Pocketful of sunshine!

For the first time in what seems like months the weather gods looked kindly on the artsian market calendar and gave us bright, crisp, sunshiney day for the Altrincham Vintage and Artisan Market on Sunday.  It was still mighty cold but the sun pouring through the glass roof of the covered market and the lack of rain definitely lifted spirits, brought out the customers and made the first market of 2012 seem extra special.

We'd given our stall a bit of a re-vamp for the new year combining the pink and grey of our logo with a hint of silver to give the table a fresh new look. 

We were thrilled to find our lovely friend Zoe of Honey Bee Design as our neighbour for the day which gave us the chance for a good old natter and a catch up!

The lovely Zoe and her gorgeous wares!

Melissa, from Jopp Design, who we met recently at the fab Castlefield Artisan Market was also there, her first time at Altrincham.  Her stall looked great with, to quote her website, her "unique, handmade, weird and wonderful" gifts, homeware and jewellery. 

Melissa and her fab items

It's lovely to meet new stallholders too and make new connections.  Three we met for the first time were Clare from DesignSixty4 , Jackie from Candles2Cherish and Lindsay and her sister from LHP Designs .  All three have great, unique products and their websites are well worth a look!

A couple of examples of Clare's Manchester themed mugs

Altrincham, Timperley, Manchester, Salford - you name it
Clare can print it!

Clare's mugs are truly individual and totally customisable.  She can print any word, name or picture in whatever colour you require and has fab stock items bearing the names of a large selection of towns, cities and suburbs in the north west making them a winner at any of our regional artisan markets!

Jackie's personalized candles and embroidered items have an ethereal quality and her stall looked beautiful.  Her items can be tailor made to your personal requirements, whether it's to commemorate a special event like a wedding or a birthday, or with a quotation, name or date that's important to you or your intended recipient.  Truly unique and individual!

To quote Linday's own words her designs are recognised for their whimsical flair, with touches of elegance and playfulness and influenced by fine art and fairy tales.  They are definitely quality, unique pieces and you should certainly check out her web site!

LHP Designs' unique items

One of the best things about having a stall at a regular, local artisan market is getting to welcome back existing customers and meet people face to face.  One of the highlights of Sunday was meeting customer Claire and friend Jason, both of whom we've shared many a tweet with over the last few months.  We finally got the chance to put faces to the user names of interior designer @clairegal_ and @jasonpalinchef private chef extraordinaire of Gourmet Gusto .  They're a great couple and by the time they'd left the stall our cheeks ached from laughing!

We also welcomed back Sharon,  a customer who liked our Initial Impression necklace her mum bought from us a couple of months a go so much that she returned to order one personalised for herself!

We're looking forward now to the Wilmslow Artisan Market on Saturday (21st) from 10am to 4pm on Grove Street so lots to get on and do!!