Craft Fairs and Cats

Being a vendor at a craft fair is very much an occasion for mixed emotions.  Firstly you have the excitement of anticipation, the worry of whether you will have enough inventory to satisfy the customers, always balanced by the fear that your work won't be liked and everything you take with you will come back too.  There is the set up, trying to showcase your wares in the best possible way to whet the appetite of purchasers, then the ticking by of the minutes until "opening time" comes.  Sometimes your face aches trying to maintain a smile when no-one is interested in your hard work and people walk by without even giving the appearance of a cursory glance.  Sometimes the time flies as the public engage you in conversation and are complimentary.  The more people who come through the door the higher the possibility that someone will like your product and want to buy something, but, really it is a crap shoot, a gamble of table cost, gas money and materials up in the air against possible purchases.  One constant I have found is that the vendors are all nice people, maybe because we are all in the same boat, but there is a sense of community amongst the people behind the tables, they feel for you if you are having a bad day, and they cheer along when you make a sale.

I have some experience now of craft fairs, but a new market for me is internet sales. There is Etsy and Folksy, there is Ebay and Kijiji/Craig's List/ or whatever is the local alternative, they all offer the opportunity of showcasing your products on the internet.  I have used Kijiji for selling pieces of furniture, but personally don't think it is appropriate for crafts.  I have bought from Ebay and may yet sell through them.  I have an Etsy page but to date I have not sold anything there.  Today I made my first internet sale, and it was through my Hetty Jean facebook page.  I opened this page on 24th June 2013, and on 1st December I achieved 100 likers so I decided to run a giveaway.  The winner was Heather Poeschel Leary who has chosen to receive a skunk.  Amazingly from the Monday (1st December) to the Friday (when the giveaway closed) my likers grew by 22!  Now I have broken through another barrier by achieving that first internet sale, and to say I am happy is an understatement.  Miss Hippo has been chomping at the bit for someone to love her, and I think she's packed her suitcase already, she'll be parceling herself up in anticipation of the Post Office opening tomorrow.

My friend Diane suggested to me that I supersize my cat pattern.  Previously my cats have maxed out at 12 inches in height, indeed Miss Hippo is a diminutive 7 1/2 inches.  

So, I had a go, and increased the size of two cats.  The first is 17 inches in height and I used a felted merino wool sweater to make him, his tail uses the ribbing at the bottom of the sweater.  He has a pink wool nose and green eyes.  

 The second cat could in fact be a fox.  I used a great red/cream/pink/grey stripey lambswool sweater for everything except the head which is made of red kashmir.  I think this kittie is a girl, and has a grey wool nose and blue eyes.  

These cats are $35.

What do you think, do they lose some of their character being bigger or is it wrong to compare them?  The bigger ones definitely more cuddly because of the wool content, but I would appreciate input.

Have a happy day!

I 

The Mama Market and Children's TV Puppet Shows

I drove on down to Belleville this afternoon to drop off my creatures for The Mama Market at the Quinte Family Centre on MacDonald Avenue.  I am very excited as it promises to be hugely successful.  I'll let you know how I do afterwards.

I managed to get a new cat finished for the Market, but a new monkey mobile didn't make the cut.  But it will be ready for the next show which is Craft Fushion in Batawa on November 30th.

During the week we drove over the Kingston as I had an hospital appointment.  We had a wonderful lunch at the Mango restaurant on Princess Street (Thai and Pan-fusion) which I heartily recommend.  On the drive home our conversation edged into the absurd.  I think the 1970s must have had a truly ginormous number of children's television shows that used puppets.  We began naming them, indeed it was good fun as we remembered some of these shows.

Of course there were the Muppets, but do you remember Sooty and Sweep:

Basil Brush, whose catchphrase was "Boom, Boom":

 The Magic Roundabout.  I do love Florence's hair!

Rainbow.  Characters from left to right are George, Bungle and Zippy.

Stingray, with the silent mermaid Marina, and of course the dishy Captain Troy Tempest.

The list goes on and on, but I won't bore you to death, but it really did prove to be a very good car game. 

Finally, I'm really looking forward to The Day of the Doctor.  I've loved Doctor Who for years, well love is possibly a bit extreme, but I have memories of watching with my older sister Sarah and both of us would have a pillow to hide our eyes behind when it got scary! So, all in all, this should be a great weekend.  I hope your's will be great too.

Have a happy day!

Wooden Boxes and Steamer trunks

I was passing by a local antique shop last week, when I noticed two lovely wooden boxes they had outside the shop.  I love wood,  and like to have lots of wooden things around me. This got me to thinking, how could I used a box in my life?  Our house is, for two people, quite large, but there is a lack of space for new objects.  But then it occurred to me, I had been thinking of getting a sewing box to organise my sewing area. I know you can't believe that I would be messy can you - however, below is the evidence. 

There is no space left beneath my chair due to the tins of lambswool thread, buttons and beads, and the roving which has sprawled out of the sewing box which cannot contain it all. Then you can see my pot of scissors, pens, pencils and filling prodders, a bag of filling, a maple leaf bag full to the brim of felt, and a bag of material.  There are also plastic boxes of embroidery thread, and a woven square basket containing sequins, ribbon and other sundries.  It is a mess, and any time someone comes to the house, I am scrabbling to tidy it up so that the room is presentable.

Anyway, back to those boxes I saw, they inspired me to look on Kijiji, an on-line selling forum which I have used previously.  There I espied an old steamer trunk.  It has a green canvas to with wood battens and metal end pieces on the lid.  It is in a sorry state, the interior stinks, so much so that it has been banished to the shed so that it doesn't pollute the air of the house.  So the first job, with a mask on, will be to vacuum the interior, then remove the remainder of the peeling paper.  Then a solution of bleach, dish soap and water will be used to sanitise the interior wood.  Then Pete will take over and he is going to refurbish the exterior so that it looks beautiful.  Pete would have taken over anyway, so getting him to say he will do it from the beginning is a bonus, it means I can sit back and enjoy the process rather than be frustrated because he is pushing me out of the way so that he can do it, so that it is done properly!  Said refurbishment together with the trunk will form part of my Christmas present.

I will take photos of the trunk to show its current state, and how it progresses, but it has gotten much colder and I'm not going out to the shed at the moment, so the photos will have to wait.

I have been busy sewing.  A raccoon:

A skunk: 

Also I bought some material which just spoke to me.  It said Yeti.  Here is the back view:

The front:

And his face, I shaved the material so that the features are more flush to the base:

He is soooo cute!

Have a happy day!

One of a Kind Show in Maynooth

What a lovely Sunday.  We drove up to Maynooth for the One of a Kind Show.  Both Pete and I took our cameras, fall colours in Ontario are spectacular, unfortunately the deciduous trees decided against us, they had, for the most part, already shed.  There were plenty of lovely firs and pines and cedars, stu nning rocky outcrops, and darkly reflective lakes.  Just no autumnal spread of colourful leaves.  Ho hum.  It was still a lovely drive, straight up Highway 62 through Madoc, via Bancroft (where we are determined to spend return and have a prolonged look around).

The gym at the Maynooth Library is a lovely big room, and we found ourselves sited at the door - a perfect situation given that if people did no more than glance on their way in, on the way out they are forced to pass by again, and can't miss the display.

In the left of the picture you will find the newest "staging" addition.  It is an iron "plant" stand which is perfect for showing my mobiles.  After Pete had taken this picture my friend Diane suggested that we put the plant stand onto the table so that it would be really visible to people - wow did that ever work.  The monkey mobile became the thing people zeroed in on, and it was the most touched and caressed item.  I'm happy to say it sold!  I'll have to make another, it won't be exactly the same and for me that is part of the fun of my creations they are all one of a kind.  

Just behind my table you can see some of the work of my newest friend Shelley.  At the top of the display door you can see a gorgeous wooden hanging which has tiny lights highlighting the central painted panel.  Shelley had samples of her maple butter.

Is it ever good.   I had to get some, sorry the pic is blurry.  Also a really cute tea light holder.

I popped tea lights in last night and it looked really great.

I also bought a ring from my friend Diane of At Sebastien's Silver Wear.  She uses silver cutlery to make rings pendants and bracelets - gorgeous stuff.  At Sebastien's Silver Wear is on facebook.

I like to wear my ring with the little rose design facing up.

But I always have he option to turn it around so that the end is visible.  Given the size I think this was a teaspoon.  I absolutely love it.

I also bought some scented shea butter.

And some yummy roving.

It was the first craft fair that Pete had attended with me.  After 10 minutes he was wondering if my prices were too high, and if there is a market for my softies.  At the end of the four hour fair he had long since retracted those thoughts and was doing a little happy dance every time along with me every time I made a sale.  It was a good day.

I have several fairs coming up, so I need to work on my inventory.  The latest addition is this little lady:

She even stands en-pointe!

Have a happy day!

Mice on parade

I prepared five mice with different faces, just to show how you can create different personalities using different items.  As they lay there, it struck me as just too funny.  I got my cutting pad out as it presents the measurement element.

Remind you of anything?

 

 

Definitely a warped sense of humour!! 

 

Here's a different view of my little guys.  First left has black bead eyes, a pink embroidered mouth and black mouth.  Second Left has black embroidered eyes, nose and mouth.  Centre has embroidered brown eyes, brown embroidered nose and mouth.  Right of Centre has green button eyes, a green button nose and black embroidered mouth.  Second Right of Centre has black embroidered eyes and mouth, and pink embroidered nose.



 





 

They all have different charms, although I have to say the pink button nose looks like a pig's nose!  My preference is for black embroidered eyes and pink nose.



Scene staging at home and craft fairs

There is a lovely shop in Madoc called Country Treasures.  At the beginning of the summer I bought a wooden wheelbarrow that Pat Shannon of Red Door Antiques and More had sourced (check out her page on facebook).  I had to have it.  Pete was very dubious, but once it was laden with plants even he admitted it looks great. 



 

 

 

I'm faced with the prospect of moving it from this space to about 8ft to the left.  Pete is ordering some gravel which we need to top up the driveway, and the spot that the wheelbarrow occupies at the bottom of the drive is the most logical space to have the gravel unloaded. 

 

Either side of the path to the house are two flowerbeds crammed with Jurassic sized hostas and day lillies.  Actually I should say there were two, the one closest to the house has been cleared, covered with weed suppressant and just needs gravel to finish it off.  Whilst it looked wonderful the flowers really took up too much of the walking space, so much so that you could barely see the paving slabs, and as I am capable of falling over an ant it wasn't terribly practical.  We have some low profile solar lights to bed into the gravel, and our wooden bench and two cast iron urns filled with begonias will then sit on the gravel.  Practical and pretty.  I'll show you a picture once its finished.

 

I bought another of Pat's finds the other day.  It is this cute little stool.

 

 
At 5'9" I don't need it to access the highest of high cupboards in the kitchen.  No, I think this stool is going to be absolutely perfect for staging on my Hetty Jean craft fair table.
 

 
T-Rex likes it, actually I think he's laughing!
 
Funnily enough when I got home I glanced at the collage of family pictures on the wall, and I was sitting on its twin (well not really, but it is similar).  My older sister Sarah is in the middle, and the blonde blur on the left is my younger sister Jane, who is still a person of perpetual motion. 
 

 

 
I have been doing some more stitching.  My softies are all hand sewn, and in the majority of cases I create my own pattern.  This time I wanted to make a "big" cat (all of 10 inches from nose to tail).  Pete thought it was a lion, but I had a different cat in mind.
 

 

 

 
So, I needle felted different colours of felt onto the blank canvas.  Then I worked on his face using embroidery floss to create his eyes and nose.  Then the stripes were embroidered on, and he went from the picture above to the gorgeous little guy below.   It took a lot of work but I'm really happy with the end result.

I love, love, love tigers.  I think they are the most superb creatures.  I took this little fella outside so he could lurk around in the jungle.

 

 

 
Bea was not prepared to let me outside on my own, but when I went to take her photo she refused to look at the camera.

 

 I must share Bea's happy dance with you.  So funny.

 

 

 
Have a happy day!

 

 

 

 

 

Touring Prince Edward County and new Felt Softies

We had a lovely day yesterday.  We went with Cousin Suzanne and her daughter Madeline to "The County": Prince Edward County in Ontario.  It is a gorgeous area just south of Belleville.  Sandbanks Provincial Park  has two of the finest bay mouth sandbar and coastal sand dune systems in the province.  You can see that in the summer months it is an ideal place for people to visit.  But we were not heading for the beach, rather we chose to explore two of the lovely settlements on The County.

We had a lovely lunch at the Lake on the Mountain Inn just to the east of Picton.  The location requires a visual double take because it defies all know geographical and geological theory.  The Lake literally sits 62 metres above the Bay of Quinte. 

Here is a view of the Lake.

We have seen some very nice, but very expensive black and white photos of local scenes which have been transferred onto A3 size canvases, so I thought I'd try being 'artistic' and turned a couple of shots into sepia tones. 

 

 

This is a picture taken of the opposite view, down onto the Bay of Quinte which may give you a sense of perspective.

We had a pleasant stroll window shopping in Picton thence on to Bloomfield.  A-ha you may be saying, that sounds familiar!  Indeed dear reader it is the village I went to in July for an Artists' Showcase and craft fairs.  

Call me biased, but I particularly like Bloomfield, it is very attractive.  The shopping on the main street is geared towards tourists with various artistic gift and antique shops.  There is also an ice-cream shop offering ice creams which are freshly made using real ingredients.

Decisions, decisions.  Suzanne chose the butterscotch which was lovely.

Maddy chose Campfire.  It tasted of toasted marshmallows or smoke.  Personally I thought it disgusting, but Maddy and several other youngsters who exited the shop whilst we sat enjoying our ice creams disagreed with me.

My choice next.  Rhubarb and ginger.  It was lovely, a real taste of rhubarb and chunks of crystallised ginger.  Yum yum - definitely the right choice.

You'll notice Pete was the only one to choose a cone!  His choice of strawberry and banana was, for him, quite a leap of faith as he usually only ever chooses straight strawberry.  He thoroughly enjoyed it.

Despite all this frolicking around, I have managed to finish two new felt softies.  Firstly a rooster.

I must say I'm very happy with him.  Don't you love his tail!

My second new softie is a new T-Rex.  The first one was purchased for a lucky little boy's Christmas present.

 Isn't he great!

Have a happy day!