This picture sums up how I felt at 2.30pm on Saturday....

"it's over and it was a success"

Thank you for all your comments.

I am so looking forward to having a month or so off from craft fair organising (next one 19th July).

Watch out for my return to blogland!

xXx

Nearly There...

The Spring fair I am organising is tomorrow and I've had to accept that some things won't be making their way to the fair - kitchen candles (again - and I SO want to do these), lavender pooches and owls, embroidery art etc etc.!

This is a small selection of what I will be taking

This is the first fair I've organised alone (although I have had a lot of support and help from friends and family) and it's rather taken over my life, especially as I'm trying to embrace Facebook - a challenge that seems to be working though!

Wish me luck!

I'm looking forward to re joining you and your blogs after the fair.

xXx

A Warren of Bunnies

I've finally got my making mojo back (I was getting a bit worried as the next fair is the 5th April).

These are my latest makes - lavender bunnies, and one lavender kitty (prototype - hopefully more will be made soon). I'm rather loving them, hopefully others will too.

Organising the fair is taking up a lot of my time at the moment (the person I was organising the fairs with is unable to do it anymore) and seems to have dominated the year so far, I still have lots bunting and a fabric banner to make as well as all the paperwork, and things to make for my stall.

A lot of work, but enjoyable, creative work! 

Do you plan to sell at fairs this year?

What do you plan to make?

Thanks for visiting

xXx

She's Been A Wandering Again.... (or Unfinished)

Can it really be over a month since I last blogged? And I've had so much to blog about too - so many lovely vintage finds and gifts, breakfasts at Bill's, days out, catch ups with friends (and even a night away with Mr B) and new friends of the four legged variety to fall in love with. So many photographs taken with the intention of sharing!

What I haven't done a lot of is making things. Oh, I've started OK but finishing is another matter! 

Bags

(in an attempt to use some of my huge amount of fabric)

I've enjoyed making the bags bit but I'm putting off making the handles - a bit of a boring job for me.

Cards

Started well but just lost enthusiasm

Sewing project bag

Used my favourite fabric (the cross stitch one), enjoyed choosing the fabrics but again, fell at the last hurdle (handles).

Quilt as you go cushion

Will probably never finish this, love the fabric but it doesn't go with anything in my house plus, it's a bit puffy for my liking!

Bunting

This is to decorate the craft fair venue not to sell. I actually have a good reason this isn't finished - I need to measure the space.

There's probably even more that I've forgotten about and will stumble upon one day....

How is your making going at the moment?

Thanks for visiting

xXx

Christmas Shopping

On Saturday myself and Mr B took ourselves off to a nearby town that was hosting this

I thought it would be a good place to find some Christmas gifts.

And, I did buy this

for me

(the pier in my hometown).

And these  

for me

(wish I could have afforded the original paper cuts, but love the handmade bag/envelope - going to pinch this idea!)

 We then had a stroll around the town and I bought this vintage string dispenser

you've guessed it - for ME!!

Not quite the shopping I was planning, but I came home happy!

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

 

Yesterday I made some cards for the next craft fair

inspired by the letterpress designs I so love,

and these packs of note cards

And a few more Christmas cards,

my favourites being this

and especially this one

As always, thanks for visiting, reading and commenting.

It means so much to me...

xXx

...and, relax...

Hello,

how are you all?

(How did your craft fair go, Ali?)

I've missed you whilst preparing for the craft fair but I'm now gradually catching up with all of your news.

my stall

I'm pleased to say our craft fair was a success, with many lovely customers and talented makers.

I made a respectable amount and met some super people.

I was very restrained and only splashed out on a vintage watering can for a mere £7. Unlike the first craft fair I did when I spent almost all of my profit at the fair!!

 

Things to remember for the next fair are:

1. Do not believe your 15 year old when he tells you that having 4 friends to stay the night before the fair will not cause any problems as they will be quiet!

2. Remember to eat properly the day before so that you don't wake up at 2am with a rumbling tummy!

 

It was strange to wake up yesterday (Sunday) and have nothing to do for the craft fair - it was nice to have a 'day off'.

But, by today I was itching to make something so I made some cards.

My stock is very low so I'll need to get back to the making properly soon as the next craft fair is on the 14th December - not that far away.

 

Thanks for visiting

xXx



So Much to Do, So Little Time...

Why is it that, even though I know way in advance that a craft fair is approaching and seem to spend hours making things, I'm always frantically rushing to catch up in the weeks beforehand?!

source

As usual, there are going to be things that I wanted to do but have run out of time - embroidery pictures, button jars, lavender pillows, postcards, printed greetings cards.....etc.

Fortunately, another fair will be here sooner than I think!

 

I want to share with you a Christmas envelope from the swap organised by the talented Pen. I forgot to photograph mine before sending it off, if you're interested you can see it here. I doubt I could have photographed it as beautifully as Pen anyway!

And here is what I received

 

I love it and it will certainly be on display come Christmas, something else seemed to have sneaked into the envelope too - thank you Pen. I so enjoyed this swap! All of the envelopes were wonderful, well worth a look.

 

Well, off to do more hand sewing. I thought I'd cracked it by borrowing this DVD from the library to watch whilst sewing

and, as much as I loved it, it didn't turn out to be a well thought out choice as it's in french with subtitles and I was so engrossed that didn't get a lot of sewing done!

Have you seen it?

 

Thanks for visiting, and to all my followers new and old.

I'll be back soon.

xXx

Time flies and a thoughtful gift

Is it just me, or is time moving at a ridiculous rate at the moment?!

I worked on Saturday and yesterday was such a grotty day weather wise that I didn't leave the house. So what did I get done? Well, ehrm...good question! Very little - no craft, no baking, no watching Dave on Strictly - I did manage to devote a couple of hours to organising our next fair as I'd sort of let things slip a little! Oh, and I did read some of my book but that's about it!

Talking about reading and books, I must share with you this gorgeous bookmark made (and designed) especially for me by Chrissie. It's such a thoughtful gift - Chrissie knows I love crochet but can't crochet myself, and chose my favourite colour for the design. I am in awe of those teeny tiny and neat crochet stitches - thank you Chrissie.

 

 

 
The bookmark is right up there with my favourite, made for me by Youngest Boy several years ago - can you read what it says? "It's lovely to get away from the children to read my book" Aaah!


For those of you that can crochet, Chrissie has generously shared the pattern here.

 

I do think a pretty bookmark deserves a pretty book which is why I chose to photograph it in Lucy Worsley's fabulous book (we are big Lucy fans here in the Bramble household, we went to a talk she gave at our local theatre a few weeks ago and she is an excellent speaker - very entertaining) rather than the novel I'm currently reading!

 

Thanks for visiting

xXx

Weekend

Hello..

How are you?

Have you been watching Strictly Come Dancing if you are in the UK? I have to say I've not watched much of the previous couple of series, mainly just dipping in at the end. However, this series will be different and all because of this hairy man

Hairy Biker Dave Myers

I am a huge fan of the HBs. They both seem like such lovely chappies and are very funny (and their cooking's pretty good too!) I didn't watch Dave's first appearance but I believe it was something else. Nor did I watch the results show last night but was relieved, but not surprised with that personality, to find he is still around.

Who do you watch it for?

Or maybe you just watch it for the dancing?!

 

Friday found me coming home from work early feeling poorly and I've been pretty much the same all weekend (there are a lot of bugs around at the moment, aren't there?). Disappointing, as I had big plans for things to make for the upcoming craft fair.

I did do a bit of hand sewing and made this

What do you think of it? I'm not 100% sure, if I'm honest...

(Youngest Boy, whose opinion I always seek likes it) 

I made this a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday just sewed the buttons on.

As always happens to me in the run up to a craft fair, I am losing confidence in my makes. Silly really, because the worst that will happen is that I won't sell anything and that really will not be the end of the world!

Have a wonderful week

(Aren't we having fab weather in the UK?)

Thanks for visiting

xXx

A bit of fun and a Christmas make

visualphilosophy

I found this great print whilst browsing on Etsy - love the colours and the words (Mr B's comment when I showed it to him was "you don't even do it every 6 months" - RUDE!). I may have to purchase!!

Stop reading now if you're not ready for Christmas projects.

I made this patchwork cushion cover as a prototype for a possible craft fair make. Unfortunately, it won't be cost effective to make for the price I could sell it for. I'll probably have to keep it for myself. Shame, that....

It's Tuesday, it's 8 o'clock  & time for the Great British Bake Off - Mr B should be back from his guitar lesson any minute having stopped off on his way home to buy our dessert - yum!

Thanks for visiting

xXx



Playing Catch-up

Well... my laptop only went and died on me, didn't it?

I missed it very much to start with but once I got used to being without it I got a lot more done, and so I've decided to limit my daily use of it now that it has been repaired (let's see how long that lasts, shall we?!).

I'm currently enjoying catching up with everyone's news.

Here are some key rings I made to sell at the next craft fair

whilst I was laptopless

 

I made 20 all together - let's hope they sell!

(I always think there is something so appealing about the same designs stacked together, don't you?)

Thanks for visiting

xXx

Project Keyring

I woke up this morning with this project on my mind, it started yesterday when I decided that I needed a key ring for my bicycle locks.

Time is limited today as I am meeting a friend for coffee shortly and working this afternoon so as soon as I got up, after my shower but before breakfast and all those morning chores, I did this

I wasn't happy with the first one (bottom) - it turned out too big and too wonky. The second one I did is the right sort of size but I still like the idea of a border to pretty it up, although I have used nice fabric on the back the front looks a bit plain to me. What do you think?

I have a few more ideas but I've run out of time. I have lots of ideas running through my head now - key rings for the shed, house, just keys, school lockers etc. I think I'll make some for the next craft fair as I love to combine printing and sewing.

Do you ever have the urge to create so badly that it takes over everything else?

I'm a firm believer in doing things whilst you are in the mood - it's just a shame that real life interferes!!

Have a great day



The Wanderer Returns!

Remember me?

Weeks of illness followed by frantically trying to catch up with preparations for the craft fair mean I've not been around for soooo long.

And, I've missed my little blog and seeing what everyone is up to.

It was all worth it, the sun shone (thank you Emma for the sun dance!) and we had many lovely customers and a really, really super bunch of stallholders.

I actually don't know what to do with myself now! I've spent so long making banners, signs and things to sell. Maybe, I'll make something for me...

Here is a picture of my stall

with two of the banners in the background.

And the tea room sign I made

I also made this welcome sign

and loved doing it all but it did take up a lot of my time!

I'm planning to catch up with all your news so expect lots of comments from me on your blogs!

Today...

...I have been working to find an easier, faster and neat way of making brooches to sell at the next craft fair. I have managed neat and (slightly) easier but I don't think they can be made any faster, they will have to be a labour of love as I really want to sell them.

The pink and grey one is the winner so far in the neat category

 (bottom left).

More Makes

Well, my frenzied making continues!

Today I made some pincushions and neddlecases, I think I will sell these as two sets and make more to sell individually.

(Excuse the pins, I save all the hand finishing

for when I attend the Meet and Make evening

sessions!)

That is, if I can bear to part with the crazy patchwork one that I've fallen in love with (as if I need another pincushion!).

 I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.

It's December and that means....

 

CHRISTMAS POSTS!
I am so looking forward to reading all the bloggy Christmas posts...

This weekend I was selling at another Christmas Fair, sharing a stall with Marion from Made by Marion. For me, it was a bit too soon after the My Favourite Things... fair and I didn't have enough stock left from the previous fair.

 Next year I'll be more organised - really, I will!! It wasn't terribly successful in terms of profit but I met some really lovely people.

  

The first of December also meant I could unwrap my first package from my swap partner, the lovely Emma from All Stitched Up. I am so excited about this swap organised by Hookin' with Laa Laa, I've loved putting together the gifts for Emma!
Here is what my first three packages from Emma contained, all handcrafted - I'm a lucky girl!

I've already used the notebook, the snowman is hanging on my dresser and the card holder will go above my craft desk when I tidy the desk (hopefully tomorrow - I have a day off, yay!). Thank you Emma XX

 

 Time for the first Christmas film of the year too, a difficult choice as I have so many I love. Mr B and myself like to sit down and watch a Christmas DVD regularly in the run up to 'the' big day. We chose Holiday Inn for our first of the season because it's not too Christmassy, and enjoyed it with the obligatory mince pies (not the first of the season!)

 

I thought I'd share a montage of some of my decorations from last year (in the living room), I'm really looking forward to decorating this year, it is one of the best bits of the season for me

I made good use of my discount for entering the Crafty Individuals Challenge, I was so excited about the discount that I didn't realise I also qualified for a free gift (top left) so an unexpected bonus... 

    

Thanks for visiting.

Have a super week!

xXx