Hobo Wedding...

Hello All!

How are you?! 

I can not believe its been 2 months since my last blog post! That sounded like a terrible confession but truth be told I've changed my working hours in my day job so Ive been trying to readjust my work-work-life balance & I must admit I've been finding it a touch hard. I work on average 8.5 hours a day with an hour commute there & back so by the time tea and washing/cleaning bathroom/living room/admin is done 9 out of 10 times I'm just pooped! I've also moved out of The Duke Street Bazaar. Sadly it's changed direction as a business & it's just not for me. I say sadly as I loved what the shop was & all the other independents in it but things change and sometimes you just have to roll with it. I'm also not doing The Winter Arts Market in St. Georges Hall this year either. It was the highlight of my business year last year but sadly not to be this year. 

However....changing perspective on a situation is good for the soul. (This blog post has ended up so big I'm spreading it over 2!) I did an amazing little fair yesterday (huge thank you to everyone that purchased from me!) down on Lark lane at The Old Police Station! Its the first time I felt really Christmassy as there where classic Christmas songs playing and the organisers had provided us all with mince pies! I also participated in a collaboration with #findmybox and have firmly had a motivational fire burning beneath me.

So...first amazing positive note!

There's a new kid in the Baltic Triangle block called Hobo Kiosk! My first ever craft fair was with hobo only last November & now I stock their beautiful, quirky, vintage treasure chest of a shop!

Located on Bridgewater Street its a real Liverpool experience open Wednesday - Saturday 11am-6pm. Their opening night was phenomenal, to the point that we had to leave at one point as we could not fit any more people in the shop!

Personal wise my best friends got married.

I was Chief Bridesmaid and my boy was the Best Man. After dress fittings, decoration making, stag and hen-do's, speech writing and everything else that goes into a wedding the day itself was just brilliant!

We sang, we danced out of shoes, ate and drank too much and paid for it dearly the next day! ha ha! 

I did catch the bouquet but I can't hear wedding bells in the near future! 

I'll be sharing more on whats been going on in the next few days but tomorrow is our last craft meet of this year at The Everyman!

Why buying a handmade gift means more than buying a gift...

There is no escaping it, the Christmas shopping season has started...

My inbox has a daily enquiry about new products, last dates for custom orders & I already have some confirmed!

The handmade market always booms in the winter months & for a good reason. It's so easy to order stuff online from faceless corporate companies & whilst it's often what people want, a lot of the time it's just something to pad out or to add a little something extra. We all know the type, hair products, chocolate, alcohol. No whilst you will NEVER hear me complaining from receiving such gifts something handmade from a small business always stands out in my memory.

Take my Mums house for example. In the kitchen there are roses from Mothers Day 2 years ago & daffodils from last year. A sunflower from her most recent birthday. 

In the living room is a blanket from her 50th & in my sisters room a blanket for her 21st. 

(Thinking I REALLY need to make my Dad something this Christmas!)

Think I'm biased coz I made them? Nope. I can't remember everything I received for past Christmas's & birthdays but I remember the personalised notepad my sister bought me, I remember the Gir hoodie (from Invader Zim) that Chelle made me.

My sister is awesome & only shops at independent stores so anything from her is really memorable!

The point is when you buy handmade anything you are buying more than just the item. You seal in a memory. You make that gift unforgettable to that person. Might be because you can see the hard work & dedication that's gone into the item & 9/10 it's gonna be something that's got a super personal meaning to the receiver.

You might pay a couple of quid more for something but 70p of every £1 spent stays locally when you shop independently as opposed to 5p when spent in a chain.

My Etsy shop has opening this weekend with a few hiccups but I think we are sorted now! 

As a thank you for your continued support I was offering 20% off this weekend (on orders over £5) but I have decided to extend this till midnight on Wednesday coz lets face it, we are all feeling a bit rubbish till Wednesday hits & we start looking forward to the weekend!

The Crafty Side of The Independent Liverpool Festival...

Last weekend saw Independent Liverpool hold its first Festival & it sold out! 

Set in the wonder that is The Baltic Triangle, Constellations & the new Great Baltic Warehouse where full to the rafters of people enjoying the benefits of our fair cities local independent retailers.

I was also there! Sadly I was largely away from the gin VW bar & the prosecco trolley but I got to hang out with the most amazingly talented bunch in Constellations at the arts & craft fair!

Whilst I was showcasing lots of my new goodies (mega thanks to you purchases & admirers alike) I loved having a good old nose & chat with everyone else! 

This Material Culture where my neighbours for the weekend & great crafty pals so that was a pleasure as always! So where The Soap Empire & At What Cost (fellow Rex retailers in the original store too!) so I already felt right at home.

The best shop companion was in the form of Pip The Tiny Pup brought by Scott Duffey with his & Lucy's amazing prints! 

The guys from One Art where as fabulous as every bringing a huge selection of local artists together in pop up shops! If you haven't heard or seen their collective works, then you are really missing out! 

I bought my Mum some local honey from The Postcode Honey guys who offered free tasters from different areas! Can't get better than that!

In true me & Chelle style we supported our fellow local businesses by making it our mission to fill up on independent cake both days!

The food section was packed out all day & everyone seemed to be having an absolute ball.

La Meme Etoffe

As a stall holder we where looked after fantastically well with complimentary tea & coffee both mornings which was greatly appreciated. The guys from Independent Liverpool personally came round to speak to everyone & to see if we needed anything which was really good of them considering the size of the event.

It was an epic although tiring weekend but I can't wait for next year!

Wex who donates profits to the Whitechapel Centre! Amazing!

For those of you that are not Liverpool based I have good news! This weekend I'll be launching my Etsy shop finally! Sadly it's going to be later than I had previously hoped due to my lack of photography skills it's taking longer than expected but if you head over to my Facebook & Twitter pages there will be a discount code running for all of my likers & followers of 20% off on Saturday & Sunday as a massive thank you from me for all your continuing support!

Mini fruit

Mini sushi

Mini biscuits

Yeah they are mini!

Did you attend the festival? What did you think? 

Online Shop Preview...

Can you believe it?! After chasing my tail for so long I'm finally going to open my Etsy shop so I can branch out further than Liverpool!

I stock a few shops here but it would be nice for my makes to travel further afield.

 Anyway here is a sneak peak of just a few of my items! I have over 100 to list ( & photograph) for home, decorations, accessories etc & some completely new designs that I'm not showing you just yet.

The shop will be launching on Saturday 29th August & as a big thank you to my lovely blog readers I'm offering 20% off till midnight on Monday the 31st with this code I'll be posting on here soon!

I will be posting another blog like this with more preview items next week once I have a chance to photograph more stuff!

I'm very nervous about it all & I hope you'll treat yourself to something if you like what I do!