And now for something completely different!

Spotty whoppers! Ha! Ha! I couldn't stop laughing last night when I thought of that.....anyway.

 These awesome buttons are.....well....awesome! I love them! They're over sized, ridiculous and fun! What else do we need to be cheered up.

I have them for sale at Once In The North 2 on Etsy and CreativeStores - which is a new online market place full of crafty artisans who are brimming with talent.

I will take a bundle to the Vintage Wedding Fair in Kendal, Cumbria......I actually can't find the details right now. Some business woman I am hey? I promise to sort this very soon. So, I know these buttons are far from vintage- but there is nothing stopping you from using them to jazz up a tired cardy, a bag, or make them into a brooch. LETS GET CREATIVE!!!!

OH! And by the way......May the 4th be with you!!

Lets make- Monday

Today is a making day, it has to be, I have no choice!!!!!!
After being filled with so much self doubt last week and having a right old but much needed big twine, I now feel that things are starting to take place.

Wonderful things have happened of late- I have been approached by a number of business' to sell my products at Trade, which I am happy to do but more of that another time.

This weekend was a fantastic weekend! My self esteem was given an enormous boost at a lovely craft fair. To start with the organisers were such lovely and warm hearted people, they made the day a positive one and everyone was in a jolly, festive mood. I stood and chatted all day to many interesting people................................and I sold lots!!! In fact I almost sold out!!! Hence "Lets make Monday" as I have two more craft fairs coming up- eek! The best feeling for me is that because I was busy during the week leading up to the fair I didn't have chance to reduce my prices, so everything went for my original asking price. YAY!!  Everyone I spoke to appreciated "Handmade" and the fact that what I do is not mass produced. Finally!!

So yesterday was a mad dash for stash to the nearest haberdashery open on a Sunday in Carlisle! Not that I'm complaining because these places are my therapy, I really wish I had the money to own one. MMMMM! (Dreaming)

Nom! Nom! What a wonderful sight? My glimpsers can't quite believe it- buttons, fabric, colour and chocolate coins!!!! I especially love the colours of the zips, I sold out of bags so these will come in handy.

I would like to say thank you to the ladies from Hebden Bridge who were full of sewing knowledge, and to the lady who I think would have bought everything on my stall. You are rare gems!

Here's a picture I thought I would just throw in for pleasure. This is the view opposite my house this morning, it's very cold but beautiful and I feel very lucky.

Ok coffee then work. I think I am going to be glued to my sewing machine for the next few days.

Props!

Crimbo craft fair season is well and truly upon me now, to put it mildly I've basically been working my buns off in order to have well stocked and delicious looking displays. However I have managed to grab a moment today to take some pics of the lovely props I use at craft fairs

I love my tired, old, battered vintage hat boxes. I've had them for over twenty years and once upon a time when I was a really cool art student I used to use them as suit cases, boy did I look cooler than cool. Ha! Ha! Now I use them as attractive storage for my work I also sit them on my tables at craft fairs and I will place my lavender pillows or my bags in them. They really are a stunning feature.

                            

This is my favourite curly metal work bowl which was a present from my mum. I used to use it as a fruit bowl but I don't anymore because I just like looking at it, I usually fill it with baubles at Christmas and that looks super lovely. On my stalls I fill it with pin cushions or Make-Your-Own Kits, I think during these festive fairs I'm going to fill it with my Ogee decorations.

LOOK! What my lovely other half  bought me on Saturday. EEEE!!!!! A gorgeous super stunning Cath Kidston three tier cake stand. As yet I'm not sure what I'm going to display on it- I'm thinking maybe buttons and pins? I know that I love it and I nearly cried when I took it out of the box just at the sheer beauty of it. I feel very lucky!

So wish me luck for tomorrow night- Queen Katherine School, Kendal, Cumbria, 6-9pm. I'm also planning on taking all of my stock so I will be closing  my on-line shops tomorrow for the day.

Phew! Time to catch up.

Hello! I'm back, but only very briefly. I have been so busy lately well I should really say sew busy. For the past few months I have spent every waking minute (or it has felt like it)  pinning, cutting, sewing,  doing applique projects and then embellishing everything with buttons or ribbons......I really put my back into it. Literally! I ended up with the worst back ache I have ever encountered. It was all in honour of this wonderful craft fair that I was privileged to be part of- Nostalgia Meets Design!

I'm sorry to say that this is the only image I have from the event. As organised as I try to be such as blogging about craft events beforehand to drum up some interest, when it came down to it I simply ran out of time and steam. When the day came it was actually a relief to sit down for the entire day. I put so much effort into producing beautiful good quality work that I think I wore myself out. Anyway I'll stop twining because it paid off I sold lots of lovely things and I've been asked to supply to Trade! Which is the direction I want to go in.

Here is a taster of what I was selling

A sexy festive table runner! Ooh! La! La!

Lovely lavender pillows. ZZZZZZ!

Funky Gingerbread Men decorations! I know a few other designers are making these but this is my version!

Christmas Tree decorations- these went down very well

Pom-pom bunting.

I also made a few kits basically because every time I do a craft event I always hear somebody saying "Oh! You can make that yourself" This really winds me up! I'm convinced these types of people never go on to actually make anything, or if they try they'll never produce the quality that I strive for!! Not that any body said it at the Nostalgia Meets Design or NMD as us in the know call it. HA! HA! Thats a joke!

I sold Christmas Tree kits and Gingerbread Men kits.

Here we have my Christmas goody bags. They are packed with buttons, bows, a string of eight pom-poms and festive shiny sequins! I'm selling them here  

http://folksy.com/items/978341-Christmas-Supplies-Goody-Bag-?shop=yes

I shall try to blog more often, as Toyah once said "It's a mystery to me...." how some folks manage to sew, make, produce, then list it all in their on-line shops, blog about their new creations and find the time to be a parent!!! Answers on a post card please!!!! 

Another Busy Craft Fair

I think it's been over a month since my last blog post. No I'm not slacking off! I've been busy, busy! Sewing, printing, organising and all because of a mammoth three day craft fair event that has just taken place. Well it was in fact a Flower Show at Holker Hall heres a link to their home page http://www.holker.co.uk/metadot/index.pl?id=2171and very posh it was too!!

I'm posting some pics but my brain and its thinking power are still recovering so there will be very few words.



This is my stall, after three days it felt like home. It was hard work getting the fabric, bunting and prints up and organised but I was really pleased with the final result. It was bright and colourful, Lady Cavendish stopped and said it was cheery which is a lovely response.

Bags of bags, chillies and my daughter Astrid! (OH! I can also see a coffee and a Danish). Someone bought my favourite bird bag. Boo! Hoo! You can see it here under the large purple chilli print. I nearly never put it out because I wanted to keep it, at least its gone to a good home. I've decided to make more as it was a very popular point of discussion and a huge number of lovely people admired it.

It was an eventful weekend- I've been asked to do four more shows and approached by two shops. Thumbs up from me!! Oh and hopefully we'll get lots of orders for prints on canvas

I sat next to these cushions for most of the weekend. What you can't tell from the photo is that some of them are filled with lavender and the hotter the marquee got the more potent the smell became, of course the smell was beautiful but it sent me very woozy!

This is the lovely and very funny Caroline Nash. She is such a talented crafts person check her out on Folksy @ http://folksy.com/shops/carolinenashcrafts

This is Gwen Bainbridge also very lovely and funny- I'm convinced this is something to do with designers working in ceramics. She kept me going all weekend because these events do have their tedious moments. Check Gwen out here http://www.gwenbceramics.co.uk/

So now I have a massive list of things to

• Spend more time with my girls
• Get out more
• Tidy up my house and find out where the smell is coming from
• Tidy up my neglected and sorry looking Etsy shop (I've some new ideas for that)
• Blog more and give away some fancy prizes

My Crafty Fair Weekend

I've uploaded some pics of my marathon craft fair weekend. I call it a marathon because of the distance between the two events (Lake District to nearly the Yorkshire Dales). It was pretty hectic and very busy. I sold some small bits and pieces and gave away plenty of price lists for our photographs on canvas side of the business. I always wish I could sell more at these sort of events..... don't we all!! I've learnt that people are still not willing to part with much money and an average amount a customer will spend is between £7.00- £8.00, but I always try to tempt them with gorgeous things.
ME!

More me

(I'm not fond of getting my picture taken so I usually clown around. However I'm now starting to think that I should act sensibly because in MANY years to come how will I explain myself to my grandchildren!!!)

Ian from allfusedglass

Lisa from enchanted-wood

Me again at Dent on Saturday morning and with a lesson learnt- not me though my other lovely half! Lots of lovely crafters have blogged valuable craft fair advice lately, my one piece of advice is to be organised. Make lists of everything you need, start it a few days in advance so that you can keep adding to it. Plan your stall- lay your items out in the same size area your table will be or you could even sketch it. Take pics from previous events.
My lovely man didn't plan a thing, he was printing labels for his extremely tasty chutneys and chilli oils on Saturday morning and we ended up rushing. So basically he forgot some labels! WHOOPS! He did however make more money than me...BOO!

Craft Fair Weekend

It's craft fair a-go-go for me this weekend!!!! I shall be selling my wares at two separate craft fairs. I love doing them but I always feel like I've completed a marathon afterwards. So if any body is around and about The Lake District this Bank Holiday weekend you may want to come for a nosey!!!
Unfortunately I don't have any adverts to show you- my sister deleted one of them. Also I can't make pretend ones because I've somehow deleted Microsoft Word.

Here is a little info regarding number one craft fair.

Tirril Village Hall
Friday 30th April 7pm-9pm
Entry is £2.00 - free glass of wine and nibbles
A Body Shop pampering thing will going on.
The Fusion Singers will be performing- an A Cappella Harmony Group.
There will also be various craft stalls- ME! Selling bags, brooches, lavender bags and canvas prints
Other Crafty people include.... enchanted-wood and allfusedglass

Tirril is situated between Penrith and Pooley Bridge- which sits on the edge of Lake Ullswater. The link below will help with directions
http://www.visitcumbria.com/phpsql/googlemap.php?towngr=NY+502266



Some info regarding number two craft fair

DENT VILLAGE HALL
Saturday 1st May- 12 noon - 2.30pm
This is in aid of their play group. There will be things going on for children. Tea, coffee, cake and of course craft stalls. Oh yeah and my lovely fella selling his fiery chilli oil and tasty chutneys. YUM! YUM!

Dent is an amazing picturesque village not far from The Yorkshire Dales. I find the people here so friendly and I always enjoy doing their craft fairs. It's very popular with families and camping! (Not my family though)

Here's another link
http://www.visitcumbria.com/phpsql/googlemap.php?towngr=SD+705870

OK! I'm off to make bunting.

Mega mini small challenge update, No.2

Pin cushions....ready!












Colourful brooches almost ready.........













Oh! No! I've succumbed to the Craft Kit.

As usual I've got carried away chomping my way through gorgeous fabrics. The colours, the patterns, the textures, I love it all. I'm a real fabricaholic. There's no time left before my Saturday craft fair to make beautiful, quality brooches/pin cushions. So this is why I've decided to bag up everything I've cut out and prepared, and turn them into mini kits of loveliness.

Not exactly part of my challenge, but if it makes someone happy that's fine by me!

Small challenge update!

So far so good....my small item challenge is going sort of ok!

It has just been hampered slightly by me having to make a Victorian outfit for my daughter's Victorian Day at school.
Thankfully Pinnikity came to my rescue. I now think she she is truly amazing because despite poorly children, making 32 aprons and getting organised for a craft fair she found the time to help me out. You can read about her craft fair here by the way http://pinnikity.blogspot.com/

Since starting my challenge I have made 7 pin cushions, 1 Victorian apron, almost made 2 bird brooches and 2 flower brooches. I've found it really satisfying to see an item finished within one day, I usually make bags and they take ages. Oh I know what to do next mini lavender bags....