The Golden Age of Travel

Just because I didn't post yesterday (after managing 47 days straight) doesn't mean I'm dead, or I've quit craft, or I was kidnapped. It just means life with Little Jack and Cravings Frocks results in days where I don't have time to think straight. I've been claiming that since Little Jack was weaned I've lost three kilos with no other change in routine. What hadn't occurred to me is that Little Jack was weaned on the day of my first market stall, and I've been running around like a headless chook ever since!

A quote from Your Home Business which stuck in my head is, "You're kidding yourself if you think you can run a business from home alongside small children, unless you can run that business on two hours' work a day." In the next edition there's going to be a photo of me and Little Jack to illustrate that chapter. I can get a fair bit done in two hours a day, but it's a pretty high octane two hours, bookended by several high octane hours of Little Jack care.

If I wanted or needed, I could also sew in the evening between Little Jack's bedtime and my bedtime, but I do sometimes like to be in the same room as Hubby T, and my sewing room is very isolated (and cold and dark). When I do develop a need for more work time I'll try to commit to a schedule of sewing during the day and doing emails/internet 'research'/blogging in the evenings in front of the telly. But for the moment I'm surviving.

During an after-hours visit to Ikea last night (with local WAHM comrade Margaret Konstant Kaos) I purchased an aptly-named Nostalgisk box to stand my cushions in on my market stall.

I love the stitching detail, which gives it the feel of an old suitcase or steamer trunk.

This box has given me the epiphany I've needed while hunting for my market stall aesthetic - The Golden Age of Travel. I find W Class trams attractive because of their art deco style. I watch Poirot as my weekly treat, with its stylish art deco opening sequence and steaming Orient Express, and still it's taken me this long to make the connection. This is what I need to bring to my stall. I've already been doing it a little, without fully realising it, using my silver tea cups and 30s-style makeup case for displaying small items. But now that I've adopted a theme, I have a key phrase to refer back to whenever I'm searching for new stall equipment.

I've dug out a collection of GAoT postcards which were part of a matching calendar Mum gave me a few years back. Finding the calendar is my next task - it wasn't in the first two places I looked, so locating my Old Calendar Collection may be a full-scale quest. I'm not sure if I'll frame some of the pictures or fold them into boxes or simply refer to it for inspiration.

I was already counting on a visit to the London Transport Museum Shop during our October UK trip. Now I might be able to claim my purchases as tax deductions!

I adore the shop but have never actually set foot in the museum. This time could be different - maybe Toddler Jack will want to see the Choo Choos. He's not yet interested in machinery, which is a pity because there's jackhammering going on outside our house today.

Now it's way past time I got dressed and started on my morning of housework, before I can get down to some serious sewing.

[ETA] Hooray! My Old Calendar Collection was in the fourth place I checked.