Craft Hobby & Stitch International: Part II In Which I Turn Digital

While at CHSI yesterday, I did manage to give my plastic a little bit of exercise, by investing in some software.  I had heard of digital scrapbooking, but I never thought it would fit with my crafting.  Given free rein, I do decoupage, stamping, furniture restoration and art journaling, none of which seem particularly suited to digital intervention.  However, I stopped off for a demonstration by Michelle at the Serif stand, and was immediately hooked on the possibilities of this piece of kit.

The best description I can come up with is that it's desktop publishing for crafters.  The software comes with a set of very intuitive templates for making everything from cards to cupcake wrappers to bags, scrapbook pages, menus and wedding invites, using a comprehensive assortment of backgrounds and embellishments.  Every shape, line and background can be customised, and you can scan in your own photos, art or pictures.

I have to admit to having been a bit sniffy at the thought of digital scrapbooking and digital art in general (don't worry, I'm over it).  However, I think I can see some possibilities in this that will fit fantastically well with my existing work.  Michelle showed some lovely pages during the demo that made me see beyond some of the templates.  I now have the opportunity to scan in some of my ephemera, book pages and art, and to manipulate it digitally (photo editing is included).  I understand that you can blend backgrounds and pictures together, tidy up, age or distress items (there's a gorgeous glass effect that I can imagine having great fun with).  And although I've been thinking "so where's the lovely texture going to happen", the answer, of course, is that it will happen once I've printed off my digital creations, and done my usual decoupage, art journaling or whatever with the end result.

I am so very excited at the thought of sitting down to play with my new kit; in fact, I'm almost squeaking!  But real life is intervening until at least Thursday, so expect future ramblings of delight when I finally get to play.  And this year's Elf School is going to have some very fine artwork indeed.

Craft Hobby & Stitch International: Part I

It's been a fascinating day.  I've been pounding the aisles of Hall 12 at the NEC Birmingham, examining the wares of hundreds of suppliers at the CHSI fair.  In the climate of general economic gloom, it was good to learn that visitors are up 15% over last year.  And all the exhibitors I chatted with reckoned that they had been very busy over the course of the show to date.

For those of you who went to CHSA, this is nowhere near as spectacular in terms of display.  There are no keynote pieces over which to drool, but instead a mixture of small completed works, blanks to decorate, and paints, pencils, fabrics, findings, beads and other delights.   The displays may be much more restrained, but there are still some lovely makes to catch your eye.  (Carmen, I thought you'd like to see the skull!)

Knowing my love of the Cow Parade, you won't be surprised to see that Daisy and YeeHaw (as I have named them) posed for me.  Sorry about the strange angles; although I'm tall, they were way above my head!

I was pleasantly surprised that the minimum order volumes for trade deals are such that I can actually manage to stop paying retail prices for the things I use the most.  I came home with a fabulous collection of catalogues (some of which I have already drooled over) and a desire for a business trip to Brussels to pick up an order from one of those catalogues.  (Craft, chocolate, fashion, Belgian beer...so very much worth the journey...)

During the course of the show, there was a free workshop programme, focusing on business development  issues, such as website traffic management, social networking for business, a presentation by the Federation of Small Businesses and a session to help with PR.  I've known these be chargeable at other shows, and thought that the free programme was a bonus.

For the first time this year, the show included Creativity on the Catwalk, using items from exhibitors at the show.  In addition to the items that you would expect to see featured - patterns, fabrics, yarn - there was also some creative millinery, bags and some very funky spray painted tops, as shown below.  I loved the use of quilting and batting in some really innovative designs, and the knits were gorgeous.

 

I'll let you know what I bought in the next post.  In the meantime, I need some lunch (albeit rather late), and to put my feet up on the sofa.  I only wish I'd worn my pedometer, as I could have felt truly virtuous tonight!

Off to Craft, Hobby & Stitch International Show - NEC

Tomorrow, I'm off to CHSI , described as "Europe's largest trade show for the creative crafts industry".  There are more than 250 exhibitors, of which I have a short (hmm) list of around 50 I really want to visit.

There are times when I have to remind myself that I am building a business, and I need to get out there as a business to buy at trade prices.  Having said that, I intend to cuddle my plastic fairly close to my chest.  Tomorrow is about finding out what I can sensibly buy on trade terms (I'm never going to survive paying retail prices for the ingredients for my makes, no matter how green and car booty I am when it comes to sourcing raw materials.  The paint, glue, paper and all the rest of the bitsas needed for making are still a tad pricey.)  Let's consider it an exercise in gathering info (and just maybe a little spending if appropriate).

So it's time to reconnoitre the hallowed halls of the NEC.  I'll report back on what's doing...

The Craft Fair That Wasn't

Or a (cheap) lesson in what not to do...?

I had booked the fair at a school on the basis of it being a) cheap and b) very near home but in the posher quarters.  So I hoped that there would be lots of arty teenagers (it having a specialist arts status) and that crafts would go down well.  Er...wrong.

I sold a stunning...nothing. Excuse me while I go and blush, and then laugh.  Next time can't be any worse, eh?

First, let me show you the stall.

We were right by the doors where people were loading, so it was a somewhat bracing start to a rainy and windy Sunday.  However, when the doors were closed, we were in a good position in the main hall, so had lots of foot traffic.  And from 11am to 1pm, it was really, really busy.

Above you can see some handmade teacup candles, the goblet candles (I was hoping for some Twilight-loving teens), decoupage hearts, and the lovely Mrs Prickles and her hog as made by my mum.

Then there were decorated silk journals, pencil boxes, petal baby hats, which I later took out of their bags and some tealight holders, plus magnetic hearts.  And some vintage silver plate birds.

There was a lot of interest in the baby hats, decoupage frames (just lurking to the right in the picture above) and my lovely pirate box (in the blog header).

So was it my stuff, or was it the fair, or the combination of both?  I started watching what people had bought, and most of the bags seemed to contain plastic toys for preschool children.  Aside from that, very little seemed to have been bought.  So I think my next run out needs to be a proper craft fair, and then I will get some feedback on the makes, and my current pricing.

I found a lovely enamel jug to decoupage for £1 and a stunning 50s book for a slightly overstated £2.  So grand spend for the day of £7, excluding a couple of gorgeous veggie samosas, and a flapjack.  Yum!

And at the end of the day, OH had a lovely and generous surprise.  The cake lady opposite (of the yummy flapjacks) discovered it was OH's birthday, and donated him a delicious heart cake from her remaining stock.  I tried to get a picture before it was attacked, and almost made it.  I would love to link to her website, but sadly the address she gave OH doesn't seem to be working.  If we see her again on the circuit, I will post her details.  She left her crumbs for the birds, so expect to see some low flying birds here in Middle England.

I'm sure I spy purple glitter on OH.  Very fetching!

Getting Ready for Craft Fair #2

So craft fair #2 is a mere day away, and so far I have:

• Unloaded and repacked all my stock that is ready to go, adding price stickers and updating my stock list
• Found my silvery cake stand to display some of the items
• Packed the contents of my craft drawers into a small bag and a little tool kit 
• Found some vintage items to sell, and researched prices
• Made some new items and updated some that weren't quite working

Here are the newbies.  Firstly some decoupaged hearts (some magnetic, one puffy and some ready to hang on the wall).  I'd like to think of them as being funky Valentines.

And while I was in the groove, some matching pencil boxes.

And finally, I've updated the silk paper journals with some pretty jewelled butterflies.  For their intended audience, I hope that's an improvement.

Jobs left to do:

• Pack the jewellery I'm taking to sell, as this is not exclusively a craft fair.
• Make up the cash float.
• Wrap OH's birthday prezzie.  Bless his heart, he's coming to help at the fair on his birthday.
• Eat.  Body and soul  aren't as together as they once were.
• Once the varnish has dried, pack the new makes
• Pile everything up ready to go in the hall
• Check directions for the venue
• Zzzzzzzz.  Lots.

WOYWW: The Mega-Making Edition

So it's been a busy week.  The big boxes of makes have been unloaded, reviewed, repacked and listed ready for the fair on Sunday.  Another list has been drawn up of things to make, and a fair amount of knuckling down has taken place. (Scary, huh?)

This time, I managed to get my act together at an earlier stage (although I did have just over 24 hours notice before my first craft fair), and ordered some bags for my bigger items.  I'd read some helpful suggestions at the Craftster forum about decorating your own bags, so I spent a happy hour stamping away on the bags and some labels for smaller paper bags.  I must admit to being taken with the flowers as part of the font; what do you reckon?

As Sunday's fair isn't exclusively a craft fair, I've been ferreting amongst my vintage finds with the intention of mixing vintage items amongst the crafty makes.  It'll be a voyage of discovery, but then most of this business stuff is exactly that at present.

For any of you with teenagers, I'd love to know what you think they might buy in terms of makes.  I have decorated box files, pen boxes and journals underway.  Any other thoughts?  Should I abandon production of anything I've started?

I'll show you more of the makes and the production process later this week.  Unusually, I've found myself a bit quiet this week, but I'm sure it won't last....

To see more crafty desks, head on over to Chief Desk Inspector Julia Dunnit at the WOYWW button to the left.

WOYWW: The Knuckling Down Edition

After a week enjoying the bright lights and many temptations of Edinburgh, it's time to knuckle back down to work, or rather that form of enjoyment that now counts as work!  And it being Wednesday, and more particularly, What's On Your Workspace Wednesday, it's time for show and tell.  If you'd like to blog hop to more crafty desks you'll find them linked via Desk Mistress Julia Dunnit at the button to the left.

So, onto the delights of disorganisation that are my working areas...  First up, the hall cupboard.  This was going to be painted and sold until I discovered its capacious capabilities.  The top row has stamps, ribbons and more stamps; embellies, glue, cutting boards and sundry unknown items are on the second shelf, with tracing and other papers plus books on the third and fourth shelves. 

On top of the cupboard are my new storage tins from Lakeland (a splendid £1.99 for the tall ones and 99p for the small ones in the sale).    To give you an idea of size, the small one takes ten stickles and other assorted sparkly bottles without complaint.  (And yes, for the eagle eyed amongst you, the one that was marked "glitz" has shed a "z" somewhere...)  Much easier to find things now I am no longer awash in seas of chipboard and sundry small iffit. 

Then there's my occupation of a spare kitchen worktop for things messy.  Some of you may have noticed that things haven't moved on a great deal since December, but I promise to address my slothful ways and crack on with making some more decoupaged items. 

 I have another craft fair booked this month (my second - weeeee!), so the trundle drawers will be out again.  Need to have a sort through them first; there's a limit to how much glue even I need for a day out.



This is my big box full of 12x12 papers.  I really need to find somewhere more permanent to store them, but I've not yet found something suitable.  I'll be investigating all the WOYWW desks searching for ideas...

Happy Wednesday to you all - looking forward to seeing what you've been doing this week!

Bernie

February Journal

I think I've posted an early version of this here before, but I'm adding it again so I can link to the Flickr Group.  For more details of the 2011 Journal Challenge, follow the Kathryn Wheel link on the right sidebar.

Pigment and pearlescent inks, for the background, swirled with paper for texture.  The outside of the heart is made of overlapping square ink blocks.  Hearts hand drawn and edged with drawn patterns.  And an extra big heart for the 13th, it being OH's birthday.  Images from an old fairy tale book, coloured with Promarkers.

Now to think what to do for March!

Playing Cards 2011: Ace of Water

I've been a bit slow in progressing the Playing Cards challenge, hosted by Rachel at katzelbows (see the linky button to the side).  It's been rather frustrating, because I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but couldn't find a teardrop punch anywhere.  Finally I found one on eBay and, once it arrived, found out it didn't work very well.  So I ended up cutting freehand, which I could have done in the first place.  Doh! 

So here's a detail shot of the Ace of Water:

It's made up of lots of little droplets, made of fabric papers, mirror card and gauze, accented with different colour stickles.  The back needs a bit more work still; I think it might need some paint lines around the edges to look a bit more smeary.  Anyway, that's progress to date.  

Belated Birthday in Edinburgh

You may have noticed that it has been suspiciously quiet in these parts.  OH treated me to a birthday trip to Edinburgh, and we've been sunning ourselves (yes, really) north of the border.  This is the view just south of Carstairs, when it was just about light enough to really enjoy.

Having set off at a scarily early hour, we were able to check in early at the hotel for a quick catnap before hitting the sights of the city. 

That evening saw us safely tucked up in the Cafe Royal bar for Burns night, replete with enormous salmon baguettes and a beer or two for OH. 

Of course, I had to go to the beach, and a wild windy morning found us at Portobello, where we and a few dog walkers were braving the front.  One fine dalmatian had a social circle all of his own, and was pleased to make our acquaintance for further adoration.  As a concession to vice, I spent a massive £2 in the amusement arcade.

Lunch in Always Sunday (what a great name for a cafe) included a smoothie so dense with fruit, it must have included more than the usual two of my five a day, plus a cappucino large enough to conduct swimming lessons and a plate of apple crumble. 

Finally, the hotel sported one of the best signs I have ever seen...