Country Living Christmas Show, Glasgow.

Well I've been so busy with shop job work I've not had the chance to blog about the wonderful 

Country Living Christmas Show which was held in Glasgow, they do quite a few shows all over the country.

This was extra special though as my friend Catherine Ball was having a space there and had asked if she could take some of mine and another friends stock too. This post shows that stand and gives you links were you can buy from these lovely ladies, but I'm going to do some other posts showing stands of note.

 This is Catherine unpacking stock quick as possible as it was selling out quickly, I loved her space using antique furniture, especially the letterpress tray she uses to display rings and small items in.

 You can see some of my stock here, my crocheted covered tea light holders sold well.

 The drawers attached to the wall worked really well showing off the pieces but making them very shop-able, Catherines pieces are all unique and incorporate laces relief texture or are stitched, which is beautiful.

To keep up with Catherines latest news and products click the link here, Stitched Ceramics.

 Above you can see her amazing hand stitched vessels, I love the flower design.

 I think my crocheted pieces work really well along side the textures of her ceramics, here you can see my Hurricane Lamp, I've only made the one so far, but think they could make lovely wedding centre pieces.

 Showing my pieces here, tea light holders, purses, cosy cups; it was great to hear feedback from customer at this, and other stalls. I'm thinking of going back next year but with my own stand. 

Below is a suitcase of treasure from the other seller in the stall Natalie from Flossy Teacake, she is certainly a crafter to watch out for. Her work has instant appeal styled from her childhood memories, using mixed media, she creates amazing 3D models of buildings and townscapes. 

Click the link for her facebook page, Flossy Teacake.

The atmosphere around all the stalls was amazing, and it was great to see that even in the grim economic climate we currently have people still treasure the quality and uniqueness of the handmade.

Hope to be there next year,

Amanda.x. 

A Bit Of The Show

Yesterday I went to the Glasgow Baby Show to help my sister-in-law Claire man her stand, she makes lovely handcrafted baby slings under the name Snugbaby, her website sells other cool stuff as well.

After a bit of a car hike up to the SECC & set up rush we settled into the exhibitors role very well.
It was a great experience chatting to customers & other stall holders & we met a few twitter pals as well.

Claire having a quick brew before the show starts, she's got some great fabrics choices for the slings making them look different to the normal boring ones you find in department stores.

She also got a really good position right on the corner of a middle row, for anyone looking to do these type of shows the stallholders along the perimeter were a lot quieter than us.

This is The Funky Fairy stand, they had some beautiful gifts for children. I love those Trunkies. 

This is Annabel Karmel doing a talk on helping fussy eaters, I've used her her cookery books a lot in the past not just for my children but a lot of the recipes are great for adults meals.  Her site is worth a visit for any parent as it's full of great advice & tips, as well as a great forum to talk to other parents about food issues on. 

I wonder if her amazing figure is down to eating her own ranges? 

This is the Stokke stand, sorry I didn't get a closeup of this fabric as it was beautiful, its so nice the attention to detail that has gone into designing the prams & chairs from this company, I like designs made to grow with your family rather than just being throw away. 

Unfortunately they're out of my price range but I can still ogle them 

and dream.  

I especially liked the amount of small independent designers that were at the show this year, this one being very note worthy. Gillian Kyle makes printed goods for kids & adults alike, I loved the Tunnocks bags, you can't tell from the picture but the print is foil finished & the quality perfect.

Well I'm off to rest now my arms ache from doing baby sling demonstrations, I hope everyone else has another couple of great days at the show.

Amanda.x.