The 12 Crafts of Christmas - #10 to #12

Three offerings in one post today to round off the list.  Firstly, #10 Anthony Dudley - landscape and wildlife photographer (www.ardudleyphotography.co.uk).  He has a stunning array of black & white and colour landscapes, and wildlife images in both limited and open editions.  I don't know where he'll be exhibiting, but you can contact him through his website.

#11 - Turn 'N' Burn Welsh Crafts: Bernard Dite is a sculptural woodturner.  His motto is "if it can be turned, I will give it a go".  As well as producing a variety of vases, bowls, sculptural pieces and smaller items, he also takes on commissions and can offer one-to-one woodturning tuition.  


#12 - Blue Rose Crafts: Charlie Gannon is a one-woman sewing machine! Producing a whole range of bags, cushions, covered notebooks and childrenswear with personalised embroidery.

All three are regular features at the monthly craft fairs held in the Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay.  Dates for 2011 have yet to be released, but keep checking the centre's website for details, if you would like to see them in person.

Well, that's it! I hope that you've enjoyed the journey, and hopefully you've discovered something new and interesting from all the people featured.  There are many others that I couldn't feature because they don't have websites, or I didn't know where they would be appearing. Maybe I'll have to revisit this next year...

The 12 Crafts of Christmas #9 - Fairfield Gardens

I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a bit of shameless self-promotion!  For those of you who aren't familiar with Fairfield Gardens, we make 100% natural bath and skincare products.  I think that "simple, but effective" accurately sums up our products and our ethos.  From Shampoo to Foot Scrubs, we have a wide variety of products to care for you from head to toe.

And if you order by tomorrow night (17th December) you can still get delivery within the UK in time for Christmas.  If you live in Cardiff, we are accepting orders until 3pm on Wednesday 22nd December for free delivery before Christmas.  Any of the Gift Boxes can be personalised by adding a personal message, for no extra charge.

The 12 Crafts of Christmas #8 - Daniel Stallard

Daniel Stallard is a floral artist from Swansea. He paints vibrantly colourful images of all things flowery.  As a fellow admirer of flowers, I really love his work.  Some of the pieces are simply breathtaking.

In his own words, he describes why flowers inspire him: "About three years ago I noticed [flowers]. I know that may be a strange thing to say but before that flowers were just there. Then one day I couldn't get enough, every where I looked there they were, these ‘little explosions of colour’; all I knew was I desperately wanted to paint them...I find colour to be uplifting, so it is my aim as an artist to share my experiences through colour. I believe this to be what first drew me to flowers as a subject."

He will be at the Cardiff Castle Quarter Christmas Market, in High Street (at the bottom end of St. Mary Street) until Thursday 23rd December. 

The 12 Crafts of Christmas #7 - Bezeal

Bezeal make "custom jewellery by design" - rings, earrings, bracelets and pendants. They also do fingerprint jewellery where you can capture a fingerprint in silver and turn it into a pendant - a lovely idea for a gift. You can now capture artworks in silver too - hand pirnts, paw prints, handwriting and so on - to be turned into keyrings, brooches and bookmarks.

  

They will not be appearing at any more events before Christmas, but you can buy online, or shop from the comfort of your own home by hosting a jewellery party.

The 12 Crafts of Christmas #6 - The Land of Make Believe

If you're looking for something for the kids, then pay a visit to The Land of Make Believe where you'll find an assortment of colourful name boards, book ends, mobiles and jigsaws, which you can get specially made with your child's name. Each letter is hand-drawn in wood, and then hand-painted and decorated with embellishments like animals, flowers, cars, rockets, butterflies, bugs...  Nicola very kindly gave my son a lovely name board for his bedroom door.

  

LOMB will be appearing at the Cardiff Castle Quarter Christmas Market until Thursday 23rd December in St. John's Street.

The 12 Crafts of Christmas #5 - Shepherd's Moon

With the weather about to turn sub-zero again, it's the perfect time to visit Shepherd's Moon. Ellen Roberts and guests artists are practising the art of spinning, weaving and knitting to create a range of beautifully hand-crafted shawls, scarves and other knitwear, as well as books and notions.  Ellen can often be seen spinning yarn on her Majacraft Little Gem wheel at events.  The handspun yarn is also available to buy.

 

As well as buying online, you can see Ellen upstairs at the Newport Indoor Market on Saturday 18th December from 10am - 4pm.

The 12 Crafts of Christmas #4 - Claire's Creations

Claire's Creations are a pretty collection of natural shell button necklaces and bracelets, and Swarovski crystal accessories. I hadn't come across anything like her shell button creations before I first saw her display, so if you're looking for something a little bit different that you wouldn't find on the High Street then a visit with Claire might be just the thing.

 

The 12 Crafts of Christmas #3 - Celtic Seren

We got to know Gareth after appearing at a number of the same markets and events.  Along with his father, Des, and sister, Rhian, he runs Celtic Seren (formerly Peregrine Pewter), making giftware and jewellery from Pewter.

The creative process happens over many steps as described in his own words: "From the creation of the original sculpture through to the finished article involves many complex processes. The making of the original sculpture,  fettling to remove burrs, fine castings of intricate detail, linishing, applying relief to highlight form and texture, using enamel paints, soldering, making vulcanised moulds, satin finishing and polishing."

    

Celtic Brooches (courtesy of Celtic Seren)

You can buy online or see Gareth at the Castle Quarter Christmas Market in Cardiff until 23rd December.  His chalet is located in The Hayes - opposite Queen's Arcade.

The 12 Crafts of Christmas #2 - Bang Bang Art

Steve John is an artist, illustrator and animator and owner of Bang Bang Art. I first met Steve this summer, while doing the Cardiff Arts & Crafts Festival in the city centre, and I was immediately taken with his "Hugs Art".  In the end I had to get a print for my son's room.  The pictures show various hugs, and although they are quite simple they depict closeness and love in a touching and beautiful way.

Copyright Steve John - Bang Bang Art

As well as "Hugs Art", Steve also does landscape art, sculptural canvas art, greetings cards, and he also offers a flash animation service for websites. The cheeky line of "Naked Santa" cards has proved a real hit with customers.

   

Copyright Steve John - Bang Bang Art

Take a look around his website, where you can buy online, or if you can, get down to see him in Cardiff's Castle Quarter Christmas Market - his chalet is located on High Street.

The 12 Crafts of Christmas #1 - Gwydr

The first people to feature in "The 12 Crafts of Christmas" are Gwydr (pronounced gwi-der). They make beautiful, contemporary pendants, cuff links, keyrings and Guardian Angels made from stained glass.  A selection of the range is pictured below.  Every aspect - from design to manufacture to presentation - has been meticulously thought out and overseen.  No templates are used to cut the glass or work the silver, so although designs may look similar, no two pendants are exactly the same.  You can now shop online or you can buy from one of their stockists throughout Wales, including the Mercure Holland House Hotel Cardiff, Cardiff Castle, Tintern Abbey, The Gate Gallery & Glassworks in Powys and Llantrisant Gallery in Llantrisant. As well as being very talented artisans, the founders, Leanne Bunce and Rebecca Marriott, are also two of the nicest people you'll meet.

      

The 12 Crafts of Christmas

Over the years we've appeared at a lot of events. Some have been good, and some have been absolutely dreadful. One of the things that makes events enjoyable (apart from meeting all of you lovely customers of course) is the other exhibitors.  There's generally someone to share a laugh with, or to set the world to rights with; and sometimes they can be the only thing that stands between you and abject despair!

So, in the spirit of Christmas, I've decided to spread a little crafty love, and introduce you to some of the lovely people that I have met - many of who have become good friends.  And so I present to you "The 12 Crafts of Christmas"! (It's actually more like the 12 craftspeople of Christmas, but that doesn't roll off the tongue nearly so well.)  Over the next 12 days I'll be featuring a different person.  Pay them a visit and take a look around - you might find something that you simply can't live without!

We are 3!

Happy Birthday to us!  

3 years ago Anthony and I embarked on our journey, appearing at our very first market.  After a period of umming and ahhing we made the decision to go for it and signed up for a week at the Cardiff at Christmas market.  We had no idea how much stock to make, never having done even a small craft fair! I still have the notes I made about how much we could make in the time (it was October and there were 41 days until we had to start).  As it turned out my caluclations were way too optimistic - I reckoned that we'd be shifting 200 units per day!!!! Poor, naive, me. But remarkably, sticking to a very tight daily manufacturing timetable, and despite losing a week when our 4 month-old baby was admitted to hospital (he was OK by the way), we managed to generate enough stock.  We launched with three product ranges - soap, bath salts and bath tablets.

However, the making of the stuff was the easy part. We then had to wrap and label several hundred items! We gave it a valiant try, but ended up staying up all of the night before our first day.  The house was a tip! These pictures were taken on the morning of our first day at the market.  If you look closely - you can see my son nestled in amongst the chaos!

We arrived at the stall in dreadful weather - it was lashing down, and then realised that we probably should have given the display a little more thought. There was nothing to cover the walls of the stall with, the table coverings didn't quite fit, we hadn't considered how we would layout the soap and there was nothing to say who we were.  The few signs that we had prepared were completely dwarfed by the space.  I had to rush to the market the next morning to get some material to hang on the walls.  There was a whole heap of last-minute bath tablet failures, which then formed the basis of the Bargain Basket!

Our stall

Our display

 Despite the apparent shortcomings of the stall, we had a very successful week, which cemented our resolve to carry on with the business.  Three years later a lot has changed, but our commitment and passion haven't. I'm very proud of how much progress we've made.  

Anthony and I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of our supporters - especially our family - and customers.  It's been an incredible journey so far, and one that we hope will continue for many years to come!

November Competition Result

November's best-selling item was:

Honey & Orange Blossom Soap

While my first foray into the world of giveaways was somewhat less than stellar, I'm undeterred! The soap will roll-over into next month to be added to whatever turns out to be December's most popular item.