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Monday 25 June 2012

Short but sweet

On Saturday Maple Designs had a stall at the Malin Bridge Primary School Summer Craft Fair which was another exciting event.  The school is only a few minutes away from home/the Maple Designs studio, so I actually managed to have a small lie in!

It was great to be part of a different fair aimed at a different audience than the previous fairs I've been to.  The mix of school children, mums and local people was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

This is only a short post today as I'm really busy getting everything ready for the first ever Maple Designs photo shoot which is taking place this coming Friday.  Fingers crossed the weather holds up, but even it has to be Plan B (i.e. indoors), I'm sure it's going to be a great day.

I'm so, so pleased that seven yummy mummies with their children have signed up for the shoot....it's really exciting and I can't wait to see what happens on the day and the photos that get taken.  There'll be pictures in future blog posts and they'll also be available on the Maple Designs Facebook page.  I'll also be tweeting about it during the day, so make sure you're following on Twitter.

Happy crafting,

x

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Summertime Fun

I've just realised it's been a month since I've last wrote a blog post.  That's poor, so I'm making amends for it now.  I'm sure there's lots to update on, so here goes.

On Saturday 2 June, I had the pleasure of attending a jubilee workshop at The Button Tin which was just simply amazing.  I'd recently been to another workshop there which I mentioned in a previous post, and this time didn't dissapoint either.  Gemma was the perfect host and the jubilee celebrations in The Imperial Buildings, where The Button Tin is based, was decorated to celebrate the best of British (along with the rest of Rotherham centre).

I hand embroided another piece for the wedding - will be sure to post pictures in the coming months.  And, the tea, cake and embroidering colleagues were lovely again too.

At home we cranked up the celebrations for Liz and decked out the house and garden with bunting, union flags and put the Pimms on ice.  We had a lovely time with friends and family and the weather was thankfully much nicer than the river paegant experienced.

This last Saturday was the third outing at the Mary's Marvellous Vintage and Craft Fair and it was another great day for Maple Designs.  I was selling some products which went down really well, along with some existing products in different fabrics.

The 'Lion' fabric went down a storm

New addition to the range: Burpee Cloths

Another new addition: Cross stitched hoops

The stall - ready and raring to go
It was a great day and was lovely to meet both old and new crafty friends - make sure you check out Plain Jane Dawson, Red Apple Tree Crafts, Made in the Cellar, Little Denim, Mrs Hotchpotch and Leaf City Press.

The next Mary's Marvellous Craft Fair is in August, fingers crossed I'm successful again in getting a place - you'll here it here or on my Facebook page first!


What's happening next?

I picked up some orders from the craft fair and will be shipping these in the next few days.  I also picked up an order after posting the above pictures on Facebook - I'm amazed how sharing a few words and pictures really can help a small business.  Thank you all for your support - it's really boosting my confidence.

Following this, I've been learning some project management skills from my other half (who's a project manager) and I'm now using a job board for my orders.  I'm amazed how a sheet of A3, a marker pen and some post-it notes has made keeping track of what orders I have on so much easier!

This coming Saturday, 23 June, I've got a stall at the Malin Bridge Primary School Summer Fair - if you're in the area pop along and say hello.  Hopefully there'll be more interest in Maple Designs, my products and some more orders.

Happy crafting,

x