Latest Designs

Hi Everyone

Here are a few of my latest designs.....taking them to my craft fair for the first time on Saturday so we'll see how they go. Also spent most of last night making gift tags...5 for £1.50 - took me an hour to make 5 - £1.50 an hour - slave labour lol

This is a gift bag I made for our good friend Dimitri for his 40th birthday - I think he liked the tsiparo inside! He's from Kalymnos (near Kos) hence the outline of his island

I like this one alot because I made the flowers using the big shot machine for the first time and was really pleased how it turned out

Okay, I know it's lilac but I've got to do something in my favourite colour - there's a free Christmas Tree decoration with this one

Another of my 'flower' bags and free decoration

I had to do one for the girls now didn't I?

I'll take some pictures of the tags and let you have a look - hopefully they'll all go on Saturday - they did really well on their last outing!

Take care
xx

PS I found this craft knife which is alot cheaper than I paid for mine!!!!!!
Xcelite XN-200 Medium Duty Craft Knife (Google Affiliate Ad)

Feedback on the new JewELLs Gift Bag

Canon Slade School - only there a couple of hours but amongst the stalls, there must have been around 7 card stalls and about 5 jewellery stalls.....luckily I didn't take much jewellery as I didn't have enough room on the table to show everything - you know what it's like....tables are provided but then you've only got that space to 'do your thing'

Anyways, I saw some familiar faces which was nice....Debbie from Bluebird and Bobbin, Cupcake Creationz, Fiona from C'est Chic, Margaret and Jean from my craft fair. I came across something very strange though.....why would you sell something at a loss? If it costs you £1.50 ish to make and you're selling it for £1.00 - what's the point? yes, I know all about loss leaders and having something on your stall you know you're going to make a loss with because it will attract the customers and you hope they buy something else.....

But if the majority of your crafts are sold at a loss and you openly admit you're not making any money.....am I being thick here because I don't see the point in this.....if you're doing this as a hobby then you've got to at least cover your costs - stall, materials etc

Sorry, just thought I'd run that one past you!

I got some really nice feedback on the new gift bags.....similar comments to the JewELLs cards really - aren't they lovely, it must have taken you ages, what a great idea etc etc but not many people were buying unfortunately. I did sell some of the bags, however, and had a couple of orders for some which is great!

Went to Smithills School on Saturday and that was pretty quiet but I sold a JewELLs card to the councillor who opened the Craft Fair in September - result! 

I have a free weekend this week and then quite a few fairs coming up.....won't be doing Holland Garden Centre anymore though.....not really a good atmosphere and it's the most expensive one I do AND you have to take your own table and chair etc. You're outside and freezing your b*m off every time unless the weather is kind then your feet are still cold. I asked for an inside stall only to be told - "you've no chance" - how rude! This verbal abuse continued and then my table broke - what a day!.....I've since found out I've been accused of taking away custom from there because I run my own craft fair on a completely different weekend!!!!!!!.....I've said it before and I'll say it again - there's nowt as funny as folk!

Soooooooooo, I will upload some pictures of the latest gift bags for you and would welcome any comments you have

See you soon x

New Range of Gift Bags

Drum roll................................

Introducing my new range of gift bags....all unique (of course) and hand crafted in the same style as the JewELLs Cards. I was asked to do some and sold some already..... Let me know what you think! They all have matching tags as well and at the moment I have 2 sizes - 10" x 8" and the other one slightly wider

The dog is actually a mirror (not really good enough to do your makeup of anything!)

My first Scottie dog bag - Awww

My favourite colours so of course I had to make a bag in lilacs!

My first Christmas bag

This mirrored dog is on the larger bag as it's a larger mirror - sorry about the glare!

One for the children

So there you have it...a sample of the new JewELLs Gift Bag range.....I'm at Canon Slade School, Bradshaw tomorrow night and Smithills School on Saturday so I'll let you know how I get on

Signing off for now
xxx

Pictures of Bromley Cross Village Hall Craft Fair

At long last you shout, pictures of the craft fair she's always going on about......well yes, here they are.......

This was around 9.15am and everyone's busy setting up - Artist, cupcakes, knitted toys, buttons, phoenix cards and part of the veggie stall

In the distance we have Margaret with her gift hampers, Chocolate man, to name a couple

I think the apples stole the show in this picture!

The Salad Bowl, in Horwich and the Church cake stall - on stage!

My stall and Bluebird & Bobbin - You can see some of Debbie's handmade aprons in the posh Kitchen shop in Horwich or.......come along to the next BC Village Hall Craft Fair to see them in the flesh (you know what I mean!)

Homemade jams and chutneys in the foreground - yummeeeeeee!

So there you have it........we had a full house with loads of crafters - could have done with more customers but that's the way it goes I'm afraid.....still....an enjoyable day listening to the banjo man....come along to the next one and support us crafters and the church all at the same time!

The Next Craft Fair is on Saturday 27 October and the last one this year co-incides with the Christmas Tree Festival. The festival is on the weekend of 24 November with the opening on the Friday but watch this space for further details - should be a great weekend!

A Busy Weekend Ahead

Definitely a busy weekend ahead of me this week....I have my craft fair on Saturday and we have a few new crafters, some new to craft fairs and some just new to us so new faces all round. 

We've also had to bring the stallholders from outside into the Hall because of the wonderful British weather so it will be nice and cosy in there come Saturday! We have allsorts this month - from me and my JewELLs Cards to felt items, cupcakes, veggie man, Greek Deli, paintings, brooches, knitted items, dolls, handbags, buttons, homemade chocolates, etc

And then on Sunday is the Last Drop Village Craft Fair which I help with so busy busy again....at least I can have a lie in till 7.30am each morning which is better than getting up at 6am!

If I could do this full time, wouldn't it be great but I either need to win the lottery (would I then be in this country to organise the craft fairs? I don't think so) or a fairy godmother who could finance me.....ho hum, wishful thinking!

Made some 'friendship' cards last night but my camera battery was flat so couldn't take any pictures. Will take some on Saturday so you can see the hall etc

Don't forget, you can get your cards handmade for any occasion and I will write the versus for you aswell. I've also made some wedding invitations for couples who are on a 'budget' but who would like them handmade. I went to a Wedding Fair on Sunday just to see what they were like and to see if there was a way in for the JewELLs Cards. OMG what a bunch of stuck up women! There was only one stand where the ladies made their own cards, invitations etc and they were very nice but flippin eck the prices! I know what you're saying - this is their business and they have overheads etc, well yes, I know but I'm charging less than a 1/3 of their prices and still making a little profit! The other stands were singers, cars, flowers, photography and such - very nice but the prices!!!!! What you need is a wedding fair for couples on a budget and I'm sure the people selling the services would be far nicer and more approachable and you would get more value for money.....now there's an idea! Lol - JewELLs Weddings on a budget....any takers?

Anyway, as you can imagine, we didn't stay long - one woman asked if I was the bride and when I said no, she obviously wasn't interested in talking to me - customer service? What customer service.....for all she knew, I could have been an owner/manager of a venue looking for a wedding planner to offer to my guests etc or to help organise weddings for me.....she could have potentially lost out on some money there! You should treat all your customers the same, as you don't know if one of them will be giving you that lovely big order - looks can be deceiving as I found out at Smithills School a couple of weeks ago ....a lady was looking at my JewELLs Cards and said they were lovely but she wanted to have a look round and would come back....no problem I said not really expecting another visit from her, but was pleasant and answered all her questions as you do....about 1 hour later, she returned and bought 3 Christmas JewELLs Cards and gave me a commission for a friend's Birthday....so there you have it!

So, looking forward to Saturday and we're also going to our friend's house for a meal afterwards so should be a good day!

Will update again soon
xx

Julie Hilling MP Bolton West

It was the first Food & Craft Fair for Smithills School after the summer break and Julie Hilling MP for Bolton West opened the fair, the cutting of the red tape and speech no less! 
She listened to the school band (which the proceeds of the fair go to help with trips etc) and then came round to all us crafters and had a good old natter with us.

There were quite a lot of people coming through the doors but, as usual, most were looking or buying from the food stalls, not many actually buying but, drum roll...............I sold my first lot of Christmas cards and a commission for a birthday card woo hoo!

I've put some pictures on of the event etc (I know, about time too!)

yet another photo of my card stand - note the Christmas cards lol

Yes, you guessed it, a close up of the Christmas cards - the one on the left was sold later that day!

The hubby's favourite out of all my Christmas Cards!

A, not very good picture, of Julie Hilling doing her speech

Just before she cut the ribbon

My stall was sandwiched between home made fudge and chutneys, cupcake lady opposite and lovely smelling bread stall.....I think they do it on purpose especially as I'm trying to lose weight (including the extra I put on in the 2 weeks I was away)

So, I now have a weekend off - no craft fairs, so we're taking my mum out for a meal for her birthday - Meditteranean Restaurant with a good variety of food on offer including Greek!

Will update again soon xx

Back from sunny Greece!

I bet you've been wondering what's happened, where is she? No, oh well wishful thinking on my part then!
But....if you were wondering, i've been on a wonderful 2 week holiday to Kos, Greece which was fantastic.....sun, sand, sea, s..... keep it clean it's a family show!

Apart from my holiday, what have I been up to? Oh yes, getting ready for the craft fairs coming up of course....next one is at Smithills School on Saturday 15 September and I've been preparing oh no, Christmas cards! I've got a few more to do over the next few days and then let's see how they go. I even took some JewELLs cards to Kos with me...you know just in case, and actually used 2 of them so I may be going international sooner than I thought!

I was also involved in a Victorian market before my hols and had to do the whole dressing up thing - mop hat, long dress, petticoats etc...there were only about 6 of us who actually dressed up...all the others were in ordinary clothes. It had been raining all week and even though we were under gazebos with sides, the floor was grass and soggy and my feet were wet through and cold so I'd had enough by 3pm. I'd got a special deal at the last minute and passed the details onto some of the people who have a stall at my craft fair....mmmmm I don't think they did very well over the weekend either and were joking that they'd get their revenge so I'm watching my back lol.....

Will update again soon x