Tomorrow is the most local of local events for me.  A craft fair in my own little village of Croft in Warrington.  It’s very close to both the M62 and M6, so it’s easy to get to for most people in the north west -but most especially people from the villages of Croft, Culcheth and Winwick, who will have a very short travelling distance!!

WA3 7BG is the postcode for finding your way to Croft Memorial Hall for the craft fair tomorrow.  All day catering (breakfasts, lunches) and cakes! (Oh dear, bang goes that diet, again - can I resist?).  However, if you want to make it a day out, Croft is the perfect place for a fabulous pub lunch (try http://www.horseshoe.moonfruit.com or  http://www.thegeneralelliot.co.uk )  and maybe even a countryside walk through fields and lanes.  There’s also a lovely, safe and very well-kept playground for children.  If this sunny weather continues, it could be a lovely day out for the whole family.

If you come along, please say hello!  What’s the betting you’ll find me with a cake in my hand, hiding behind here:

my stall

It’s always lovely doing a craft fair so close it’s within walking distance (well, it would be walking distance if it weren’t for the truckloads of stock!) and it’s not often you get the opportunity.

This Sunday I’ll be driving for all of two minutes before I arrive at the venue.  What a luxury - no chance of getting stuck in motorway traffic, no petrol money to budget for - and if I forget something vital I could even nip home for it!

It’s at Croft Memorial Hall, Mustard Lane, Croft, WA3 7BG.  There’s an all-day catering service - breakfast barms, hog-roast lunchtime barms…oh, and home-baked cakes.

yummy cake

It’s close to J9 of the M62 and J22 of the M6 and really easy to find.  Lots of stalls selling lovely things.  What more could you want?

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow, Sunday 31st January, sees Winwick’s first Craft, Gift and Eco Fair taking place at Winwick Leisure Centre on Myddleton Lane.

If you are local, it should be well worth a visit.  I’ll be popping along as a customer and hope to catch up some of my crafting friends and colleagues there.  WA2 8LQ is the postcode which will get you there with your satnav.

Or not, if your satnav is anything like mine (known not-so-affectionately-at-times as Nagging Nora) with a mind of its own and a very awkward disposition (and an odd fondness for driving round in circles and taking unnecessary detours around housing estates.  What’s all that about?).

Today I’ve been putting the finishing touches to some items for the Rivendell Garden Centre Craft Fair.  It opens tomorrow (23rd October 09) for three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

a bit of a production line going on

It’s definitely feeling a lot colder lately, and my thoughts are turning to things like yummy vegetable soup in a flask as well as gloves, scarves and hats.  I’ll be taking my flask of soup to Rivendell, which I hope will keep me warm - we are sited in a marquee.  Not the warmest place to spend an autumnal weekend.  I shall dig out my gloves and scarf too.  Will I need a hat? 

The weather has been a bit mixed of late, and the plants seem a bit confused.  This little apple tree (below) currently lives in a big pot in the garden.  It’s patiently waiting for its permanent spot - but there’s a lot of hacking down of overgrown conifers to do first.

my baby apple tree

Have you noticed what’s unusual about this little tree?  It’s now well into autumn, and most of its leaves have turned brown or already fallen.  But there’s a confused little branch which believes spring has already arrived.  The leaves are bright green and fresh, and there’s even blossom!  Look a bit more closely:

apple blossom in October

Just a quick note to let you know we’ll be at the craft and gift fair at Capesthorne Hall, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, tomorrow and Sunday (26th and 27th September 2009).  There’s more information about the fair here: http://creativecrafts-online.co.uk/html/latest_news.html.

It’s a great event, with lots of craft and gift stalls and a dedicated food section.  Be great to see you there!!

I’ll be exhibiting at the craft and gift fair at Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield, Cheshire on Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th September, which is only just over a week off.  Where does the time go to?

There’s more info about Capesthorne Hall here: http://www.capesthorne.com and more about the craft fair itself here: http://www.capesthorne.com/forthcoming.html

We’ll be in a marquee in the gardens.  A lovely venue, though, and well worth a visit.  Let’s hope the weather’s warm(ish), always easier to bear in a marquee than gale-force winds, torrential rain and freezing cold.

I am hoping to find enough time in the next week to introduce some brand new designs.  They are just a twinkle of an idea at the moment.  By the end of next week they could be adorning your child’s bedroom wall!  (It’s quite amazing when you think of it like that…!)

If you do manage to pop along, please say hello.  It’s always amazing to meet people who’ve seen me (and my ramblings) online.

Watch this space…

Wow, is it really Friday already?  Where does the time go?

I’ll be loading up my hire car (see this post for why it’s a hire car: http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/2009/08/whoops-a-daisy/ ) with all my 1st Unique Gifts goodies and taking them to Gawsworth Hall in Macclesfield this weekend for the craft fair.  I really do need a van.  I’ll get round to that soon, no doubt.  Meanwhile, it remains a (… erm, I think the polite word is:) challenge, to get everything in my teeny tiny car.  Hoping for help today as my neck, back and shoulders are still sore and complaining painfully at every attempt to move.  My car is a bit worse off, in the garage as we speak having a replacement bumper, tailgate and boot floor.

The craft marquee will be open on the Saturday 29th, Sunday 30th and Monday 31st of August 2009.  I’m hoping the weather will improve a little from the torrential rain we’ve had this morning.  It can’t get any worse, can it? Don’t tempt fate.  Let’s just get out there and do a little sun-dance.

This link will tell you a bit more about the event: http://creativecrafts-online.co.uk/html/latest_news.html - it does look interesting, and the mediaeval entertainments should be fun.

The postcode for your satnav is SK11 9RN.  It’d be lovely to see you there!

If you’re in or around the Warrington area this Sunday (31st May), do come down to Grappenhall Community Centre on Bellhouse Lane, where you’ll find a craft fair - and me.  Well, not sure I’ll be any sort of attraction, but let’s hope there’s at least a slight ripple of interest in the 1st Unique Gifts range.  I know there will be a lot of other great craft stalls there - a really good mix. 

Father’s Day is on 21st June this year, just three weeks away.  Do you know a dad who’d like one of these?

campervan clock with personalised numberplate of your choice

dads shed penpot ideal fathers day gift

Either of the above would make a fabulous Father’s Day gift with a difference. Have your gift for dad personalised with your own choice of numberplate on the campervan clock, or choose your own message to go on the back of Dad’s Shed. It certainly beats another pair of socks!  You can buy them at  www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk - get yours now.

Getting away from Father’s Day, here are a few other things I’ve been working on recently:

cute cupcake clock for the kitchen

This cupcake clock would work well in a kitchen. 

ladybird clock

The ladybirds on this clock will help you tell the time - count the spots!

See you soon - maybe on Sunday at the craft fair?  Come over and say hello!

It’s all go in the studio at the moment.  Here are a few pics of what is keeping me busy at the moment.  For a kick off (oh dear, was that supposed to be a joke…?) there are these footballs which double up as clocks.  They can be personalised with any name or message, which I hope will go down well with junior footballers.  Sitting alongside them is something for mum or big sister - a shoeshop doubling up as a pen pot.  You probably can’t see it, because it’s not so good a picture, but there’s a sale on in the shoeshop!!  Again, it can be personalised.

football clocks and a penpot shoeshop are nearly done

And then there’s these cat goodies.  A cat clock, pen pot, moneybox and hook rail.  There’s a mirror, too, but it didn’t make it into the photo.  I’ve added some appropriately catty quotes - although because they are painted to order, I could add your favourite quotes.  Or even your cat’s name… now, that would be spoiling him!

hand painted cat goodies just needing finishing off

campervan clock nearly done

I also tried out a bit of a craft fair display, and here is a peek at some of it.  The mirror looks a bit raggedy round the edges because I’ve not taken the protective plastic off it yet - I need to varnish before I do that.

trying out a craft fair table display

My first craft fair’s on Sunday 31st May at Grappenhall Community centre in Warrington, Cheshire.  Because it is the first one, I’ll be offering introductory discounts on most things.  Come along and say hello!!