Handm@de Cambridge

If you are in Cambridge on the 4th April please come and see me at the Handm@de Cambridge craft fair! I don't do many craft fairs so this is a rare opportunity to see my work in the flesh. I've been busily making jewellery, and there will be some new pieces which I will be selling at the fair. I'll be posting some sneaky peeks later on in the week!


I am also organising the fair along with the other ladies involved with the Handm@de craft fairs so I am hoping for everything to run smoothly!

There are also 2 other fairs this year, one in Oxford which is being organised by Becci of Moments by Martha and another in Winchester which is being organised by Alice of Raspberry Fairy. So if you can't make it to Cambridge please come and see us another time!

You will find all the details of the fair on our website:
www.handmadecraftfairs.co.uk

xx

2 Months to Go!

Until Handm@de Cambridge!
I have been taking lots of applications from talented crafters since Christmas and its shaping up to be a really wonderful fair. I will also be having a stall at the fair which is generally a bit of a rarity as I don't do many craft fairs, come and see my work in the flesh.

Also, the first 200 visitors to the fair will receive a free goodie bag packed with lots of lovely handmade samples, discount vouchers and crafty goodness. If you are a seller at the fair or make and sell anything handmade send us your samples, business cards, postcards, vouchers, anything to do with your work and we can put them in the goodie bags.
See the handm@de website for more info.

4th April 2009 - put it in your diary :)

www.handmadecraftfairs.co.uk
www.handmadecambridge.blogspot.com

xx

Fellow Brits

Just to let you know I have updated my Folksy shop with some new pieces, they are all ready and in stock to buy in Pounds Sterling!

New listings include my new Lemon Balm Earrings and new signature piece - Wave Necklace.

xx

Festive Goings On

I am very much enjoying my long Christmas break this year, it is nice to have a whole week off after Christmas before returning to my day job. I had a great Christmas, ate too much and received some lovely presents - some of which were handmade too!


My other half bought me this great Dr Who mouse from The House of Mouse and a handprinted notebook from Pumpkin Sputnik. The mouse is sitting in my jewellery studio and the notebook will be useful for keeping notes and ideas all in one place, rather than on bits of paper everywhere.


I also treated myself to a pincushion from Lupin's shop, and I was her 1,500th customer to boot, I received some brilliant freebies from her! The doves are also going in my studio and the flowers pinned on bags and coats :) I love the map writing set too, I think I might include some of these in my orders!

Being as we have had some free time we've used it to spend a bit more time outdoors, we visited Knole Park in Kent on Boxing day, which is full of deer roaming about freely, they are quite tame too so you can get really close up!We also visited Jimmys Farm in Suffolk this week, which has a great nature trail which includes rare breed chickens, guinea pigs (randomly!), ferrets and a lovely woodland walk.
We also stopped at their farm shop to pick up some pork, farmed just in the next field. I'll be blogging a gorgeous crispy pork noodle recipe later.


Amongst all of this I have also managed to make and list one new item for the shop, these Angelhair earrings. I adore these beads, they really jumped out at me when I was bead shopping, they are so interesting and in limited supply. I am definitely going to keep a pair for myself too. In my Etsy shop and soon to be in my Folksy shop too.

I am working on new designs for 2009, including a new version of my popular Two Lockets necklace, this time with oxidized silver chain which matches perfectly with brass lockets. I am eagerly awaiting more silver chain in the post so I can make and list this design. I hope you like it.

I am now going to end this mammoth blog post by wishing you a Happy New Year!


xx

Handm@de Cambridge!

I am quite excited to be involved with organising the next Handm@de craft fair in the lovely Cambridge city centre, we have recently opened applications to stallholders for the event which will be on the 4th April 2009. We are hoping to attract lots of gorgeous designers, makers, artists, and crafters to the fair.

If you are interested in exhibiting please visit the blog, Flickr group or email handmadefairs@gmail.com for more information and an application form!

If you are interested in visiting, we will be at the Cambridge Guildhall on the 4th April 2009. :)

xx

which day?

I have been looking at calendars on Etsy lately (suddenly realised how quickly this year has gone by, almost 2009!) something which I never thought about buying from Etsy, there are so many beautiful calendars in wonderful designs. As you know I love the seasons, they are mirrored in my work, so I love all of the images portrayed for each month in these calendars.

First one that caught my eye is from seventyandsunny - a mini calendar with gorgeous seasonalillustrations. You should also check out alyson's blog for wonderful photographs, fashion picks and inspiration.


This next one is purely for sheer cuteness, it is from The House of Mouse - maker of little felt mice in various guises - my favourite is Yoda Mouse! This one is definitely designed to cheer up a dull day.

This last one isn't technically a calendar, its a diary but I love it so I had to include it. A luxurious custom made day book, hand bound and hand printed. I am always making notes, although probably too messy for such a nice book, and this would be perfect for keeping all my to do lists, notes and ideas together. By Transient Books.


xx

handmade of the month - august

I am here in a timely manner this month, with my newest pick!
It would seem I am taking on the theme of bags, not on purpose although I think I do have a natural love for bags, purses, clutches and totes.

This month I am featuring Notes - designer of handmade bags and little coin purses. I shared a stall with her at the recent We Make fair in Covent Garden, her creations are so beautiful and very well made, and she was great company at the fair too!

Her brown tree bag will be featured in my blog for the whole of this month, its perfect for fitting everything in, and if you are like me you need to fit everything in!

buttons and bobs

I have two projects at the moment (well two main ones, I normally have about 10 different items I am working on at any time) - buttons and bobby pins.

I have recently acquired a lot of buttons from someone locally, all very old buttons and all so beautiful. I have 3 boxes, so maybe in the region of about 500 buttons? I am planning to start a little button supply shop on Etsy for these, although I am keeping some of them for my own fun and games. I'm quite excited about finding these because most of them are from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, and even a few from the 1890s!

I am sorting through them this week, its quite time consuming as I'm cleaning them up and sorting them into batches, I am hoping to start listing things next week.

The other new project I have is bobby pins, or hair pins. This is something that will also feature some of the vintage buttons I have but I will also be using some lovely flower and rose beads. I have listed one pair so far, a pair of Flamenco red hairpins made with brass pins and a lovely aluminium red rose. I've made a pair for myself and they stand out really well on my black hair, they are perfect for evening wear.

handmade of the month

I've put a new little feature on my blog, my favourite handmade item of the month.

I have big favourites list on Etsy, as its impossible for a day to go by without finding something else that makes you want to forgo paying bills to buy. I hope you enjoy looking at my monthly picks, they are at the side of my blog, just below my Etsy Shop link.

I've squeezed in Angharad's beautiful blue clutch for the July pick, watch out for a new item in August.

Enjoy!

My First Handmade Handbag

Many people know me as being a bit of a handbag fiend, at one point I had about 30 handbags in my wardrobe, in various shapes and sizes. Generally I am an accessory fiend too, so its no wonder I went into jewellery making (I’m not good enough at sewing to make handbags!).

All of the handbags I have ever bought have been mass produced high street bags, so I am very much in love with my first handmade bag as it is mine and no one else has one the same. I even got to pick how big it was and what material it was made from, and even the button on the front!
So I’d like to thank Abi Bansal Design for creating my first handmade handbag. Long may it carry lots of my junk around (and believe me its already full up).


I think I may even be able to attach a bag charm to it, I’ve been making them recently so it would be a nice way to advertise my bag chams and also Abi’s lovely bags.