Something fishy going on around here..........

I wanted a change from making things with a 'seasonal flavour' and decided to go for something 'fishy' instead.

My friend Tarni saw some felted fish I made for City & Guilds years ago, and asked if I would make her some. I made hers in goldfish colours, red, yellow and orange - and while I was about it, I decided to try some more in different colours.


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They are wet felted first, then finished off with a hand felting needle. I have it in mind (once I have perfected my wet felting technique - these are quite rough) making some that are embroidered and embellished in my usual fashion!

Tarni called them 'singing fish' and says she is planning to put them on her Christmas Tree with little presents in their mouths. I'd have to go along with a family member who said they are more like 'Franken Fish!' Maybe, when I've made a heavily embroidered and embellished sample, I'll be able to call it a 'Faberge Fish'.

Losing the Thread

I went to this exhibition here yesterday. if you are in the area it really is well worth a visit. So nice to see pieces I've admired on the internet in 'real life' and to look at an item and think 'Oh! I wonder how she did that?'. Nice to meet Maggie too. I was allowed to take photographs, so I will post a review as soon as I get a few minutes to concentrate on it. I'm not the world's best photographer, but they are just about good enough to give a flavour of the art on display. Here's a quick taster:

Getting ready for the Christmas rush!!!!

Yeah, that'll be the day!

I am getting ready for the next Creative Co-op outing on 6th December though, it's our own Christmas Fair.

Here's the lastest in my 'fleecy ornament' range.


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Very simple, but I still don't do myself any favours because I couldn't resist the trellis stitch edging. I know that the more hand work I add, the higher the price has to be, but frankly I just don't like any of them without it.

Here's what I plan to do with some of those fleecy hearts on my sales table:



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Two separate photos, but you get the idea. That's a dollar or pound shop Christmas tree I got last week. Tacky and puny, but at less than 2 feet tall, just the right size for my table. I bought 2, 1 for the 'traditional' ornaments and 1 for the lurid pink and green ones. I'm told it helps if you 'show the customers what to do with them' rather than just putting them out on the table. See, I'm still trying. Sadly, I seem to have exhausted my Etsy customer base for the moment!

Getting Festive

Yes, I know it's only the beginning of November, but you have to start early if you want to have a good supply of handmade goods for the Christmas season. The Creative Co-op will be out and about again on December 6th, so I've started by making a pile of brightly coloured fleecy tree ornaments. Here they are, waiting to have hanging loops attached:


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I have observed that people hereabouts want to shell out only pennies at craft fairs and the like. I have also been advised by more experienced marketeers that if people like your work but cannot afford it, it is nice to have smaller, less expensive pieces, or pictures on cards or postcards, for them to buy. With this in mind, I plan to make tree decorations in varying degrees of complexity, priced to match.
You can't say I don't try!!!!!