CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR 2012

Another great craft fair. A lot of items sold out and I raised 1220.00 euro over the two days for a very worthy charity. All the hard work and extra effort on the stand presentation paid off. I have been offered another craft fair in a couple of weeks so I'm busy replenishing the sold out items.
The following is an idea of what I sold and for how much.

4 Christmas wreaths at 15 euro each
13 Christmas Stockings at 8 euro each
4   gift tags at 2 euro each
1 Advent Calendar at 40 euro
17 ribbon ornaments at 4 euro each
12 sets of tile coasters at 6 euro each
9  Desk notepad and pen at 6 euro each
74 Chocolate Snowmen bars  (Absolutely brilliant sellers. Sold out each day in first hour.2 euro each or 3 for 5
11 Wall coat hangers 8 euro each (reduced some to 6 euro towards end of last day)
63 Magic Reindeer Food 1.50 euro each
19 Fabric covered notice boards 8 euro small and 12 euro large
14 Pincushions 8 euro each
24 Herb Pot markers 4 euro each (reduced to 2 euro at end of last day)
4 Fridge magnets 2 euro each
12 Notebook and pen at 4 euro each  (reduced to 3 euro at end of last day)
11 Gift sets of cards at 6 euro each
5 Clipboards at 6 euro each
7  Santa's Magic Keys at 4 euro each

Hope you enjoy the video. Happy Weekend.

Christmas Craft Fair 2012

Well the car is all packed and ready for my 2012 craft fair. The above photo is one I took this week as I did a quick mock set up in my kitchen! Thanks to my very talented hubby I have a wonderful backdrop for my table. I am really pleased and delighted with the finish. I have made lots of new items this year. I am especially proud of my sewn items.  Do you see the Santa figure sitting in the background. It is from the Tilda range. I had so much fun making it. It will just be used as a prop and will not be for sale. All my stock is kept in big plastic containers hidden under the table and behind the tablecloth !

Fingers crossed now that there is a good turnout at the fair and that the weather improves.  As soon as I get a chance I will blog how the fair went and give more details of the items sold and prices etc.

Happy weekend.

Santa's Magic Key Tags

The above tags I designed  to use for the upcoming Christmas craft fairs. I printed them on canvas paper. The canvas paper made the colours  more vibrant and the texture  a little different. I added  a  vintage looking key from a  set by  K & Company Life's Journey Metal Art - Keys which were on offer at Joann's online store.   However the tags will go with any old keys you have lying around the house. The Santa photo and poem  I  found on two different boards on  Pinterest. If you would like to make some tags here is a Santa's Magic Key tag download  for you to print some of your own. You will get two per A 4 Sheet.

They cost very little to make and I hope to get approx 4 euro each at craft fairs. Happy craft fair preparations !

Papertrey August Blog Hop Challenge

Phew. Just in time. A little bit of a rush here to partake in the challenge this month. It slipped my mind until last night. Lots going on as we wind down the summer holidays.   I ran up this little hostess gift up in a flash using some of my treasured Papertrey ink stash.  I love the inspirational photo above showing all the lovely fabrics.

All supplies used are  Papertrey ink except ribbon from my ever growing stash.   

Pincushions for Christmas Craft Fairs using Tilda Fabric

One of my favourite craft designers Melissa Phillips, owner of Lilybeans Paperie creates the most beautiful pincushions. I just adore her work. On a wet winters day a little sunshine lights up my day just by clicking on her blog.  Some of her work is sold at her etsy store here.

I was so enamored with Melissa's pincushions I  had to try and make one of my own  using some of my treasured stash of Tilda fabrics. The Tilda fabrics I used were Tilda Fruit Garden Berrie pink and Molly Pink.

My pincushions do not have as many of the delicate little extras that Melissa added to hers. Enjoying myself  I continued on and  made  forty of them  to sell at this years Christmas fund raising fairs. I am really pleased with how they turned out and hope the Christmas fair visitors will be too. As 100% per cent of the funds raised go to a very worthy charity I hope Melissa does not mind me pincushion lifting hers !

The following photos give a little tutorial on how I made mine.

I laid out a 5.5-inch strip of Tilda fabric( Tilda fabric is 55 -inch wide)  and added lace and ribbon. I sewed it as one piece and then cut it down to 5.5 -inch squares.  

I prepared the same amount of co-ordinating fabric squares.

Pinning right sides facing , added bobbin trimming in between. Then sewed around the outside with 1/2 inch seam allowance and left small opening for turning.

When turned right side out I  pressed each of them to get rid of the creases.

I filled with soft toy filling and sewed up the opening.

Added white felt roses.

and little labels embellished with scraps of Tilda patterned paper.

Lovely bundle of fun.

All packed and ready for fairs.

A Summer Crop

While it was a beautiful sunny day in Dublin today I didn't mind spending some of it indoors. I was attending a local monthly crop. Jackie Campbell, a very talented Irish scrapbook artist gave our group a tutorial on altered art. I made the above altered canvas with her guidance and following her original layout. I was pushed out of my comfort zone as  I mixed colours and painted with my fingers !  It was a thoroughly enjoyable day as we all crafted  with great concentration and happily went on our way with our completed pieces.  I'm delighted with mine. It will make a nice gift for my two little nieces home from the UK for their summer holidays.

I used some papers from the Tilda range - Flowergarden and Christmas House. I mixed acrylic paints to match the patterned papers and Jackie provided the stamps, die cuts, and wording from a range by Theresa Collins

Stamp-a-faire Farewell Shots

My final for photo for Stamp-a-faire 2012. It was a wonderful  event. I thoroughly enjoyed it. What amazing hard work and effort went into this by Nichole Heady and all her team at  Papertrey Ink. Thank you all so much for all the fun and enjoyment of a great day.

Stamp-a-faire Homemade Embellishments

For the last Challenge  I chose Dawn Mcvey's beautiful butterflies.  They tutorial was brilliant and they were so easy and quick to make.  At this stage my brain was definitely slowing down having crafted all day and I did n't bother to thread the buttons.  When I get to using them as toppers I will. Again a great selection of tutorials to choose from on Nichole Heady's blog. Great thing is they are available to kick start the mojo at any time.

Stamp-a-faire Camp Card Challenge

The difficulty with this challenge was choosing one set to do during the event. The great thing is, I am looking forward to completing all the projects as  items to sell at the Christmas Fairs this year. The designs are so professional I would be proud to sell any of them. For Saturday I choose the lovely design my Melissa Phillips.  I am always inspired and motivated by Melissa's blog. Her work is so delicate and beautiful. Whenever I am stuck for some inspiration I pop over to her beautiful blog and off I go.  Did you get to see her video on the meet and greet and goodbye.  She came across as really nice. I used the new paper pad set released for Stamp-a-faire. Very light weight paper for making the paper beads but the designs are to die for !

Stamp-a-faire Tie Dye Techniques challenge

I laughed when Nichole said you cant go wrong with this. Mmmm I'm not so sure. I think I'll have to practise this technique a bit more. Anyway the sentiment is sent to all the participans in Stamp-a-faire from far and near.

Stamp-a-faire Paper Beads Challenge

Wanting to present the bracelet nicely in a photo I rummaged in my patterned paper bundle and pulled this piece quite randomly. Is n't it perfect for this challenge.

See the words in the centre - A friend is a present.

Some more photos from our walk last night.  Seems I had my tv programmes wrong for tonight. Superstars was not on after all.  Shame. 

Stamp-a-faire Limited Supply Challenge

My brain is a little wooly after a whole day of crafting. I am not used to all this luxury time. Rather than spend too much time dithering about what I would do I card lifted Nichole Heady's one. I'm happy with it. It is such a lovely design and some of my favourite colours too. Having a break now with a cup of tea and a s'more. Why not, I deserve it after all the hard work. Also going to tune into Andrew Lloyd Webber's tv programme " Superstar". We have been watching and enjoying it for the past week. Lovely summer time viewing. Going to make the next challenge while tv watching too. 

Stamp-a-faire Mini Book Challenge

Back again with another post for Stamp-a-faire Mini book challenge.

It was really hard to pick just one for today. I wanted to do them all.  Finally  I picked  the one by Betsy Veldman using the Card Base-ics die.  I am always astonished by the beauty of Betsy's work.

On our little runs up and down the road to Brittas we bought these lovely strawberries and new potatoes fresh from the farm.  Hey the little run around was worth it just for them. We have just had a lovely BBQ dinner so I have plenty of strength now to keep going. Will I last it till the middle of the night to complete all the challenges.  Pop back and see !

Do you like the ribbon. I saw it in a market a couple of weeks ago in Italy. Just had to get it.

Last nights s'mores. I am going to make a couple more tonight if I get a chance to take a break. They were gorgeous.



Happy Saturday crafting with Papertrey Ink and Stamp-a-faire 2012.

 A little cottage down by the bridge.

 Road signs in Ireland dont always make a lot of sense but if you follow them you'll get there sometime, somehow !

 The beach last night lovely and quiet.  We took this lovely photo of  The little local shop that sells almost everything. It is where I got to spend my pocket money as a kid on sweet and icecreams.   A piece of my childhood....

 All set out  and ready in one of the tiny bedrooms in the mobile home.  Huh ! Read on....

We had a lovely trip to Wicklow yesterday afternoon. No heavy traffic, lovely sunshine and the promise of a lovely weekend. The journey took less than an hour and after a quick unpack of the car we went for walk to enjoy the weather and took some photos.  Later  I laid out all my bits and bobs on one of the beds in one of the tiny bedrooms ready for today.

After a nice cup of tea we tested the broadband strength and it looked promising. However trying to view videos was a challenge to say the least. I was able to tune into and post on the meet and greet thread on the forum and then to link to my blog. However it was very difficult to see the videos. I got to see Nichole's opening and the beginning of Melissa Philips but then it stopped and it looked like it would take forever to download. I was happy to stay and just use the blog posts but hubby pressed me to come back home and enjoy all the festivities in full.  With a lot of laughter we packed the car again this morning and drove back home.  Why or why can't I ever take the easy road......

Anyway now that I'm settled again I'm having the time of my life at Stamp-a-faire. The tutorials and videos are out of this world. The effort and hard work put into the event by everyone at Papertrey Ink really shows. Thank you all so much.

This is my card from the Make-n-take

Thank you Nichole for a wonderful tutorial. You made everything so straight forward and simple. I really enjoyed taking part in this. I just love this stamp set.

and this is my entry for the Ribbon Techniques Challenge

Can you see the little camp badge ?

Friends and family will  tell you I have a real thing for notebooks. I could n't tell you how many I have made since I first saw them on michellewooderson's blog. I was very happy to partake in Michelle's ribbon tutorial  today. I have been a great fan of her work and am very grateful for all the wonderful inspiration over the past years. Thank you Michelle.

All packed and ready for Stamp-a-faire 2012 with Papertrey Ink

 Summer time is good for me. Lots of free time to chill out and craft just for the fun of it.  The craft fair items are given a back seat as I try to learn new skills and techniques. Last Christmas I got a beautiful sewing machine and I have had a great time tackling many projects. This doll which I finished  this week is one of them. Is n't she lovely. She is called Tilda Flowergarden. She comes as a kit and is designed by the very talented   Tone Finnanger   Such beautiful  fabric designs ! Do you like her necklace ?  Hush don't tell anyone. I had no patience I had  to have a little go of the new die. More about that on Saturday !

In the top photo the doll is sitting on my packed bag ready for  Stamp-a-faire . Last year I travelled to Cincinnati to attend the event. It was a very special time in my life and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I had  a brilliant time. This year it is a special online event available for everyone. Pop over to Nichole Heady's blog to join in the amazing events. I cant wait. I am so looking forward to it.  As my sons are away on scout camp in Scotland, my hubby and I are heading to Brittas Bay, Co. Wicklow to our holiday home and keeping our fingers crossed that I get a good internet connection. If not I'm coming straight back home !

Life in Brittas Bay is very easy and laid back. A perfect place to be.

 

Wishing all my Papertrey Ink buddies a  Happy Stamp-a-faire weekend.  Happy crafting.