New Designs, Quiet Fair, Lovely People

Yesterday, hubby and I did our monthly stint at the Art & Craft Fair in Newcastle's Grainger Market. As you can see from the photo it was a very quiet day. After three weeks of snow - most of it still lying - and a bitterly cold winter, it seemed as if most people were being sensible and staying at home in their warm houses. We did have a few looking at our stall though and they seemed to like what we had (especially the new designs), though we only had a couple of sales all day.

Over the years I've tried out various crafts and have amassed a huge stash of fabric, buttons, beads and the like, so I thought I'd spend some time over the Christmas holiday period experimenting with new designs and using my sewing skills to produce some items using applique, patchwork and embroidery techniques.

As a bit of a change from the usual Bliss Knits range of knitted and crocheted accessories, I was really keen to see if anyone would be interested in these new textile products. I even designed some new display props to show the brooches and fridge magnets off, which I think worked very well.

Crocheted corsages sold really well prior to Christmas so I made a few more for this fair; they are all one-of-a-kind items using differently textured yarns, buttons and beads. Great on bags, coats, scarves, hats, etc. for an individual, hand-crafted look.

These fabric brooches are part of my new range. Again, they are all unique - using padded layers of patterned and plain fabrics, with button and beads embellishments. This photo doesn't do them justice really - they look gorgeous in real life!

For a more fun and funky look, check out these brooches. The various shapes were cut out from fabric that I had previously dyed using marbling paints; they were then attached to the backing fabric using various embroidery stitches, with beads and extra stitching for added detail.

I also made some fridge magnets using the same designs.

As the fair was very quiet it gave us the chance to have longer chats with our fellow stall holders. They're a really nice bunch of people, always ready with advice and encouragement. This is Alan from Twisted Nature, modelling one of my cowls that he bought at the fair - even though we were under cover it was absolutely freezing cold. So, not only did Alan acquire a cosy and warm cowl, but he also received the honour of being my next 'model customer'!

 

Alan is an artist/illustrator who is inspired by the natural world. Check out his beautiful bird portraits and his humorous take on British wildlife at his website, Twisted Nature. Alan also undertakes private commissions for pet and people portraits, and corporate work for his wildlife images. Alan has exhibited his paintings all over the region, and his work has been featured in various publications including a monthly cartoon in the BBC Wildlife magazine. His prints, keyrings, bookmarks, etc. are sold in various local venues as well as through his website, and you can find him at the Grainger Market fair each month.

I really enjoy attending the craft fairs. It's great to get sales online but at the fairs you get to meet and chat with your customers. It's interesting to hear what the public has to say about what I sell - whether it's good or bad, it's all constructive and useful to know. And of course it's lovely to chat with the other stallholders too; finding out about their experiences with making and selling. In December I was lucky enough to meet a fellow Folksy seller, Natalie, aka Lissi. She bought one of my corsages and then commissioned me to do three more for Christmas gifts. It was lovely to chat to her about her work and life in general. Natalie produces gorgeous silk scarves, unusual necklaces and greetings cards, dyed using natural plant-based materials and recycled objects; each one is truly unique. Have a look at her website here to find out more.

Right, well, I'm off to do some knitting now - red cabled mittens, I think. After all the crochet and embroidery work that I've been doing lately I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms!

Christmas is Coming...

Over the past week or so I've been getting into the festive mood, making decorations for the Christmas tree.

I want to have a good selection for the November craft fairs that I'm booked in for (Emmanuel College, Gateshead - 7 Nov, and Grainger Market, Newcastle - 14 Nov) so the knitting needles have been put away for a while.

Previous crafty pursuits that have been put on hold for a while include embroidery, and patchwork and quilting. I've amassed a huge selection of fabric and threads, which have been safely packed in storage boxes in the spare room, ready and waiting to become the craft-of-the-moment again.

I'm also a bit of a magpie for beads, ribbons, sequins, etc. so I've always got a good selection of embellishments to choose from.

It's been lovely to get out my sewing needles for a change. And I could easily spend a few hours hunting through all my supplies, looking for the ideal thread to go with the sparkly beads to embellish the perfect fabric...!

So that's the decorations that I've made and managed to photograph, so far - there are a lot more waiting in the wings!

I'm not sure whether to list them in my Folksy shop yet or if I should wait until after the craft fairs to see what I have left. In an ideal world I'd have hundreds of decorations to sell, but the time I have to make things is limited with having a day job to go and I've always sold better at the fairs. I'm afraid I'll miss the boat though if I post them too late and people will have already bought their decorations, so I'll probably pop a few in the shop and see what the interest is like.

I'd love to know what YOU think of them - please leave a comment if you have the time. Thanks!

A crafty lunch

I spent a lovely lunch hour today with fellow crafty colleagues. There are ten of us in the group who meet every three weeks at a local cafe for our Knit & Natter session. Even though we all work for the same company we work in different departments so tend not to see each other on a day-to-day basis, and it's great to meet up with like-minded people for a coffee and a chat. Due to work commitments and holidays there were only seven of us today, but one of the girls bolstered numbers by bringing her sister and a friend along.

Today I showed off my bunting work-in-progress. Everyone loved the bright colours and all agreed that it would look really cheery on the stall and attract people's attention. The separate flags are curling up quite a lot though so I'm going to have to use iron-on interfacing or stitch some felt to the back to stablise the individual shapes. I'll try and take some photos over the weekend to let you see how they're looking.

So what about the others in the group?

Anna is a really prolific knitter and always has some new garment on her needles. She has even been known to knit in presentations at work as she is one of those clever knitters who doesn't need to look at her work as she's knitting! Today though she was teaching her friend how to knit with chunky needles and a gorgeous, soft blue/pink/cream mix yarn.

As well as knitting a few rows of my latest bunting flag, I helped Rebecca to take up knitting again today. She vaguely remembered the odd knitting lesson at school but hadn't done it since then, and her interest was sparked when she came to our last K&N session 'just for a look'. The memories were obviously waiting quietly in the filing cabinet drawer of the mind marked 'knitting' though, as she picked up the different basic stitches straight away - cable cast on, knit and purl stitches. She's going to spend the weekend experimenting with making stripes and ribbing by alternating the knit and purl stitches.

Sue has a habit of forgetting when our group meets so she rarely brings along anything on the day! She's been inspired to take up crochet again though. Her enthusiasm is infectious; she's so interested in other people and what they're doing, asking about different techniques and crafting materials.

Steph was knitting a Dalek today. We're all really impressed with Steph as she has only taken up knitting recently (after a brief furore with a baggy jumper in the distant past!) but being a beginner does not stand in her way. If she sees a pattern she likes, she'll go for it, no matter how hard it looks. Steph's first item was a gorgeous black cardigan with frilly edges for a friend's wedding (the deadline was too tight for the wedding but she perservered and DID finish it after a couple of problems). After the cardi, Steph turned back to her love of crochet to create a similar bag to one I did in the summer (but in lovely warm and muted colours) from Simply Knitting mag. She's now trying to have some fun with her knitting by making the Dalek. Even though the pattern calls for stitching in the round (a technique she's never tried) and knitting bobbles (a stitch she's never tried) Steph is knitting the Dalek for a birthday gift in two weeks time. No pressure then! I think Steph is such an inspiration, she's so enthusiastic and willing to give anything a go.

It's not just about knitting though; Emma spent her lunch hour working on her beautiful embroidered bookmark. It's a close-up of a forest with embroidered tree trunks and hundreds of beads making up the forest floor and the tree foliage. It was started a couple of years ago, then was put down and almost forgotten about; but Emma was inspired to pick it up again when our group started. It's going to be fabulous when it's finished!

Ruth didn't have anything with her today but she's usually working on some exquisite piece of embroidery too - often goldwork. I just found out today that she has a blog too. It's a really interesting technical 'how to' blog, detailing the fabulous commission from the Northumbrian Association that she's working on: to make a replica of a lost Medieval processional banner dedicated to St Cuthbert, for presentation to Durham Cathedral. Wow! As well as some smaller projects such as these fantastic goldwork dodecahedrons.

I find these K&N sessions to be so interesting: it gives you a chance to show off your latest project and to be inspired by what other people have on their needles; to ask for help with problems and to be able to help with ideas when someone else has a query; to look at magazines and books recommended by others; and above all to socialise with like-minded people, to take an interest in their lives as well as their craft interests - and it's fun!