Thursday, 2 December 2010


Southsea has finally been covered by snow, so I've used the day to list a bunch of fascinators I made for the craft fairs that we attended last week. They're on our Etsy and Folksy shops, so please go and have a browse! Later I will be listing the new recycled-tie kindle and iPad bags that I've made, so hopefully they will go down well.

Wednesday, 1 December 2010

Laura returned home to Portsmouth this week after being up north for our recent craft fair events. It was fantastic to spend time together working on new ideas for our products. Here in Harrogate the snow is a challenge sometimes, the pavements are very slippery but the whole town is covered in a beautiful blanket of white stuff.

Yesterday we uploaded some new bowls for sale on our Folksy and Etsy shops. There are two new flower bowls which are very bright and colourful and which we hope you will enjoy owning as much as we enjoyed making them. The Candy Flowers bowl features very jolly red and pink striped fantasy flowers and like the Flowers and Leaves bowl we think would make an excellent gift this Christmas. Please have a look at them in our shops when you have time.

After our visit to Scotland a couple of weeks ago I finished a bowl to celebrate to lovely island of Arran. This bowl is quite chunky and is decorated with an imagined view of the island in summer with blue sky and clouds. I expect Arran is covered in snow just now but if you have an opportunity to visit we would heartily recommend discovering "Scotland in miniature" for a truly wonderful experience.

Our next event will be at St Aidans School in Harrogate on Friday 3rd December. The Christmas Gift Fair will be open from 5pm until 9pm. We will be showing a selection of corsages and fascinators, our tie bags and my bowls. It would be lovely to meet you there.

Sunday, 28 November 2010

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.

Saturday, 27 November 2010

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.

Thursday, 25 November 2010

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.

Saturday, 20 November 2010

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.

Wednesday, 10 November 2010

David's Stanley bowl has been featured in a lovely Christmas gifts post by Found on Folksy! The blog, entitled 'Exclusive Gifts for Christmas', has a great collection of gift ideas for the coming season and we're very pleased to be included!