Berkhamsted Craft Market

My second craft market!

Unfortunately I barely got any photos, the market was a short one from 10-2pm on Sunday 16th December in the lovely Berkhamsted.  We kept nice and warm in the Town Hall (right above Carluccio's if you were wondering!) and it was lovely meeting some more local arty people and to see what people have been up to.  I had a great big table to fill which almost over-whelmed me, but once i figured that the table cloth still fit, I draped my new tote bags over the front and hey presto, it was filled up pretty quickly!

The market wasn't as busy as I had expected, I put this down to the people of Berkhamsted being very organised with their Christmas shopping - not to worry I shall be back earlier next time.  HA!

If you missed out on this local (Herts & Bucks) Art and Craft Market and would like something you've seen in my shop, please get in touch as I can always arrange for you to collect your goodies rather than pay for postage.

A travel commission

I can finally share this with you! HURRAH!

My latest client commission has been an amazing piece to work on.  Back in 2009 I went travelling with my sister for a year, and if you look far enough back on this blog, I'm sure there are a few posts on it too!  Before, during and since I went travelling many others have done so as well.  One of which was a friend of a friend who went with her boyfriend and did a similar trip to myself.  As a birthday present for him, she commissioned me to illustrate 16 of their top destinations / experiences.  Amazing no?

Going left to right on each row:

1.  Christ Redeemer

2.  Iguassu Falls

3.  Maccu Picchu

4.  Salt Flats

5.  Bunji Jumping New Zealand

6.  Sky Diving and Pancake Rocks

7.  Patronus Towers

8.  Sydney Harber

9.  Angkor Thom

10.  Federation Square, Melbourne

11.  Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

12.  Lanterns in Hoi Ann, Vietnam

13.  Hong Kong Skyline

14.  Terracotta Army

15.  The Great Wall of China

16.  Tori Red Gates

I absolutely loved working on this, although it has given me seriously itchy feet to jet off to a beach somewhere lovely and exotic.  I'll have to resist for now, and enjoy these pieces instead.

Have you been to any of these amazing places?

The Old Fire Staition

The first weekend in December marked my first ever craft market.  I packed up my car and drove with my sister to Oxford and set up shop with The Hand Made Makers Market in The Old Fire Station.  I'm not going to lie, I was really nervous!  I've set up my table for Artists Book Fairs so many times I could perhaps do it in my sleep.  This time however, I left all of my books at home, replacing them with framed prints, newly printed and made cushions, Christmas cards and prints.

The lovely Michelle of Hand Made Makers got in touch with me to participate with this market and that was all I needed.  I was able to share tips of things to do and see in Amsterdam and felt like I already knew her by the time I got to Oxford!

The market was spread over 3 rooms, I was in the largest, almost central, room which was laid out in a circular way with the tables.  So many lovely stalls!  You can see the list of participants here.  I was really happy to be impressed with the standard of work for sale.  Everyones tables looked gorgeous and I got a fair bit of Sinterklaas/ Christmas shopping done as well.

The market itself was a bit quiet.  We're at a loss as to why and how this happened - any ideas?  Perhaps the location, perhaps there was another market on, perhaps we didn't hit the target audience with the advertising.  Whatever it was, it's not stopping me from returning to Oxford for future fairs!  I met some great people, both stall holders and customers and am very glad that I took the plunge and did this craft fair.

  

If you saw me at the fair and are interested in me doing a commission for you (or indeed if you didn't see me but still are!) then please do say hello or send an email to charlotte_vallance (at) hotmail.com and we can discuss what you had in mind.


A few lovely ladies who really stood out for me, thank you for your kind words and inspirational work!

Claire Munday - Beetle Cherry - www.beetlecherry.etsy.com - @BeetleCherry

Chloe - Wear Me Out - www.wearmeout.co.uk - @wmojewellery

Claire Gaudion - Textile Design & Guernsey Basketry - www.clairegaudion.etsy.com - @clairegaudion

Anashrita Henckel - Flair Creations - www.flair-creations.co.uk

  

Amsterdam Cushion Covers

I absolutely love my screen printed Amsterdam prints and books and have enjoyed having them on cards too.  I've had it in my head to do cushions for a while now and figured that using my imagery from the Amsterdam print would be a good place to start.

I haven't ever printed seriously onto fabric before.  There has been the odd bit as a test, but nothing solid.  Not having a soft printing bed (as I think you should have for printing fabric no?)  I mounted up my pieces of fabric onto a thin card stock - possibly made it easier for positioning too.

I've gone for a peacock blue and gold.  This gives a slight variation from my prints on paper and makes it it's own product!

The gold went down first, and looked great on my paper tests but seemed a bit pale on the canvas material.  I then double hit it and I'm much happier with the result.  The blue was similar, a bit thin on one pull but a lot better so I've done a mix of one hits and two hits.

I also have sewn these myself!  The cover is removable, so if you spill something on one, it's not the end of the world.  But please be gentle when washing.

The cushion is shown here on my craft fair table at The Old Fire Station for the Hand Made Makers Market where they were shown a lot of love!  They measure just 35cm x 35cm although may vary slightly due to my sewing skills.

It's getting Christmassy!

This year has been all about me illustrating buildings more.  I love to draw buildings, street views, aspects of cities, etc and really felt the need to get this into my work more.  Through Untapped Cities this has really become possible towards the end of this year and continues on into next year hopefully!  In June I participated in the '30 Days of creativity' challenge and illustrated a building everyday in June.

 

I think that my Christmas cards this year, continue on in this fashion and show Christmassy shop fronts from all different kinds of shops.  I used watercolour to illustrate and then put them together digitally to bring together a collection of 5 designs.

I'm really happy with them - and I'd love to know what you think.

You can see last years cards here and you can buy both (while stocks last) in my online shop here.  If you can't see them in the shop please leave me a message with your details and I'll organise your order for you.

Thank you!

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