Snapdragon's garden

Lovely people, lovely things

One of the wonderful things about attending fairs - both trade and retail - is the really interesting people you meet who are also manning stands.  Of course there are some closeted, uncommunicative stand holders but on the whole people tend to be very chatty and helpful.

I think that this is particularly important if the fair is busy as you are pretty much stuck to your stand.  Having people who will get coffee or mind the stall while you run to the loos makes the event so much cheerier.

This year at Country Living I was lucky to be surrounded by a really great bunch of people.  Chief amongst whom was Ondine Smith who was opposite me and who it was a great thrill to meet as I am rather a fan.

Back in the mid 1990s, when I was living in Glasgow and writing a PhD on a designer of Edinburgh tea rooms, a friend bought me one of her cushions with its motif of off kilter teacups and tea pot.  It was the first freehand machine embroidery I had seen and I was bowled over.  I am sad to say that the cushion got lost in a house move but, as I always try to buy myself a treat each fair, I bought an embroidered picture from Ondine on a similar theme.

I love the contrast of the tweed and the lace.  It is a beautiful piece. And as there is no chance of us moving ever again it will not get lost

Over the past five years or so, many textile artists have incorporated Ondine-style motifs into their work - I wonder how many people know the originals.  If you get a chance to see her work, do.

Scottish Trade Fair

Thanks for all your kind supportive e-mails.  I am just about to set out for the 2nd day of the Scottish trade Fair in Stirling.  Yesterday was very good and I am now much happier that I have a good range of stockists in Scotland.

Slightly disconcerting though to be talking with stockists about next summer's stock when I can hardly bring myself to mention Christmas!

Old fashioned pursuits;

This weekend I was over at my parents house in East Lothian as it was the Gala day - Gullane Games; the first Saturday in August; the culmination of a week of sandcastle making and treasure hunts.  My girls had been there all week.

Old fashioned fun enjoyed by all.

Playing hooky

Yesterday, ith the girls away at my parents this week, and the sun shining brightly, Euan and I decided to play hooky.  We packed up the tent and headed up to Glencoe.

At the moment our long awaited extension is being built - and the house has descended into even more squalor than normal.  It was just heavenly to head off somewhere completely different.
An evening of woodland and moorland walks, fantastic beer, pub grub and live music.
It put everything else into perspective - as you can see from this photo.

When I'm at home, there is a tendency to work, work, work - to stress about getting a balance right between work and family; to stress about the need for my business to bring in a decent wage and take the pressure offEuan a bit.
Getting away - even if it for 18 hours in a Aldi's tent - is just wonderful.
Someone else loved it too.
I hope your weekend was good too.
J x

How does he do it?

Last night we went to the Springsteen concert at Hampden - started with Flower of Scotland on an accordian; ended with 50,000 people giving it laldy to "Twist and Shout" and the 3 hours (yes non-stop 3 hours, no support, no break) were filled with constant high level, pretty darn fantastic bopping.   I say this as someone who came to Springsteen pretty late via the Seeger Sessions on t.v.
There were requests, sing alongs, some amazing electric fiddle playing . . .
I am exhausted and I was only bobbing up and down on my chair - how does the man do it?

Jupiter Artland

Today we went to visit Jupiter Artland in Edinburgh - a new contemporary sculpture park set in a 80 acre area of woodland and park around Bonnington House which opened in May.
It was a wonderful place to visit - there are the big names represented - Ian Hamilton Finlay, Charles Jenks, Andy Goldsworthy - dong what they do, but it was actually a couple of artists that I hadn't heard of before that I was most impressed with.
Laura Ford's Weeping Girls is a series of 5 life size tamtrumming girls - all wild hair and dramatic posture
Modelled in wax and cast in metal.  They are set in a still dark part of the wood and are amazingly atmospheric - perhaps particularly to people who have girls!
The other piece that I really liked was Shane Waltner's Over Here - a knitted net strung between two beech trees overlooking a meadow
Like a shimmering spider's web.

Another thing going for the venue was it's cafe
a lot shinier than ours - with a little pink booth
and great cakes.

This is what happens

When you go away for a few days

 

A tunnel full of rococo parrot tulips.  last year all the tulips were very late in blooming so this year I thought that we would try some in the tunnel to spread the season.  Hmmm - great in theory but without automatic shading and cooling they all flowered at top speed while I was down in Yorkshire.  Gorgeous; stunning; but a bit of a waste of money.

The Trade Fair in Harrogate was a great success - I managed to double my number of stockists - Snapdragon is now available in 65 stockists in the Uk and a few else where in Europe.  As it is only 10 weeks since I properly decided to sell wholesale I am absolutely thrilled with the response.

 

One of the best things though about the trade show was meeting other makers.  I stayed with Ruth, Barbara and John of Sumptousity and was bowled over by their hospitality; I also got to spend time with Sarah of Mogwaii fame and, through her, with Margo Selby (I bought one of her scarves from Top Drawer in January and have worn it almost every day since - go check out her beautiful things) and a whole load of Irish potters  (I highlight Adam here as I bought a beautiful plate from him as my treat purchase on the last day & he has a blog) and felt really part of a great group of makers.  Sarah will laugh if she reads this as I actually spent quite a bit of time worrying that I hadn't been to art school and that I would be unveiled as a fraud . . .

Anyhow - it is now a beautiful sunny evening and a glass of wine on the deck is beckoning.  I just wanted to post a blog in celebration ofactually having a working computer and an internet connection in my workshop (thanks Graham)

Barbie pink

This was the view when I went to let the chickens out this morning
Barbie pink hills in the sunrise.
The pink sky wasn't a shepherd's warning though, and the day continued bright and sparkling. So much so that I put aside some egg cosies I am making and Jasmine and I went for a walk round the next door field.
It was wonderful being able to track hare and deer through the snow.
We found three lots of deer tracks that converged here in a little clearing midst the birch saplings

to three little beds carefully cleared of snow.
Amazing

Collaborate or compete - a choice

One of the joys of my trip down to London was the chance to meet a whole load of designer-makers.
As I was on my own, my opportunity to see other stalls was really restricted to those on the "loo run" but I was very fortunate both in the people on the stands around me and in the people who popped by to have a chat.
Next door to me, and also on her own, was Allison Wiffen who makes the most beautiful ceramic jewelery featuring black and white photographs of iconic bridges, buildings and statues.

Allison is quite as smiley as this photo shows and very generous in minding my stand when I went searching for caffeine, lending me her trolley, and all the other stuff that makes or breaks a fair.
She is also very funny and has persuaded me to do the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate in April.
Another interesting thing about Top Drawer was see in how crafter/designer/maker/manufacturers fall into one of two camps - collaborative or competitive.
There were 5 stands in all (including me) using machine embroidery in one way or other - all quite distinctive, though obviously working in the same medium.  Three of these embroiderers came to see me and chat - and were really encouraging and friendly, even going as far as to give me contact details for buyers etc.  The other was very frosty - not just to me but to all - and clearly didn't want any contact.
One woman I really liked was Shelley Klein of Pootle Designs.

She makes machine embroidered pictures which are then printed as cards.  Now based in Port Isaac in North Cornwall, she used to live in Scotland.  Shelley has been in the business for quite a while, she is very knowledgeable - and what is great is that she is prepared to help others.  Another (one could say rival?) card maker had had problems with a printer and Shelley spent time advising her on how to sort it out and whom to contact.

Certainly someone I would want to keep in touch with.

It was the same with people in all other media - some were collaborating, swapping tips and horror stories, putting their energy into expanding the market as a whole; others were holed up in their stands glowering and competing and looking a bit like Golum.

I know which set were having the better Fair.

Wee green market, Killearn

This week I have been working too hard to blog.  There is no spreading out the making of Christmas door wreaths - if only some people wanted them in February.
There is also no getting away from the fact that they are time consuming - lovely work, but not work that can be rushed.
Tomorrow is the Wee green Christmas Market in Killearn- if you are in the area do pop in for a glass of mulled wine and a look at some lovely stalls.

Its an interesting Fair - for although it looks like an ordinary village hall Fair -there are actually some pretty serious crafters there.

I will be there -mainly with potted narcissi - pretty much everything else is sold out.