The Plot thickens......

Our allotment,

our sunny escape, 

down the road 

and up the hill,

has given such a different dimension to our lives. 

Its an amazing achievement that together we have dug, sown, watered and attended our pending Spring yield, considering what the plot looked like when it was handed over! 

If you remember, from my Spring post  it was a humungous pitch looking more like a field than a site ready for cultivation but with immense toil and determination, it now looks blinkin great and we have even sewn our Summer crops: more beetroot, and endive (looking forward to that with a strong cheese and walnut salad!), white carrots and two varieties of spinach

- I can feel that popeye energy searing through my veins just thinking about it! 

onions

potatoes

potatoes

Cecilia & more potatoes

The Big Launch

My oh my! Its been a long tiiiiime!

I'm going to be very honest and tell you that I have found it extremely difficult keeping up with every social media platform I choose to use, particularly in the last couple of months.

I celebrated my mum's 70th birthday in Spain (again!), travelled to the weaving villages of Indonesia and moved home all in the month of September!

Since then I have been unpacking, seeking out a local last minute nursery for my Cecilia, bedding in the cat who's 'new' life has been unfortunately sabotaged by a five-fold family gang of cats next door (there goes her screaming at the patio door thumping the window....poor Tinks!) all whilst preparing diligently for the Big cuvcuv Launch - life has been full on and rather hectic and as they say, everything literally does happen at once! 

Its important I continue with my blog because its the most efficient way of communicating the whole story, so what better way to update than to plug the great show that I am to be launching at! 
The East London Design Show

This year it is their Twentieth Year Anniversary 
and it is taking place in a bigger and better location, The Truman Brewery, 

just off Brick Lane, a Bengali curry haven! (Check out the sweet and particularly savoury delights of Ambala......heavenly and hot!)

I used to live around the corner from here for a year in 2009/10 when I came back from travelling. Its a very cool area, oozing trend and hip! Beards and brogues, loafers and tatts, big hair, silk scarves and lippy! I would frequent the local greasy caff and share HP sauce with Gilbert & George 

who reside in Fournier Street famous for its Farrow and Ball hues!! teehee! so I'm uber excited to be lugging my boxes into an urban field of young designers and surrounding myself with 'tomorrow's talent today'!!

Its going to be the best year!! I am one of more than 38 new brands joining this year amongst approx 130 designers from all over the country and from afar!! There is an array of various categories to browse including my particular favourites: 

Alice Mara

cute cruet set

Studio Kimono 

want it love it!

Emily Maude

elegant illustration

and Katy and June  who I was looking at supplying Fortnum's a few years ago - so sweeeeet! A great curation of stationery

love these pop up cards 

And on my Christmas list this year will be Osbelk & Co - a newby at the show 

yes please!

stunning colour combo!

and I think these hot gold numbers would suit me and frankly a lot of my friends perfectly! That teal colour sneaks in and works so well in Esska Shoe Designs

And what better way to start or even finish your Christmas shopping choosing from homewares, women and men's fashion accessories, children's toys and clothing and lots of jewellery!! 

I have been a punter at this show as a former buyer and as a customer and I always find a little gem! 

It is seriously child friendly, with a dedicated create space, play area and baby changing facilities! Last year Cecilia made a mask, ate cake and got glittery sticky - brilliant! 
This year there's an extended craft workshop area and the launch of a fabulous food hall. 

Its a massive space so you can make a day of it!

 Theres even djs and a tipple! come on you know you want to! 

I have a 2 for 1 voucher that I will be sharing on my facebook and twitter at the end of this week and I will be holding a competition for free tickets too so watch this space..........this 
show is not to be missed!!!!!

A label of love

So, what am I up to here at cuvcuv? I thought it was about time to update you as its been a few weeks, sorry! and theres lots to tell!

I have been embroiled in the task of sourcing eco friendly fabric, custom made cuvcuv labels in the UK which has proved particularly difficult to complete on time. 
I'm really quite shocked that no one (yet to my knowledge) is offering that service. If anyone does know of a source, then please share the details as I have had to take the job on myself! Equally, if anyone wishes to take it on, there's an obvious gap in the UK market to print on fabric other than polyester! I'm sure there's other companies that wish to use an alternative. 
In the end I sourced 100% organic grass hemp by the meter, exactly what I was looking for, from The Hemp Shop who were so prompt with their next day deliveries, thank goodness, as its all been a bit hair-raisingly last minute! Next was to create a cuvcuv stamp which was fairly easy thanks to the internet. 

materials at the ready

measuring 60mm x 30mm

pencil dotting in straight lines along the weft of the fabric

.

working in a fabric shop post Uni came in handy when cutting 1000s of labels straight

100s and 100s

Really pleased with them!

that box was soon overflowing

packed to send to Indonesia

how it will look on a cuvcuv table runner

I have to say it was a fairly long and laborious mission to undertake; sizing up, stamping and cutting out 2500 labels with dimensions of 60mm x 30mm that my back ached and my eyes stung but to be honest, it was necessary and worth it. Luckily I get to see them in two weeks' time when I visit Lana's workshop. 

Athough my business planning has been in great detail, there's just some things you can not plan for. Which makes me now think my business plan is a bit like my birth plan - bears no resemblance to what actually happens...........ohhh noooooo!!!!

'Its all a learning' as they say and that saying assumes greater prevalence the older I get.

Truly Stylish Tapas Tasting

I flew off to Espagna with a huge spring in my step in the knowledge that there was an abundance of work to be done following cuvcuv's Big News!

Luckily, it was far too hot to do anything but sit at my computer in the afternoons in the muggy city of Valladolid yet relished the thought of taking a stroll down the river when tasks were accomplished to reward ourselves with a couple of tapas and a vino rosado.

I've been frequenting Valladolid since my sister moved there six years ago and I still can not believe how cheap it is for the most delicious food! from 1 euro to 4 euros for haute cuisine and you are literally in shock when its time to pay........!!! 

sliced gherkins filled with tuna topped with roasted pepper & an olive

lemon stuffed olives with pickled anchovies

chopped pepper & onion filled mussels

Russian salad on a big 'prawn' cracker!

oops! all 5 varieties of croquetas scoffed! langoustine, black pudding, goats cheese, jamon & chorizo  

the biggest freshest perfectly cooked squid rings

incredibly tasty seafood salad & tortilla

  

octopus, guerkin, sweet peppers & olives

vino rosado perfecto 

chipies - lightly deep fried squid n a hot chilli oil - to die for!

My sister lives in a great Spanish city where 'fashion tapas' is all the rage! There are two bars that I love to frequent  that serve up the most exquisite tiny plate food for very little dinero!

fashion tapas!

amazing shredded fish 'Angulas' translated as eels in Spanish but they're not actually!!

octopus

veal in a sweet sauce wrapped in courgette - unbelievable!

can you believe this is savoury?!!

I loved totting up how much the bill would have come to in London.......and I'm not kidding when I say sometimes it was ten times as much!!!

big news!

Happiness in the cuvcuv house is......

........finally being able to place orders with Lana and the factory in Yogyakarta!

I'm ecstatic that everything is now actually happening
I have been working so hard on the monster plan and through all the stress, blood, sweat and tears.......
someone is taking me seriously and I finally have the support necessary to launch

I cant believe it!

I've been imagining the feeling I'd have when I can push the button on production, book my flight to Indonesia to discuss what's next, plan my India trip to rediscover the bangle makers I found in a remote village in Rajasthan and as tears filled my eyes in Kings Cross St Pancras station at 11am on 5th July 2013, it hit me that when you challenge yourself to make something happen, your dreams really can come true.

As we conducted our meeting in a faux English garden setting sat in deck chairs, drinking tea, it became apparent that cuvcuv was about to be catapulted into its next development stage of life and as my heart pumped......my smile just got wider and wider! 

I've had my cuvcuv since I was born, I still have it...........I dont know what I'd do without it. It's the most personal item I have and that's why my company has taken it's name. It's not childish or silly but loved and cherished, incredibly soft still but now rather ripped, it's organic. 

I aspire to make cuvcuv global and to be in many many people's lives! 

Revolution Viv - I love you!

"The fight is no longer between the classes or between rich and poor but between the idiots and the eco-conscious"

love the strikingly bright colours

slouchy light and comfy

beautiful and sparkly