Crafty thoughts from Crafts forum Members

This Saturday will see our first Craft Saturday in Exeter.  To say I’m excited about it would be an understatement.

Having been finally released from shopping-sitting a friend’s fancy dress hire shop, and with the advent of lovely sunny weather, this Saturday has something of a ‘holiday’ feel to it for me.

I know that these craft fairs will be quite small, although we were hoping for many more crafters on each day, because of people’s other commitments such as holidays abroad and lack of childcare etc, but even still I’m very enthusiastic.

I’m still at a lost to explain the high numbers of crafters who lost interest as soon as they realised that we were running these Fairs in conjunction with Exeter City Council’s Markets Division……why was this? Suggestions please!  ECC are a dream to work with. They are supplying brand new market stalls for us to use, complete with electricity, a jazz band, a hog roast and a face-painter for the little (and not so little) ones! Not to mention the publicity. I couldn’t ask for better, so why do the crafters dislike our partnership?

The lovely weather is set to continue (touch wood) and I think we deserve some sun after the Monsoon season this last few months. ( Just how do they cope in the countries that have proper Monsoon seasons??)

Thanks to our freaky weather I have written so many cheques for refunds that I have exhausted my chequebook and I’m awaiting a new one to write even more cheques. There’s actually something indefinably pleasing about dashing off cheques quite recklessly, even if I’m not technically spending the money…….!

At Bradford on Avon, I decided my stall was rather flat…it lacked excitement. There wasn’t anything to draw the eye, to make a potential customer actually want to come closer. Hopefully, I’ve got this sorted now. A trip to my favourite shop (eBay) yielded a 3ft high Boyd’s Bear called Big Jake, who is now modelling one of my childrens’ aprons and a chance wander around a very cheap tacky shop in my nearest town provided three old fashioned free-standing clothes airers on which to better display other aprons. I’m going to stand the airers on my table, or next to it, and they should give the public a visual feast (I hope…)

 So, I think I’m set for Saturday craft-wise. I’m taking plenty of cash too though…there’s a Lush shop in Exeter!!!

Wish us all luck!

 Jules

As somebody who is currently making, what seems like, a neverending supply of wedding and evening invites for friends, I thought Id look to my fellow crafters sites for encouragement.

My case study is of a person that goes by the name of Swirlyarts.

Not only is she a busy wife and mum but she has the energy to run her own card making website.From here I have found that she makes a wide range of hand made cards under many themes, birthdays, men’s cards etc, my favourite being the Alphabet range of children’s cards, complete with T for tree and G for giraffe.

She provides a one off service and commissions and is currently developing a wedding stationery range, not just invites but menus and placecards etc

Now, the jewel in the crown is what she sells on her etsy site www.swirlyarts.etsy.com In an age where recycling is essential, Swirly has made enevelopes out of magazine pages!!Perfect for the card of a fashion fanatic birthday girl! also available are colourful woollen scarves and blankets, a necessity in the recent weather.

So I have decided to stop being negative about my card making marathon and praise the likes of Swirly and many others who take joy in providing these products.

See her etsy store here:   http://swirlyarts.etsy.com

There once was a man called Mr Media

Who wanted to be as succesful as Delia

He hosts a number of creative forums

And many crafty people saw them

And this is just one he made earlier.

(I apologise in advance)

Just a quicky.I made a couple of bags I was talking about in my last entry.

I cant quite work out what they would be best for.They are biggish black canvas bags with long handles and Ive decorated them with diamante, ribbons and fab vintage pictures.

They could be flash shopping bags(Im sure theyd hold at least 4 bottles of wine), handbags, craft bags as they will hold alot.My friend is having a baby soon and I thought theyd be great to carry baby things in for days out.

Anyhoo, one is finished, the other is partly finished with bits of ribbon hanging off awaiting a glass pendant to be attatched.

They are hanging up like wall hangings at the moment, waiting for me to finish them.Il try and get piccies when I can.

I just wondered if anyone has noticed a down turn in Craft Events in Britain.  This year I have found the attendance and people buying from craft fairs has been extremely low. 

Could it be that people aren’t looking for handcrafted/made items which are a bit more expensive than you would get in the supermarket, because we don’t have the huge buying power of the big chain stores, plus we have a passion for our craft and I know like very many crafters out there we are perfectionists and would not want to sell something that was less than perfect!!!

Or is it that people have less disposable income because of interest rates rising and have to settle for the less expensive options?

Candles by Lisa each candle Handcrafted - www.candles-by-lisa.co.uk

One of the craftsforum members is very busy at the moment getting ready for an exhibition of her work.

She was able to take time out to answer some questions.

Debbie works primarily in glass and compliments her work with wood and steel.  Amazingly for the quality of the pieces she is producing, Debbie has only been fusing glass for two years (although many years ago she did get to play with glass at her fathers workplace)  Debbie began selling her work about 20 months ago.  The response that she recieved from people encouraged her to send a image of her work along with an email.  The gallery were impressed enough to contact her and ask to see the work for real……they saw… they booked her!!

The exhibition was booked five months ago.  As debbie gets ready for this event she also has other work featuring in a gallery in Birmingham. 

Monday 29th July will be set up day when Debbie and the Gallery staff will position the display.  it has meant a lot of behind the scenes work getting business cards, promotional materials etc ordered.  There have also been meetings and of course preparing the exhibits.

The Exhibition will be held at Blyth Gallery Manchester from July 31st through to september 1st.

Debbies work can also be seen at the 100% Glass Exhibition, Three Walls Gallery in Birmingham.

Debbie has a lovely website www.thesilverzebra.co.uk Currently Debbie is in talks with a gallery in NEW YORK!!!

Good luck with the exhibition. 

First time I  read wood sprite I thought this must be a wood crafts to then find out that woodsprites offer personalised greetings cards can be customised to show whatever greeting you would like and personalised gift wrapping paper can be customised to show whatever greeting you would like…

Here is an example of the paper..

I wonder why I picked this one heheheh

 To find out more Please visit woodsprites-trading.co.uk

For other UK card and paper crafts please visit http://www.ukcraftwebsites.co.uk/cards.php

Need tips or help with cards and just want to chat about them then come to the crafts forum

http://www.craftsforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=18

Its all Mystic Megs fault, she kept saying ‘you will make money out of a hobby’ ……fiddlesticks I thought, I couldnt possibly make a trade from gutting chickens…then I realised…ahhh, maybe my obsession with making jewellery may be a better path to follow.

So with absolute fear and a distinct lack of knowing what Im doing I signed up as a sole trader, spent a small fortune on supplies and set off on my adventure.

After alot of unwise, and now discarded purchases I have finally found a look for the jewellery I like to make, kind of vintage with a modern twist.What with the 40’s/50’s burlesque look becoming popular I thought plain but beautifully coloured, sparkling necklaces would be a good idea, enough to accentuate an outfit but not enough to distract from the overall look.

60’s/70’s is also another look, with maxi dresses and geometric prints being big this year(once the summer comes)Im hoping my long chain, swarovski square pendant pieces will sell.

Also, with my determination to keep history alive I have ….well, basically… stolen an American idea of using optometrist lenses as necklace pendants, adding vintage pictures and diamante for a bit of sparkle.

Also I have found an absolute phenomenon!!!Leaves dipped in metal(gold, copper, sterling silver and gold and copper mix with gives a pink colour)!!They look beautiful.I cant wait to buy one of each type and see what beads I can add to them.
Future plans are the possibility of glamming up tote bags, but thats all in theory at the moment,as I walk around my local town I could imagine Im on the catwalk and strut my stuff, see if I get any comments(other than laughter).Also I plan on making myself some jewellery as my birthday approaches.It pains me to make so much jewellery and then just store it away until someone hopefully treats themselves to it.

Well, Im happy to report that after 3 days of my site being live I had a sale(doing a little jig as I type).Still my one and only sale but it was the best feeling ever, mixed with slight sickness as I still have no idea what Im doing.

Thank you to all who have helped me and if youd like to see what Im waffling on about, have a look at www.poisonedapplejewellery.co.uk A Mr Media Production.

Well - peterfarrington.com is no more. Don’t ask me why, but I have cancelled both the domain name and my web hosting with Freewebs. I wasn’t even having one of my hissy fits - it just never seemed ‘right’ for some reason, however - I am now officially Beadsage.co.uk! I have a new website under construction, which hopefully will look more professional than the last one, and there are far fewer ‘beadsages’ on search engines than ‘peter farringtons’ so it should be easier to find me! I’ll still keep my etsy site - http://peterfarrington.etsy.com - for orders, but the prospect of making up a ‘beadsage’ site is quite exciting! Watch this space! UPDATE!!……..I’m now live with http://www.beadsage.co.uk - have a look, see if you like anything, take a chequebook.

Well here I am and what do I write that wont send you all off to the land of nod.

 Well as the title goes I am Lisa and funnily enough I make handmade candles.  I have 2 kids my son is 14 and my daughter is 11 going on 21 it seems.  I work full time for the NHS and make candles every other waking, breathing minute that I get.  I have tried quite a few crafts before but nothing has captured me the way that candle making has.  I have been making candles now for more years than I care to remember really but have only recently set up my web site and things are pretty busy just now so I really hope this keeps up.

 I attend a lot of craft fairs throughout the year which I really enjoy there is nothing better than meeting the people who buy your product face to face and getting there comments.  My next event is on the 28th and 29th August at the Callander Highland Games and I really hope the rain stays off long enough to let the field dry out!!

 I have to say many thanks to Mr M from the Craft Forum for asking me to join this blog and of course jumped at the chance.

 I hope you haven’t all fallen asleep and look forward to many more happy blogs!!

 Visit Lisa’s website on www.candles-by-lisa.co.uk