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