I had a rather Crafty Christmas actually, from making badges out of my favourite left over wrapping paper to tie-dying socks (inspired by Kirstie)
My favourite was pottery painting, something me and my sister love to go and do at our favourite ceramics cafe in Farnham.
This time I decided to paint a little owl. I finallly got him back from the kiln today, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Colours and brushstrokes always look so different after being kilned, and I've had a few disasters in the past, but not this time!
(Yes, Meg decided to paint a Ninja Gecko - he also turned out great!)
On Monday I did one of my favourite things and visited the Spring/Summer preview at Top Drawer with the lovely Polly.
It was only a short visit, but enough time to inspire us.
As per usual I fell in love with a lot of products, but I thought I would share a couple of my all time faves:
Mibo are a small company that create products with the cutest animal designs on them. My favourites are their greeting's cards that you can cut, fold and make your own little 3D animal. I recently bought a Fox and an Owl to make at home, I love them!
I also have the fox tea towel that you can cut up and make into a cushion - I'm looking forward to making that one crafternoon.
I have been selling these at work for a couple of years now, and they still remain one of my favourite products. I have one of the deer heads on my living room wall, it's a coated MDF that comes flat packed but slots all togather. What I love about seeing Miho at tradeshows is seeing the whole range of their products all together. There are so many different designs, sizes and some new additions to the collection such as bird houses, branches and even horse heads.
My Stag head on the wall
I'm looking forward to the next trade show already!
Last week I was very lucky to be 1 of 12 from Oliver Bonas to be picked to attend The Greats Retail Awards at the Savoy Hotel. The Greats are the only awards that celebrate gift retailing in the UK, and there were all sorts of businesses there from small independent retailers to department stores.
It was an amazing day with a champagne reception, 3 course meal, goody bags and we won an award! Oliver Bonas took home Best Lifestyle, Homewares and Gift Retailer, yay!
Here's some photos of us collecting our award and celebrating...
In a couple of weeks I am holding my first Beginners Bookbinding Workshop at Craft Central!
I would say go on over to the Craft Central Bookings site if you would like to sign up, it it seems to be fully booked! How exciting.
If you're reading this and you're one of the CC members/non-members that signed up, see you soon!
This morning my daily job hunt wasn't giving me much hope, but luckily I came across an ad for Top Drawer, and realised it was the last day. In a fit of spontaneity I got straight on the train and headed to Earls Court.
This year Top Drawer features over 700 british and international suppliers and designer makers. Being the first retail trade event of the year, it gives an insight into trends for the seasons ahead, as well as the newest product launches and cutting edge designs.
I knew shows like this existed, but for some reason I had never gone. I'm so glad I finally did, as it was absolutely amazing. I was overwhelmed by the amount of stands, but I proceeded to the beginning - the stationary and greetings cards. I had my notebook handy to make notes for general inspiration, but after noting a few designers down, I realised I was pretty much noting down everyone. Yes, I was that inspired!
The children's and wellbeing sections were a lot smaller, I didn't bother spending as much time looking at the soft toys and candles, as lovely as they were. The gift section was my favourite. I had seen a lot of it before, as I'm known for going into every single gift shop I come across, but the fact that it was all under one huge roof, was incredible. By the time I got to Fashion, my brain was about to explode...
Luckily, as most things were wholesale (or at least this is what I told myself) I couldn't spend any money, as you had to buy in bulk. Although this was a shame, considering how cheap things were, you realise how much of a mark up the shops put on things.
Today was definitely an eye opener for me, I want to be more involved in these shows in the future. Whether it be on my own stand, or a buyer going around choosing products for their shop - that must be an extremely hard job, considering the amount of choice!
Watch this video to get a better idea of what I'm yapping on about...
2 buildings +100 designers = the ultimate shopping treat!
Today and tomorrow I am working at Craft Central to help at their winter open studios. Designer makers in both of the Clerkenwell buildings are opening their studio doors to the public.
A great change to pick up some lovely hand-crafted crimbo presents, as well as a lot of inspiration!
Click on the flyer for more info.
I'll blog as the event goes on, hopefully with some pics!
