Preparing For The Handmade Fair

I'm really excited to be confirmed for Kistie Allsopp's Handmade Fair at Hampton Court Palace this coming September (see fancy animated banner to your right!).

It's a big step - hopefully upwards! - but the exposure should be pretty good even if I fail to recoup the cost of the stall back from sales (a worry always lurking at the back of the mind before every fair).

It sounds like a massive event, with the emphasis on visitors being involved in crafting with talks and workshops.  Kirstie's team of crafting experts include Cath Kidston and Kaffe Fassett - who I worked with back in the 1990s - and many more.

My good friend and inspirational fellow crafter Tina of Tina Francis Tapestry will also be there - and in the same tent too - so that will be great.

So it's all systems go this summer as I plan to complete the Shark Alley rebrand AND a new range of necklaces in time for the event!

I'm so excited about the necklaces as they've been cooking in the back of my head for some time.  A few years ago I saw some gorgeous Indian-inspired necklaces in the V&A shop.  Unfortunately I was very broke at the time, so couldn't get my hands on one but I really wish I had.  They were made up of large mis-matched beads, chains and tassels in beautiful rich colours and looked so exotic.  I usually prefer things to be symmetrical and balanced, but I remember just loving these.  I also saw a photo of some customised toy animal necklaces which I thought was a great idea for upcycling and remember a beautiful piece of Andrew Logan jewellery where he'd covered an animal shape in a glittery mosaic of mirror.  With these ideas simmering, I did a little Pinterest board to clarify all the things I wanted to include - upcycled objects and beads, tassels, fabrics, asymmetrical arrangements and bright colours.

Clockwise - Maggie Zee, unknown, Ayala Bar, Henri Rousseau.

 I found some great toy tigers in a flea-market and thought I could use them in a necklace with an Henri Rousseau-esque jungle theme.

I've made quite a few so far - they take ages!  Bead selection and arrangement are CRUCIAL to get the look and the balance of the necklace right, and this takes time.

I'm really enjoying working with beads again - who wouldn't?! - they are so beautiful!  I used them a lot in early Shark Alley necklaces before I'd found my current style and ranges, and have been using some of these old necklaces and my stash plus little treasures unearthed in a bag of old jewellery given to me by Skye. I'm also incorporating some of my resin pieces too.

It's so tempting to show some finished pieces, but I'll have to restrain myself until the official launch.

The Longest Day

I spent the longest day of the year taking part in the Midsummer Fair on Kew Green.

It was a beautiful hot day, which was lovely for the visitors and purveyors of cold drinks and ice cream, but sadly not so good for stall holders.  I don't think hot weather puts people in much of a mood for buying.  Last year the weather was rainy and sales were much better.

We need some air in this here marquee!

But on the positive side, it was the debut of a new stall display I'd spent the week frenziedly working on.

As part of a major rebranding that I will be working on over the summer, smartening up the stall presentation was one of the first steps.  I love my funky-looking old stall, but wanted a change after a long chat with Emily at Craft Central at a business mentoring session.  She suggested grouping Shark Alley's products by genre rather than media, so I developed a stall arrangement based on this idea.

Hares

I like the idea of creating a natural sort of environment for the display, with a vintage feel, soft colours and a nod to the paper and recycled elements that appear in my work.  As well as the postcard display holders that I made last week, I also covered boxes, perspex necklace displays and stands with paper collage, and painted then sanded wooden picture frames to showcase my photos of Ella modelling the jewellery.  The final touch was a length of soft neutral faux suede for the table cover.

A few tweaks are required (I want cardboard trees!) but overall I'm pretty happy with the finished effect.

Despite a slow day sales-wise, I met some lovely people including a girl who fell in love with and subsequently bought a flamingo pendant.  It looked absolutely stunning on her - I wish I'd taken a  photo!  However, there were a few people who came close to upsetting me with fairly thoughtless behaviour, including a woman who seemed to think my stall was a toy box for her grandchild.  This is a great article on customer etiquette that I found whilst trying to find a hilarious video which said much the same thing, but in a tongue-in-cheek way.  Sadly, I couldn't find it, but I'll keep trying.  Some people should remember they're not in a faceless department store - they're in front of the person who made those things!

However there were some nice surprise treats on the day. This giant ottery face as the train passed through Barnes on the way to Kew Bridge station . . .

. . . and a visit from my lovely Mum, who bought lunch and stood in for me on toilet breaks!

DIY Postcard Display

This week, I've been working on stall display in preparation for the Kew Midsummer Fair next Saturday (June 21st).  I'm totally changing my stall both in terms of layout and appearance and this is both exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.

As I'm going to be arranging everything by subject (ie otters, hares etc) rather than media (hand stitched, resin etc), my cute new postcards need to be displayed separately rather than in one big unit.  I couldn't find any display units I liked online (and I didn't want to spend a fortune either) so I decided to make my own with some handy little boxes I found at work.

I'm really pleased with them!

 

In case you feel the urge, here's how I did it.

1.  To make the holder, you'll need a small, relatively sturdy cardboard box just bigger than the dimensions of your cards, some sticky tape, a pair of scissors, a pen and a ruler.

 

2. In order to make the box lean back slightly to help with the presentation of the cards, measure and draw a line 1cm from the top of the box, then draw a diagonal line from that to the back where the lid hinges.

3.  Cut around this line, leaving the lid intact, then re-insert the lid into the box and tape shut.  This will form the slanted base of the box

4.  Cut the lid off the other end of the box. My box had a semi-circular hole at the top, so I cut away another centimetre to get rid of this.  Stand the box up (deepest end at the front) and measure 6cm up from the bottom at the front of the box.  Draw a horizontal line, then draw a diagonal line on each side of the box from this 6cm point to the top.

5.  Cut these areas away and you are left with your display box!

6.  I decorated my boxes with a collage of paper.  I find this easier than trying to cover with a whole sheet, plus it helps to disguise any rough or uneven edges.  I used old pages of music score and the index from an unwanted London A-Z.  Both had lovely yellowing edges, which gave me the vintage feel I wanted, and I dry-brushed them with white emulsion paint.

 

7.  Tear the paper into small pieces roughly 2-3cm square, and use PVA glue to collage them all over the box.  I didn't bother with the base inside and out.

8.  Leave for a couple of hours to dry, then varnish with a layer of PVA diluted with a little water and bingo - you're done!

The new stall display will hopefully be fully realised at the Kew Midsummer Fair, Kew Green, Kew, Surrey, TW9 3AP on Saturday 21st June 2014.  The fair runs from 11am - 6pm and you can find more information here.

Brighton Etsy Craft Party 2014

The Brighton Etsy Craft Party looked like it might be fun.  Why not spend an evening with local crafters, eating cake, drinking wine and doing crafty activities?  My U-Handbag colleague Skye Pennant (of Even Artichokes Have Hearts and brand new crafting blog Eight & Sixteen) said she'd be happy to come along and had in fact been looking for someone to go with herself!

We just about managed to grab most of the things we needed to bring; some photos (including a photo of ourselves as a kid), cake and wine, and we turned up nice and early.  However, not only had I forgotten to bring scissors, I'd also forgotten my house keys, which led to several horrible minutes of high anxiety while my brain tried to stop hyper-ventilating and think through a solution (fortunately it did all end well and I slept in my own bed that night without the aid of a locksmith or a kicking in of the front door.  Huzzah).

The Brighton Etsy Team had done a fab job in both organising and decorating the venue.  There were goody bags, balloons, pompoms, watermelon bunting, delicious banana and honey frozen yogurt and masses of cake, the Big Booth Boutique photo booth (with accessories), a 'Guess The Crafty Kid' wall for your baby pics and all sorts of fun to be had making your own piece of bunting.

There were loads of crafty supplies laid out in tables and no time was wasted decorating the triangle of felt and trying to incorporate the following ten elements to win points and PRIZES.

• A photograph
• Ribbon
• Pompoms
• Embroidery
• Animal
• Flowers
• Buttons
• Your name
• Brighton Etsy Craft Team sticker
• Five different colours

I think I took this way too seriously and made it far too labour-intensive - I even forgot to drink my wine and missed out on a doughnut!  There was a lot of embroidery in mine. The finished bunting pieces were strung on ribbons around the room and looked amazing - fantastically fun and creative.  The ones who had managed to include everything got popped into a hat and the three winners were picked out at random.  Sadly neither of us won, though Skye did win the 'Cutest' kid category and got her hands on a nice-looking Etsy t-shirt, some Lush products and an original product from one of the organisers. It was such a good laugh and I had a great time.  I will definitely go again next year and really recommend it!