Crafty in the Med

I am here to enjoy meeting other bloggers and to share my love of craft ,mostly crochet, my thoughts and my daily happenings here in Alicante,Spain, my adopted country. I belong to a local choir because singing and music makes me happy. Flea markets and book shops are two of my favourite places to be. I read lots......sci´fi/fantasy,buried treasure, and off world adventures. I have a passion for history! I walk and walk and walk for about 10 months per year during the hot months I swim.

Tuesday, 21 August 2012

Little shop in Spain


Hello to you all,

Firstly, I would like to give a big THANK YOU to all those followers who have helped by kindly checking their blog rolls over the last two days to see if my blog icon had reappeared on their lists. It seems the problem has now been sorted but for the life of me I cannot tell you how. I'm wondering now if the glitch was caused by BLOGGER itself.



The last few days have been quite tiresome starting with that stupid glitch and then Sunday afternoon  when someone broke into our car and stole a make-up bag from the glove compartment. I don't use it for make-up but to hold the detachable front panel of the car digital radio and mp3 player! What a pain! Its of no use to the thief at all as the rest of the radio/player is fitted in the car but it is to me! I now have to see if I can buy another panel or have to buy the whole player again. Unfortunately too..... surprise surprise..... our insurance does not cover theft of personal possessions within the car only of the car itself tch!!!  We were beginning to count our blessings this morning that we leave nothing of real value in the car and that the car itself wasn't stolen either when Sr P discovered that his RayBan sunglasses are gone too!

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In an effort to change my tune and to a more agreeable one at that I thought you would enjoy this post I had previously prepared for publishing.

I'm very much in favour of giving my custom to the small shopkeepers; what with the recession and the large stores engulfing them they are having a rough time. Nonetheless I have to be honest and say I also get a lot back from being a regular at some of the small shops in this area.

It occurred to me that I could present Marie Carmen the person responsible for most of my crafting supplies to you . She has allowed me to interview her and take photographs of her little shop; a very amusing experience for both of us  :-)

Marie Carmen has a small shop in a very busy street in the Florida Plaza de la Viรฑa neighbourhood  within Alicante City. Its situated about 10 minutes walk away from my flat so its quite near ,although I hesitate to say if this is practical or not. It is practical distance wise but not economically wise for me, as I walk past it much too frequently and am too often tempted to go in.
Its certainly a very well known shop in the neighborhood and you must know if you wish to buy in Mari's shop you have to be prepared to wait as she is always busy. She's busy because she has a lot of customers and not because she is slow!
I think Mari is a multi-tasking perfection I've never seen anyone move so fast and able to see to several customers at once and chat at the same time. I'm inclined to think she is popular as well as busy because her little shop offers more than just products for sale.
Merceria y Corseteria (haberdashery and Lingerie shop) Mabe (named after her daughter) has been open for 20 years.  I have known her personally for about 12 years now.
Her motto is she has everything in the haberdashry line but if she hasn't got it she'll get it.

Merceria & Corseteria Mabe  Calle Astronomo Comas Sola Nยบ 20 Alicante Spain

Monday afternoons are craft circle afternoons and from 5:30 to 8:00pm crafters come along to show off their makes,to learn from others and to get craft tips and advice. They sit,chat and knit,crochet sew and mingle.
Shopping and being a regular at Marie's shop means joining in the conversation,sharing your knowledge,popping around behind the counter yourself to pick up the wool you want or reaching up and getting the box with your size or grabbing something from a hanger and trying it on in the dressing room with a "just trying this on a minute" shout as you go around the back.

Unfortunately this relaxed somewhat bygone trust filled shop keeper & customer relationship was marred a couple of years ago as Mari had to have an automatic door opener bell fitted to get in and out of her little shop. She makes it sound comical when she relates why she had to have the door bell fitted. Those many incidents of how people tried to steal lingerie and nightwear by placing the item between their knees under a dress or skirt and trying to waddle out of the shop and Mari having to tackle the person to get the garment back. As she laughs and describes those situations one can denote in her tone an apology which I surmises is for having to have the door bell and an underlying tone of regret mixed with annoyance.

Its not a tidy shop. It isn't very big either some would say pokey although there is plenty of light and colour there. In fact the shop has an abundance of colour! Its a shop filled with......... things from floor to ceiling and one should never turn away to leave thinking that as you can't see the item you are after that she does not have it!  Its imperative you ask and ten times out of ten she does have it...tucked away!



Amanda :-)


25 comments:

  1. Wow! That is a FABULOUS shop. We have almost no yarn shops here...

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  2. Sorry to hear about the car break in. Someone many years ago broke into mine, rummaged around but didn't steal anything! Does that prove that all my stuff isn't worth stealing! Fab shop!
    June

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  3. so sorry for the car break.....luckily no car steal!
    The shop seems fantastic to me: thank you for sharing even the "funny" news!!!
    Have a good day, xxx Alessandra

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  4. Lovely shop, I wish we had a yarn shop in my little town. Probably best we don't, lol. Sorry about the car break in.

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  5. How wonderful,we have a funny old shop here with a craft corner and antiques the rest of the shop.but in that corner there is just an amazing aray...thanks for this post i loved it.

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    1. fantastic ...I really do like those sort of shops that carry everything practically!!

      A xx

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  6. Any personal items here taken by a vehicle break-in are covered under homeowner property insurance, less the deductible of course. Hope your vehicle wasn't damaged also. Very busy looking, fun shop.

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  7. How nice your friend let you photo her little shop...I love it! I like those kind of shops...you can find the best things there! so sorry to hear about your car.... I can remember we could leave our doors unlocked cause these types of things just didn't happen
    Hope your week goes better! Shari!

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  8. Amanda, so sorry about your vehicle break in. It is always something, isn't it? Hope you can get it resolved soon. On the other hand, I have to tell you I am so jealous!!! LOL And homesick!!! I could spend hours in that store looking around at all the merchandise. Look at all that ribbon! :) My mom was a seamstress since she was barely 15 years old, so I remember spending many afternoons in little shops like this one looking at hilo y lana. OOOOOH! I miss home!!! :)

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  9. This sounds like my kind of shop! And you can just walk there, which is great. When I go shopping it always involves car travel and highways. It would be nice to live in a city where everything is so near.
    Take care
    Lynne

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    1. Citylife!!! I'd swap anyday....give me less hustle and bustle!

      A xx

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  10. What a pain about the break in! We had a paper craft shop, gave it up June of last year. I loved the sense of community we had, but also suffered from theft :(

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  11. Wow that looks like a fabulous little shop Amanda and right on your doorstep too! So sorry to hear about your car break in too.
    Victoria xx

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  12. I´m sorry to hear about that break in. I hope you can replace everything soon!
    That craft shop looks wonderful, I wish there would be such a shop near my place too.
    Have a great day! xxxBarbina

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  13. This shop looks like a place I could wander forever in:-) The nights have begun to be cooler and I have pulled out my knitting, but I'm anxiously awaiting when it's time for a great crochet afghan to begin!
    I'm sorry this world has come down to not trusting anyone--it's not natural and certainly not in my personality, but I understand why people take the precautions. Thank you for sharing a piece of your community with me. XOXO

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  14. I love the look of that shop but so sad that some people would steal stuff, maybe I'm just naive, I think being a shopkeeper would rid you of all naivety though wouldn't it. Shame. Lovely to see a corner of your world Amanda....xxx

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  15. Hi Amanda - just a flying visit to let you know I have nominated you for an award! Will read your post later - Yvonne xx

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  16. It sounds a truly delightful place to be and while away the odd hour or two. The colours look like a sweetie shop. Lovely!!

    Arwedd xx

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  17. I feel so sorry for what happend to you!Nice shop!Have a lovely week Amanda!Greetings from Athens!!

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  18. Funny story about the door, the shop look slovely and I would be in there all the time,
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  20. Oh what a wonderful shop! I surely know I would want to be in there forever!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
    Also thank you for visitting my blog and your kind words mean a great deal to me!
    Best wishes to you.
    Hugs, LS

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  21. Oh, this sounds like my kind of shop! One of the best quilt shops I've ever been to had bolts of fabric piled so high....That, heaven forbid, there was ever an earthquake....I would be buried alive.
    Thanks for giving me a chuckle, my sweet friend!
    Smiles,
    Carolynn xo

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  22. Hi

    Would you know about any yarn shops in the region from Alicante and in Alicante besides this one and in the direction towards Murcia and Torrevieja ( I live partially in torrevieja )
    Also do you know about stitch and bitch in Torrevieja or in this area?
    And you know where I can order yarn and knitpro symphonie and cubics knitting needles in spain?
    You can email me privately on ninajeanette2@hotmail.com too if you want.
    I don't know if I get an email after you have answered here?
    I m also desperately looking for beads in 7mm and 8mm which the most important one and maybe 9mm for my lace knitting projects.
    Hope to hear from you soon, I d love some knitting friends here in spain :)
    And I m thinkin of traveling into Alicante next Monday ( not the 6th but next one..)

    Luv nina

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Thank you for your comments. I do read them and try to reply to all as well.Please keep them coming. Amanda :-)