Love Lydiard Craft Fair 2016

Well what a funny old day at Lydiard Park this year! The weather was not on our side although it could always be worse! Luckily I was in exactly the same spot as last year and knew all too well how strongly the wind swirled and gusted around the gardens (even though it's walled!). So I managed to secure the sides onto my gazebo first thing and luckily didn't loose any stock or any of the display. There were several heavy showers in the morning too so it was a nervy day from the get go.
I had a new display set-up and also launched my latest summer turquoise collection:

The Graceful Deviant display at Lydiard Park, Swindon

It was soon noticeable that the footfall was well down on last year - a possible consequence of the weather combined with a lack of advertising following on from the continued financial issues the council is having with running the house and gardens and trying to find investment partners.
That said, I had a very busy day meeting lots of new customers and making sales that equaled last year. It was great to see Salamander Arts returning again with their gorgeous ceramics:

Julie & Theresa from Salamander Arts

A new trader this year was Little Miss Cake Maker who made Lydiard Park & Swindon's magic roundabout cupcakes!

Enjoying a magic roundabout cupcake to the live music in the gardens!

Due to the awful winds it was very difficult to leave the stall and see much of the other traders so I really hope it runs again next year and we have a much calmer day!
I'm not booked into any other trading events until November now - more on that decision to come. The next blog post I write will also have to address Brexit and what it means for me and the business. Not something I relish as I don't believe politics and silversmithing should really mix but it was inevitable. So stay tuned!

Where did I go?!

It has been a rather chaotic start to the year and I can't quite believe that we are half way through!
As a brief catch up my partner and I now own our property that we were renting and are thoroughly enjoying finally getting to put our stamp on it. We don't move swiftly though as we do enjoy carefully considering all our options and sourcing unusual/not-on-the-highstreet items! As a consequence this has meant some disruption and made it less inviting for me to try and work in a studio packed with 'spare' stuff whilst we try to work out what we want to keep and what will go on Gumtree!
It's funny that the longer I've spent away from the bench, the harder it is to get back in to. The passion starts to dwindle as new creative outlets appear. I'm hopeful that the Love Lydiard event in Swindon on the 2nd of July will now start to refocus me as it was very successful last year.
We also managed to get away to Lisbon (all be it very last minute!) as my partner had to go for business. I only had two and a bit days to keep myself occupied, the rest of the week was all our own time - here are a few highlights:

Lisbon 2016 - the castle, the monastery and the botanical gardens.

I've also managed several other trips this year including Beaulieu Motor Museum, Dublin, JapDay at Castle Combe and a couple of visits to the south coast. But in amongst that I've also been quite unwell too with a bit of a bad back making it hard to sit for any length of time and also being poisoned by mushrooms! Who knew! I'm one of a small handful of people who react to lentanin - a substance found in raw or undercooked shiitake mushrooms and although it manifests as a rash, I also felt really weak. It probably wasn't helped by having to take lots of antihistamines and steroids - soooo sleepy! So that was another fortnight I barely remember doing anything. To say I haven't gotten into the swing of things this year would be fair!

Onwards and upwards! All social media platforms will be going through a bit of a tidy up/clear out so that I can refine my style (how do you like the new blog facelift?!) and I'm back at it in the studio.
My new venture Metal Mountain Jewellery has had some sales and very positive feedback so make sure you come and find me on Facebook and Instagram to follow a little more of my travels and outdoor inspiration!
I know us creatives types do go through periods where the motivation for what we 'should' be doing just aren't there and I realise from the outside looking in it must be frustrating as you don't see new work coming out and must wonder if we just fell off the face of the Earth! So if you are reading this I thank you for continuing to hang around to see what happens next. Sometimes it just doesn't happen as fast as anyone would like, you and me included!
Until next time :)