Apologies for not blogging...

Well it's been a really hectic few weeks here at Trouble HQ so I'm afraid the blog has suffered a little because of it. I'd love to say, 'But HEY! I'm back!' but if I'm totally honest, I think you may have to put up with me being a little sporadic over the next few weeks. New Year's Resolution: To blog more regularly!

The main reason I've been so absent is craft fairs, craft fairs and even more craft fairs. I can't even begin to start talking about them, but needless to say it's been crazy busy making sure I've got enough stock for all of them. If you're London based and fancy coming along to some of the fabulous fairs that I'll be at along with some other great artists and crafters, then look to the sidebar on the right and you'll find a list of upcoming events. (That's a new bit on the blog!)

My stall set up at the Balham Craft Fair (25th November) 

I have to say, while I find craft fairs absolutely exhausting, I do really enjoy doing them. There are always some fabulous other crafty folk around (and my Christmas gifts are almost sorted due to some incredibly talented people) and even when they aren't the most successful, I still enjoy getting to spend time with some really great people.

Then there has been the launching of Inspired: London a guide to London designers and crafters - in which I am featured! I'm so excited about it. If you click on the picture, you'll be redirected to the online order form where you can pick up your own copy for just £12.99 - good either for giving as a Christmas present or for using to find some Christmas presents!

The launch of Inspired: London was a really nice opportunity to meet some other great artists and designers from London. It was really fantastic getting to put faces to names as a number of people featured are shops I know from Etsy and being able to finally say face to face how much I like people's work. 

In addition to these, there have been new designs, new lines, more things added onto Etsy and all sorts of other craziness as well. I'll write a separate blog post about some of those as I've got lots of pictures to show you... watch this space! 

Weekend Excitement

Continuing in the busy bee craft extravaganza I've a jam-packed weekend this weekend. Not one but two craft fairs this weekend at different places. I'm quite excited about both of them as I haven't done either of them before and I think both could be quite good.

On Saturday I'll be at the opening fair for the Vintage Craft Carnival. It's organised by some lovely crafters who I've met at A Glamourous Affair and it's going to be lots of fun with face painting and goodie bags for the first 50 people coming through the doors. All the stall holders have donated something towards the goodie bags and in addition there are the 'bank of frippery' vouchers that can be redeemed at any stall. They come in different values from 50p to £5 so it's a lucky dip as to what you get so definitely worth while getting there early!

Where: The Priory Tavern, 250 Belsize Road
When: Saturday 22nd September, 12-6

Then on Sunday I'll be at the Pop-Up Market which I'm also quite excited about. I can't remember where I heard about it before but I seem to come across the Pop-Up Market all the time. It's a fortnightly event so if it goes well I might try and return a few times... fingers crossed! There's music starting up in the evening as well as various events in addition to the craft and vintage fair. If you're free either day then come along and say hello!

Where: The Abbey Tavern,  124 Kentish Town Road
When: Sunday 23rd September, 2pm - 7pm

So it's busy busy busy this weekend! And that's on top of a full working week this week. Luckily I'm off to the Isle of Man next Thursday for a few days so I'll get the chance to breathe then! Anyway, if you are free this weekend, please come along and say hello!

A craft-astic weekend

Well I've been very lapse in the blog posts recently but that is definitely because Trouble HQ has been super busy the past few weeks. As you may have noticed I've been posting up about different fairs that I've been at so thought I should give you a bit of a run down on last weekend's fairs.

I was at Tootopia Festival down in Tooting this weekend. It was a two day event although there were slightly different vendors on the different days. It was lovely to see Emma from Emma Barrett Designs there - she is a lovely crafter who I enjoy chatting with and it's always great to see her. Emma works wonders with beads and also makes the most beautiful bunting possible.

Click on the picture to go to Emma's website

I also saw the lovely Mic from Dagaz Designs who was selling her vintage jewellery and designs. We've bumped into each other a few times and there was a lot of laughter for the time that we were sat opposite each other... mostly due to my clumsiness I think but I'd like to think it was more to do with bubbly personalities...

Click on the picture to go to Dagaz Design's Etsy store 

And I met Nikki of Nikki Stark Jewellery who was absolutely lovely and makes some gorgeous silver and gold items. I was really impressed with her work and also the fact that she's just been featured in Vogue! Wow!!!

It was an interesting (and tiring!) weekend. The weather was beautiful which kept lots of potential customers outside in the sun instead of in the Tooting Tram and Social with us, but even so it was quite a productive weekend, and it's always great meeting new people, chatting with people about your work and seeing what people are interested in. I got a lot of enquiries about my quilts although I didn't actually have any orders. I'm going to be listing some of them this week though so keep your eyes peeled for them!

I sold a number of pendants including the lovely Daisy Daisy pendant to a lady who actually put it on there and then and wore it around the garden for the rest of the afternoon.

And another lovely customer pointed out that some of my cufflinks match some of my pendants and bought a pendant and pair of cufflinks as a wedding gift for her friends - subtle enough for both to wear at the same time but matching so that they are a complete gift set. I hadn't actually thought of doing that before so quite excited about the prospect of doing some more matching designs.

Lots of little penguins are flying off to new homes (have fun little guys!) and some cards and cufflinks have gone as well so all in all I would say I've had a fairly successful weekend. Hooray! I'm back at A Glamourous Affair this weekend in Islington if anyone fancies coming along to say hello...!

Toot-Toot- TOOTOPIA!

This weekend is going to be super-duper busy for Creating Trouble. Not one event but two are going on and this is in the week that I've just started work again! Anyway, I am really excited about this weekend because

a) It's a whole festival of fun on Saturday and Sunday!
b) Fi, who organises it, is absolutely lovely
c) I know some of the crafty folk who will be there and they're great
d) It's a whole new area of London that I haven't explored fully yet...

If you haven't heard of Tootopia then you need to go and look at the website to find out more! It's the Tooting Festival and is going to be taking place over a number of different venues with all sorts of activities going on over the weekend, live music in the evenings etc etc. I'll be at the Tram and Social on both Saturday and Sunday and would love to see a few friendly faces!

When? Saturday 8th September and Sunday 9th September 12 - 6pm

Where? A few different venues but Creating Trouble will be at: Tooting Tram and Social, 46-48 Mitcham Road, SW17 9NA

The Dandy Lion Market

I survived A Glamourous Affair! Actually I more than survived, I had a lovely day and am really looking forward to being back there on the 16th September. So... those of you in the Islington area, make sure you come and visit then!

Anyway, the point of today's post is to tell you about THIS SATURDAY. This Saturday happens to be a very auspicious day. For no other reason than it's my birthday and therefore is going to be a good day. I wasn't too sure about whether to have a craft fair on my birthday or not, but I decided that actually I love what I do and if I'm serious about getting Creating Trouble to take off I can always have a party in the evening. Which is exactly what I'm going to do... 

This Saturday Creating Trouble will be at The Dandy Lion Market so, if you are in Kentish Town, please please come and have a look. I'll be downstairs with The Pirates and there are plenty of stalls upstairs as well. It's looking to be quite a fun day (and it is featured in Time Out which is exciting!) 

What?  The Dandy Lion Market

When? Saturday 1st September 12 - 5pm

Where? The Oxford, 256 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AA

Click on the picture to go to the Dandy Lion's Facebook page for more details

    

A Lovely Glamourous Affair

I'm so glad that the first of a whole 'season' of craft fairs went well. On Saturday I was at 'A Glamourous Affair' in Islington where I was lucky enough to have a really good pitch near the door downstairs and surrounded by lovely people.

First of all I had Kate of Kate's Fascinators on my left. Kate makes absolutely stunning fascinators and top hats with really intricate beading and feathers. I fell in love with a gorgeous green one that I really loved. Sadly I don't have any events planned and, while I am obviously trying to convince all my friends to get married, take me to the races, have babies etc etc so that I have an excuse for a fascinator, no one is being very obliging so I shall have to wait a little while I guess. Anyway, you can see her facebook page by clicking on the picture and go over and like it. I'm hoping to see Kate again at A Glamourous Affair next month but also at a few other fairs over the next few weeks...

On my other side I had the lovely Alice of Stitch Your Soul. Alice makes quilts, comforters and other textiles but what she was mostly selling on Saturday were lovely homemade soy candles. She finds vintage tea cups, glasses and bowls to pour her candles into and, because they are made of soy they don't ruin the ceramics or glass. Which means that once your candle has burnt down, you can use your tea set or glass again and you have a lovely piece of china or glassware! What a fabulous idea! Alice sells on Etsy as well as having a facebook page so both links are here: Etsy and Facebook

There were of course lots of other lovely crafty folk around - it was really nice to see Emma of Knickerbocker Glories again and meet all the other amazing stall holders.

In true Bank Holiday style it poured with rain which obviously affected the number of people coming through the door - although there were definitely some visitors who were just trying to avoid the downpour! But the atmosphere inside The Library Bar was great, some of my friends came to visit and say hello and Creating Trouble did quite well. There are some coasters, penguins and pendants all off to find new homes - mostly to be given as gifts I think. One of the pendants I sold was the blue cityscape pendant. It's always been one of my favourite designs and I hope it's new owner loves it.

I also sold a round blue pebble mosaic pendant but... I only made it this week and didn't have a chance to take a photo of it before I sold it! It was a really striking design though so I will definitely be trying to make another one of them this week. Hopefully this time I will remember to take some photos!

All in all, I had a lovely day and it has set me off for the next few weeks in a good way. I'm really looking forward to the next few craft fairs, meeting some of the lovely folk and hopefully selling some more pieces.

Mosaics for Men?

At both of the craft fairs I've been to recently people have asked whether I make any other kinds of jewellery with mosaics as well as pendants. The one that people keep coming back to is cufflinks - can I make some mosaic cufflinks as it's really hard getting presents for men?

I've been a bit dubious about making things like cufflinks or earrings as it involves making the exact same design twice. This doesn't sound that hard but sadly glass has it's own mind and will do what it wants, not necessarily what I want it to do! Even when I make a design more than once, it is always slightly different so I worried that it wouldn't look right. However, I finally came to the conclusion that people don't walk around with their wrists together comparing whether they are exactly the same and it's a hand-made, unique gift so... why not? 

It took a fair amount of sourcing to find suitable bezels for the cufflinks, but I think I have finally found some. I only got five pairs to start with as I wasn't sure how they would turn out and I obviously haven't made all of them yet - it takes a fair amount of time to make a design, cut the glass, make sure it's the right size, cut another piece because the first piece wasn't the right size, go and find a plaster as you've cut yourself again... sand down the pieces so they are smooth, attach them, wait 24 hours for them to dry, grout them, polish etc etc... and even longer to make two of the same! What do you think of those that I have made?

I can't quite get the colours right on the photo - these are a deep red with gold

Art-Deco Black and White

My personal favourites - shades of green with gold

I'm really happy how they have turned out. I'll be taking these ones with me to my craft fair this weekend where they'll be available for £20 a pair. If you'd like a pair yourself, just send me a message through the contact form saying which pair you would like. I also do custom orders so if you would like different colours / a different design, please just let me know and I'll see what we can come up with! 

Wonder Hill Market

Roll up, roll up for this Sunday's Wonder Hill Market. It is normally held on the last Saturday of the month near Borough Market at London Bridge but... they are also holding fairs over the next few months at Keston Lodge in Islington. And guess what? I'm going to be at Keston Lodge this Sunday (10th June) from 12 - 5pm for the Wonder Hill Market. It's all about supporting local artists, ethical shopping, vintage and upcycling and I'm really happy to be a part of it. So, if you're free this Sunday please, please come along and say hello to me and the other artisans.

Click on the picture to go to the Wonder Hill's website to find out more

Details are:

Sunday 10th June

12 - 5pm

Keston Lodge

131 Upper Street

Islington

N1 1QP

Looking forward to seeing you there... 

A Glamourous (Craft) Fair

Sorry I've been more than usually silent this week. I genuinely haven't been looking at my laptop, let alone responding to e-mails etc. Why? Because I've been manically busy! Today (Saturday 28th) is a milestone - in about 2 hours I will be in Islington's Library Bar setting up for A Glamourous Affair - my second ever craft fair. I'm a lot more calm and collected about this one - probably because it's in my own area and I don't have to trek across London to get there, but also because I still have lots of necklaces etc from the previous craft fair. In fact, I haven't actually made anything new for this one. Instead I have been working on making my stall look better. It didn't help that I got confirmation 2 days ago that I would be having a round table. A ROUND table? But my stall is set up for a rectangular one! Oh well, I'm just going to have to adapt.... What I have now got is bunting with Creating Trouble written on it, a mirror and some jewellery boxes. I had run out just before the last fair and hadn't realised until it was too late to order.

So why have I been so busy? Well, first of all, I am back at work with all the stresses that involves (getting up early etc!), secondly my social life seems to have gone into overdrive the last few weeks (in a good way: I've been very cultural and artistic!) and thirdly I have 2 commissions on the go, of which one of them is for 10 homemade bags. So I have been spending most of my time trying to get those done! I still have another week...

Anyway, off to do some last minute bits and get my gear ready. If you are around in Islington, please come along to the Library Bar from 12 - 5 and see what there is in store!

First Craft Fair Fun

My first craft fair was on Sunday... and I survived it! There seemed to be a whole load of things conspiring against me before though. For a start I suddenly came down sick on Thursday - I kept blacking out and the whole world seemed to be spinning for the entirety of Thursday and Friday and all I could really do was sit around with my head very still not doing anything. Turns out I had a case of labyrinthitis, which I love the name of even if I disliked the actual symptoms! Anyway, luckily by Saturday I was feeling a little better, although not back to normal. I could at least get some last things done though so I spent a fair amount of Saturday finishing up last little bits. Obviously I ended up staying up to get everything finished, and worse I kept waking up suddenly remembering 'business cards!' or 'tablecloth!' and then having to get up to check I had remembered them etc. Aaaaannnnddd... the clocks went forward on Saturday which meant I lost an hour's sleep anyway!! Oh, and just to add a little more drama... the fair was in Balham which is quite a trek away from where I live although it is still in London.

What my stall looked like... for next time I want to have some letters on my bunting.

Anyway, I arrived, set up and more importantly I met all the other crafters and artists who were there - first of all, Emma Barrett who organised the whole event - she was absolutely fantastic and had put in so much work into the planning and organisation. It was a really relaxed atmosphere, we all sold very different things so weren't in competition with each other and the venue was great for the event. Next to me were the lovely Daisy of MakeThriftLondon and Emma of KnickerbockerGlories. I spent a fair amount of my day chatting to them and getting tips from them about craft fairs in general.

One of my favourite pendants which was sold.

The Balham Bowls Club is a fairly large pub and we were upstairs in a big room that is used for all sorts of events. There were lots of people coming through the fair as people who had come for lunch or a Sunday drink. There was plenty of browsing and chatting to people, I gave out lots of business cards, had lots of really lovely comments from people and questions about how I make my mosaics and found the whole experience really interesting and fun. And you know what? Yes, I made a couple of sales too! I didn't really know what to expect, but was hoping to at least make back the cost of the stall. That meant I needed to sell at least 2 pendants... which I did! I also sold a number of drinks coasters and lots of penguins so I actually came home feeling quite happy with how the day had gone - it wasn't much but it was definitely a start and I'm not as worried about doing a second or third one now Hoping to sign up to a few more over the next couple of months!

Penguin keyrings were displayed in a converted photo frame

It was a really enjoyable experience and I'm really glad I finally plucked up the courage to get stuck in and do a fair - I'm already looking into doing some other fairs over the next few months and signing up for them. Looks like this year I am definitely taking Creating Trouble forward!

There's only 1 Cath Kidston mug pendant left - I sold one last week and another at the fair.

Getting ready for a Craft Fair

I'm sorry, there wasn't a Silent Sunday post today... instead I have been designing my table for the Balham Craft Fair. I started with a walk in Victoria Park this morning where I got a few odd looks as I kicked around under the trees looking for twigs. Coming home with an armful of dead wood that was clearly not good enough for firewood warranted a few more bemused glances. However, it paid off as, after painting them white, I have put them into my two red vases and hung some pendants on them... quite effective I think!

After that I decided to convert the photo frames I bought from IKEA recently into display frames.  Using some foam and a handy picture I saw recently (I pinned it on pinterest here) I got to work covering some foam with material and then attaching on to a piece of backing foam.

And this is what I ended up with... 

Then of course I made a realisation. My vases are red and I had used navy blue as my shelf foam pieces. Duh! So I had another dig around my material stash and found some red. Obviously I then had to do my two display frames again. But the second time around was much quicker and I am much happier with the result now:

Nearly done! Having a bit of a root around my room I found some of the bits that I will be selling on Sunday and played around a bit with setting them up and this is what I came up with. What do you think? Obviously my kitchen table isn't quite as large as my stall table is going to be so this isn't quite what it's going to look like, and I still need labels, a tablecloth and various other bits. But generally I'm quite happy with how it's looking so far. Any advice for me? 

Craft Fair

I'm sure most of you have now realised that I've been a hive of activity recently... so much so that I haven't really had time to blog properly in recent weeks. And why? It's because I'm going to be doing my first craft fair next weekend! ARGH! But how exciting! I've wanted to do a craft fair for ages now but had never quite got the guts up to do it - but this year is my year for being decisive so I signed up in January for the Balham Craft Fair on Sunday 25th March. It's from 12 - 6pm in the Balham Bowls Club  and it would be fantastic if any of you are around and could come and support us. There are 12 stalls in all and we are all looking forward to it. I've been making pendants and penguins for weeks now... can't wait to see how it all pans out.