Laura and I had an interesting day at the FLAIR artists and makers Craft Fair in York today. The weather was a challenge. York was covered in a blanket of snow and the temperature was very low. The fair was held in the Chapel within the historic York Cemetery which was a beautiful venue. Unfortunately it wasn't a very attractive day for people to come out but we did meet some very talented crafters and some very robust customers who braved the snow storm and the freezing conditions. Thank you especially to our friends who made a special effort to attend and give us support, it was very much appreciated.

We met Jilly Lovett a brilliant crafter who makes folk art dolls (the Johnny Depp pirates and mermaid were our favourites), berets, gloves and accessories from recycled wool and cashmere. We recommend a visit to her etsy shop.

I had two new bowls on display which I really enjoyed making. They will be available on our web shops next week. I have been working on designs which feature flowers lately and people seem to like them which is good news. While we were away in Scotland recently we noticed that on the Isle of Arran there are many gardens with fantastic blue hydrangeas growing in them I expect with all the snow since we left many of them will have gone over now. Laura and I have been working on a series of designs with hydrangea flowers as the basis so hopefully those will be available soon on out web shops too.

Laura and I have spent this week working on new designs for our products. We are very keen to work with recycled, reclaimed and pre-loved materials and we notice that there are other artists and makers out there who have the same commitment.

We particularly like Julia's Genius throw, featured in today's Guardian Magazine which is made from vintage sweaters and available from anthropologie.eu

We will be exhibiting at the next FLARE craft fair, tomorrow Sunday 28 November at The Chapel, York Cemetery, Cemetery Road, York YO10 5AJ. The fair is open from 11am until 4pm. We would very much like to meet you there if you can make it.

Last Sunday we exhibited at the FLARE artists and makers Craft Fair held at the Town Hall in Ripley, North Yorkshire. It was very nice to meet new people both customers and fellow crafters and artists. Once again we found some really wonderful creations for sale which inspired us to keep working on and improving our own products.

The people loved Laura's corsages and fascinators. The feedback we had from customers was that it was great to find something original, handmade and produced from recycled materials. My little Christmas tree decorations were popular too! We placed sweets in the sparkling little bowls and they were enthusiastically sampled (and bowls purchased). We are very happy to be meeting a need for special gifts and accessories especially as we are getting so close to Christmas now. Our range as always can be found on our web shops at Folksy and Etsy.

Like us, a lot of people are enjoying Kirsty Allsop's new television series "Homemade Home" and it is very pleasing to find that she is championing making things from recycled, reclaimed and pre-loved materials too.

While Laura and I were away visiting the Isle of Arran we spent some of our time there designing new bowls which reflected some of the amazing things we saw. The sunrises and sunsets from the beach at Pirnmill, the little village we stayed in were very beautiful. We took some champion walks along the beach and up in the hills behind the village. One of these walks took us to Corre Lochan above the hamlet of Thunderguy. The colours and textures of the scenery are majestic. We took lots of photographs of the little loch which is about 1000 feet above sea-level and when we returned to our cozy cottage we painted bowls. We hope to have some of these posted on our web shops very soon!

In the meantime we are prepare for another FLARE craft fair this coming weekend which will be held at the Chapel, York Cemetery in York. It is a really fascinating and historic location and we would recommend a walk around the grounds which may be covered in snow by the weekend if the forecasts are correct. The event is on Sunday 28 November from 11am until 4pm and we would love to meet you there.

Laura and I have been away for the last week visiting friends on the Isle of Arran on the west coast of Scotland. It was an awsome visit, Arran is such a beautiful island. We will write more about our adventure there next week.

On Sunday 21st November we will be exhibiting at the FLARE artists and makers Craft Fair at The Town Hall, Ripley, North Yorkshire HG3 3AX between 11am and 4pm. It would be lovely to see you there.

I have been away visiting Northumberland recently. Mark and I stayed at Spylaw Farm near Chatton which is beautiful and restful place to vacation. We occupied Cuddy's Croft which is a small but perfectly formed self-catering cottage for two. It is very generously and comfortably equipped with pretty much everything you could possibly need. The owners Lorna and Andy are friendly and accommodating. Lorna leaves a tray of cake and tea things when you arrive and she can provide a three course meal made from goods grown on their farm wherever possible. There are chickens and geese and sheep and lots of land to roam on. It is by far my favourite home from home.

While we were there I was inspired by the countryside and the incredible local beaches. I painted a few bowls which I am pleased with at Spylaw. The first includes a pre-historic 'ring' stone carving we found on nearby heathland. These carvings are found across Northumberland and North Yorkshire and are pretty amazing. The one we visited was near Chatton.

We did a lot of walking in Northumberland and fortunately the weather was pretty kind most of the time. On one of the walks we collected crab apples and rose hips which we brought back home. I have since made a load of Rose Hip and Apple jelly which will be given away as Christmas gifts I expect. I found an excellent recipe at The Cottage Smallholder, a web site I visit often. It is full of great tips and advice for Hugh Fearlessly-Eats-It-All types and Kirsty wannabes. I love it. The walk also inspired a bowl with an autumnal woodland theme which I really enjoyed painting. I think it has a 'nursery' quality about it and I think perhaps the lost child in me came out whilst making it!

The best walk we had was taken on the advice of our landlord at Spylaw, Andy. He sent us off to Ross Sands Beach which is about five miles from the farm. You can get to it between Budle Bay and Lindisfarne after a short trek across the bird sanctuary and dunes. it was an very windy day! The sand was shifting like a flat cloud across the empty beach and the waves were wild and sparkling. It was magical. When I got back to Spylaw, weighed down with pebbles and shells I started to paint a little bowl to remember the day by.

Each of the bowls mentioned above are now for sale in our web shops at Folksy and Etsy.

Now I'm back in Harrogate I have been working on some new ideas. I have designed a new bowl which is decorated with pink flowers and I hope you will like it too. we have also produced an ameliagreenheart calender for 2011 which features images from some of the gifts and accessories Laura and I have been producing this year. It will be for sale at the craft Fairs we are participating in later this month and if anyone would like a copy please get in touch and we can send you one.

We do hope to be able to meet you at the FLARE craft events at Ripley, North Yorkshire on Sunday 21st November and at York on Sunday 28th November. We will also be at The St Aidans School Christmas Gift Fair in Harrogate on 3rd December.

Time seems to fly by....This past weekend I was working on two commissions for work and the beginning of the week has been absorbed with thinking about new ideas and products for our web shops.
One of the commissions was for a house number sign for a 'Wendy House' in Weatherby. The client gave me a few pointers and left me to have a go. She collected it yesterday and later sent me a text message "....we put up 3a and it looks great! The colours are perfect and we love the design you chose. Thanks very much!" It was lovely to have some cheery feedback.

The second commission was for a large bowl. I so enjoyed making this one and when the purchaser has collected (hopefully pleased with it) and given it to its intended recipient I will share a photograph here on the blog. Actually I will miss it and would like to make another for me!

We should have some new 'seasonal' gifts available in our shops on etsy and folksy later and we will update the blog when they are available. I'm having a rainbow moment...so all the new designs are with rainbow coloured stars and inspite of myself they also seen to be a bit glittery but I actually love them and we hope you will too!

Feedback from people is interesting. The smallest comment can sometimes seem so negative even when it is almost certainly not meant to. One comment I received about my bowls was about the roughness of the finish. I suppose it is the tactile nature of them that I love the most and it is quite hard to get that across in a photograph. Of course being at craft fairs makes that part easy because people pick the bowls up and seem to actively enjoy the textures and odd shapes. It's the same with Laura's Tie bags...once you feel the luxurious silk of the (ex gentleman's tie) fabric they are hard to resist! The point is that feedback is always a good thing. I especially like it when people say something like "this is good...but it would be even better if you..."

I have also been visiting galleries, homes, gifts and craft shops in Harrogate distributing leaflets to promote the up-coming FLARE Artist and Makers Craft Fairs in November. Along the way I have been meeting interesting and wonderfully creative people. It has been a pleasure.

At Sutcliffe Galleries in Harrogate I was blown away by some extraordinary 'pictures' in 3 dimensions by Jon Mittan. His work is still life of vegetables in very classical style but presented as 3D photographs. The work has to be seen to be fully appreciated and I would heartily recommend a visit to gallery to get the full effect. Sutcliffe Galleries also has some beautiful paintings, Raku pottery and jewellery by local artists and it is very friendly place to visit.

On my travels leafleting I also met Garry Faulkner who has literally just opened his new shop Home and Garden in Montpellier Mews. The store is filled with an exquisite selection of goods, decorations and accessories for making a home really special. There are all sorts of unusual and tasteful objects any of which I would love to have in my home. It would be the perfect place to find a modest wedding present or a 'moving in' gift. I will definitely be returning to browse.

This morning I met a remarkable lady who runs a beautiful boutique gift shop called The Stalls in Bower Street, Harrogate. Her shop sells a lovely range of handmade and crafted gifts, all modestly and reasonably priced. There are felt bags, jewellery, photographs, cosmetics, cushions...lots of incredibly original things. All worth the short detour from the main shopping area (The Stalls can be found just behind the bus station). Natasha Harris was the perfect person for me to meet today, very positive and kind and encouraging. I felt elated, which sounds a bit over the top I agree, but chatting to her about her business and how she collaborates with local artists made me feel good about what Laura and I are trying to achieve.

Great news for us today. We will be exhibiting at the "made-it" Craft Fair in Weatherby Town Hall, Yorkshire this coming Saturday, 25th September. The event starts at 10am and ends at 4.30pm. We would love to meet you there. ameliagreenheart will be selling a selection of our gifts including the lovely tie-bags and fascinators made by Laura and the bowls I make.

We have also joined Twitter! I went to a Business Link "Be Inspired" Seminar last week in Doncaster. The speaker was Emma Jones. She was lovely and inspirational! A great combination. She has a website called "Enterprise Nation" which promotes homeworking and small businesses. Definitely worth a look if you are running a small business from home. Emma is very keen on social networking as a way of connecting with people who need whatever service or product you are selling. I have enjoyed twittering so far. I must admit that I have avoided it until now but actually it is such a good way to keep in touch with new ideas and share what you are doing with like-minded people. If you are interested in following ameliagreenheart on Twitter search for us via our email ameliagreenheart@yahoo.com or our name ameliagreenhart (yes spelt that way on Twitter).

I'm enjoying working at Henshaws Yorkshire in Knaresborough. I am there one day a week and learning to handmake paper with my colleague Helen. I have met some brilliant people who have given me some fantastic ideas for my own work and who make me laugh and dance and sing. What a great bonus! I would like to have a go at making paper for ameliagreenheart product labels. I was thinking it would be interesting to make it out of leaf fibre and I plan to try oak leaves first. I have been talking with our very good friend Dr Allan Hall about trying to make paper from woad leaves. When we can find a source for these we will give it a go.

On my train journey to and from Knaresborough I have been reading a very interesting book "Viral Loop: The Power of Pass-It-On" by Adam L Penenberg. It analyzes the power of 'word-of-mouth' recommendation and gives examples of the rise of some of the businesses we all use such as Google, Facebook and YouTube. I am finding it very engaging and funny sometimes. I especially like the description of how the website "Hot or Not" came about and how it became an interweb phenomenon in a very short period of time. If you haven't come across it yet where have you been?

Seriously though, it is a good read. It reminds me of the buzz I got from reading Malcom Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" and "Freakenomics" bySteven Levitt and Stephen Dubner.

We will also be exhibiting at at least two more craft fairs this year: The FLARE Artists and Makers Craft Fair at the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) Ripley in Yorkshire on Sunday November 21st (from 11am until 4pm) and The Chapel, Cemetry Road, York on Sunday 28th November (also from 11am until 4pm).

FLARE are also holding a Craft Fair at The Tithe Barn, Church Lane, Nether Poppleton, Yorkshire on Sunday 14th November between 11am and 4pm. We are really looking forward to these events and hope to see you at them too. Best regards, David.