Saltaire Arts Trail, Ten Day Countdown...SIX

Saltaire Arts Trail, Ten Day Countdown...SIX, originally uploaded by Wychbury.

I did prepare this post last night but didn't get round to publishing it so there will be another later on for day five in the countdown.

Day six has been all about point of sale and display and the main thing that I did was to make this rather self-explanatory ring display from an old cutlery tray. I will still have some boxed rings out to show the packaging but I'm hoping that this will make the pincushion rings more accessible on the table and encourage sales.

Oh, and I also got some moo cards done! There will be more packaging stuff going on towards the end of the week when I really start panicking!

Paula. x

Saltaire Arts Trail Ten Day Countdown, SEVEN.....

Saltaire Arts Trail Ten Day Countdown, SEVEN....., originally uploaded by Wychbury.

ONE WEEK to go, which means it's Saturday. This also means that I am doing lots of other things like trying version #17 of the keeping-cats-off-the-veg-patch design quest as well as shopping, cooking, eating and other stuff with the family. Since I am multi-tasking I am on the little table in the living room and it looks like this!

I know it doesn't look much like it makes sense (apart from the wine) but it really does! The candle is for singeing the edges of cut petals to stop them fraying, the brooch backs just arrived in the post today and I pinched the packing material for a parcel and haven't yet put them away, the business cards came back from a closing stockist and everything else? Well it's work in progress and is very technical! I admit I lit the candle for the photo as I am currently drinking wine, watching a movie and cuddling my kids on the sofa whilst being very full of food, but hey - it's Saturday and there is still a whole week to go! lalalaaaa ♪♫

Paula x  

Saltaire Arts Trail Ten Day Countdown, EIGHT.....

So this biblical rain we are having has kept me stuck in the house for three days feeling more and more cooped up with each passing second. I got to the point that the sight of another pansy or viola is likely to push me over the edge of reason!

I don't drive so when Iain got home from work today, the fact that I was clamouring to get out must have been fairly obvious as I got whisked straight off to the garden centre. Normally I would relish the chance as I LOVE the garden centre as much as the next 40-something but today I wasn't sure, I've been looking at flowers for three days after all. But my pansies obviously look nothing like the real thing so I might become inspired, who knows AND we need something to keep the cat of the raised veg beds anyway - OK, I'll go.

In the queue to pay, at the till, I see this big trolley full of very leggy pansies and remarked that some of them looked a bit like the ones I've been making today. I don't know if the cashier sensed that my sulky mood needed lifting but she said 'Oh those are free, take a tray if you like'.

Anyway LOOK, pansies really do come in these colours - who knew!? It was a worthwhile visit in the end and I'm wondering if a vintage-ified picture of these in a Victoriana frame might just set off my display a treat for the Makers' Fair.

Paula x

Saltaire Arts Trail Ten Day Countdown, NINE....

Saltaire Arts Trail Ten Day Countdown, NINE...., originally uploaded by Wychbury.

Today I am embroidering and beading the little violas I cut and assembled yesterday. There are a lot of them and I have some poppies to get on with later so am sewing quite hard! I am getting through a good few needles and the callous on my middle finger is getting quite tough too! I'm feeling productive though.

As far as the organisation is going, I have a sense today that everything is pretty much nailed down. The Makers' Fair inbox has gone reassuringly quiet and everyone is hard at work preparing their stock, display and retail stuff for the event.
Paula x

Letterpress Cabinet

Letterpress Cabinet #beads #wychbury, originally uploaded by Wychbury.

Lovely find on holiday in Cornwall - spending way too much time filling it and colour co-ordinating instead of making jewellery for the Saltaire Arts Trail! L. xxx

Saltaire Arts Trail Ten Day Countdown, TEN.....

Saltaire Arts Trail Ten Day Countdown, TEN....., originally uploaded by Wychbury.

I am once again coordinating the Makers' Fair Strand of the Saltaire Arts Trail for May 2012 as well as exhibiting with Wychbury. This will be our ten day countdown diary sharing our preparations for the event. I will try and write at least one semi-substantial post a day with additional mini blogs thrown in when something relevant is occuring!

This is the state of affairs with ten days to go.

We have been getting involved with lots of new projects and outlets during the last twelve months and this has resulted in the streamlining of lots of my working methods. I have pared down my side of the range to the key items that I find the most joyful and productive to make. I have mainly focussed on my floral pieces and wearable pincushions and this is making preparing for the Makers' Fair so much less of a frenzy. I am already in a steady routine of making as well as being about as at home at this event as it's possible to be!

So today I am making some little violas for hair accessories in some really delicate spring shades.

Paula x

Love Letters Pincushion Ring

Love Letters Pincushion Ring, originally uploaded by Wychbury.

I've been reading some of the feedback from some of our customers after purchasing our pincushion rings. Several lovely people have said how suprised they were to receive the selection of pins with their pincushion. All our pincushion rings and brooches come with pins that I hope compliment each design and make it more of a gift. Some of them are floristry pins or just shop bought head pins but I do like to include at least a couple that I have made myself just to blur the line between a wearable piece and a utilarian object.

This reworked version of the Love Letters Pincushion Ring is something I've had in mind for ages and is a real indulgence! I've overstamped the original handwriting print with more black ink and included a love token flower, a quill and a W 'wax seal' amongst the pins. The seal is made from some of the trimmed down bottle caps from a well know soft drinks company, melted with a little W stamp pressed into it.

S.W.A.L.K.
Paula x