Craft Booth Pictures...

You **knoooow** you want to see photos from this weekend's Craft Fair....

You know you want me to show you the delights and delectables from my Christmas Craft weekend....

The car is packed and ready to go. We are in a Marquee this year, as opposed to the main House, so i am dressed ready! Chunky scarf and wool layers a-go-go. Thick socks and Big Boots.

 I popped over to the venue, the afternoon before so i had already managed to nab my preferred area. In a corner and next to the heating!

We had clips and bits so i managed to hang fabric and quilts from the back of the Marquee to help keep us cosy and get the stall 'in the mood'.

(i am saying 'we' as my mum helped me allll weekend xx)

I love having 2 tables in this shape as it has an inviting shop feel to it. A cosy corner of Christmassy Crafting. It is also easier having two 'counters' to serve from as it can get very busy when chatting.

 Fat Santa Men..... Lavender Cushions displayed in Vintage a trug.... my Nans old pot stand at the back (which i spray painted about 2 hours before it arrived here)

 Lovely colourful quilts to keep us happy and let everybody see "There is a fun stall down the back here"

 And, of course, all the Christmas Decorations ready to be mauled by children who approach the stall with a kind of wild and wonderful gleam in their eye... "Mummy, loooooook"

Children and adults are welcome to fondle our merchandise. It is a scratch and sniff stall.

 And the EVER wonderful Jo & Charity were at the Fair. I love these ladies - unfortunately they have no website to direct you to, so you'll have to dream and ponder their wares....

 And, introducing my new Crafty Bosom Buddies: Random Granny & Elsie Sparrow.

I am going to find where they live and stalk them. I hope that's okay with them?

I am in love - they are truly mind sparkling.

Their stall looked divine and magical. Their creations are heart tickling.

 I bought some *cute* little girls with plaits - these 3 are destined for the SmallFish Christmas Gift Advent Calender. Don't worry, she can't read yet and won't come to the blog and see.

Also (terrible quick photo - sorry) behind 'the girls' is a quilted and appliqued Ice-Cream Van zipper purse which i bought for myself. Just dreamy :)

 I fell in love with this rug as SOOOOOOON as my friend Jo put it on her stall.

Just look at it! It is awesome. She charged me way too little for it. These should sell in Liberty's for hundreds of pounds. It is knitted..... (wait for that information to sink in.....) Yes - k n i t t e d!

Using giant needles and old rugs cut into long strips.

 It is so thick and chunky and cosy and perfect.

I should have asked her to do me a scarf....

(Which reminds me of a project i want to do with Felted wool jumpers....)

 The moment i saw it, i wanted to get my bare feet scrunched into it's chunky warmth.

I have put it in my bathroom as the colours reflect fantastically off all that bathroom white-ness.

I LOVE it - thankU Jo. Thankyou to all the Ladies i bought from over the weekend. ThankU for being wonderful and for making unique and quirky handmade goods.

ThankU for the handmade chocolates (that i ate so quick they never got near the camera)

ThankU for the knitted Guinea Pig and the Vintage fabric Angel

Thank GOD for the talents and tenacity of those who craft by hand xxxx

And ohhhhhh, thanks for a day off at home.

Squelching about in pink socks and yellow slippers. Mopping the floors and washing down the kitchen. Putting the clothes into the was machine and eating mushrooms on toast.

Lucky, happy, satisfied me xxxx

Photography for the internet...

So sorry if you arrived at this post thinking it might be full of good 'TIPS'...
I find photographing products for the internet, sooooo hard! Nothing ever seems to look as good in the photo as it does in 'real life' And how can you get a good sense of scale and size from the picture alone. I am not adding a ruler / measure to the picture as it doesn't add to the 'scene'.
Putting my head in the shot is not really an option either!

This wreath is quite a large size but really, only the shot with my head in, shows it's size... so i have been around the house looking for appropriate hanging spaces with the right amount of light...

It is like a QUEST that never ends.

An internet shop needs: clear, colourful pictures that are as 'true' as possible.

The picture needs to convey the size and the 'usage' of a product.

The photo needs to look professional and clean.

It needs to be in focus.

It needs to be cohesive to the rest of your shop.

It need to pop out of the screen and see "LOOK, i am interesting and a bit pretty"

I love the possibilities that photography offers.

I am often disappointed in my own execution of the shots.

Other shop owners know what i mean??

I saw my first Christmas advert on TV...

I am one of those rare people that doesn't mind Christmas quietly arriving.
I am naturally thrifty and crafty, so i am making, cooking, shopping, buying for Christmas all year round. I am not ashamed to admit, i like it. So, aswell as talking about the beauty and crafting of Autumn, i might start showing off a few decorations and 'how to's' on the blog, if that's ok....

Shaker style felt heart: red and white is such a winning combination for christmas.

I did an entirely WHITE Christmas home last year. This year i will be going for: Pumpkin Orange, Chocolate Brown, Red and White x

Button BUGZ!

Let's hear it.... Ladies and Gentlemen... put your hands together for..... the Button Bugz!
IF you are coming to the OCTOBER half term CRAFT CAFE in Upper Boddington - then these might be on the Craft Menu. Mwah ha ha ha - (said in a sort of 'Hallowe'en' voice)
They are creepy, crawly, buttony and sprawly.

My LittleFish and i gave the recipe a trial and error run. They came out even better than i had imagined and they leave plenty of room for a childs own artistic interpretation! (we like them to take an idea and rrrrruuunnnn with it)

This is one side of those MINI selection cereal boxes - to give you an idea of the size of body you need. Don't make it much bigger or the legs might not hold up the body. Before you start, punch a few holes down each side. I made FOUR holes on each side of the body.

I told LittleFish to keep the holes FREE of stuffs when decorating. Obviously she didn't, so i had to rummage through the body's fluffs n' stuffs to find them again.

As demonstrated by my angel (below) stick lots of great stuff on the body, including many goggly eyes. Use whatever you have? pompoms, ribbon, tissue paper, eyes, pens.... always use good strong sticky glue.

I use this glue>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for everything. Tis fantastic! water it down a bit and use it as a varnish too.

Cut 4 PIPE CLEANERS into 8 legs.... (who smokes a pipe nowadays?) and that is: EACH pipe cleaner in HALF for those who struggle with the maths :)

Thread a button on to the end of each bendy fluffy stick. They want to try and be the same length as each other - but the world won't stop turning if they differ in length muchly.

And... thread the un-buttony end through those holes i warned you about at the beginning.

They might not stand very well till the whole body is DRY - warn your child about this when they start to cry as the bug won't stand on it's own. This will get better - later.

COOLIO! me luffs the bugz. I'll let you have this idea and use it too if you like! i love crafting with kids. I could suggest you buy your buttons through me, but if this is not your first visit to the blog, you know that by now xxxx happy bugging people x

Crafty Day...

Tuesdays roll round quickly (thank goodness!) and Tuesday is always craft day for me :) I try to get as much sewing done as possible. It is the one thing i cannot do whilst being a Mummy. My little one does not forgive me ANY minute sat at the sewing machine.

I whipped up a few NeedleBooks for the stock box - and this *new* design called "Dear Deer" super cute and bright in lots of candy colours.

With a little Strawberry on the Pocket Page, as if found on the Forest Floor ... stop, too much cute.

I made a large pile of Robin Baubles too. THESE, i like! And forgive me saying, they look sooo good tumbled in a pile together.

I think i'm getting on top of the Christmas stock list....

CRAFTing extravaganza...

SO... the child is away at Grandmas for one night only... this means that i have a period of 24 hours in which i *must* sew! CRAFTing extravaganza sounds much more glamourous than it ever ever is... basically, i turn into a factory and it all gets a bit crazy. Get me... 'vogue-ing' in my new spotty dotty necklace, sent by my lovely friend BOMBUS x x x it was a great way to start the 24 hour sweatshop experience. It made me feel all positive :)

The car was dropped off for it's annual MOT. The insurance renewed. The tax is due next week... there's nothing like the *need* for money to spur the Fish on in her Crafty-ness.

Oh good grief, i am about 2 hours into the sew-a-thon here and i already feel like taking my own life! What am i doing? Why don't i just sell buttons and felt, leave it that???

I can't, i love the world of HANDMADE! i am proud when i sell my creations.

Some of the first batch.... looking all felty and festive, ready for the hand-finished elements.

There are a many more million to make from here... and, can you believe, i am still not fed up of Christmas!!

I am not complaining, far from it. I love my work and i would rather be boss of my own routine than have to travel to work elsewhere.

I have been told on a couple of occasions how "lucky i am "... "i'd love to sit at home, sew a few decorations and get paid" - i am just sharing the fact that, when THIS work is One's wage - there is no "sewing a few decorations" and indeed no guarantee you'll get any payment!

I am really looking forward to the Christmas Craft Fairs this year - they are always full of fun. SO, if there is a craft fair near you, from here on til December... go see! you might find something quite wonderful x x x

Christmas started in March this year...

Getting the Christmas decorations up in the shop and stored for the Christmas Craft Shows...
Robin Baubles: A foresty combination of red / green / Browns.
A mixture of hand sewing and machine stiching. Felt discs with fun patterns.... March isn't as early as last year though! 2008 saw me starting Christmas in January - clearly i had bitten off more than i could chew. This year i have dramatically reduced the number of wholesale orders for Xmas decorations... i felt like a machine last year and some of the fun dropped out of sewing :( which is too sad a way to live.

So I am making more items for retail this year. More items for family and friends. More items with that essence of individuality...

So these have been photographed and added to the SnowFish shop - some i have put together in packs of 3 or 'pairs' and some are just singular... I love them. I love Christmas. I love it come Augsut when there are piles of plastic zippy wallets each filled with new felty designs...

Maybe that's why i haven't shared most of my crafty pursuits over these past few weeks? My work isn't exactly 'seasonal' to the time of year we are currently in?! Summer bunting gets made in January / February... Christmas begins in March...

Any 'other business' is slotted in between putting children to bed and the rest of 'life'! x

(i wouldn't have it any other way...)

I am sooo distant right now!

I feel bereft! bereaved! b-b-bloomin lousy!
My camera is broken (***Kirsty WAILS and throws arms in a dramatic fashion***)
It isn't right for someone like moi not to have a working camera. It hurts my heart.
I managed to borrow my dads for a blip of a minute to photograph some new buttons:

the RETRO BUTTON MIX!! Cute - 1.5cm - amazing colours - small but chunky (that black is a layer of the button and not 'coloured on') i am excited to see what people might make with these!!

I have been baking these gorgeous new batch of felt GingerMen and Ladies and adding some of the new buttons. Excitement! i luffs these people :)

Cheeky smiles x uploading into the SnowFish shops on Folksy and Etsy!

But no cheeky photos of the Fish or SmallFish as the camera must be returned :(

I miss blogging! I miss larking about in front of the camera ..... i have some WICKED new vintage clobber to share.... i feel a tantrum coming on (***Kirsty exits left to wail some more***)

An Ordinary Day...

Some days are lovely, but quite like any other...It started to look good when BIGGERMummyFish and SisterFish popped over to share a pot of fresh coffee and freshly baked LemonChoc Biscotti (inspired by this lady)

The dog was outside enjoying the wamest Spring sunshine...

The beautiful child was outside enjoying the warmest Spring sunshine....

The beautiful child was outside enjoying the novelty of having Mummy's digital camera...

(we title the above frame "Dead Cow")

I might title this photo "Mad Cow" x

I love her photography skills!

And this pot of blooms was planted out for me as a birthday gift last week - it has just 'bloomed' and it brightens my garden no end.

Just an ordinary day, in the extra-ordinary life, of little ole me and my folks x