Hello again
I am back!
Yup that’s me, up there in that pic, victorious in The Battle of the Foliage.
Before….
…..I begin September’s update, a quick explanation….I feel bad. I used to write this newsletter weekly, when I was styling my own shoots for content (and spending hours photographing and editing them, which I totally loved). But circumstances change, as they often do and since starting the business of Interior Spy, I have been very lazy on the newsletter. So, sorry about that but now I aim to write a monthly one. Aim to.
Anyway, the reason why I put an alarmingly large and and fuzzy picture of myself up is really just to say hello, and a little reminder of what or who Interior Spy actually is. I source handwoven homewares from sub-Saharan Africa (for more on that, head to the About page). I supply interior designers and retail customers alike and to facilitate this, I have an online retail platform (the main body of my site). Unless otherwise specified, all pix are shot and styled by me.
To ‘get my brand out there’, I curate spaces: pop ups/fairs/festivals with my collection, where everyone is welcome to browse and generally just hang out. Sometimes I team up with other brands, sometimes the spaces are unique to I Spy. I am going to start a ‘home styling’ service with my collection too, soon to be on my site. That is phase one million three hundred thousand and seventy four but hopefully you will see it up there soon (I am really fast).
But I owe you all an update of recent curated spaces – and a date for your September diaries.
The last thing I shouted about was I Spy’s collaboration with the CAMFED garden and Alitex Greenhouses at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show . The coincidence that there was a Zimbabwe garden at Chelsea was just weird. I discovered this by looking at the all the show gardens on the RHS website and got in touch. That the garden was associated with CAMFED, the charity who develops female education in sub-Saharan Africa, was even more of a co-incidence since it transpires that some of the women’s groups in Zimbabwe who are supported by CAMFED, are the same groups that I Spy supports. Now that IS weird. Looking ahead CAMFED and I Spy have started what promises to be a great relationship. Watch this space.
Onto June then, where I had the tiniest stand known to man, at the House & Garden Festival but filled with the most enormous amount of furniture and accessories. I’ll be honest, I do find it REALLY hard to NOT allow my stand resemble a bazaar…I am learning and I must be doing something right as I was thrilled to be awarded runner up Best Stand by the absolute bible of interiors, House & Garden. Woo Hoo! Thanks guys! Big love.
Racing forward to July/August and I decided rather last minute to make a family event of the next festival…Wilderness, at Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire. This was LOTS of fun particularly because their red tape is very loose, as fairs go. I could open the tent when I wanted, close when I wanted and no pressure to be anywhere. Dancing ’til dawn? Ah ha, yes that’s SO me.
As if! I was safely tucked up ‘in bed’ pre midnight.
The downside to camping (there are many I know) meant that I still had to sort out my disastrous bed head every morning, rapidly before I was seen public. I made friends with a cold tap, hooked up to a water supply, behind the venison burger joint. The poor bloke was a little confused as he went out to wash his greasy pans early in the morning, and found a weirdo upside down, Kiehl’s Almond Shampoo in hand. Oh and the swimming! Ahhhh, a quick dip every morning instead of showering left me refreshed and ready for ‘the hard sell’, AKA lounging about in our Malawi Loveseat trying to read. Damn those customers!
So, as we bask in the end of summer, and lurch towards my favourite season (love all those rusts and burnt tones), I Spy’s strategy is very unlike last year. You won’t see me at a single Xmas fair and if I do suddenly feel the urge, I’ll let you know via this MONTHLY newsletter.
Enjoy the snaps. As ever, let me know if you have any queries on products.
Here’s a date to start with.
