Posts belonging to Category Events

I’m sure I’ve mentioned Made in WA before, but it’s here again – this Saturday, 15th October.

Made in WA is an event hosted by Warrington Market to promote makers in the Warrington area – the WA postcode.  I’ll be joining a growing group of designer/makers in the market hall this Saturday to sell our wares and do our best to promote handmade.

personalised family plaque

It’s always an amazing event – lots of fabulous stalls to peruse, goodies to buy, inspiration to be gained and friends to be made.  You can find out more on the Made inWA Facebook page or their website.

reading room toilet door plaque

If you’re close enough, come and have a look!

If you’re the other side of the country (or indeed the other side of the world) you’re always welcome to browse my website.

beer o clock

Well, hello Sunshine!

you are my sunshine personalised plaque

I was so pleased to see blue sunny skies this morning  – and feel warm in my studio – especially after having read lots of bloggers getting enthusiastic about the approach of autumn.

NO-OO!!

I steadfastly refuse to accept the end of summer just yet (OK, fellow Brits, I can hear you: what summer?) and this morning’s sunshine has made me feel optimistic that we may have a few weeks’ grace before autumn kicks in and we’re kicking leaves.

autumn

This late summer sunshine has also made me feel good about the weekend: I have a stall in the streets of Warrington this Saturday (3rd September), as part of their annual farmers’ market and craft fair.

Street markets are always good fun and usually busy – but a little sunshine goes a long way when you’re spending a whole day on the streets!  So that sunshine is more than welcome to hang around for a while!

There will even be donkey rides too, courtesy of a local children’s farm (and very reminiscent of British beach holidays, of course!).

If you’re around Warrington on Saturday, please do pop along and have a browse of the stalls – and come and say hello!   And if you’re miles away, feel free to have a browse around my online shop.

Here’s hoping the sun is shining for you too today (although by the time this post is published, it could be a completely different story with the weather here ).

This was a show I was looking forward to – and I wasn’t disappointed.

blue wedding campervan

OK, then – I was a little bit . . . when I woke up the morning of the show and saw heavy rain.  Britain is probably the only country in the world where you can take boots, fur lined wellies and flip flops out with you in the morning – and use them all!

Yep,  the rain had cleared up by the time we arrived, the sun shone through the clouds for most of the day, sales were brisk, enthusiastic customers were plentiful, and I had even persuaded my Other Half to spend his day off with me at the show.

I was really lucky to have a corner spot, meaning I had two sides of the stall open to the public

stall

with one side like this

stall with display stands

and the other like this

stall

It gives you a lot more chance to grab people’s attention, as well as more space for them to browse.  Close followers of this blog may have noticed the gridwall on the floor

gridwall on the floor

and not the table – I decided to get a floor stand for it following the fiasco that will be forever known as the Great Gazebo Disaster.

We were so lucky with the weather!  After the early morning downpour, it was a calm, dry day.  It was pouring again by the time we packed up, but hey, I can live with that.  The following day, it was blowing a gale! My, was I glad I wasn’t putting my gazebo up in that!

OK, so here’s a few piccies to give you a flavour of the day.  The first few were taken by Himself – so of course there’s the blokey engine shot

Beetle engine

the funky beach buggies

beach buggies

the VW trucks (oh how good would this be for carting stock to shows?)

vw truck

and he even spotted the oh so gorgeous ice cream van

vw ice cream van

where there were queues when I went back later

vw ice cream van

And, look – a VW campervan bouncy castle!

giant bouncy campervan

Lots of people (and look at those threatening clouds!)

lots of people

and lots of beautifully restored campervans

shiny camper

lots and lots of them

shiny campervans

and it wasn’t just the ice cream van that was decked with bunting

van and bunting

I was rushed off my feet at times.  I completely sold out of pink campervan door plaques, and I’d made more than I expected to sell.

campervan door plaques

I got a few orders for Beetle images on clocks and plaques, so they’ll be making an appearance on the blog in a couple of weeks.  I got some snaps of Beetles today – of course – for inspiration (and inspection of the finer details)!  There were plenty to choose from.

vw beetles

The only drawback to the day?  Well, now I really, really want a campervan to call my very own.  It feels a bit wrong to feel ever so slightly jealous of the little girl who told me: We have a pink bay.  She’s in the workshop at the moment, being done up.  I love her.

How lovely though – what fabulous memories that little girl will have.

make mine pink

I promised I’d do a post about this event.

Made in WA is all about supporting designer makers, crafters and artists in the Warrington area – those living and working in the WA postcode.  It’s hosted by Warrington Retail Market, in their events area to the rear of the market hall.

The first ever one happened on the 23rd July – and was well received by the public and stallholders alike.  I want to introduce you to a few of the stallholders . . .

Floral Gifts 4 U make gorgeous bouquets from socks

Floral Gifts 4 U stopped me in my tracks when I was on a quick walk round the stalls.  I’ve seen lots of people making bouquets and cakes from nappies, socks and other practical necessities – but these are truly beautiful and would make a gorgeous gift.  My photo really doesn’t do them justice.

in the dog house sign

Michelle Burgess uses a chainsaw to carve owls, toadstools and even large garden signs from natural wood.  The results are stunning and looking at the website, it seems like this is very much a family business. I’m in awe of anyone who can make such fabulous things using a chainsaw!

upcycled furniture

I was opposite this stall (above) and it really caught my eye.  Old and unloved furniture is wrapped in wallpaper or fabric (and then varnished) by a husband and wife team, and the results are just stunning.  They work with found pieces, or will work on your own furniture to create something really special.  Their prices are really reasonable and the finished pieces showed a superb attention to detail.  You can find out more by emailing twolous@hotmail.com.

Have you ever heard of a quillo?  It’s part quilt, part pillow (or cushion, if you’re English, but that doesn’t work so well, linguistically!)

folding a quillo

A quillo looks like a cushion to start out with, but it can be opened out into a quilt – and here’s the really great bit: it even has a pocket for your cold toes!!  Ideal for on the sofa, you always have a quilt to hand to snuggle under on chilly evenings.  Squidgy soft, too!!

quillo unfolded

They come in all sorts of printed fabrics and there’s even a little quillo poem!

quillo poem

Find out more about these quillos (or even buy one) by emailing dana.martin@btinternet.com

And me?  I loved this event – and because I was allocated such a superb space, I was able to use a six foot trestle table as my little mobile factory.  I usually use a tiny folding table behind my stall – partly for personalising items for customers and partly for finishing off things for sale, so it was a treat to be able to spread out (and show off some of the processes) a little bit!

my little mobile factory

If you’re a designer/maker living in the WA postcode and want to find out more, visit the organiser’s website – Helen also organises contemporary art and craft fairs in the nearby village of Lymm.

The next event is 15th October but we’ll be back in Warrington town centre before then with a street market on Saturday 3rd September! It’s a farmer’s market and art/craft market combined, so you can pick up your lettuce and tomatoes along with your personalised plaque!

If you don’t live close enough to Warrington for a trip into town, you can visit my website anytime for a browse. Don’t forget to pour yourself a nice cup of tea or coffee first and put your feet up (actually, that sounds a bit more inviting than a trip into town ).

If you want to keep up to date with what’s going on in Warrington Market, they have a Facebook page that will keep you in the loop!

This is a brand new little venture (adventure, even!) for me.  I’ve never been to a specialist show like this with my gift stall.  The show I’m talking about is this one at Tatton Park on Sunday 7th August. Gates open at 9 am, and they’re expecting lots of visitors.

vw sign on blue van

I’m only sorry that I’m going there to work – I’d love to spend a day looking round the campers and Beetles and taking photos!

But I’m busy painting lots of campervans in readiness!

campervan door plaques

I only hope they are well-received!

Oh, and I also hope the sun shines.  Always good for an outdoor event!

Welcome to Handmade Monday – please leave your blog link below!

Well, it would’ve been boring to report yet another sunny weekend at a lovely local event.  So, just to upset the applecart (or gazebo) yesterday we had rain

grey skies, quiet and boring - be careful what you wish for!

and plenty of it

rain

and, oh yes . . .  wind. You’ll have to just trust me on this one – no photos, it just got TOO mad.

It was one of those slow-motion moments.

Just as I was thinking the gazebo has lifted off I quickly had to get my head round the gazebo is coming down on the stall next door, [SORRY, really really SORRY!!!] – followed by I think they’re managing to fight it off – then I was rushing back to my own stall thinking everything has fallen over with a big almighty CRASH and all my stock is on the floor in a messy heap.

The gazebo had taken all the display stand and tables with it.

This is NOT happening.

I stood looking at the mess as if I was stupid.

Er, yes it IS happening.  Deal with it.

Then suddenly it was children (and their mothers) are holding onto the gazebo legs to stop it flying away again at the same time as it seems like half the people here are helping me stuff wet and grassy plaques, chalkboards and clocks into wet and grassy plastic boxes.

Other people were trying to hold up the gazebo up like it was some wayward drunk.  It wasn’t working very well, but they still held it there to keep the rain off us while we frantically packed.

Disaster wasn’t properly averted until it was all packed up and the gazebo folded (where possible) and scrunched (where folding was impossible) down to a fairly manageable bundle of scrap metal.

So I packed up early, with the most assistance I’ve ever had packing up my craft stall!  The Winwick Carnival organisers, the passers-by and even the children hanging onto the gazebo legs could not have been more helpful.

If you were one of the many people who helped me out, thank you so, so much.  I didn’t have much time (or presence of mind) to say thank you.  And if my gazebo caused you any problems, I’m so sorry.

And if you thought you’d buy your plaque after a look around the rest of the carnival, and returned to find an empty patch of grass  – or mayhem – where my stall had been – again, I’m sorry.  But do feel free to buy online or email/phone me – contact details are in the link at the top!

Lesson learned.  It didn’t seem a particularly windy day – but tent pegs were definitely not enough.  Be warned!  I was actually more worried about how rainproof the cover was than I was about wind.

The salvage process has begun and most of the plaques are actually ok

although nearly all the cellophane bags have been chucked out and some of the wires on the plaques were very bent and need replacing.

bent wire

That’s all small stuff, though.  Nobody was hurt, thankfully.  It’s a reminder of the lovely, helpful nature of most people.  To the lady who said “I don’t know if I’m helping or not, doing this” – you were,  much more than you’ll ever know.  Thank you.

Hope your weekend has been better.  Do leave your blog link below – I’m in need of a nice cup of tea (how very British!) and a bit of gentle blog hopping! I’m counting on you!

This Saturday, 16th July, is carnival day in Winwick, Warrington – let’s hope for some lovely sunshine to help proceedings go with a swing.

winwick carnival

If you’re interested in finding out more, visit the official carnival website here.  I’ll be there with my stall and there will all sorts of other things to see, buy and do.  If you need directions, you’ll find a map on the website too.

Maybe I’ll see you there if you live close enough!  If not, then you can enjoy a wander around my website whatever the weather!

P.S: There will be a few special offers to be had on the day!

blue skies

Stockton Heath Festival seems to be a rapidly growing event.  It’s always a lot of fun and most of it takes place on the field just off Mill Lane in Stockton Heath village.  The craft market will be on the field again this year.

This year they’ve separated the craft market from the farmers’ market – the craft market is this Saturday (the 9th July) and the second is on the Sunday.

my stall

I’ll be part of the craft market again of course.  I’ve really enjoyed this one in previous years and always had sunshine (albeit with a few scattered clouds).  Let’s hope for a lovely day again.

The market – and fun and games on the field -  comes alive after the Stockton Heath Walking Day procession, with all the children in their finery.  I remember these days from my childhood (Walking Days are a big thing in Warrington) and that posh new frock was always better shown off in sunshine rather than under a plastic mac!

It’d be great to see you there if you can make it.  The mornings are usually quite quiet, if you’d like a proper browse of the stalls.  It does get really busy after the walk ends.

last year at stockton heath

For more information, visit the Stockton heath festival website and see the very impressive line up of attractions for Saturday here.

My most local of all local events is Croft Carnival.  It’s the event I would never consider taking my car to if I didn’t have all my stock to carry.   It’s so local that cars visiting the carnival park in my road (overspill from the very few even closer roads!).

So, yes – of course I’ll be joining in again this year on Saturday 2nd July, with my stall selling my hand painted goodies.

my stall at last year's carnival

Croft Carnival has a 1970′s theme this year.  The village houses will be decorated with seventies-themed scarecrows (that’ll be a sight to behold!) and the floats will have a seventies theme too.  Cue colour, swirls, flares and general tastelessness!  I’m looking forward to it!

vw (pre-seventies!)

The carnival parade will start at 12 noon from The Plough and events on the field will start at 1.15pm.  Here’s hoping for a sunny day for all the fun and games – as well as for craft stalls like my own.

circus skills at croft carnival

This carnival has a lovely, friendly and family feel to it – a great day out whether you live in Croft or further afield.

Hope to see you there if you’re close enough to join in!

croft carnival on the field

(P.S. all the pics in this post were taken at last year’s carnival).

Joanne Linder of Vintage Twee is lovely in all senses of the word, so back in February when we were at Warrington Market for the Valentine’s Fair, it was no surprise that she was approached and asked to be the face of Warrington Market for their TV advertising campaign. 

Joanne being filmed

Since being filmed, Joanne has been worrying about the camera adding its proverbial 10 lbs – but even if it did, I don’t think she has anything to worry about!  

If you live in the north west of England, do look out for the Warrington Market ads this week.

As well as being on TV, Joanne will be at the next Craft and Vintage Fair at Warrington Market on 30th April 2010 – so if you’d like your autograph book signing before she gets truly famous, you know where to get hold of her!

paper cones from Vintage Twee

Joanne makes some adorable vintage-inspired tea party accessories for her Vintage Twee business so you may want to make a little purchase too  

Maybe see you there on Saturday?

"drink me" labels from Vintage Twee