many ideas spinning around in my head with just not enough time to carry them out. Plus I wish the general public would stop comparing the cost of handmade goods to those of Primark. I mean I like a bargain just like the next man/woman, and I try to reflect this in my retail prices, but I do feel independent designers have to sell themselves short too often.

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Thank you Cherylline.

Buy in £s at www.ileaiye.co.uk.
Buy in $s at www.ileaiye.etsy.com.