Wednesday 31 October 2012

Halloween Craft Swap

I have taken part in my very first Craft Swap and it's the big reveal tonight, can you guess the theme? Yes, it's Halloween. The swap has been organised by the lovely Kat over at With-u-in-Mind.

I received my parcel in plenty of time and was so tempted to open it but keeping to the rules I put it to one side and practised patience.

So tonight's the night and I got my chance to open my parcel, I knew it was from Osk & Oly (because it was written on the back of the package) but I don't know who Osk & Oly are so I really don't know what to expect, so here goes......

My Halloween Swap Parcel
Wow, this looks an interesting selection, let's have a closer look......

 I love this wreath, everything about it is perfect, the 'roses' are great and the ribbon sets it off lovely.

Halloween Wreath


  The pin cushion is lovely, it's a great choice of fabrics and the centre is a real twig.

A Halloween Pin Cushion
The jar of sweeties is great, don't you just love that label. That will certainly be opened this evening.

Halloween Bon Bons

What a great selection of items, I feel so lucky with this swap and I'd like to say a big Thank You to Osk & Oly for sending such brilliant items and a huge Thank You to Kat for organising the swap, especially as throughout the last few months she has been moving house.


I hope you have all had as great a swap as I have.

Jan X

P.S... I now know that Osk & Oly is Penny over at Osk and Oly.com, 
So once again, a big thank you to Penny x
 


Sunday 28 October 2012

Fairy Doors & Wooden Bunting

What a busy time I've had, It's been the last weekend at the Pumpkin Patch Craft Fair and the weather wasn't kind. On Saturday it rained, it hailed, we had sleet and it was muddy. The crossbow people decided it was too cold and windy to set up, the ponies were spooked by the wind, the rain and the lightening so they were taken back to their stables and visitors were a bit thin on the ground, I don't blame them either, it was a day for most people to stay at home in comfort and warmth.
But don't think it was all doom and gloom, the people that did venture out were warm and friendly and I had a few sales and orders. Saturday was also the yearly Village Art Show to raise money for the Poppy Appeal. Money is raised by paying £1.00 for each painting entered into the show, the obligatory raffle and by donations. I entered my 'Toadstool Painting' and for those who haven't seen it before I posted about it Here.
I'm pleased to say that my painting was sold. We'll know in the next few days how much was raised altogether.

Sunday's weather faired a bit better and we had a busier day, (did you all remember to turn your clocks back)? My most popular items were my Zombie Art Dolls and Zombie Sock Dolls, after them came Wooden Bunting, Fairy Doors and Hearts.

Fairy Doors


Bunting for Grace


Wooden Bunting

So all in all a good weekend was had and a great but tiring month was enjoyed and I've signed up again for next year.

I'm going to pop over to Handmade Harbours linky party and check out what everyone else has been up to. I hope you can join me.


Jan X



Sunday 21 October 2012

Zombies & Vampire Bats

After a rainy Friday it's been a bit of a soggy weekend at the Pumpkin Patch, this was my 3rd weekend and despite the wet and muddy field we had a great time, it's a really friendly event with a lovely atmosphere.

Sock Zombies & Sock Bats

My Sock Zombies and Bats sold out and I had to make more, here is the last one I made....

Zombie Doll

He was sold today so it looks like I'll be busy doing more for next weekend, along with Fairy Doors and Bunting, what a mixture, but hey, I'm not complaining, it's great to have sales.
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Halloween and the Pumpkin Patch has taken up most of my time this month but this week I did manage to join a new community page on Facebook Craft Couture. It was started by Gina of Zuleikha Art who has a shop over at Folksy, she says:- 

 "Artisans and Crafters can only be successful if their work is known and found buy the wider community and not just within fellow crafting circles. A difficult task and one which Craft Couture hopes to turn around. This page will allow you to share your work via links and promoting your latest works". 

Anyone that runs a Facebook page knows that is not as easy as it once was. It is now more difficult to reach your fan base and we need to try other ways to increase visibility of posts in our fans’ news-feeds.
One way of doing this is by sharing and commenting on links. Did you know that comments on a post rank higher than a like on a post? so by commenting and sharing posts and encouraging others to do the same will help ensure your updates continue to appear in  news-feeds.
Facebook also puts more weight on posts with photos attached so by simply adding a photo gives it a better chance of appearing in your fans’ news-feeds, and it's much nicer to share a post that has a good picture.

Craft Couture says  
"We only ask that you share on your personal page amongst your family and friends as this will spread the word beyond our craft community to those who do not craft themselves but would love to buy handmade. We love the concept of sharing work you like and that you feel the people who follow you would be interested in. This can only create a more natural talking point increasing your page activity and the activity to the pages of work you share".

This page is not like other pages that demand you 'like' for a 'like'. This suits me because I don't want to be told what pages to like. If I see a page that I enjoy, admire or simply want to help boost followers I will click the box and like them without demanding they like me in return. 
Craft Couture are planning on choosing a photo from a followers album to use as their cover photo and changing it on a regular basis to give everyone a turn. At the moment they are using one of my Welcome Plaques.
Welcome Plaque
So why not pop over and have a nosey, if you like what you see and want do more networking or just support crafters and artisans then feel free to 'like' (or not). You don't need to be a crafter to join.
I'm off to check out my weekly fix at the Handmade Monday's Linky Party


Jan X

Monday 15 October 2012

Mushrooms or Toadstools?

I looked out of my window and saw these.....













and these.....
and these.....


 and more......

So what is in a name, do you call them toadstools or are you mushroom person?

Which links me straight on to my most popular plaques this weekend, they have been my Welcome to our home' Plaques

'Welcome to our home' plaque
and my Scarecrow Plaques...

'Happy Halloween' Plaque

I'm popping over to Wendy's Handmade Harbour blog to see what everyone else has been up to.

Have a good week all and take care

Jan X


Monday 8 October 2012

Pumpkins and Zombie Dolls

I'm a bit later than usual with my post for Handmade Monday  but I think I've just sneaked in in time.
I've completed the first weekend of the mammoth Pumpkin Patch Event, it was a great but tiring weekend and I just wanted to share a few photo's.

There were lots of pumpkins to choose from........

This is a heavy one

I'd never seen these blue pumpkins before, apparently they are great for pies....

Blue Pumpkins

lots of gourds to choose from too......

Gourds

and my new 'cute zombie dolls' went down a treat.....

Zombie dolls

That's all for now, I hope you all have a great week,

Take care and have fun.....

Jan x