Pip's Place

If you read my last post you won’t be surprised to learn that at 9.50am last Sunday, when my stall was all set up under it’s gazebo near Littlehampton seafront and we were eagerly waiting for the first customers to arrive, the wind began to blow!  My lovely display was instantly a mess.  Thankfully, our organiser, Jan, hastily found us a table inside the Putting Green Cafe and we started again!!  As the next hour passed, other stalls found themselves re-located inside, away from the elements.

Despite the weather, which  must have put many people off venturing out,  my first foray into the world of craft fairs could not have gone better with a profit being made at the end of the day and some lovely comments from customers and fellow crafters.  It has given me a real boost and encouragement for next Saturday at Bartie’s Boutique in St Paul’s Church, Chapel Road, Worthing.

Another real positive from last Sunday was the opportunity to sell my ‘creations’ at a new outlet in Littlehampton which Jan has just set up.  Crafters Corner is in Traders Indoor Market, The Sorting House, Clifton Road.  The market is full of lovely antiques and art and now lots of local crafts too.  I set up my shelf on Tuesday and will be taking a turn in the ‘shop’ in a couple of weeks.  I’m really pleased to find another place to sell and I can pop in at lunchtimes to add stock, rearrange etc. Now all we need is lots of customers!!

It’s been many years since I had a craft fair stall but the time has come to get out there and sell, hopefully.

The trouble I’ve encountered in taking the plunge is the cost of the tables which I have found prohibitive.  I appreciate that the organisers have to make their money and they have overheads, but when the items you sell are not expensive, a lot of selling has to be done to break even.

Anyway, the activity on the blog has been minimal and sales through Folksy non-existent so in order to get my name known and get some feedback, I will be ‘appearing’ at the Putting Green Cafe Craft Fair at Norfolk Gardens, Littlehampton on Sunday 30th September between 10am and 4pm.  If you know the venue you will understand what I mean when I say I am hoping for a calm, sunny day as my stall will be in a gazebo – if the wind blows off the sea, I imagine that my shelter and goods will not stay in one place for long !!

I have been busily making some new little flower brooches this week (this has helped take my mind off the impending departure of one and only son to University on 23rd September!).  My embroidery skills seem to be returning after many years in the wilderness which is pleasing.  I’ve also started on some ideas for Christmas tree decorations and will press on with these after 30th September so I have a stock ready for my next foray into the market place at Bartie’s Boutique in Worthing on 13th October – more on that next time.

For now, here are a couple of photos of the new brooches – on sale for £2.00 each and not available on Folksy, so if you want one you will have to get yourself to Littlehampton on the 30th or get in touch!!

Let’s hope I don’t get blown away …

A couple of weeks ago I received an unexpected package in the post.  To my surprise I had won some free wooden buttons in a giveaway in Craftseller mag (an information and inspiration packed monthly which I came across in Tesco when I should have been doing the shopping!).  They are really pretty and will feature in some makes for the spring I think.

A friend recently offered me her button box to look through and pull out any that I could use – naturally I jumped at the chance of a peek and was not disappointed.  Opening the bag brought back those childhood memories of going through my Mum’s button tin and talking about the lovely clothes that the unusual ones had come from, counting, sorting out the colours and sizes etc – who needs all those expensive toys we give to kids nowadays, just give them a tin of buttons and they can amuse themselves for hours!

Anyway, Linda’s tin had the old brown criss-cross sort that reminded me of the cardigans worn by my Dad, small pale coloured ones from knitted baby garments, shiny ones from blazers and lots of lovely pearly ones.  Some were still on the little white card strips on which they were bought many years ago (one set had a label A & N 10p).  Also there were lots of pretty silver and gold sparkly ones of different shapes and sizes that will be great as brooch centres.

A delightful trip down memory lane resulted in a hoard of treasure.  Thank you Linda.

I’ve just returned from a week in Yorkshire with my other half, Mark.  We stayed in Thirsk (home of James Herriott) which is on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park and has a really good fish and chip shop which gives ‘scraps’ (a northern thing it seems which consists of little bits of spare batter and is apparently the perfect accompaniment for a meal which already has its fair share of batter included!)  Needless to say I declined the ‘scraps’ myself!!

Having been assured that I would be able to take it easy, the break quickly became jam-packed with things to do and places to go as we impulsively joined English Heritage and were determined to get the most for our money!  As is usually the case with our holidays, the week was eventful.  The high/lowlights were:-

• a trip to the Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield to watch the Giants play the Wakefield Wildcats (that’s Rugby League).  Mark also spent what seemed like all day in the Rugby League museum and described the experience as like being in heaven!
• the walk from hell near Sutton Bank in the National Park accompanied by a thousand flies that would not leave us alone – we even resorted to running at one point but they were equal to our pace.  Mark has described the walk as “one of the worst experiences” of his life – he does like to be dramatic.  I wouldn’t go that far … of course he’s not given birth …
• a visit to gorgeous Richmond Castle
• the T20 quarter final between Yorkshire and Worcestershire at Headingly (that’s Cricket).  A great game plus a streaker and crowd trouble
• Mark bumping into Leeds Rhinos player, Brent Webb, who is royalty apparently, and getting star-struck then cursing himself afterwards that he didn’t get his autograph or a photo
• a walk (with no flies) to Rievaulx Abbey
• a visit to Mount Grace Priory and a walk on the moors
• a trip to see Mark’s sister and family in Darlington, lots of chat and watching the Darts on Sky

I told the family all about my new venture and our niece, Megan, was happy to be the first model of a couple of my creations – thank you Megan.

My pony tail bands are very affordable at £1.25 each – I don’t have these for sale on Folksy as I would need to put the price up considerably to cover additional costs.  If you are interested in ordering one or more please contact me.  I would be pleased to do an order for party bags – they make ideal bracelets for those without long hair as you can see from Megan’s photo above.

Now back to work for a rest and perhaps a bit of crafting in the evenings.

I’ve always loved purple, or mauve as I used to call it.  I wear the colour quite a lot and even have a purple car!  When I visited The Eternal Maker in Chichester last week to replenish my felt supplies, I was delighted to find a gorgeous purple felt – I’d describe it as the colour of Clover (no, not the spread silly!).

I set out this week to create something new and decided on a flower shaped brooch combining my clover purple and a darker shade, plus a grey/blue colour and some beads.  I think the centre is most important as the focal point so once I had sorted this out with a pretty little bead, the rest of the design followed quite easily.  Having cut out my flower shapes in different sizes I worked from the centre outwards to sew the elements together and added some embroidery, finishing by sewing the brooch pin to the back flower and blanket stitching the back to the front in a contrasting light blue.

Voila! I am really pleased with the result.  Despite not having much time to be “crafty” this week, this went so well that I am now making a yellow/green version!

Let me know if you like it.

This is the home of my felt creations, as well as our gorgeous cat, after whom my little enterprise is named – more on him another day!

To start with introductions, I am Sally and I work as a part-time Legal Executive in local government.  I did some craft work many years ago when my son, Andrew, was small.  I enjoyed the creativity and the buzz of selling the odd thing, but I was never going to make my fortune.  I gave up, disappointed that I wasn’t going to be an entrepreneur, but pleased that I’d had a go.

Years on my aims are more realistic – it’s all about producing something a little bit different and hopefully better quality than what you might find on the high street.  It’s about making an item that someone will love enough to want to part with their hard-earned cash, will happily wear, use or give as a gift.  It’s also about me enjoying what I do.

I’ve been having great fun creating my felt brooches, hair accessories and clips since January and have now moved on to embellishing tote bags.

Here are a few pictures of my creations; I hope you like them.

Now available on Folksy … !