An Event For Your Diary

I'm exhibiting here.....

don't miss out

Today is a day for.......

Coordinating the most beautiful fabrics I can find.....

 .........collecting ribbons and trims in contrasting colours and tones (lots of yummy vintage buttons).....and of course using much savvy design know how!

Today is a day for bag making! I'm so excited that I am dancing as I'm posting this blog.


I will return with pics of my finished baggy delights!

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!!

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!!!!