Brackley Craft Fair - April 2010

This Saturday I was at Brackley Craft Fair, I love doing this fair so I can see some of my friends but this weekend it was rather slow going for me, which means the rest of the weekend I spent contemplating craft fairs.

Here is my stall (I did hide the ikea bags after the photo was taken!)

and my friends Zenia from Handmade By Zenia and Jenny from Jemini Crafts stall (no point in hiding girls!)

Maybe you could leave a comment about what you think about fairs (any), my stall and any suggestions on how we can all make fairs better.

xxx

been really busy

I'm going to start by apologising for not blogging for a while but I have been very busy, making alsorts of bits. Here are a couple of cushions that have made it in to my folksy shop

So Easter has come and gone, the holidays are almost over but I promised Grace a Fairy Tea Party so that is what we will be doing tomorrow so I'll be sure to come back with some photos of all the fairies!

But for now I'm back to sewing as I'm ultra busy at the moment with a craft fair on Saturday at Brackley so come and see me if you are in the area, it would be nice to find out what people would like to see more of on my stall etc and I will have a sale end to my table making space for some new items in the Summer!


xxx

more fairs and Sutil

This weekend I did some more Christmas Fairs and they were the worst ones this year. But I have a theory... those that have been buying before this weekend are well prepared so have now finished or are close to finishing their shopping. Now although I'm quite a Christmassy person with all my decorations up I have noticed that its not very Christmassy out there and I haven't done much shopping and I think there are lots of people out there feeling the same. So this weekend I'm doing my last fair at Brackley Town Hall, I'm really looking forward to it and gonna try to make it a good one.

Now as you've seen plenty of photos of my stall I thought I would also tell you about my Saturday evening. Grandma and Grandad came up and looked after the little ones so that Rob and I could go out to his Christmas do, and boy was it good, I got all dressed up and almost as soon as I walked in I was stood next to the most gorgeous man in the company and no it wasn't Rob!!! It was of course Adrian Sutil!!! The evening was great, everything free which is definately the way it should be, 5 course meal (food ok but waitressing was really bad, wanted to get up and organise!) but I think one of the best bits was the dodgems!

Need to do a bit more for Saturdays Fair whilst also childminding and getting ready for an Ofsted inspection on Monday!

Don't forget its the last week to enter my Christmas Free Prize Drawer, so go and check out my Folksy and Etsy Shops and buy something, there are lots of items that are stocking filler prices!

xxx

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Wow has it really been over a week since my last post, well please accept my apologies I have been a little busy. Childminding, sewing and craft fairs. I was at Grange Park in Northampton on Saturday and it was a very busy 2 hours, I sold well and had lots of personalisations to do on childrens aprons and bags.


Then on Sunday I was lucky enough to get a last minute table at Canons Ashby. It’s a National Trust house about 3 miles from where I live and it is beautiful. I was situated in the Dining Room, and although a little dark was wonderful. I was busy all day and did quite well. I didn’t take many photos as I think you have probably seen them all before and it was dark, I will try to take more another fair and believe me there are more fairs to come!


So what else have I been doing. I have been planning Graces Birthday Party, which is on Sunday, and I don’t know if I’m just a loving Mummy or completely mad as I have told her I will make party bags! Thankfully there aren’t too many coming, about 5 little 4 year old girls, ok so I am mad!!

For those that are interested in my weight loss progress, I have now lost ½ stone (in 10 days), just another ½ to go before 5th December, which is Robs Christmas Party and I would love to fit into my little black number!

Since I last posted with Grace pulling out the name of my lucky follower I sent this to Miss Dollypops, such a lovely lady.


And I would like to say a big Thank You to all my followers and I will be doing another giveaway soon, I will let you know details when I have thought about it a bit more! But don’t forget to follow, comment and especially purchase from one of my shops to be entered into my Christmas Giveaway. The more times you buy the more opportunities you will have to win!

Right better get on as I have a to-do-list that is growing longer by the milli-second!!!

xxx

Hatton Christmas Fair

This weekend I had a stall at the Hatton Christmas Fair, its one I've done for a couple of years now and its great fun. I love seeing sellers I haven't seen for 6 months, but the best thing is seeing the customers that come back to buy more from you because they have loved what they bought last time and all the new customers that are buying for loved ones, family and friends (and themselves!) and want something that is handcrafted, unique and beautiful. I got lots of beautiful comments, many of which they wrote in my comments book ready for me to put on my website.

xxx

Hatton Country World

Just a quick post today as must get on with some sewing. But I really wanted to remind everyone that I will be at Hatton Country World all weekend at their annual Christmas Fair. There will be lots of handmade goodies for all, so why not pop over, come and see me and the other sellers and then have a great day out with the kids playing on the farm. I will have some of these

And these

And a few of these

And maybe some of these

So please come and see me and don't forget if you buy from me by 12th December then you will be entered into the Christmas giveaway!

xxx

Something for all you doodlers out there!

So this is what I was working on this weekend.

I got into the mood of birdies after making the bird bookmarks and decided to finally make one of the ideas off my list! I do hope you like them. They are A5 lined notebooks which I have made the covers for. The birds are appliqued on and then I have free machine stitched around them and the accents. You can find these 2 in my etsy and Folksy shops. I will be making more birdies and maybe some other things too, thinking maybe cupcakes next, what do you think, any suggestions welcome. Oooo just thought, if you like these and would like them personalised as a special gift for someone (teacher, friend, craft buddy) then I can do that too, now that has got me excited!

Got a Christmas Craft fair on all this weekend at Hatton Country World, so if your stuck for something to do come up and see me and bring the kids for a great day out. There is the farm animals and loads of rides and bits for them to play on. My two really love it and will be up with me at somepoint of the weekend, with their Daddy!

Don't forget to be one of the first 20 to follow me here to be in for a chance to win a little something. Also if you buy something from me before 12th December you will be in for a chance to win a special Christmas Present.

Right better get on with some sewing and shoudl get the washing in off the line before it rains!!!

xxx

Sing little Birdie, Sing

I've had an idea for a while and drew out a pattern a few weeks ago, but as with alot of my ideas it got put on my to do list and I haven't got around to making it a reality. This changed today as I finally had a reason to make it. As part of my 20 followers giveaway I decided (on Twitter) to give an extra something to numbers 15 and 16, well they were Oddsox and Kate. Kate please can you contact me as I would love to send you a little something. Having been in contact with Oddsox I found out she had seen some of my goodies here so I asked what had caught her eye and the reply was that she has a soft spot for birdies. Well that was easy she will be getting one of the little birdie lavender pouches but thats not all, as I said I finally got a reason to make this.....

So as an extra Thank you for giving me the reason to try this out I'm sending it to you Oddsox, I really hope you like it. They are made using a big paperclip type bookmark and some thick handmade felt, both were bought here, although the felt was given to me as a little bag of scraps! And I think I will be making a few more to add to my shops as I think they are kinda cute, let me know what you think.

xxx

Follower Giveaway

As I write I have 10 fantastic followers, its great to feel like there are people out there reading my witterings and coming back for more. And all this has happened in the past couple of weeks. To celebrate my followers I have decided to hold a little giveaway, as soon as I reach 20 followers I will put you all in a hat and pick out a lucky winner. So come on everyone start following and be in for a chance to win a little something special! Oh and don't forget that if you leave a comment or buy something from me you will also get a chance to win the Christmas Giveaway !

xxx

Brackley Craft Market

So yesterday I did my first fair since the beginning of the Summer and I didn't do too badly. I had a few big sales and alot of lovely comments, which I managed to get some written in my Comments Book and I will get put onto my website when I can work out how! Just hoping that it will continue to get better and we will have a good run up to Christmas. I might even get myself organised and add some bits to my etsy, misi and folksy shops. I got to meet up some some of my lovely crafting friends (you know who you are!) have a quick chat, have a few hours away from my (wonderful) family to just be me. Anyway I thought you might like to see my stall.

Will catch up again soon with some new bits that I have been working on.

xxx

Twitter Friends

So recently I've started to Twitter and I've realised I'm not the only mad one out there!!! Its a great place to meet like minded people and I have met a fantastic lady. Its amazing we have only just met but its like we've know each other for years, anyway she is also called Sarah and has a son called Noah which is how we started talking. She also has 2 other babes, a hubby and she makes the most fantastic Itty Bitty Sock Kitties!!!! She has a fantastic blog, full of inspiration, recipes and family, plus she loves CAKE!!!! So please go take a look at her blog theothermousie, thanks Sarah for being such a lovely friend.

Plus don't forget any comment, sale either on my website or at any event means that you will get a chance to win a Christmas Present.

xxx

Saturdays Fair

Although I'm better (not being ill) I still don't feel great and definately don't have any motivation, so am struggling to make anything for the craft fair I have coming up on Saturday. Main problem is what to make. Loads of ideas going around in my head and on my list of things to make but I just can't quite decide what will sell well on Saturday. I have my usuals to take with me, although some of those are running low and I now have some Christmas decorations to take too (not all designs are made yet) but was thinking about some gifts for Christmas. Do I make teapot cosies, lavender pouches (my little plain pouches sell well but they are really cheap and I was thinking about making some really nice linen patterned ones), more hanging lavender ornaments (thinking birdies to add to the hearts), notebooks with material covers, more brooches, bags, pencil/makeup cases, keyfobs, oh the list is endless and starting to trouble me.

Another thing that is worrying me is my display as I have t-shirts and aprons I want to hang up and as you can see when I was outside during the Summer I was able to hang them on my gazebo but now its cold and I'm inside for most of my fairs I need to come up with a way to display everything. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

I have a couple of ideas for promotion at the fairs including my Christmas Giveaway (which I've decided to also include anyone that adds a comment on any post, and there will probably be more than 1 pressy too depending on numbers). But as I'm booked in for eleven between now and Christmas with the possibility of 2 more I really need to make more.

Right maybe if I go and sew some more buttons on to the trees that need to be finished some inspiration will come to me and if not then hopefully someone will comment with some suggestions.

xxx

A Gaggle of Giggling Angels

So the weekend wasn't good, all the family came down with a horrid tummy bug, won't go into much detail but will say that Noah started it off on Thursday afternoon and we ended up getting the doctor out on Saturday as he wasn't keeping anything, not even juice, down and if he hadn't just managed a wet nappy we would have all been on a trip to the hospital! We quarantined ourselves off until today when Rob has gone back to work, but Grace was unwell last night so I'm at home with the kiddies and my fingers crossed that we are now over it!

Good news is that I have finished my Angels, still not 100% sure about them but Grace seems to love them so that is a good thing. The Angels have free machine embroidered faces and white glitter wings. Anyway they are done so we shall see what happens.

I've also finished some of these buttony wreaths and Christmas trees, with the help of Grace who was picking out all her favorite buttons for me.

All of these will be added to my website as soon as I can get the software added back onto my computer (another problem we had at the weekend, having to reformat the harddrive on our laptop to enable our internet to be switched back on) hopefully before the weekend when I have a craft fair.

One last thing before I go, I just wanted to say a big hello and thank you to all my new friends on Twitter and to those that are now following me on here.

xxx

Christmas Givaway

Ok, so I thought what is the best thing about Christmas...... Christmas trees, lights, baubles, Christmas dinner, Father Christmas, presents? Well I decided it was the act of giving a present. So from now till 12th December 2009 (my last event day) if you buy something from my website or from me at an event and leave your details I will put your name into a hat and pick out a lucky winner for a surprise present and I won't be revealing what it is until recieved and opened! (It won't be the cake pictured as I made it for Christmas 2004, I just thought it looked yummy!)

The rules are easy, one entry per purchase, so if you buy something from me at an event and then come back and buy some more from my website you will get 2 entries. Therefore the more times you come back and purchase the more chances of winning. (This doesn't mean an entry per item).

You must leave your details so that I can contact you.

Christmas Free Drawer will close on Saturday 12th December 2009 and the winner will be announced on this blog shortly after.

Good Luck/xxx

Sun Shining and Thinking of Christmas

I don't know what its like around the rest of the country but today is cloudy with the sun attempting to shine and managing it every now and then. So surely this isn't the right time to start thinking about Christmas, well it seems that this year is going rather quickly and I am now getting invitations to do Christmas Craft Fairs. As you are aware I'm still a bit worried about how much craft fairs are costing me so am going to be very selective in which ones I do this year, I did 15 in 5 weeks last year, some were great, some were ok but alot were really disappointing.

So whilst contemplating about which fairs to do and getting my website organised I've been thinking about what to do for Christmas and am going to have to get out last years work and do a bit of a stock take and some designing. Anyway along with some new textile art designs I think there will be personalised stockings as these are always popular and some new designs for tree decorations.





If you have any suggestions as to what else might go down well at fairs and on my website then please feel free to leave a comment.

xxx

Craft Fairs or not?

Well, I have been quite busy recently designing and creating and in the past 2 weeks I have done a couple of fairs.

I'm in a bit of a dilemma as I quite enjoy doing them but not really sure they are worth doing as I don't seem to make a lot of money once I cover the cost of table etc. But if I don't do them how do I get my name out there? Can anyone give me some advice please.

Here is a picture of my stall at Brackley Carnival earlier this year. Each show I do I change my layout according to the space etc and what items I take.


My last fair was in a craft tent and I had some of my textile art so it looked very different. I had 1 table with all my gift items, I had a couple of easels with my art on and I put 16 t-shirts on part of my gazebo so they were hanging just above my table. It seemed to work but I still didn't sell as much as I thought I would with the amount of people walking around. I would like to make enough that my table costs are only 10% of my takings but it seems to be getting harder all the time.

So any thoughts on craft fairs, outlets, how to get my name out there would be greatly appreciated.

Will catch up with you all again soon, hopefully with some more thoughts and decisions on what I'm going to do.

xxx