Mid November - Already?!

Can you believe it, it is mid-November already!   It only seems five minutes since we were all talking about the summer and outdoor events.   The weather is still being kind and I am seriously praying that the Snow Gods have booked their holidays somewhere else this year as hubby and I are still trying to catch up after all the snow-related disruption at the end of 2010/beginning of 2011!

Christmas events are now in full swing and after another great weekend, it seems that the Christmas shoppers are out already and planning ahead (which is something I have never been good at when it comes to Christmas presents!)

I am pleased to say that the extra large Christmas Trees are proving very popular and I already have a number of orders finished and on the way to their new homes with more still to complete.   One happy customer also ordered an extra large Santa to go with the tree so expect to see that in the shop sometime soon too (although if I am being 100% honest, it will be likely to be more for the 2012 Christmas season than for the 2011 one!)

Extra Large Decorated Christmas Tree

I love Christmas and the fact that people just seem to be generally more friendly and family-orientated at this time of year (sad that it doesn't last for 12 months!) and with one of the movie channels now dedicating itself to 24-hour Christmas films and the odd one thrown into the mix on the other channels too, I am in corny-snow-covered-movie heaven!!   It certainly beats making snowflakes and Santas in blazing summer heat which quite frankly, just feels wrong.   Hubby is very happy that he is out at work all day and doesn't have to suffer the sugar-shock of all these (if I am honest - really rubbish) films.  But I love 'em!  There are absolute classics like 'Its a Wonderful Life' and, of course, 'The Muppets Christmas Carol' (not so much a classic but one of my faves!) which have to be seen at least once every year but most are pretty bad (in a good way).

So, the first film of the day is already half way through whilst I am writing this and a quick trip to get my errands done in the high street when it has finished will set me up just right for the next one and some copious decoration making!

Christmas Corner Decoration

If you are in the Maidstone area next weekend, we are at the wonderful festive fair at Leeds Castle on Saturday and Sunday - please make sure to come and say hello!

Anyway, time is moving quickly and there are trees and Christmas decorations a-plenty to be made...  

Do head on over to Handmade Monday to see what everyone else has been up to - and maybe find some gifts along the way!

Happy Halloween - now whats next?

Today is Halloween but I suspect that we managed to miss most of the 'trick or treaters' who may have ventured out in slightly damp, drizzly weather on Saturday and Sunday evening when we were travelling back from shows.   I have, however, got my pumpkin bag stocked with sweeties by the door just incase (I'm sure we'll find a good use for any left overs....!)   We are fortunate where we live that there are very few kids who come a-knocking and those who do are lovely and usually have gone to great efforts with their scary costumes.

Happy Halloween...
Decorations available online here

So, another month gone (who stole October???) and Christmas is looming very large on the horizon.   I heard today that October is officially the warmest on record and I couldn't quite believe it on Saturday on my outdoor market stall as I stood with rolled up sleeves and sunglasses that the clocks were due to go back that evening and welcome in the start of dark nights, winter woollies and Christmas decorations.

The extra hour in bed was very welcome yesterday with an early start required to get to our fair however with two cats who don't have alarm clocks and British Summer Time settings, actually sleeping for another hour wasn't really an option.   And today, my inner clock still wasn't working properly and I woke at 5am and could not get back to sleep again.

So here I am, up and about for ages - confusing the cats even more - but hopefully I will get a good run on my orders gathered over the weekend both at shows and online.

One of the many new decorations I have in my shop for Christmas this year is this Extra Large Christmas Tree 

A real statement piece, it is 14.5 inches at its widest point and 21.5 inches tall and I very much anticipate that our front door will be graced by one this Christmas (if I actually have time to make myself one!)   So far, they have proved very popular and I plan to add some other larger designs in coming seasons/years.   The main reason I don't have more on display is simply due to space - they are too big to transport in our standard boxes and our little car simply won't accommodate larger boxes!

So with many orders to complete and lots of stock to make before my big Christmas shows which start on Saturday at Fort Purbrook, Portsmouth I am hoping to get a good head start due to my day starting earlier than normal (hmm, lets see how that works out!)

Today is also Handmade Monday so make sure you head on over to see what lots of other lovely crafters have been up to this week...

Great Weekend

Wow how lucky were we this past weekend!  The Autumn Countryside show at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in Singleton, near Chichester was fantastic.   Alongside displays by birds of prey, gundogs and plenty of stalls offering everything from clothing to the best stained glass window clings (tee hee) many exhibitors were demonstrating the countryside crafts which are at risk of dying out and it was great to see youngsters really enjoying making their own woven wicker toys - what a wonderful way to keep these crafts alive and hopefully encourage a whole new generation to take an interest.

Birds of Prey - the peelable variety!

Whats more, we were blessed with warm weather, lots of beautiful sunshine on Sunday and lots of visitors (many with a myriad of absolutely gorgeous doggies to say hello to!)   The only fly in the ointment was the blustery winds which hit the back of our gazebo like a freight train every now and again just to keep us on our toes but fortunately didn't cause any problems.

This was our last outdoor show of the year - well apart from the numerous visits to Bromley Market between now and Christmas (which fortunately have the stalls provided) and October is always a risky month as far as weather is concerned but for once the Weather Gods were on our side!

Our Christmas decorations are now fully integrated into our stall and whilst the hotter weather doesn't exactly bring forth thoughts of snowmen and winter wonderlands, it really isn't that long away and my Christmas fairs start in earnest in a couple of weeks at Lancing College.  

Lancing College - come and see us on 22nd & 23rd October

Next weekend is going to be filled with stock building ahead of some big shows before the end of the year and I am sure Santa, holly, candles, snowmen and various animals will feature heavily.

I am hoping to also have some new designs for Christmas 2011 so pop along next week to see how this is going...

Of course it is Monday so head on over to Handmade Monday to see what everyone else has been up to.

Batton Down The Hatches!

Its here - the last outdoor show of our increasingly long season is upon us this weekend.   We will be at the Autumn Countryside Show at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in Singleton, near Chichester on both Saturday and Sunday.  We always look forward to this show - firstly because it is a great venue and always seems to be well attended and secondly because it is the last time this year that we have to build our gazebo and tables before starting to set up our display (which takes us forever!)

The one thing which won't surprise you is that I have been on major 'weather watch' over the past week.   The winds are increasing and the rain is looming ominously on the horizon (really not a good combination for an outdoor show!) so I am expecting some fun and games this weekend.  But, unless something major happens, we will be open for business!

Open for business - whatever the weather!

I can't believe how quickly this year is flying by - this show marks the end of the summer season and the beginning of the busy run up to Christmas!   Then we start it all over again!!

Gluttens for punishment - maybe.... but I wouldn't change it for the world!

If you are in the area, do come along to the Autumn Countryside Show and say hello and maybe pick up some Christmas gifts and decorations at the same time.   If you can't make it to the show, my online shop is always open for business.

Time Traveller?

I love Doctor Who - from childhood memories of hiding behind cushions (if I can't see the monsters then they can't see me) in the Tom Baker/Jon Pertwee era and, now I am a little older and braver, chuckling at the 'grown ups jokes' in the newer Christopher Ecclestone/David Tennant/Matt Smith era this show is a great 'lose yourself for an hour' time in front of the TV on a Saturday evening (or whenever I get to watch it on SKY+).   I have never been one of these people who think that time travel may become a reality (if it does, I am definitely using it to get some help working out what fairs are worth getting out of bed for and what to make each week to satisfy the visitors at each one - and maybe a quick peek at the lottery numbers for the following week!) but recently I am starting to think that maybe I actually have travelled back in time.  Not by much, just a few months - here we are in October but a look out the window and stroll outside and you would be more than a little forgiven for thinking it was perhaps July or August.   Bright sunshine, cloudless blue skies and pavement-melting temperatures!  So, time travel may be a possibility... (Ha - bet you wondered where that was heading didn't ya!)

Riverside in July October!

There are many positives surrounding unexpected good weather - smiling happy people, fresh air, no need for artificially heated rooms and generally feeling much healthier.   However, there are some potential pitfalls - and having booked a fair yesterday taking place in a dimly lit church, the potential for a very quiet day was more than a little concerning - after all, who was going to leave this beautiful weather outside and go indoors to a small fair in a dark church?  I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn't going to be a very good day but at least I would have a stunning stained glass window to look at...

How wrong I was!   Whilst the show was never exactly packed out, the visitors came and seemed to be ready to buy their Christmas decorations and early Christmas presents and we ended up having a great day.   Whats more, with a 3.30pm finish, we also arrived home with the whole evening ahead of us - a complete luxury!

Thursday was another luxury - our tenth wedding anniversary - so a day off was planned and we decided to head down to the coast on the train.   We started out by going to Arundel for lunch - somewhere we have driven past many times on the way to fairs but never been able to stop.  A riverside cafe was the setting and a quick walk around before heading back for our next train, this time to Portsmouth Harbour and a trip up to the top of the Spinaker Tower where the most amazing views awaited us from the viewing area 100ft in the air.   The lift takes less than a minute but you actually don't feel like you are moving at all.   The photo on the right was taken from Gosport Harbour opposite and shows the amazing structure and cloudless blue sky!   

Spinaker Tower - Portsmouth

We had already decided that we wanted to have our evening meal at a lovely restaurant in Brighton (we went there last year for our anniversary!) so with a little time to kill before our train from Portsmouth to Brighton, a quick trip on the ferry over to Gosport added an extra bit of fun for the day and gave us these amazing views of Portsmouth Harbour opposite.   With this beautiful weather, we couldn't have had a better day out anywhere in the world!

Despite not remembering the name of the restaurant in Brighton (!!) we vaguely remembered that it was close to the theatres so headed in the general direction - after a quick visit to the obligatory amusement arcade, of course!

Finally, we found the restaurant - it is called 'Cote Brasserie' if you are interested (and I can come back to this post when we can't remember next year!!) and it serves the most amazing food at very reasonable prices.  Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

It was a long but really enjoyable day and made even more special by the fact that these days off are pretty few and far between at the moment so it is an absolute joy for us both to spend the day together just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.  And to cap it all, we were treated to the most beautiful sunset too (believe me the photo doesn't do it any justice at all!).

Sunset over Brighton beach

So, Christmas selling has very much started and with some really big shows coming up, I am trying to build up a good stock of both new and very popular designs.  One of the newbies for this year is this quirky Santa and Rudolf design which I hope will become a new bestseller!

New for Ali's Craft Studio 2011 - Santa and Rudolf - a new bestseller??

One thing I have noticed  in the years I have been selling is the dilemma of a customer buying a design as a present and struggling to decide upon the right design/colour to suit someone elses taste.  So, on went the  thinking cap and I am now selling Gift Vouchers   They can be spent online, at craft fairs or used for mail order sales so the location of the recipient is not an issue.  They are available in any denomination of £5.00 increments and are valid for 12 months after purchase.   Gift Vouchers are available now from our stall at fairs or online here

I have some really busy weeks ahead but have managed to factor in a weekend without fairs to try to do some additional stock building which hopefully will cut down on the number of customer orders required to complete in the lead up to the Christmas break.  Of course, personalised and bespoke orders will still be plentiful but I might be able to stay one step ahead on the regular stuff (wishful thinking??)

Christmas orders have already started coming in and I am able to take orders up until the beginning of December however, after the terrible winter weather and postal problems last year, I really recommend any orders should be placed as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

So, whilst I will try to blog regularly, please forgive me if I appear a little neglectful - I promise it isn't personal!   In the meantime, head on over to Handmade Monday to see what everyone else is up to this week - I bet it isn't just me who is already on the Christmas treadmill!

Boring? I think so...

You may be sad (or possibly thrilled) to hear that this is going to be a short (and therefore probably a pretty boring) blog post today...

Due to 'unforseen circumstances' this weekend ended up being without me being at a fair so I am in 'mega create' mode.   With orders to finish and some big fairs coming up the extra time is actually quite helpful as I am not only trying to make up lots of my existing designs but also make some new designs ready for Christmas so that customers who come to see me year after year have some new things to choose from.

So whilst I have been really busy, I actually don't have much finished to show for my efforts - infact yesterday was one of those really frustrating days where I was busy all day but didn't seem to get anywhere!

However, after too many missed 'Handmade Mondays' recently, I wanted to make sure that I joined in and after lots of head scratching and thinking about what I could share, I suddenly remembered my post a few weeks ago about the customer who ordered a specific tortoise design in memory of a beloved pet who passed away unexpectedly at an early age.   So, as promised (albeit a little late!) here is the finished design which I am thrilled to say the customer was really happy with...

I love the fact that handmade not only means that an item is created with love but it is also so personal.   The yellow dot on the head was a unique mark on their much-missed pet and only a handmade item could possibly include this small but special feature which was one of the things they said made him stand out and told them that this little chap was to be the new member of their family.

If you want to read some more exciting tales of crafters and their creations - head on over to Handmade Monday - you won't be disappointed!

So with my humblest apologies for such a boring post... I'm off to see if I can break the world record for the most new items created in a week!!

Lock, Stock and Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel! (OK, not really but it sounded good!!)

Hi Folks

Eek!
I'm almost out of the
oh-so-popular Butterfly Sets!

Yes, I know...  I said I would blog more and I have been very lax!   However, I have a good excuse...   Last weekend was absolutely manic and now my stock is ridiculously low on many of my 'bread and butter' items.   So I have been frantically making up new stuff but with a stack of orders to complete too, there are only so many hours in the day to get everything finished!

Last weekend was different in that hubby couldn't work with me on Sunday due to commitments in his own work so my Mum was really kind and travelled all the way from Yorkshire to come and help for the weekend (I knew it was likely to be a busy show and there is no way I can do this type of show on my own!)   I am so grateful that she did this (thanks Mum xx) and after going up to London on Thursday to meet her train we had a lovely lunch (waaay too much food!) before heading home.

It was great to see Mum and have some help with packaging up the 100 or so new things I had been manically making during the week before (it would have taken me forever on my own) and her help was invaluable on Sunday when hubby was absent.   As anyone who has done a show will know, customers don't spread themselves out over the day - they all decide to come at once so you can be sitting around talking to no-one for ages then suddenly you can't cope with the number of people who have appeared!

So, I am now working on more planes (yep, just when I thought I had finished... six more were ordered last weekend!  Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled but my eyes had only just started recovering from the last lot!)  and building up my stock with both the most popular designs which have fallen very low and, of course, Christmas designs - it may seem like a long way away but for me, the season has already started and with some big shows coming up I should see a lot of Christmas designs heading to new homes.

So, for now I will say cheerio and head off into the studio to my planes, Santas, snowmen and other festive goodies.  Is is just me who wants to put Christmas films on the telly and play my crimbo CDs to get into the right mood??  I guess playing Christmas carols at this time of year would be bad luck so better not tempt fate!

Have a great weekend everyone & happy crafting!

M.I.A?? I'm Back...

Good morning blogging family

Yes I am still on this planet after being missing in action for a couple of weeks (although a quick look at the date of my last blog post shows that it has infact been almost a month - eek!)

I would love to say that I have been travelling the globe on a relaxing Summer holiday but if I did, I would be lying - August is quite simply a chaotic month for me with some of the bigger shows all in a row.

From steam shows to airshows, we have seen lots of different types of transportation over the past month and met some wonderful people (many of whom were suitable blackened by soot after working on their beautifully maintained old steam engines).

Fortunately the weather gods have been reasonably kind and Shoreham Airshow this year did not see a repeat of the terrible cloudy, windy, wet conditions which put the kaibosh on all the flying in 2010.   Sadly, for the second year we missed out on the opportunity to see the wonderful Vulcan as it was grounded with a fuel leak but the rest of the show went ahead as planned and a last minute replacement flight was added to fill the void left by the Vulcan.  The organisers of this show really do a sterling job and the craft tent at the show (organised by the wonderful Woodland Crafts) is always a fun place to be.

The Vulcan - absent on the day but still present as a peelable decoration!

So, my month has been filled with fulfilling orders of more planes than I care to remember - it took a full 2 weeks to complete them due to all the fine detail required and to say that I now feel 'all planed out' is an understatement!

I am also now introducing Christmas designs onto the stall as some of the locations of fairs won't be visited again this year so I have been trying to make up some more Christmas stock (not the easiest of tasks when you are melting under the summer sun!)

This next weekend sees us at the Laughton Country Show, nr Ringmer, East Sussex and designs like the ever-popular Nativity Panel will be there to ease people into the Festive spirit (albeit a little early but the way this year is flying by...)

I have also been working on an idea for 2011 to help out all my customers who spend ages trying to decide on a gift for a friend or family member (always difficult to put yourself in someone else's shoes) and will do a separate blog about this shortly...

Hope you have all had a great month - I promise not to be away for so long in future and will be having a good look around all the blogs I have missed in the next few days.

To see what some amazing crafters have been up to this week, do head on over to Handmade Monday and get the opportunity to visit some terrific blogs.

Letter to the Weather Gods - part 2!

Dear Weather Gods (again)

Oh Ha Ha Ha - you do make me laugh!!   What part of the five-days-yours-two-days-mine deal did you not understand??  This weekend we had a wonderful corner position in our gazebo - lots of wonderful exposure from two sides to the visitors to the show and what did you do??   You blew and pee'd on us!!

Today, when I am tucked up in my cosy studio working on orders, I almost need sunglasses to block out the bright sunshine you have bestowed upon us (OK it is still windy but that is still a 50% improvement!!)

Now, I am not an aggressive person and I know we all have jobs to do but please, give me a break would'ya! Two days... TWO DAYS - that is all I am asking for.  So, here's the deal - I have a two day outdoor event coming up next weekend, that is Saturday AND Sunday (at the place you had a hissy fit last time - I'm sure you remember it - I certainly do!) please can you bring the sunshine (fluffy white clouds too if you really want to, I don't mind) and cool it on the rain and wind - and that includes overnight when the gazebo will be braving the elements on its little lonesome.

There is a list of fairs on my website - please can you study it and make sure that you save the decent weather days for all those listed there...

OK - you play along and I will remain upbeat and calm (and if you are really good, I might even buy you a nice present for Christmas!)

Thanking you in anticipation....

Signed
The lady who is finding it really difficult to keep smiling through your fun and games.

---------------------------

Ahhh, that feels better!   Well as you can probably tell from the above, this weekend's fair - the Lingfield Steam and Country Show - was plagued with windy weather with some really heavy showers thrown in for good measure.   Today, is beautifully sunny!  Go figure!

Fortunately, the visitors were there and thanks to a lot of repeat customers (which is great) and some new customers (which is even better) we still had a good weekend, albeit a little stressful with tables blown over at one point (hubby fortunately was looking the right way at the time and caught the gridwall before it landed on him unexpectedly!) and the 'rain cover' extension to our gazebo had to be taken down early to avoid it being blown apart.  This left our tables exposed so thanks to some help from our neighbouring stall, we managed to move these to a sheltered position inside the now-reduced-in-size gazebo.

Anyone who has done outdoor shows will know how stressful it can be with the weather (Wendy, I know you are with me on this one!) as it can affect everything from your stock, visitor numbers, sales and your temperament.  However, I decided a long time ago that there is no point getting upset about things you have no control over (apart from writing long letters - see above!) so hubby and I still managed to laugh and giggle our way through the day and had a long drink when we got home to celebrate our survival!!

One of the advantages to a customer buying handmade from me is that it means that I can usually help with any design request.   One of the things I have been really pleased to do this past week was to keep alive the memory of a beloved pet tortoise who had recently unexpectedly passed away at a very young age.   As this was an unusual breed with unusual colouring, etc. there was little chance of a factory made item being available and I was thrilled to receive a phone call of thanks from my customer when she received it along with information of another few items she plans to order from me next time I see her.  I will try to post a photo of the tortoise in an upcoming post (it is still sitting on my camera at the moment!).

I have been persuaded by Hubby at recent shows to give my WWII planes more exposure on the stall (they are very fiddly to make!), and have found at fairs that they do bring lots of attention and orders both from young people and older generations who had a direct link with the aircraft - some flew the Lancasters and Spitfires and some built them.  I love talking to these inspirational people as they are always so proud to have been around these machines and speak so lovingly about them and I am happy to play a small part in bringing back the happier memories through my work.

Avro Lancaster Bomber

Supermarine Spitfire

I have a total of six different aircraft to choose from at the moment (plus patterns for many more) and I hope to create one of the Concorde (at Hubby's request - can you tell he is an aircraft fanatic!) before we go to Shoreham Airshow in a couple of weeks so if you know anyone, young or old, who may like one of these - they can be ordered online now - they are great as unique Christmas gifts! (Yes, I said the 'c' word again!)

Anyway, I'm off now to make a lot of planes to cover the orders from this weekend so please do go along and check out Handmade Monday at Wendy's blog.

See you all soon.

Handmade Monday #27 - Glowing in the Dark...

Handmade Monday rolls around again and I am pleased to say that hubby and I survived the 'Greenhouse' yesterday and came out unscathed!   It was very, very hot still but there were more clouds around so this helped it to not be quite as unbearable as it was there last month.  I am fully booked for all the weekends in August (plus Bank Holiday Monday) so I won't be back there until the end of September which means the temperature should be much more pleasant (keep an eye out for 'it was so cold' posts!!)

As a result of the more comfortable atmosphere, we had a great day and met some wonderful new and regular customers.   However, after being really pleased to have completely finished all my orders, I now have five pages of orders to complete this week!!  I love the fact that as a maker of handmade work, I can adapt colours and designs to suit a customer's specific needs - OK, they may cost a little more than mass produced stuff but you simply don't get this personal detail on factory made, shop bought items.

Last week I mentioned the Glow in the Dark stuff I have been making in readiness for Halloween (which, bearing in mind it is August already will be here quicker than I care to think about!!).  These are now available in my online shop and I have shown a couple of them here (click on link below each photo to be taken to the shop page for each one):

Set of Two Ghosties - not really as scary as they are trying to be!

Witch on Broomstick - available with a Glow in the Dark or  

Glittered Moon

This is going to be a very short post as I have tons of orders to get started on plus lots of stock to try to make up ready for the Lingfield Steam & Country Show this coming weekend.  I guess this week is also going to be full of making steam engines...

Head on over to 1st Unique Gifts blog to see what everyone else has been up to this week & have a great one yourself.