First Craft Fair: After the Party

I did it!

My first craft fair arrived rather unexpectedly.  I had an email late on Thursday afternoon offering me a cancellation spot, and after a couple of very deep breaths, I replied and said yes.  That gave me a paltry 24 hours to ensure I had enough stock to cover a 6 foot by 2 foot table.

So I got cracking.  First up, decoupage: picture frames, magnetic hearts, and more hearts without magnets.

 

You can see the little pieces of tissue and craft paper all chopped up and ready for sticking with the large gloopy pool of PVA at the bottom.  The decoupage medium is the pot at the bottom left.  This stuff  is brilliant although not exactly cheap; it goes on easily, dries quickly and gives a great finish.  I used a mixture of craft and tissue papers, and they worked together well.

Then on to the candles.

I spent a long time at the stove watching over pots of melting wax to make teacup candles and candles housed in silver plated goblets.  One of my not so bright moments was using a black pan in which to melt the wax, as it's difficult to see the exact colour of the dyes.  Won't be doing that one again.  What looked like a pretty mulberry colour became a bit more sludgy than I intended.

I also made some hurricane lanterns filled with decoupaged candles.  I had read about a technique for embedding tissue paper in wax using a heat gun and greaseproof paper.  

See what you think of the finished makes in the next post.

On Friday morning, I headed out with a very long list to pick up all the things I thought I would need including change from the bank.  I bought 4 60 litre storage boxes which just fit in the car, so that's the amount of stock I can take to any event.  (Plus what I can sneak in the gaps and behind the seats).  I also bought a set of drawers to house all my bits and pieces so I could make some items while I was there.  I thought this would help keep me occupied if there were quiet spells, and had read that visitors like to see you work.  The three drawers swallowed lots - and even had room for lunch and some water to comfort the inner stallholder - and I think they were a good buy,

We already had arrangements to go out with some friends on Friday night.  By the time I had removed the layers of PVA glue and ink from my hands (which were a delicate shade of stagnant pond water) and scrubbed up, I was so ready for a great evening.  Thanks P and J for lots of laughs and a really relaxing time.  It was just what was needed.

Back home to pack everything in trugs with lots of bubble wrap.  And to set the alarm for 7am.