No don't get me wrong - I have not just returned from a day's fishing off the beach at Perranuthnoe with a haul of weird and wonderful fish, the 'Weird Fish' I am referring to
is a quailty clothing brand that has style,individuality, a sense of fun and offers great value for money.
Weird Fish clothing is worn by men, women, and children. People wear Weird Fish for just about every activity; walking, sailing, gardening, shopping or just going to the pub/restaurant.
And - now I am excited to annouce that we have become stockists of Weird Fish!! Our first consignment arrived yesterday and today it is hanging on the rails in the Village Crafts shop.
Weird Fish ethics - direct from the company -
'We think we are an ethical company. we concentrate our ethical approach on the factories where our clothing is made.
We insist the all production of Weird Fish is based in the "home" and that all of the factories that we deal with are clean, modern and safe.In Turkey our production is mainly in 100% cotton fabrics. Cotton is a "natural crop" product and Turkey is one of the largest growers of cotton in the world. Any factory in Turkey that employs more than 30 people must by law provide them with a hot meal each day as well as transport to and from work.Weird Fish employs a full-time agent and three full-time quality controllers in Turkey. We are working with our suppilers daily and we are confident of their ethical behaviour.
In China and India we do not have full-time representation but we have a full-time very experienced quality control manager based in our UK offices who spends much of her time travelling to and working with the factories in these countries.
We use the same factories as some of the best known clothing brands and we make certain that all of our production is based in the "home" factory. We do not allow any manufacturer to sub-contract our work.We would like to think that all of our garments are produced from "green" organic sources, but this is very difficult to verify and we are not in this position yet.
What we can say is that the companies manufacturing Weird Fish clothing all employ adult workers in clean, modern conditions and pay a fair wage to their employees and this is the most important thing to us. '
To continue - The manufacturing industry in this country has been in decline for many years - and if things have to be made abroad then - they must be made on a fair trade basis.
At Village Crafts this has been our aim - and it will continue to be so
So come to our shop in Perranuthnoe if you can - we will be really pleased to see you.
Saturday 25 July 2009
Thursday 16 July 2009
How much more can it rain today!!
We are obviously paying for the few nice hot days we had last week. Today has been miserable, if this keeps up then we will all end up with web feet!
Still, knowing Cornwall, it won't last and soon we will have wonderful hot and steamy sunny days(fingers crossed). The beach will be full of families and there will be this endless stream of people going up and down the road past Perranuthnoe Village Crafts and the Craft Centre loaded with surf boards, wet suits, buckets and spades and towels not forgetting the sun cream to get a piece of the action.
Perranuthnoe beach is very good for surfing and a recent happening is that we now get bus loads (small buses) of new surfers coming with the surf school learning to surf. To me it doesn't look easy but then I have never really tried (some reference to hens/chickens here perhaps!). Often in the morning when surfing conditions are good and I am walking my dogs Layla and Sharna around the point at Perranuthnoe, there are sometimes up to 15 to 20 surfers out there enjoying themselves. Often I just stand and marvel at their tenacity and skill, they never seem to mind the cold - surfing Winter and Summer alike. What a wonderfully exhilirating pastime it is and I think that like Golf once you get the bug you are called whatever the weather.
Still, knowing Cornwall, it won't last and soon we will have wonderful hot and steamy sunny days(fingers crossed). The beach will be full of families and there will be this endless stream of people going up and down the road past Perranuthnoe Village Crafts and the Craft Centre loaded with surf boards, wet suits, buckets and spades and towels not forgetting the sun cream to get a piece of the action.
Perranuthnoe beach is very good for surfing and a recent happening is that we now get bus loads (small buses) of new surfers coming with the surf school learning to surf. To me it doesn't look easy but then I have never really tried (some reference to hens/chickens here perhaps!). Often in the morning when surfing conditions are good and I am walking my dogs Layla and Sharna around the point at Perranuthnoe, there are sometimes up to 15 to 20 surfers out there enjoying themselves. Often I just stand and marvel at their tenacity and skill, they never seem to mind the cold - surfing Winter and Summer alike. What a wonderfully exhilirating pastime it is and I think that like Golf once you get the bug you are called whatever the weather.
Wednesday 15 July 2009
Going for a paddle & looking for Bladderack
Today has been a lovely day, sunny and warm with people on the beach, swimming and just generally enjoying themselves. As we have both been working today Kevin and I are going to meander down to the beach shortly to look for Bladderack seaweed and also to have a paddle - good for the soul and for the feet!
I use the Bladderack I collect, after it is well washed, dried and chopped, as an addition to the Cornish Palm Natural Soap that I make. It gives the soap a truly local and Cornish element and the use of Seaweed improves the skin's texture and colour. It is packed with vitamins and minerals and is also very therapeutic.
The process of making soap is quite a long one and because I firstly need the Bladderack to dry and then the soap needs around 8 weeks to cure, my Seaweed Soap will not be ready for at least another couple of months - but just watch this space I will let you know when it is!!
I use the Bladderack I collect, after it is well washed, dried and chopped, as an addition to the Cornish Palm Natural Soap that I make. It gives the soap a truly local and Cornish element and the use of Seaweed improves the skin's texture and colour. It is packed with vitamins and minerals and is also very therapeutic.
The process of making soap is quite a long one and because I firstly need the Bladderack to dry and then the soap needs around 8 weeks to cure, my Seaweed Soap will not be ready for at least another couple of months - but just watch this space I will let you know when it is!!
Sunday 12 July 2009
The first week of the Summer Holidays
Monday, the first day of the Children's Summer Holidays and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather will be good. Perranuthnoe beach is a lovely safe beach within Mount's Bay, good for children, a wide sweeping beach with lots of sand and rock pools. Good for making sand castles, building moats and flying kites. Good for swimming and surfing too.
Down at Village Crafts, a new week begins with a new batch of visitors to the village and the area. Although I am often busying around doing a miriad of jobs I do love to be in the shop meeting people, coming from all round the world. Last week I served a couple from the Isle of Gotland off the coast of Sweden, famous for the Gotland breed of sheep. The lady was so interested in knitting and weaving which is indiginous to the island where she lives and like Cornwall there are heriditary knitting patterns and stiches which evolved originally from fishing communities. Like the Isle of Gotland many Cornish villages had their very own knitting stitch which when incorporated into fishing gansies (the Cornish word for a Jumper) and worn by the fishermen of the village was a form of identification should they be lost at sea. Quite clever and intuitive in a era when there were no Passports, Driving Licences or ID cards, perhaps we should all wear a Cornish Gansie, life would be so much easier.
The exclusive
'Mounts Bay Plate'
by Holly Jackson - unique to Village Crafts and to be found no where else in the country. Commissioned by myself Holly made these plates as a favour because they are really very expensive to produce. First she makes the plate and fires it. Then there are five layers of different coloured paint which is swirled to make the pattern, then the plate is again fired. Holly then chips out the design of St Michaels Mount and the lighthouse etc, once she is satisfied with the design she covers the plate again in a clear glaze which is fired again. Quite a process - so you will understand why these things are not cheap. Added to that is the fact that Holly Jackson is a former 'Troika'artist and each plate made has her Troika mark. To check this fact you can look her up on the following link. www.antique-marks.com/troika-pottery-marks.html
Holly Jackson plates are for sale in the Village Crafts shop priced from £35 to £50 each. If you wish to buy a plate please email us on perrancrafts@gmail.com and we will be pleased to hear from you.
Down at Village Crafts, a new week begins with a new batch of visitors to the village and the area. Although I am often busying around doing a miriad of jobs I do love to be in the shop meeting people, coming from all round the world. Last week I served a couple from the Isle of Gotland off the coast of Sweden, famous for the Gotland breed of sheep. The lady was so interested in knitting and weaving which is indiginous to the island where she lives and like Cornwall there are heriditary knitting patterns and stiches which evolved originally from fishing communities. Like the Isle of Gotland many Cornish villages had their very own knitting stitch which when incorporated into fishing gansies (the Cornish word for a Jumper) and worn by the fishermen of the village was a form of identification should they be lost at sea. Quite clever and intuitive in a era when there were no Passports, Driving Licences or ID cards, perhaps we should all wear a Cornish Gansie, life would be so much easier.
The exclusive'Mounts Bay Plate'
by Holly Jackson - unique to Village Crafts and to be found no where else in the country. Commissioned by myself Holly made these plates as a favour because they are really very expensive to produce. First she makes the plate and fires it. Then there are five layers of different coloured paint which is swirled to make the pattern, then the plate is again fired. Holly then chips out the design of St Michaels Mount and the lighthouse etc, once she is satisfied with the design she covers the plate again in a clear glaze which is fired again. Quite a process - so you will understand why these things are not cheap. Added to that is the fact that Holly Jackson is a former 'Troika'artist and each plate made has her Troika mark. To check this fact you can look her up on the following link. www.antique-marks.com/troika-pottery-marks.html
Holly Jackson plates are for sale in the Village Crafts shop priced from £35 to £50 each. If you wish to buy a plate please email us on perrancrafts@gmail.com and we will be pleased to hear from you.
Saturday 4 July 2009
Welcome to Perranuthnoe Village Crafts
Hi my name is Val and together with my partner Kevin we own and run our craft shop 'Perranuthnoe Village Crafts' in the heart of Perranuthnoe village. We began the business five years ago with no customers and for the first couple of years very little in the till at the end of each day but since then and with Kevin's patience and determination we have built up a village store where you can buy all manner of things. Free range eggs produced by Karen's chickens (they can be seen just off the track down to Trenow), fresh Bread every day, Cornish Milk and Butter, local Godolphin Honey, Cornish Apple Juice and finally Village Crafts own range of preserves.
And then there are all the local crafts, we now have work from well over 70 local artists and crafts people on display. There is a huge selection of local artist cards, prints and artwork and locally made pottery and wooden sculptures by Sam Vado. Annie's Angels take pride of place in a number of the gallery windows together with Ollie James paintings of St Michaels Mount.
Beautiful leather bags and hats from Owen Barry, and locally made jewellery by Debbie Lord, Carla Jennings and Lucy Kemp. Silver and gemstone rings, pendants and bracelets, Cornish Tin and Serpentine pendants and earings and locally made porcelain jewellery and buttons by Crispin.
There are books, childrens toys, music CD's from local musicians Sue Aston, Annie Henry and Medwin Goodall and fairtrade gifts and clothes. Needlework kits, knitting wool, Pachamama jackets and country clothing by Jack Murphy.
Only yesterday we had a delivery from Lyn Lovekin who makes the most fantastic willow baskets. Lyn lives within a couple of miles of Perranuthnoe, she grows her own willow which gives her basketwork a unique, distinctive and very Cornish appeal. She follows traditional methods and has replecated the Cornish Croust Box which the men of years gone by used to take down the tin mine or out into the fields with their lunch in it. It would also make a very handy work box too.
Lyn Lovekin's Traditional Cornish Croust Box - £95
available from Village Crafts
Lyn has also invented the Cornish Willow Back Pack which is unique to her own personal design, it is light to carry and very practical. A real talking point and a good means of carrying your picnic lunch.
Lyn Lovekin's Cornish Willow Back Pack £95.00
from Village Crafts Perranuthnoe
Village Crafts in Perranuthnoe is now becomming 'the place to go' by local residents and by visitors to the area. Many visitors return year after year and often they make a special journey to come and see us again and many have become friends.
This is what is special about Village Crafts - it's all about people, not only those whose crafts we display in the shop or those that call in for a quick greetings card and gift but also those who seek us out by recommendation. The word is out Perranuthnoe is the place to visit - why not come and find us we would love you to call in and if you do say Val invited you.
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