.... skiffling with Quinns Quinney

"A tin lid hit on suitcase green, 

The fastest strumming you've ever seen, 

A reel of whistle, a lick of guitar,

banjo, watering can and more by far" 

Rob. F

If you have seen a happy band of noise makers; banjo players, penny whistlers, wash board tinklers, with a double bass in tow and a merry lead singer trumpeting from a watering can, you have probably already heard the unique rural sound of Quinns Quinney. These skiffle, twiddling, suitcase banging musicians have become good friends. Many evenings have been enjoyed drinking cider and stamping our feet to the merry beat of their songs; from 'My Tractors on Fire' to 'Rural Spaceman', our well loved 90's hits have been given a good dose of rural Dorset spirit.

Here is a short vid I made at one of their most recent gigs (sorry it is a bit dark) ;

You can hear more of their songs  here

Local musicians on the festival/folk scene often jump on stage and join the band. But Quinns Quinney is currently;

I was chuffed to be asked to scribble some doodles for their album cover if you match the names
to the musicians in the suitcase, you should be able to work out who is who. 

(CD's available to buy at all gigs) 

Want to hear them for yourselves? Then they are competing with many others at BUSKERS BASH 4 CASH this Saturday in Wimborne from 11- 4pm. Where many musicians are competing for a spot in the finals which will be held in the Allendale Centre from 7pm. The buskers are scored by the public who can purchase a voting pack. Info here. 

They have every chance of winning this event, but if you are in the area they would give you a cheer if you were to give them your vote. Keep your eye out on their myspace/ Fb page for future gigs. 

QQ Catalogue poses to advertise new T's! Work it!

They will also be playing at this years Wonky Donk Festival and Purbeck Folk festival, I will be blogging about these soon! Thinking about the memories of last year I really really can't wait for this summer to arrive. 

Wonky Donk Festival 2012

 

Have a great weekend! 

Gem x

..teaching my sister how to throw a pot!

At the beginning of the hols my sister came to stay. Like me she has found a love for playing with clay and is a regular at the Hackney Farm pottery. But hasn't yet mastered the wheel, so I booked us in for a couple of hours at Trad Pots Pottery in Lytchett so I could show her how to do it! (With some expert help from Mark Baker the Potter)  I have been coming to a weekly evening class here for the last 3 years and I really enjoy it. If your are ever in sunny Dorset this little pottery is bursting with lots of lovely pots made by Mark and other local artists. I love pottery I could do it all day, one day maybe that is what I will do!

Here is a little vid of our throwing fun!

Kylie arms deep in clay! 

Whilst Kylie was on the wheel I used the time to sand down my most recent projects 

and started on the under glazing. 

One of Kylie's finished Pots! (I think I have some twin competition) 

Current Projects ready for final clear glaze before their final firing in the kiln.

Some of my finished work (invading every spare surface in my room) 

Newest Creature to hatch from the Kiln

Finding lots of uses for my multiplying pots - Nut pot! 

Cactus pots! 

Suspicious Hippo - Looking after my pennies in his tum! 

Over the summer I am going to get myself organised and get some of my pots onto Folksy.

Have any of you started selling your wares? I would love to hear from 

you if you have any advice. 

Gem x

......making little cinematic wedding vids

 Hitting 30 it is no surprise that weddings are the biggest occasions on my calendar. I have been so lucky in the last couple of year's to share some amazing moments with my closest friends. This year started with one of my best friend's Jo being proposed to on the beach, followed by big girly screams of excitement when I got invited to be a bridesmaid! This year is going to be great fun, but busy!! I have just come back from an Aladdins cave of wedding dresses at Daisy Bridal in Boscombe. Even though I am not the one to get married, weddings seem to be at the forefront of my mind at the moment. I am currently on a mission editing together a short film of another good friend's Summer wedding in Devon last August. My friend Emma will be making a fleeting visit from New Zealand in a couple of weeks and I would really love to be able to give her the film face to face! I have had a rough cut since last summer but now I have a deadline I am super motivated to get it done!

 

Maria has been helping me by finding me some inspiration, from our favourite bloggers!




The lovely James from Bleubird vintage wedding video is simply gorgeous!!


 

And the very talented Elsie from A Beautiful mess blog - Again very inspiring! 

 So here is the very start of my little wedding video for Emma - I was not the official video artist.  I just captured some moments throughout the day, and said I would make a little cinematic Momento. The still photography in this blog post and film were captured by Emma's friend David Roberts.

 

I would love to hear what you think! Gem x