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!

May the Fourth be with you....

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.

Some inspiration, please!

We may have smiles on our faces- but that is for show! What you see here are two middle aged women (that makes us laugh) who need some inspiration! This week we have no colour, it's a sad state of affairs. The artistic flare that we are so proud to own has left us. We crave new ideas. Can any body help get the colour back in our souls?

Please come forward. Speak up now.
You're ideas might be rewarded....oh we could do a "give away". MMMM! Starting to feel better.

EEK! Something went wrong!

Oh! Dear! I can't say that yesterday was a successful day at work. After a much needed, self indulgent, chocolaty Easter break, I thought my batteries would be fully charged, refreshed and revitalised. How wrong could I be! Instead of pressing the"Back to Work" button on my magic wand .........

I accidentally hit "SOLARIZE"! EEK!

Mrs Bellas will you ever forgive me?

You are such a beautiful lady but right now you look like The Wicked Witch from the West . What will your family think? How will you cope in public when people stop and stare? Lets face it no amount of the best cosmetics known to adorable women will fix that blemish! Most importantly- how will you be able to drink tea and eat cake with a bag on your head? I endeavor to take control of this desperate situation.

I'm afraid to say I've ruined our work. Our unit is now a home for lavender filled neon chicks, however I'm kinda loving those big groovy polka dots!

OK! Ground control to Major Tom, is this looking slightly better? We're finally out of the solarize mode. We might be able to get away with this (no-one will notice). I'd better wave my magic wand over the ever gorgeous Mrs. Bellas.......

TA! DAH!
EH? What do you mean? "You don't feel any better!" To be continued (I think)

Some things don't always go to plan......

....but they can actually turn out better than hoped.

I've just finished these cute lavender bird and heart pillows/bags and I'm chuffed to bits. They've ended up a little bigger than I originally planned therefore I think they should be called pillows and not bags, but I am so, so pleased with the outcome.

I am now inspired to make some more- mainly because the smell oozing out of them is beautiful and sweet. This time I will make small bags to hang up!