Hathern Carnival Photos

Had a lovely day at the Carnival yesterday and actually managed to take some photos for once. I really do have to get in the habit of taking more photos!

Me in pink with Jo from JojosBeads

A selection of my wares

And some of Jo's

And I think this gorgeous creatures has to get the award for cutest dog of the day. I just love his red white and blue hat! I couldn't resist taking a photo. Can yous ee the cute baby with a sleepsuit with ears on in the background too?

More photos of some of the great stalls I saw and brilliant people I met coming soon...

Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

Just finishing a few last minute items for the Hathern Diamond Jubilee Carnival and Parade later today where I will be sharing a stall with Jojosbeads who is bringing lots of her Swarovski Crystal beauties with her.

The weather is forecasting no rain, but luckily we are inside a marquee so if we get the odd splash we should be fine in there.

I finally got round to taking a photo of my new sterling silver earrings to put in my shop. I've been out of earrings for ages so it's time I started filling up my earrings section again.

Hope the weather stays good for whatever you decide to do on this bank holiday.

Are you spending the extra time doing crafting like me?

Busy Times! - Craft Fairs, Paperwork and Other Stuff

I can't believe it's a week since I updated my blog! Where does time go to? 

Well, there's been lots of form filling in going on around here. Insurance forms, craft fair applications, phone calls to book stall spaces.

And I've been on a needle felting course which was great fun. I'm playing around with different techniques to see how I can incorporate it into the work that I already do. I've got some great samples which I'll share when they have a bit more work done on them.

My next Craft fair is on April 14th and 15th at the Derby Eco centre. It's their Spring fair and wool festival which sounds like it could be a great weekend. With all this bad weather over the last couple of days, I'm glad I paid extra money to be indoors!

But with craft fair imminent, I'm doing all of those getting ready for a craft fair jobs. All my jewellery needs boxing up whether I've listed it on Etsy or not, I need to made a few extra pieces of stock where there are gaps in my product lines, and a few extra pieces which will hopefully appeal to my audience at the fair I'm going to. I'm going to make a few more heavily recycled jewellery pieces, and some yarn inspired earrings. Maybe even some of my new needle felted items will make an appearance.

And I'm also waiting for a couple of shipments to come in. A box of recycled cabochons from vintage jewellery, and a secret surprise parcel for a magazine project. I hoe they arrive today so I can play with them over the bank holiday weekend!

Craft Stall Set Up

I've been playing around with craft stall layouts for a while but we've finally got there! After a few test stalls we've got set up down to 10 minutes from start to finish. Woohoo!

I thought I'd mention it today as I've just booked another 2 stalls at craft fairs. That's 6 booked so far for this year. Luckily G seems to be tolerating them, if not enjoying coming with me. It's quite hard doing a Craft fair on your own as you are stuck if you need to get more than one load of items from the car, or is you need a wee!

I think everyone has their "must have" items for a craft fair, but in my box of essentials I have:-

Table Cloths
Boxes (So that my items for sale are on different levels)
Jewellery stands
Easel and picture frame for displaying earrings
Pen and notebook
Business cards
Sticky tape
Tape measure
Set of pliers and some basic findings and clasps
Organza bags and carrier bags
Insurance certificate


That's all i can think of right now. is there anything you think might be an essential item when going to a craft fair?

(Ooh! And my first craft fair of the year is on April 28th all being well in Southwell, Nottinghamshire if anyone fancies a nice day out. Don't forget to say hello if you come along!