Hi guys!
We're still buzzing from our trip to The Handmade Fair at Hampton Court (presented by Kirstie Allsopp) on Sunday. Although we've attended many, many craft fairs in our time, we'd not been to this one before, so we weren't too sure what to expect or how good it would be.
We'd gone for it and purchased the "full experience" tickets, entitling us to enter the fair, have all-day access to the shopping village and artisan marketplace plus attend 1 x skills workshop, 1 x super theatre session and 1 x grand make of our choice.
We opted for the Annie Sloan chalk paint 101 super theatre session, a create fabric buttons skills workshop and a handbound kraft notebook for the grand make.
We arrived in good time so we could scour the artisan marketplace before we went to our super theatre session. We were very lucky with the weather (not too hot & not too cold), and thoroughly enjoyed tasting the various wares, including some rather lovely Cusan air coconut cream and some Cusan eidaliado amaretto cream liqueur (which we bought), and we also purchased a few bottles of Narcotts cider ... oh, and we may have had a Bad Brownie or two - sshh!
So, suitably refreshed, we headed off to the Super Theatre event with Annie Sloan, colour expert and the inventor of chalk paint. The talk was fun but a little haphazard and evidently hadn't really been planned that much, but it was quite interesting to see the uses for chalk paint and hear what Annie's guest, Lucy Tiffney, had to say about the products.
We didn't have a great deal of time before our skills workshop, which was supposed to be creating fabric buttons, however, it transpired that some people attending the same workshop on the Friday had actually stolen most of the button-making kits! This meant that there were not enough kits to go round for the Saturday and Sunday workshops, and so the poor demonstrator, Zeena Shah, had thought on her feet and come up with the idea of making a pin cushion. Now, this wasn't what we signed up for, but it was still fun to do. Afterwards, small groups of us were invited up to Zeena's table so we could actually make a button each using the very few kits that were remaining after the Friday looters! However, having that fun but rather fleeting moment making a button or two was sufficient to turn us into wannabe button coverers, and we've now ordered a couple of button-covering kits - looking forward to making them!
We'd planned in quite a large pause before our grand make, enabling us to peruse the wonderful, craft-packed shopping village. And we did buy quite a lot of stuff! It's just got to be done; after all, you don't embark on a 2.5-hour drive all that way to Hampton Court just to come back empty-handed, do you?
The few shopping hours we had before our grand make flew past at speed, meaning we had to rush through the last part of the 2nd tent ... still, we did ok ;-).
It's difficult to know where to start, but we basically acquired a lot of business cards for future purchases, and of course came away with some lovely finds too. We'll cover these in detail at the end of this post, as we're keen to tell you about the grand make - the handbound kraft notebook.
This was such a fun workshop! We learnt how to measure exactly where to use the awl to puncture the pages so that you can then stitch the spine together. The demonstrator, Moira Fuller, was a really lovely lady, and she showed us very clearly how to make our little books. This was definitely the best workshop, and it really helped that Moira has such a calm and informative manner when she's explaining the processes.
Once again, we were so impressed by the idea of making our own little books with unique stitched covers, that we've found an awl and some other inexpensive bits and bobs on Amazon so that we can have another go. Just need more time to do all these lovely crafts!
So ... let's take a look at all the lovely things we purchased.
Aren't these just lovely? We bought these as presents for our respective partners. The artist, Em J Reed, decorates these using acrylic paints. Isn't she talented?
Now, we'd not seen anything like this before. Joanne de Pace is a homeware and textile designer, and she's teamed up with fellow artisans to create these environmentally-friendly beeswax wraps, aimed at cutting down the use of plastic and sandwich bags. Check out her site to see how these lovely items are made. We bought a couple and are planning on buying more too! They even come packaged in biodegradable and compostable wrappings made from cornstarch. What's not to like?
We couldn't pass by this veritable sweet shop of buttons supplied by the Leicestershire Craft Centre. Just love the cute little bird and the sewing machines. Divine. We'll definitely be ordering more from these guys. Check out their website and their Etsy shop.
This was such a pretty stand. These gorgeous prints and papers supplied by Global Enterprises were just too good to pass by. They also have wrapping paper, beautiful decorations for the home and other lovely products. These papers will be put to good use in our projects and penpalling, that's for sure.
This little stand, brimming with a variety of bags, fancy dress packs, postcards, posters etc. which you can colour in yourself and then use, really caught our eye. Do check out their site. They even have a cute little caravan for the kids to colour in and then use! These products were founded by Kate Edmunds in 2009 as a way of keeping her children occupied. The designs are simple but effective and should amuse children (and grown-ups) of all ages.
A keen cross-stitcher, Zakiya couldn't help but be drawn to this cute little owl embroidery kit from Purple Rose Embroidery. This stand featured a variety of lovely embroidery kits. Do take a look at the site - there are bound to be some nice Christmas present ideas there.
This stand was so beautiful with its rich indigo blue palette theme running through it. These voluptuous blues are very enticing, and we purchased a few bags of swatches to use in our various craft projects. I'll be adding some of these fabric pieces to a multi-media textile wall hanging I'm working on at the moment. Take a look at the Changs Fabrics & Crafts site. They import gorgeous fabrics and items from around the world, specialising in Asian textiles.
Now, these designs are just adorable. These cute illustrations are the creations of Colette Alexandratos who is an English illustrator based in Singapore. She adorns postcards, greetings cards, bags and pins with her lovely artworks. They are so beautiful ... it's going to be hard to part with the postcards!
Yet another sweet shop of craftiness. When faced with two large tubs brimming with a variety of pretty materials, who can resist? This stand also featured some beautiful Asian cloth and textiles. Check out the Bombay Stores site to see all their other colourful offerings.
It was difficult to pull Zakiya away from this particular stand, oozing with vintage paraphernalia and collectables. Zakiya was instantly drawn to this selection of old cigarette cards, playing cards and seed packets. She's apparently going to be using them in her penpal letters and flipbooks, but I really don't know how she'll be able to part with them! Do check out the Simply Vintage Designs site, it's a lovely, eclectic shop offering unique and quirky bits and bobs. I'm sure we'll be visiting it quite a lot in the future!
Now, weaving is something we've been itching to have a go at. I did some weaving way back when I was a teenager (a very long time ago!), but it's not something I've practised in recent history. So, this handy little self-assembled weaving kit was just the thing for us. We purchased it along with a "starter pack" of wool, just to get us going. Really looking forward to using it. The Hawthorn Handmade site also sells felting and embroidery kits. Yet another store we'll be visiting again in the future.
I honestly thought Zakiya was going to have a seizure when she stumbled upon this modest little corner stand at the show. She's a Washi tape collector and hoarder, and stickers ... well, I probably don't need to tell you how much she loves her stickers, especially if you've seen our previous posts. Do check out dadagraphix, and their Etsy shop, it's such a cool store for themed tape and sticker supplies.
So, there ends the description of the haul. Needless to say, we couldn't actually buy everything we loved the sight of, so we've put together a little board of some of the exhibitors that really caught our eye, along with a linked list of these guys with a brief description about them below.
Hope you'll check some of them out!
Andrew Macdermott - Andrew creates unique pottery pieces inspired by his environment, and he also works with schools. We were impressed with the work on his stand.
Annie Brown - Annie is a needle felting artist who designs felted paintings and holds workshops. She had a beautiful stand at the show.
Louise Money - Louise designs and paints beautiful images of birds and wildlife. Her stand was brimming with delicate illustrations.
Craftess - Esther has created a lovely collection of sewing kits. We'll be purchasing some of these soon!
Craven and White - Caroline Craven has created some stunning handmade glass & silver pieces. Her stand showcased some beautiful work. Do check out her site. We love the little glass dishes.
Artifactually - Wow, this really was a glitzy, glorious stand adorned with beautiful glass ornaments and crafts. Really one to check out - especially with Christmas around the corner!
Nia Cross Stitch - Nia Rhind has produced a lovely collection of cross stitch kits based on designs which reflect her Welsh heritage. This stand was so pretty, and we'll definitely be buying some of her kits to try in the future.
Beastie Assemblage - Linda Lovatt creates whimsical jewellery and assemblages from copper, brass and vintage finds. Such adorable, unique work. Do check out her site - we've never seen anything quite like this; so quirky and one-off.
Bigbobbin and Love from Beth - We were very drawn to the designs and fabrics on this stand. They'd been made into bags, containers and cushions, and looked so rich and gorgeous. Beth is a British designer working with fabric, quilts and sewing patterns. Her pieces are rich and vibrant.
olittleshinedesigns - This little stand was so cute and fairytale-esque. We would have liked to see a little more of it, but the lady was having to pack up in a hurry due to a family crisis back home. Her site is gorgeous and unique. It's hard to describe the items as they are so one-off and whimsical. Do check it out.
The English Stamp Company - This is a Dorset-based family-run business that makes bespoke rubber stamps. Perfect for business, crafting etc..
Arthur Ridley - Arthur Ridley is a textile artist who creates amazing embroidery and textiles. He runs workshops and gives talks. His work is stunning. Do check out his textiles and artwork.
Hanna Bass - We were really impressed with this stand. Hannah was an interior designer for 10 years and now she creates fun tapestries and needlepoint pieces. The site is cool - check it out.
Thank you so much for reading and if you haven't already, please check out our Instagram and Twitter!
Keep crafting x
Disclaimer: We are not sponsored by any companies we mention, nor are any of these links affiliate links, nor are we trying to sell you anything. The links are purely for your convenience if you are interested in anything we try or show you.
We're still buzzing from our trip to The Handmade Fair at Hampton Court (presented by Kirstie Allsopp) on Sunday. Although we've attended many, many craft fairs in our time, we'd not been to this one before, so we weren't too sure what to expect or how good it would be.
We'd gone for it and purchased the "full experience" tickets, entitling us to enter the fair, have all-day access to the shopping village and artisan marketplace plus attend 1 x skills workshop, 1 x super theatre session and 1 x grand make of our choice.
We opted for the Annie Sloan chalk paint 101 super theatre session, a create fabric buttons skills workshop and a handbound kraft notebook for the grand make.
We arrived in good time so we could scour the artisan marketplace before we went to our super theatre session. We were very lucky with the weather (not too hot & not too cold), and thoroughly enjoyed tasting the various wares, including some rather lovely Cusan air coconut cream and some Cusan eidaliado amaretto cream liqueur (which we bought), and we also purchased a few bottles of Narcotts cider ... oh, and we may have had a Bad Brownie or two - sshh!
So, suitably refreshed, we headed off to the Super Theatre event with Annie Sloan, colour expert and the inventor of chalk paint. The talk was fun but a little haphazard and evidently hadn't really been planned that much, but it was quite interesting to see the uses for chalk paint and hear what Annie's guest, Lucy Tiffney, had to say about the products.
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| Annie Sloan & Lucy Tiffney |
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| In readiness for making our pin cushions |
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| Zakiya's pin cushion - mine was just awful, which is why we're not showing it! |
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| Our fabric-covered buttons ... we're rather hooked! |
The few shopping hours we had before our grand make flew past at speed, meaning we had to rush through the last part of the 2nd tent ... still, we did ok ;-).
 |
| One of the huge craft tents |
This was such a fun workshop! We learnt how to measure exactly where to use the awl to puncture the pages so that you can then stitch the spine together. The demonstrator, Moira Fuller, was a really lovely lady, and she showed us very clearly how to make our little books. This was definitely the best workshop, and it really helped that Moira has such a calm and informative manner when she's explaining the processes.
 |
| Equipment for bookbinding |
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| Our handbound handmade notebooks |
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| Beautiful painted items from artichicks |
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| Beeswax wraps from Joanne de Pace |
 |
| Gorgeous selection of buttons from the Leicestershire Craft Centre |
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| Beautiful craft paper from Global Enterprises in London |
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| Colour-in Christmas decorations by eggnogg |
 |
| Beautiful owl embroidery kit by Purple Rose Embroidery |
 |
| Beautiful material swatches from Changs Fabrics & Crafts |
 |
| Cute illustrations by Colette Alexandratos |
Now, these designs are just adorable. These cute illustrations are the creations of Colette Alexandratos who is an English illustrator based in Singapore. She adorns postcards, greetings cards, bags and pins with her lovely artworks. They are so beautiful ... it's going to be hard to part with the postcards!
 |
| Pick n' mix fat quarters from Bombay Stores |
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| Acrylic stamps from Simply Vintage Designs |
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| Vintage bits & bobs from Simply Vintage Designs |
 |
| Weaving kit from Hawthorn Handmade |
 |
| Washi tape and stickers from dadagraphix |
So, there ends the description of the haul. Needless to say, we couldn't actually buy everything we loved the sight of, so we've put together a little board of some of the exhibitors that really caught our eye, along with a linked list of these guys with a brief description about them below.
Hope you'll check some of them out!
 |
| A selection of just some of the amazing exhibitors at The Handmade Fair |
Andrew Macdermott - Andrew creates unique pottery pieces inspired by his environment, and he also works with schools. We were impressed with the work on his stand.
Annie Brown - Annie is a needle felting artist who designs felted paintings and holds workshops. She had a beautiful stand at the show.
Louise Money - Louise designs and paints beautiful images of birds and wildlife. Her stand was brimming with delicate illustrations.
Craftess - Esther has created a lovely collection of sewing kits. We'll be purchasing some of these soon!
Craven and White - Caroline Craven has created some stunning handmade glass & silver pieces. Her stand showcased some beautiful work. Do check out her site. We love the little glass dishes.
Artifactually - Wow, this really was a glitzy, glorious stand adorned with beautiful glass ornaments and crafts. Really one to check out - especially with Christmas around the corner!
Nia Cross Stitch - Nia Rhind has produced a lovely collection of cross stitch kits based on designs which reflect her Welsh heritage. This stand was so pretty, and we'll definitely be buying some of her kits to try in the future.
Beastie Assemblage - Linda Lovatt creates whimsical jewellery and assemblages from copper, brass and vintage finds. Such adorable, unique work. Do check out her site - we've never seen anything quite like this; so quirky and one-off.
Bigbobbin and Love from Beth - We were very drawn to the designs and fabrics on this stand. They'd been made into bags, containers and cushions, and looked so rich and gorgeous. Beth is a British designer working with fabric, quilts and sewing patterns. Her pieces are rich and vibrant.
olittleshinedesigns - This little stand was so cute and fairytale-esque. We would have liked to see a little more of it, but the lady was having to pack up in a hurry due to a family crisis back home. Her site is gorgeous and unique. It's hard to describe the items as they are so one-off and whimsical. Do check it out.
The English Stamp Company - This is a Dorset-based family-run business that makes bespoke rubber stamps. Perfect for business, crafting etc..
Arthur Ridley - Arthur Ridley is a textile artist who creates amazing embroidery and textiles. He runs workshops and gives talks. His work is stunning. Do check out his textiles and artwork.
Hanna Bass - We were really impressed with this stand. Hannah was an interior designer for 10 years and now she creates fun tapestries and needlepoint pieces. The site is cool - check it out.
Thank you so much for reading and if you haven't already, please check out our Instagram and Twitter!
Keep crafting x
Disclaimer: We are not sponsored by any companies we mention, nor are any of these links affiliate links, nor are we trying to sell you anything. The links are purely for your convenience if you are interested in anything we try or show you.
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