It's beginning to look a lot like.....

Yup ... it's THAT time again, and we have lots of Christmas craft fairs coming up...  thank heavens my hands are up to it! Just had Carpal Tunnel Decompression ops on BOTH hands - look ! (Do I hear a sigh of sympathy? LOL ) And look how small the scar/cut is..... I've seen HUGE scars after the same ops on other folk... .and I still managed to make crafts !!!!

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OK on to lovely things... new for this Christmas craft fairs are:  Non-alcoholic bottles of mulled wine dressed as Santas and snowmen!

We have Christmas tree decorations, knitted baby penguins, (sold out of these in one show), little knitted teddies, our own hand made chocs and sweets as usual, gingerbread men - knitted and felt, decorated lollies, snowmen mint creams,  hand sewn snowmen, sewn gingerbread men and hearts garlands, Snowman soup, boozy Christmas cakes, kitty angels, too many more to mention!

   These lovely snowmen angels are made in cream fleece with orange Sculpy Clay noses !

                                           Baby knitted penguins, with felt feet and beaks.

Our first Christmas fair was 19th November at Ravenstone. It's always a bit hectic setting up the stall, but at least it was indoors in the warm, and NOT outside in a gazebo! We did well trade-wise, people were lovely... lots of giggles and chatting ! We dished out samples of hot mulled wine - we don't have a license to sell alcohol, so it had to be non-alcoholic.  Chocolates were sampled too...

                                       Ravenstone craft Fair - 19th November 2011.

Our next Christmas Fair is Friday 2nd Dec at Gilmorton School, Saturday 3rd Dec we are at Palace Craft Fair, Ibstock  and 4th Dec we are at the Markfield Community Centre.   

Foxton Locks Family Event 17th/18th Sept 2011

Foxton Locks is near Lubenham, Leicestershire. Acres of woodland, fields, and locks. The gaily painted narrow-boats that pass through these locks are truly beautiful and very loved!  The 2-day event featured craft marquees, funfair, animals (alpacas, goats, sheep, tortoises, hens, hamsters etc), Viking settlement, waterball pool,  and lots for children to do.  We set up the gazebo around 8.00am in pelting, cold rain. NOT a good start! It finally eased off and the sun peeped through the clouds. We found lots of customers enjoyed a good chinwag, lots of dogs enjoyed a good stroke..! it was a lovely relaxed weekend.

Rosie and Jim enjoying the scenery!

           

The Viking settlement was superb... I am a history buff...

A Viking settlement.

 I loved the costumes, the stories, the people that portrayed times past. One kind lady named Hild invited me into her Viking home, which was covered in deerskin, reindeer skin, sheepskin - it was really cosy ! Her husband turned wood - I held a bowl he had turned, it was perfect, smooth and so tactile.

Hild , a very welcoming Viking wife!

Hild's husband made his own shoes, and turned exquisite wooden bowls !

 Hey - it's not very often you get to chat to Vikings named Ragnut and Leif !!!!  They invited me to hold their chainmail vest, which, wussy that I am, I couldn't manage the weight! Ragnut told me the chainmail vest weighed a THIRD of his body weight!!!! 

Ragnut and Leif, Viking warriors!     

Alpacas looked snootily over the fences at the people going past.  Now I know llamas spit if you get too close, so I gave them a wide berth, but was assured by the owners that these cousins of llamas DIDN'T spit !

"What are you staring at?"

Oh and by the way, look at Richard, fooling about as usual - I don't have many photos of him in serious pose, if he spots the camera, there he is - POSING !!!!!!! LOL
 It was a great weekend, Saturday night we stayed in a hotel,  we needed a bit of spoiling, then back to Foxton for the second days trading. 

Ashby Magna Street Fair Sept 9th 2011.

Just getting dark....

Bit of extra light needed....

Lovely atmosphere!

Set up was a bit slow, we were on a tilt, so had to adjust gazebo AND tables. Didn't want another episode like Thorpe Arnold  !! We've done street fairs before, but not in the dark !  The good folk of Ashby loaned us their electric points for the evening, so we could plug our sparkly lights in !!!!  Lots of people came, we sold well, it  was a really nice fair, good atmosphere, plenty going on. 

Oadby and Wigston Craft Event, Parkland Community Centre. 29th Aug 2011

                                              Richard was interviewed by Radio Three Counties.

                                                              The Shabby Chic stall....  

This was quite a big event, spread throughout the community centre and grounds. Bit chilly, so we were glad we had a table INDOORS ! It was a large round table, and we were used to rectangular ones, so it looked a bit different. This was the first event that had helpers taking our boxes in for us, and lots of offers throughout the morning as we set up. This was the first time the string of lights were on the table too. Very pretty effect.

   

Sheila's snazzy waistcoat - hand made !

... and the front... isn't it brill !

                                

       

Shabby Chic Stall.

We have a new stall!  A shabby chic one. That makes 4 different types or craft events we can exhibit . Jewellery stall, general handicrafts, hand made choc/sweet stall and a shabby chic one.  Sometimes, if they are GOOD craft fairs, they won't duplicate the crafts there. We've booked events where they say NO jewellery stalls needed. We've found far too many of these stalls at the events, ( sometimes a quarter of the stalls are jewellery) and hand made card stalls too. we stopped taking our handmade cards because there were already lots of card stalls exhibiting, so it's a good idea to have different craft  ideas.

 The definition of shabby chic :

Shabby chic items are often heavily painted through the years, with many layers showing through obviously time-worn areas. The style is imitated in faux painting using glaze or by painting then rubbing and sanding away the top coat to show the wood or base coats. Fabrics tend to be cottons and linens, with linen being particularly popular, inspired by old French linens. Whites and worn or bleached out pastels are favorite colours. Fabric is often stained with tea to give it the look of old fabric. Bleached and faded are terms often applied to the style.

The essence of today's shabby chic style is vintage and antique furniture with the original aged paint, or painted white (or another soft pastel color) and distressed at the corners by sanding. Antique pieces such as pie safes and jelly cupboards are popular in shabby chic decor.

Popular decor items are pillows made of vintage bark cloth fabric, vintage linens, chenille bedspreads, vintage chandeliers, and anything with roses on it. It is a soft, relaxed feminine romantic way of decorating that looks comfortable and inviting. Also called cottage style.

Doesn't that sound cosy?  We visit car-boots, charity shops ( we are big believers in charity shops, you're supporting worthwhile causes as well as getting bargains! ) and buy up old pitchers, candlesticks etc,  and revamp them.  Also buy GORGEOUS designer cottage fabrics and make cushions, peg bags, scented hearts, little birds, shabby chic dolls. Take a look at these photos:

Originally plain black candlesticks - now look !

Originally a plain scruffy set, but revamped with cream, pink and pale green paint, add a pretty label and voile la!!

Was a plain black candlestick, , add a wooden hen, cornstalk and country fabric bow!

Cheated a bit here, it was a NEW wooden tea caddy, but a bit TOO plain, now it's has a bit of interest.

Decorated candles sell well !

Old unloved brown bookcase - a bit of TLC, paint, shabby chic paper and lace - much prettier !

My shabby chic dolly!

Re-worked clothes pegs.. how pretty!

Market Harborough Folk Festival &th August 2011

We really enjoyed this one, the weather was bright and sunny as we set out.  Got the gazebo up quickly. HAD to use the leg weights, as it got breezier and breezier. Lots of space - set out on a football club's field.  The weather didn't hold out though. One BIG downpour made the small crowd ( we estimated around 100 or so people.)  scatter quickly, but it became SO windy. The crafters next to us lost their gazebo in the winds- the supports snapped in 2. They packed up and left early.  We didn't have a good day sales-wise, but the folk music was lovely, and made an enjoyable day !

                                                                 Setting up.

                                                                  Some of the folk singers.

Barton under Needwood Craft fair July 23rd 2011

This was a biggish craft fair, lots going on.  There were jewellery stalls, cards, home made pastries, Belgian choc vendor, hog roast, funfair, and something we'd not seen before - a waterball pool... the children are zipped inside a ball and roll round like hamsters in a cage!!! It looks incredibly good fun, and made me wish I small enough have a go!

The best item there, I think, was the Charity sidestall for protection of injured birds of prey... such breathtaking beauty, I left Richard on our stall and made a beeline for this stall... birds with injured wings, missing eyes etc... the man looking after them was so informative.

There were a few people about, but not really a good footfall. Jam was our best seller this time. But the wind... oh boy, was it windy!  We watched folk hanging on to their gazebos as they shook about. We were OK, Richard pegged ours down firmly, but look what happened to the gazebo behind us.......

Totally destroyed. The winds carried it over the next gazebo. No-one was injured, but the gazebo was a write-off. The poles broke in two, the cloth ripped right along its length. We have LEG WEIGHTS to hold our gazebo down, and I reinforce the need for these handy items. OK, they cost around £30 a set of 4, but for peace of mind, and protection of your gazebo and stall, we think they are a MUST.

Richmond Primary School, Hinckley. 9th July 2011.

We LOVED this school !  What a friendly bunch of people... everyone was bustling, but greeted us,  we were shown our spot indoors on LEVEL flooring lol ( see the Arnold Thorpe incident ! )  Right on the stall next to us was Gemma - the Usborne rep who we met a couple of times on previous fairs... great girl ! It's always good to meet a fellow craftsperson you know - someone to chat to !!! 

Not too tightly packed stall today, someone didn't turn up, so we were offered a 2nd stall FREE.We filled it with jewellery!

Fab stalls there... I'm a sucker for jumble stalls - I think I went home with more than I came with !!!!  Well attended, we sold well,  nicely priced refreshments. Well done Kerry for a beautifully organized event !!! Can't wait to come back for the Christmas fair !

Thorpe Arnold. July 3rd 2011

Oh dear...Thorpe Arnold.... what a disaster... our table collapsed.  Our pitch was on a slope, set on the church grounds. With the combined weight of jams, chutneys and crafts - the whole lot collapsed to the ground with a noise reminiscent of a BOMB. Bless all the stall holders there - they ALL came running to help us pick up the crafts. We lost a lot of jam... broken jars everywhere, mugs smashed, jewellery scattered all over the grass.  So disheartening.

The church is just to the right of the photo, but look at how uneven the ground is....

I was disappointed at how we had to set up after the spill... we had to use our tiny table to put the jams on...

All higgledy piggeldy - not our usual PROPER set out...  I was so disappointed... to top it all we didn't have a good day sale-wise... sniff ! Ah well ....some you win...some you don't !

Bitteswell School fair. 2nd July 2011.

We really enjoyed this one - school fairs are always popular.  Plenty of space... we put up the gazebo in no time, it's amazing how quickly you learn the ropes!

 All the gazebos and stalls were well-spaced around the playing field, not tightly packed like some events we have been to. We sold a fair amount here - and at one point we were BOTH serving 2 customers at a time - GREAT STUFF !

                                                                Lots for children to do !

                                                               And the band played on......

Groby Street Fair and Ceilidh 25th June 2011

Showery weather.  A dull start, but thankfully the dark clouds surrended to brilliant sunshine - and people flocked ! It was Groby's first street fair, well organised by a great bunch of people.  We had a very enjoyable day, lots going on, stilt walker, medieval costumed visitors, on stage there were talented singers, bands, etc.

                                             A really dark and dull start...people not arriving yet.....

                                              One or two people beginning to venture out.....