Crafts in the Pen!

Feel sorry for my blog for being neglected for so long!
I was really busy getting ready for my first large show Crafts in the Pen in Skipton last weekend. For updates on my preparations look on Facebook.

 And now is  the report! For those of you who do not know it's a first year of a new event which follows 10 years of successful run of Art in the Pen. For all event details see the link above.
Now personal things! This is how it all begins:

 And a panoramic view of my pen!
This is the left-hand side with my throne in a corner!

 And the right-hand side:

 More details on a smaller scale:

 I think it was a fantastic weekend! It was cold, yes, but it was sunny which is much better them mild but rainy weather. Footfall was good from my unexperienced point of view and my the position of my pen was not as bad as I feared. They put all occupied pens in the centre of a vast venue so that  they could be reached from different directions. Visitors were very friendly and my fish display was a great success! I've sold only one fish but I've sold out all my fish cushions! And everyone was smiling and laughing at them! The draw was irresistible! I've got so many "Amazing!" and "Fantastic!" and " I love it!" which pleased me immensely. And my "wool watercolors" were doing very well too!
Back to practical things:
- it went very well;
- I sold a lot:
     mainly small items, as usual at fairs, but a lot of medium priced items as well;
     I sold scarves (quite surprise for me, I actually gave up on scarves! May be I should start making them     again);
- I handed out a lot of cards, because people were asking for them;
- I've got a couples of commissions;
- I've learned a few lessons!
Of course I couldn't do it without help and support from my husband and friends. He drove me there, helped with setting the stand, was always at hand just in case. My daughter helped me with making many small items which were a great hit and attraction and sold out in the first hours. My dear friend Anna helped with making cushions and planning a display. And two group of friends came from as far as York to see and support me!     

Below a few pictures of  a venue and some stands. There were many very interesting stands (ceramics were fantastic) but I had no time to go around and ask owners' permissions of taking pictures...  

 

Girly Pink

Wanted to make something very pinky and feminine...

Fish, fish, fish...

All my fish've gone to London, these are more pictures of some of them

Felting Fever at Fringe

For those of you who live in London or just visiting - my fish will be shown as part of an exhibition Felting Fever at Fringe in London http://fringe108.london/:

Being away for a week... Keep posting some fish from my flock:

New Fish

Try to keep up with Facebook for those who avoid social networks...
One of a few fish made for an exhibition: the glamorous one!

The first good catch of the year

It's the last Saturday catch! The last year was very poor with mushrooming, but this looks promising...

Turquoise and Copper

Another fish.
You may notice that this is a repeat but I do like turquoise and copper together!

Felted Fish

Mid Summer Treat

Mid summer is a quiet time in my garden. Th late summer beauties - rudbeckias, fuschias, hydrangeas are not in full flower yet, so it's just daisy, crocosmia and viticella clematis, which are in front row. And they are a joy to watch!

And I've made two tea cosies with a new poppy design! I 've shown the first one on Facebook 
and the second one is here:

Enjoy the summer!

Prehistoric Fish

I've tried to create a "toad skin" effect:

Also I've worked on eyes to make them very prominent like chameleon's eyes:

Everything is more or less OK but there is no shine on the skin as I expected. I created this effect using a lot of nepps and silk squares so the shine was intended but it's very dull instead!..

Any ideas why? I'll post a question on the forum...
 
 
 

A fish and a fish

I've made two new fish, the first one is colouful, somewhat a repeat, and the second one is in more restrain colours and I like it more. I think these simple horizontal slits add some movement.

The benefits of the doubts

I'm with Facebook now and like it there!  But I'm not leaving my blog behind! Recently I've made a tea cosy with a new design of sunflowers. Everything was fine apart from the central flower, the largest one. While I remembered what it was I wasn't happy with I've made a repeat, focusing mainly on that flower. I'm happy with it now but the rest of a bouquet was not as good as the first one! Going in circles, am I?  
Here they are pictured together:

Marmalade Rose

This a post about an artist I didn't know about until recently! This discovery was entirely accidental but never mind that!

Her name is Fiona and she exhibits under the name Marmalade Rose. 
Her felted pictures are absolutely amazing and adoring, look at this one:

 Enjoy!

Weedy Inspiration

Quite unlikely source of inspiration:

And that's the result:

It's a case for glasses or phone to wear it around the neck hence the string.

New Fish and other news

I've had a very hectic time!.. Three fairs/exhibitions in 3 weeks! The YFM exhibition went very well and it was easy with all enthusiasm and support from all group members, I wrote about it in previous posts. Then on last Saturday I was on craft fair in local village (which was an utter failure) and this Saturday is a small craft fair in York's StJohn University. It's a bit too much for me but it's just happened this way!
I worked very hard, neglected the shop in York to keep everything going. It's not about sales I just wanted to have a decent display on my stalls and not let down organisers.
I could not deplete my ETSY shop entirely because apart all above I've applied to two large craft events and my ETSY shop was a reference site. I was rejected by one and ACCEPTED by another!
I'm thrilled and scared!
It's a new craft event called Craft in the Pen and it follows very well established art show Art in the Pen which run successfully for 10 years.
Because it's new the majority of applicants were accepted apparently. It's at the end of November (21&22 Nov 2015), very good time for Xmas sales. Anyway it's an entirely new experience for me! I'm heavily relying on my husband's help and will try to find help and advice from as many friends as possible.
I'll keep you posted.

Wish me luck!
I've missed posting this fish it seems, so a bit late:

Felted Fantasy Fish

Large Felted Fish

Angelfish

I wanted to make an angelfish always but had reservations because of the large top fin...

Felted Angelfish

This one is OK though!

Thinking about making another angelfish, a friend to this one...

This is a fish I've made recently. Just a fish.

 

Sold at YFM ehxibition.