If you’re in Birmingham this Saturday you should pop down to Moseley for the Moseley Festival.  There’s a whole host of things going on including CBSO players playing in the private park, summer cider tasting at The Fighting Cocks and an Art Trail around Moseley.

I’ll be selling my wares at the street fair on the village green (Alcester Rd and St Mary’s Row).  So do come, say hello and marvel at my new fabric and cut out greetings cards (pictured above).  I’ll also be selling my usual mix of accessories, cushions and stitched pictures.

This weekend I’ll be taking some of my wares to the Kings Heath Big Party.  The fun all happens on Saturday 19 June in and around Kings Heath High Street.

I’ll be selling my usual mix of unique handmade accessories and homewares.  They’ll be lots to see and do so if you’re in the area, do pop along and join in the party.  Or even if you’re not in the area, make a special trip to come and visit my stand.  For more information about whats going on where visit here

I’ve been back at Birmingham Royal Ballet helping out with Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake but one week I was given a rather unusual task of helping to install an exhibition of costumes, sets and props.

Birmingham Royal Ballet are celebrating 20 years of moving to Birmingham from London.  As part of their celebrations there was a gala performance with excerpts from their whole repertoire.

So cue resizing mannequins with an electric knife and mini-sander, padding out cod pieces with tissue paper and fixing in props with fishing wire and suction cups

The exhibition is located in the foyer of Hippodrome Theatre.  You can just walk in and have a look around

Marvins Magical Mini Mart will be springing into action as part of Pop Up Shop on 47 Corporation Street, Birmingham.

Pop Up Shop on the ground floor will feature lots of independent retailers from Birmingham and Marvin’s Magical Mini Mart on the 1st floor will feature Ben Javens, Ruth Green, Love To Print, Focus Point Photography, Joe Rogers and Sarah Coulston

It will only be around for 3 days 24 - 26 September from 10 - 6pm.  So come along and see us hard at work in Marvin’s Magical Mini Mart

For more information about Pop Up Shop you can follow them on twitter here or join the Facebook group here

There has been a lot of debate recently about Birmingham’s Big City Plan.  I thought I’d wade into the debate and show my support for some really brilliant responses.

Lisa and Jenny at Capsule have put their response to the plan here.  I must agree with them wholeheartedly.  Living and working in Birmingham can seem like an uphill struggle. Last year I undertook a feasability study where I went to other cities to look at their designer maker scene.  I visited Bath, London, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol for a day and met with local organisations and designer makers and had a good wander around.

What I found made me a bit embarrassed about Birmingham.  In Manchester there was a scheme where groups of people were allowed to take over spaces in the city centre and set up shop. The spaces came with a sliding scale of business rates - super discounted for the 1st year, pay a bit more in the 2nd year and a bit more in the 3rd year.  This gave those who took the spaces a substaintial cut in their costs in the 1st year - the trickiest time.  As the discount ran for a number of years it also meant there was no shock rise.

I know that I don’t have any answers.  Craig Hamilton at Friends of The Stars has some good solutions here.  I particularly like the Birmingham Sauce Company idea and have a great plum chutney recipe which could be a contender for B14 sauce.

I must say that I love this city. I mean really love this city.  It’s my home and where I was born and I’m really proud to be a Brummie. What is great about this debate is that people obviously care about what happens in the city.  Lets just hope that the powers that be listen to what we’ve got to say.