WEDDING OF THE YEAR

Hello everyone

How disappointing the weather has been again this week.  We had fingers, paws and even eyes crossed for most of the week hoping that the sun would shine on Saturday for our eldest nephew's wedding.  Sadly, the sun didn't shine, but neither did the forecast rain fall - thank goodness for that.  The dark clouds threatened the arrival of rain throughout the day, but we think someone had put a very, very big umbrella over the church and reception venue.  The wedding was lovely and I have added a few photographs below.  The reception was held at beautiful Wimpole Hall in Royston and as often happens with weddings (and sadly often funerals) it was good to catch up with family members who we had not seen for a long time.

The bride and groom, Sarah and Simon.  Sarah's dress was a gorgeous creamy colour with a long train.  The front of her dress was covered in beads.  

The lovely car that Sarah and Simon travelled in from the church to the reception.

Wimpole Hall, Royston.  The estate was given to the National Trust in 1976 by the daughter (Mrs Bambridge) of Rudyard Kipling.

A photograph of the partere at Wimpole Hall - sadly, not a lot of colour, but lots of great planting schemes.

I couldn't resist taking a photograph of a beautifully shaped laurel tree - oh, how, I wish I could do that with the massive bush that is over-hanging one of the boundaries in our garden.

No card makes to show this week, but I do have a couple of pictures of one of the pottery pieces I completed recently:

I had been waiting a long time for this to be fired.  I wanted it done at 1140 degrees and because this is not often used, I had to wait until a kiln-full of pottery was ready for firing.  My reason for choosing this temperature was that I wanted to maintain as near as possible the colour of the brown and yellow slip I had used for the trickle decoration.  A firing at 1250 degrees would have changed the yellow to a wishy-washy cream and the brown to a much darker colour.  

Unfortunately, and very disappointingly, whilst being fired or placed in the kiln, silica sand had dropped onto my dish from the shelf above.  This had created several rough/scruffy patches and although I tried to remove them by lightly sanding them, I abandoned this as it was scratching the glaze.  However, I am pleased with this piece and will give it another go using similar techniques and make sure this time around that I leave a note requesting care be taken when placing it in the kiln.

Over to Handmade Monday now as it is time to catch up with everyone's 'doings' for the week - don't forget to have a look as there are always great blogs to catch up on.  I will be back next weekend, Milly will be here on Wednesday and in the meantime if you would like to be a guest blogger here, please do get in touch on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.

Have a great week and let's hope the sun shines sometime soon.

Jill

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Hello everyone

Lots of gorgeous sunshine - hope it lasts a few more days.

First of all a big thank you to everyone for their comments last week, particularly for the advice given regarding my weekly foray's into a local country market.  A special thank you to Stephen (Soy of the North) for his great advice.

I have decided that I will attend the market this coming week as I have been advised that out of term time (half-term here next week) is always very busy.  I will do the following week, then take a break for a week and after that may go for either every other week, or perhaps one week out of three.  I have been able to talk to people who regularly attend two other local markets, ones that are much bigger and more popular than mine, and their sales (of craft items) are either low or non-existent.  I feel my time can be more profitable either looking out for other events or making stock.  I wont; abandon it completely because sellers at the event say Christmas is always a good time for craft sales.  Can I wait that long?  The people there are so friendly and helpful and it makes the morning go quickly, however, as sociable as they are I am in business and need to sell.  Oh, I nearly forgot, I sold another candle!  Two in four weeks!

I attended a Willow Heart making course at the Farnham Maltings on Thursday evening - it was great and I hadn't anticipated how hard it would be.  Even when wet some types of willow are hard to bend, and I kept snapping mine!   The tutor was great and I would definitely sign on for another one of her courses.  I made two hearts - one very big and one small in comparison - and brought home more willow to finish them off.  I also made a start and here is a photograph of it:

I have also been busy in my pottery class making a mix of outdoor candle holders (for citronella candles) and hanging snowflake ornaments for the Christmas tree. I know it is rather early, but making, firing, glazing, etc takes a long time, so I need to begin early.  Here are some photographs of my makes:

A square pot with two sides cut away - the back can act as a sort of windshield.

A tall, narrow pot which I have painted brown - a flat base has been added as I felt it was rather narrow and may topple over in the wind.

. 

These have been made of porcelain and I have painted them white on the 'front' side - depending on how they turn out I will probably not fire them at a higher temperature or glaze them.

I also made a card for a friend for someone who was moving to their new home.  The brief was the recipient was moving into an Edwardian house, liked to ride their bike, was a computer person, and walked/ran a lot.  So I had a bicycle leaning against the wall of the house, a computer sitting inside the window and a pair of trainers on the door step and yes, I forgot to photograph it!  Oh, and the person it was for is a web-designer so the salutation on the front was in the form of a website address.

Still on the subject of making things, don't forget to nip over to Handmade Harbour and catch up with the lovely bloggers taking part in this week's Handmade Monday linky party.  Great reads and fabulous makes.

I met up with my cake-making friend, Linda, and we planned more things to do for our end of year events.  Lots of work to do, and we wop it will be successful - lots of new things from both of us.

I had some requests left on last week's post asking for details about being a guest blogger and I do apologise for not contacting each of you.  However, I hope you are still interested.  Each post should be approximately 600 words long, although I am happy if it is longer.  you need to include lots of photographs to promote the content of your post and don't forget to include your links to your Blog, Website, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, etc.  This is a great opportunity for some free publicity.  I tweet about the post every day, more often than not twice in one day and lots of my followers kindly RT the post for me too - so you could be read by thousands.  If you would like to be a guest blogger or need some more information, please do contact me on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.

We went to one of our regular family get-togethers yesterday at my sister's.  As always it was great fun and lots of laughs - we grew up with these particular special cousins (Maralyn and Evelyn) so we share lots and lots of memories and very similar senses of humour.

Enjoy the rest of the Bank holiday everyone, I will be back next week and Milly will be here on Wednesday.

Jill

THE TEMPERATURE'S RISING

Hello everyone

Do you think summer might be just around the corner?  We still seem to be having very mixed weather and the forecast for the end of this week says the temperature will be low, but I am very hopeful.  Everything in the garden is growing well, including the weeds which never seem to suffer from high or low temperatures, cold, frost or anything else Mother nature throws at us.

A dilemma.  My time at the Jacob 's Well Country Market was unsuccessful again, despite being slap, bang in the middle of the hall.  So many people there tell me they can attend for weeks without selling anything, but can I continue do this?  I know I have only taken part for three weeks, but having sold only one candle during that time the motivation to turn up is beginning to dim.  It is not a case of 'I could be somewhere else selling my work' but it really is 'can I spare this time of not doing anything?'  The sellers are a great group of people, very friendly and so helpful and I have been given lots of good advice and great ideas to work on, but does that justify losing 3.5 hours (the market is open for 1.5 hours but we are asked to help set up and close down) every Friday?

Initially I had thought I could use the market as a way of promoting my work - having been told sales are low, profit little, etc.  However, despite a lot of interest in my candles, this has only turned into one sale.  Last Friday I was opposite a lady who makes the most stunning stained glass items: swallows in flight, dog's faces as well as framed pictures - she didn't sell anything on Friday and said she rarely does.  I think one of the reasons why I feel so frustrated about this market is that card-makers do very well.  Despite there being three sellers there, they all sell, every week!  A couple of sellers told me that out of term-time more buyers attend the market, and as it is half-term next week I will leave my decision about whether to continue or not
until then.  I don't like to abandon this, it feels like I am letting the organisers and other sellers down as well as possibly missing out on potential sales, but I have to be realistic, I want to sell and make some profits.

It has been the usual busy week here: making, workshop promoting, planning and preparing for meetings and  as the weather has been very generous this week, gardening.  Celebrated a friend's birthday on Saturday and celebrated it again with other friends on Sunday - a nice way to spend the weekend.

No photographs of work this week as most of the time has been spent on not producing, but planning.  However, I must recommend a visit to the bloggers taking part in this week's Handmade Monday linky party as I know they will have lots of photographs of gorgeous work they have made during the past week.

I have booked a spot on a Willow Hearts making course this Thursday evening at the Farnham Maltings.  Looking forward to it as hope it may be something else I can add to my range and I will let you know how it goes and hopefully may have photographs of what I make.

I received a copy of Homemade with love at the beginning of last week.  It looks a great magazine and has lots of lovely things to make.  On my list (supplies already purchased so no excuses) of things to make this week are the fabric covered flowerpots.  Apart from being lovely for me to use in my work room., they will make lovely gifts too and who knows could be something else to add to my range.

Have a good week everyone, I am back next weekend, Milly is here on Wednesday and if you would like to be a guest blogger, please drop me an email on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.  I love having guest blog posts, lots of lovely interesting reading.

Jill

IS IT A BIRD, IS IT A PLANE, YES IT'S FARNBOROUGH AIRSHOW

Hi everyone

What a gorgeous day.  So far, so good.  I keep checking the BBC weather website to see how things are going for the rest of the week as I am very concerned about the weather on Saturday.  The event (Marriage of Figaro at Farnham Castle) will go ahead no matter what the weather, but I am hoping it will at least stop raining during the performance.

We live not very far from Farnborough and often get to see the air displays for the Air Show as they fly over our garden.  As the private jets fly to and fro, we get the chance to choose the one we will buy!  A bit pie in the sky, but we can dream.  During the public days we are in the flight path of some of the displays and as you can imagine it is very exciting.  I did investigate having a stall at this year's show as they are having a Craft Tent.  I decided against it as I felt that although people may buy items on impulse at craft events, they are not necessarily going to this sort of event to buy anything that is not plane-related.

I had lunch with two friends on Monday - our lunches are long chatty sessions that very often end near to tea-time.  We went to the Harrow in Compton and I was amazed (and pleased for the owners) how busy it was for a Monday.  So many reserved tables (and they all turned up), I think we should have booked.  The food is good and the pub has a nice atmosphere.  I wore my recently made earrings and I was really pleased when both friends placed orders for a pair each.  One friend wants a pair for herself (she gave me a specific design) and the other friend wants a pair for her daughter, in a similar style to the ones I was wearing.  I don't intend making jewellery as part of my business as I feel there is too much competition, but the occasional order will be welcome.

I have 2 card orders and 1 bag order that I must finish today, but also want to try to get a little gardening done as the weather is good at the moment.  Fingers crossed I might just get some plants planted that have been waiting patiently for a few days.

Do you fancy being a guest blogger on my blog?  If yes, please get in touch on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.  Have a look at some of the recent guest posts - they are all great and I am sure you will really enjoy reading them.

I will be back with my main post on Sunday; don't forget to check back on Friday for this week's guest blogger's post.

Jill

NO MORE RAIN PLEASE!

Hi everyone

I know in this country we seem to be obsessed with the weather and can talk about it for hours without drawing breath, but I really do think we have had enough rain.  Yes, I know we need it, but this is June, supposedly summer, not spring, autumn or winter, so please renew the washer in the rain tap, because it is leaking!

This week has been rather like Mastermind (no, not incredibly brilliant and intelligent) but rather as in the phrase 'I've started so I'll finish' except mine has been 'I've started but I haven't finished'.  I suppose the 4-day Bank Holiday threw everything out of sync (although not being a wage slave means I don't get Bank Holidays as such, just keep on crafting), then the loss of my friend's 21-year old cat, Carmen, meant a break in the making routine ( it was a very sad time as we had only celebrated her 21st birthday last month).  I  just haven't been able to catch up this week at all.

I made the two rush birthday cards I had orders for and again forgot to photograph them.  I keep doing (or rather not doing) this and think I need to produce a check-list to follow when making things and add a photograph will be in capital letters near to the end of the list.

Thank you Jan of Handcrafted by Picto for being my latest guest blogger.  It is a great post and certainly has made me think about what  I could/need to do with my business.  I love the variety of blog posts I have on my Friday spot - lots of great ideas and lovely stories too.  

If you would like to be a guest blogger, please do get in touch: christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.  Your post needs to be appx 600 - 800 words, lots of pictures and don't forget to include links to your blog, website,Twitter and Facebook addresses - and a link back to your post on here in your own blog would be lovely please.  I re-tweet the post on Fridays and Saturdays (sometimes on Sundays), and I have some lovely fellow tweeters who always RT my blog posts (thank you Dawn, Badger Boo and Lesley).

A thank you to all of my new blog followers - it's great to have you following and I love reading your blogs too.  Also thank you to everyone who comments on my posts - I love the fact that you spend time here and your comments are great, so please do carry on commenting (now, was that a film??).

My Handmade Monday makes this week are work-in-progress items.  The first two wreaths are almost complete, just needing the back to be finished off.  Before I add more to my 'forgotten' list, do nip over to Handmade Monday to read the other blog contributors posts and take a look at their lovely work.

Wreath made with red and white heart-patterned material, splashed in places with white sequin-decorated netting

Wreath made with pink and white gingham fabric

I made this wreath with red and white star-patterned paper napkins.  Some time ago I saw a blog post about it and thought it was a good idea - I am not completely convinced I like it, but it was worth a try 

Each week I try to make a few more mini-cards (they always sell well at events) and these are some I am working on at the moment.

When I met up with Caroline a few weeks ago, she told me about iZettle and as their website says: iZettle's first service includes a free iPhone and iPad app and a mini chip-card reader that lets anyone take secure card payments any time, anywhere.  I registered on the website and received my card-reader about 10 days ago.  I haven't tested it yet, but it will certainly be good to take to events.  I know that not everyone carries cash when they go out shopping and it is so easy to lose out on sales because of not having a card machine (which I can't really justify).  Many thanks for the info Caroline, I hadn't read about this so would have missed out.

My pottery tutor is taking part in the Open Studios Event and I am off to a private viewing with my fellow pottery course potters (that sounds so professional - I wish).  She has bought in one or two pieces she has made to demonstrate styles to us and I have to say they are fabulous and I know will take years for me to get anywhere near her expertise.  Still, I can hope.

Fingers crossed for some sunshine, enjoy this week everyone and I will be back on Wednesday with my mid-week musings.

Jill

AND THE FOURTH 'FRIDAY GUEST BLOGGER' IS.....

Jill and Georgie from Port Out Starboard Home (POSH)

We are Jill and Georgie: a mother and daughter team who appreciate importance of having everything just right for weddings and special occasions and all of the finest quality.  We have wide experience and expertise in making jewellery, product design and dress making. 

We are passionate about beautiful, handcrafted jewellery and particularly enjoy using recycled and vintage items in our hair accessories.  We love vintage jewellery, the rhinestone, paste and pearl pieces have an amazing lustre, sparkle and luxurious feel.  Our glamorous hair accessories incorporate vintage items such as brooches earrings and necklaces and are carefully made to be timeless and classic heirlooms of the future.  Our extensive collection includes one off creations for brides, bridesmaids and flower girls as well as hair accessories suitable for wearing at any time when a touch of vintage sparkle is needed!

We often incorporate raw silk, brocade, satin, vintage lace and feathers in our designs.  We refurbish the vintage pieces if needed and then carefully wire or sew them to a hair band or comb.  All our pieces are finished to the highest standard with silk ribbon or felt to ensure a comfortable fit. 

We offer a bespoke service and love to design and create pieces from our clients’ own family jewellery or to make a special item to match a dress or colour theme. 

Our inspiration comes from the vintage pieces we find in England, France, Germany and Austria, where we have family connections and from studying historical hair accessories, jewellery and fashion.  We are always searching for special pieces we feel will make a beautiful and unique headband or comb.

We were inspired to launch Port Out Starboard Home (P-O-S-H) after Georgie’s wedding. We had an idea of the special hair accessories we wanted for that occasion, but found that the choice was very limited or very expensive.  Being on a very tight budget, Georgie decided to design and make her own headband from items in granny’s jewellery box.

The headband was a huge success and the business idea was born.  We started in a very small way as we both had full time jobs, but when Jill took early retirement in July 2011, it seemed an ideal opportunity to launch our business. P-O-S-H has blossomed from there and we have been busy making special items for weddings, balls, proms and other special occasions since our official launch in September 2011. 

People often ask how we got our name!  We thought long and hard about our name and wanted something unique to convey times gone by when well-to-do people would dress beautifully in hats and gloves and spend their time cruising on luxury liners and visiting ports of the world.  We believe our unique and glamorous accessories are perfectly suited to this wonderful lifestyle and era.   

We were reminded of P-O-S-H (Port Out Starboard Home) which was coined in the days before air-conditioning.  On the outward voyage to India, the cabins on the Port side got the early morning sun and had the rest of the day to cool off.  Conversely, the Starboard cabins were intensely hot in the afternoon and like ovens at bed time.  On the homeward journey the situation was reversed and it was the unfortunate passengers on the Port side who roasted.  VIPs travelling were given preference of the cooler side of the ship in each direction and were given cabins which were Port–Out-Starboard-Home.  Their tickets and baggage were marked POSH! We felt this name conveyed the First Class VIP image we would like to portray with our collections, and so that is how we came up with our name!

As you would expect from a responsible company, we take care to ensure we minimise the impact on the environment.  We use recycled jewellery and metals in our products wherever possible and are proud that all of our packaging and stationery is recycled paper and card.

Our website shows our collection but we are always delighted to discuss ideas for a unique hair accessory. We can be contacted by telephone or email, details of which are on our website. 

http://www.portoutstarboardhome.co.uk 

FB: http://on.fb.me/uTli09

Twitter: Posh_info

  

Photos by Martin Wise Studio Wise Photography - http://www.studiowise.co.uk

AND THE THIRD 'FRIDAY GUEST BLOGGER' IS

Caroline Nash of Carolee Crafts

Thank you Caroline for being this week's guest blogger in my Friday blog posting venture; I know everyone will enjoy your chosen topic:

Motivation

Motivation can be hard when working for oneself and even harder in the current climate when sales could be slow to full stop.

How to motivate yourself? This is hard as I can be the biggest procrastinator out but find meeting up with like-minded individuals either as a group or one to one is excellent.  At these meets you can discuss problems, share ideas and hopefully motivate each other with the suggestion that you have to complete. Say, a, b and c by the next meeting.  If you start a craft meet try to make it at least once a month, any less and things can slide – any more, unless as a working group, can become tedious and too restrictive.

There are loads of small business groups around that are not all craft-related.  From personal experience I have found the mixed career ones harder as the people in non-creative businesses find it hard to understand what makes us creative types tick. but on saying that if you find a good one you have a captive audience to sell to.

One wonderful and easy way to get motivated is regular blog-roll calls, these can

encourage you to get on and make something to be able to tell a story about your make and get comments from others, there are many around like Handmade Monday with 1st Unique Gifts.  We all like to receive praise, it’s human nature, blogs are ideal for this if used in the right way, ie post, join a linky party, visit other blogs making sure you not only read the publication but leave comments.  Don’t expect to receive comment on your work if you don’t bother to leave a comment; I am afraid I feel if you have the time to post a blog you have the time to visit other blogs and comment.  Why join something you are not going to participate in – it’s a bit like going to the gym but sitting on the stairs, this does not mean you have actually been to the gym.

If you are having a down time, take a walk, watch a film, read a book or do something you enjoy.  If you can do this around something creative then all well and good but sometimes a break can be more motivational than sitting trying to force creativity.  I use journals not so much in the written format but a collection of sketches, pictures from magazines that have accumulated over the years and whilst not always in vogue, generally things are revisited over a circle of time.  I find these invaluable when I have a creative block as points of reference.  The pictures are not necessarily items to make they can be of a beautiful moment in nature with different hues of colour and shade but all give inspiration.

From experience do not force creativity, it does go but will soon be back and one thing is to enjoy what you are doing the biggest lack of motivation is working for yourself and making what you no longer like to make, it tells in the finished item and your general attitude.

Being passionate about your finished craft and your demeanour about your product tells a story better than a thousand words.

Happy Creative Motivation

www.caroleecrafts.com
caroleecrafts.blogspot.com

AND THE FIRST 'FRIDAY GUEST BLOGGER' IS.....

Caroline Nash of Carolee Crafts

Thank you Caroline for being the first guest blogger in my new Friday blog posting venture; I know everyone will enjoy your chosen topic:

PARTY PLAN

As a business you are constantly evolving to find different ways of selling.  Party Plan (PP) has been around since approximately the mid 1950’s and, in some cases earlier, ebbing and waning depending on the current trend of what is in or out.  Currently going through a revival with the likes of Jamie at Home, Pampered Chef, Virgin Vie to name a few so what better way for a crafter to sell than give PP a go.

 1. Have a core sample of products that you know you can make again easily plus catalogues for the hostess to gain orders prior to the party.

2. Low start-up costs apart from stationery compared with craft fairs where a larger stock is required.

3. You need a hostess pack which would have a hostess guest list allowing the hostess to make a note of those she has invited plus a place for you to note names and total value of orders taken.

4. The hostess is responsible for getting people to the event and providing some

Refreshments; all you have to do is give her a hostess pack including invites approximately 3-weeks before the date with a courtesy call to check she is okay on the night along with the time you are arriving.

5. Arrive with enough time to set up your display, remember first impressions count so the display needs to be eye-catching.  Greet each guest as they arrive and when all are settled give a small speech (not War and Peace), thank the hostess for inviting everyone and opening her home to you, explain what you do and how the ordering process works.  If you are giving a hostess gift do so at this point and also ask for other possible hostesses.

6. To break the ice you can do some parlour-style games with maybe a small prize at the end.  This is up to you and how comfortable you are doing this type of thing.

7. As you get the orders, go through the details with the customer to ensure they are happy and it is suggested that you have a tear-off slip at the bottom of the order form where you can complete the total, plus the delivery date.

8. At the end of the evening total up the orders, noting this on the hostess guest list and work out the commission for the hostess to spend. Remember this should not be cash as this moves into the realm of pay for work carried out but must be in goods.  This is standard for most party plan business, but there can be an exception for a charity, but most charity events are happy to have something to raffle.

9. Pack up and leave having confirmed the date you will be delivering items to the hostess, making it clear she must have the funds ready for you at that stage. You could opt to take payment there and then but again remember if they have some time to save they may spend more.

10. Ring the hostess after the event to thank her again for the opportunity and to ask is she happy with the money side.

11. Ring the hostess prior to delivery to check she has got all of the funds ready.  Make sure you individually pack each order with the name of the buyer clearly shown.  This makes it easier for the hostess to hand out the orders.

 If someone expressed an interest to be a hostess give them a ring about 2 weeks after the event to follow-up, letting them know any promotions you are currently running.  These could be an offer on single purchases over say £50.00, extra commission if they get 2 more party bookings for you on the night.

Your stock needs to evolve as well constantly adding new products and if you can get emails and newsletter agreements you have increased your potential sale market, even if they do not want a party as not everyone does. If you make jewellery wear it at the event, a good form of advertising.
www.caroleecrafts.com
caroleecrafts.blogspot.com