As well as being a great opportunity to meet buyers and other designer/makers, it also meant I had to prepare any new products ready for the show. Since arriving back I have listed my new mug & coaster sets and handmade cushion covers in my online shop. I am very pleased with these and got great feedback for them at the show. There are 9 mug sets in total and 3 new cushion cover designs.

In other news, I am really getting into Module 3 of the Art & Business of Surface Pattern design. Rachael and Beth have put together such a fabulous course and I am learning something new each day! It’s also fantastic to be part of an online group who share the same passion for design. I would thoroughly recommend the course if you are thinking about a career in surface pattern design.

I’m off now to get ready to go out for the evening with friends (it’s so nice having your tea cooked for you!)

Have a great weekend everybody!

I have been somewhat quiet over here on the blog – I have been spending most days (and some evening) getting ready for the BCTF. This weekend saw my other half and parents travel to Harrogate to help me set up and take part in my very first trade show.

I had such a fantastic time, met lots of brilliant artists/designers and made lots of new contacts. I even came away with orders (I was reminded throughout the 3 days that orders are normally placed after the event once buyers have had a chance to collate all the info they picked up etc) So I am very happy indeed

So now I am back home I will be busy unpacking, storing and catching up on admin jobs. I will also be making/shipping orders and updating my Etsy shop.

Here’s what my stand looked like when we arrived:

The stand in the early stages of setting up:

and here’s what it looked like when it was finished:

(Sorry about the grainy images – the lighting for my iphone wasn’t great)

The setting up and final look of the stand was made so much easier with my helpers (especially the hard-to-reach areas little 5 foot 2 inch me couldn’t get to!) and I was very pleased with the final look of the stand. You don’t realise how small a 2 m x 1 m stand actually is until you’re there! It was also tiring standing for the whole day and being ‘on the ball’ all the time but it was definitely a fantastic and worthwhile experience.

When we eventually  arrived home late Tuesday evening, we had a very happy cat waiting for us

So I’d like to thank everybody who popped by and said hello at stand N41 and also a big thank you to the other exhibitors I met and who made the 3 day show very enjoyable indeed! 

Here he is, looking a lot more lifelike now. I am enjoying trying to capture all the different colours that are present in his many different shapes of feather!

I am working towards having my designs ready for the British Craft Trade Fair but if you would like to enquire about purchasing one of these bags when they will become available (or the Poppy bag I posted about a few weeks ago) please get in touch!

As I mentioned in my last post I am taking part in The Art and Business of Surface Pattern and Design e-course by Rachael Taylor and Beth Nicholls. I have been steadily working away through each exercise and finally got around to creating my first technical repeat pattern (above). I enjoyed exploring the possible options for this first design and managed to finish it in time to submit it to a wallpaper design competition that we were told about as part of the course. Below is a concept board I put together using this pattern:

I am hoping to have time soon to really develop the ideas I have flying around my head – at the moment I seem to be experiencing idea and information overload!

I have also been designing a new range of bags, one of which I have just completed and can be seen below:

This poppy bag is made from a lovely faux felt and lined with a thick cotton with one of my poppy patterns. I was inspired by the colour of the material and wanted to try something different. The applique poppies are made from a charcoal grey faux felt and the bag closes with a cute little ladybird button.

I have another design of bag ready to be made so I’ll sign off and get making! Happy Tuesday

This week I’ve been busy painting both my pheasant and a new image for some new ideas I’ve had:

and over the weekend we’ve had 4 inches of snow and to make the most of this went for a long walk around the village and neighbouring fields:

What have you been up to this week?

I have been so busy this week! I am also off to York tomorrow for a long weekend for my OH’s birthday but before I go I just wanted to say that the Hello Soul. Hello Business e-course by Kelly Rae and Beth is knocking my socks off – It is absolutely brilliant and it’s only just started. I can’t wait for the next 9 weeks and to see what it will bring to my business.

Have a lovely weekend and I’ll be back next week

 ….it always makes me smile