A Cheshire weekend.... of sunshine and showers!

This month the fabulous Wilmslow Artisan and Altrincham Vintage and Craft markets fell on the same weekend!  Wilmslow definitely drew the short straw with the weather first thing.  We woke up and looked out of the window to see a little fine drizzle and convinced ourselves it was going to get better.  It did, by the afternoon, but not before we'd all got drenched getting our stock to the gazebos and setting up and I can tell you there's nothing worse than the collected rain on a gazebo roof suddenly deciding to jettison itself down your back! As usual though, the weather didn't dampen spirits and the customers still came out to support the market.  This time we were back to back with Carol who sells bags and next to our fab friend Zoe of Honey Bee Design with her lovely jewellery, greetings cards, hand knitted and sewn items and Carole and Andrew of Select Crafts with their glass items and artisan soap.  We were joined by some very splendid feathered friends from a local experience centre and the owl in particular attracted Jacy's attention. 

I must admit I had intended nipping out and about with my camera a little more than I eventually did.  The sun came out in the afternoon and was glorious but my soggy back dampened my adventurous spirits a little and I'm afraid I failed miserably in the photo department! 

Of course I had to keep popping along to say hello to the gorgeous, lovely and utterly fantastic Vicki and Sam of Dotty Designs and Perfectly Poncho .  It's such a shame these two lovely ladies who come from Stoke to the market don't do more in this area because they're such good fun and once a month just isn't enough!

I also nipped along to see fabulous friend Gina from Cornelius Potts and Uncle Monty who was at the other end of the market and while I was there bought this gorgeous Mothers' Day card from her which I'd been looking forward to buying since I saw it on her Facebook page

Also spotted some gorgeous Easter cards while I was there which I wish I'd taken a photo of but didn't.  I'll definitely take some at Castlefield and put them in one of my future blogs because they are so cute. 

While I was visited Gina I discovered Olive & Rose who makes natural skincare products.  Her stall and packaging was really lovely and she was welcoming back many return customers and you can't have a better recommendation than that!

Sunday brought brilliant sunshine for the Altrincham Vintage and Craft Market which created a welcome warm glow through the glass roof of the covered market.

We were thrilled to be next door again to Zoe of Honey Bee Design and Jackie from Candles 2 Cherish .  Zoe debuted her new line of super cute knitted hats for babies which are gorgeous and she sold her first one too!! Love the name 'Baby Bee'!

It was lovely to see Vibrant Vintage by Victoria Claire who we re-met the other week at Rose and Lee Vintage Living's recent event who were at Altrincham, I think, for their first time

Also there again I think for the first time was Jason from Setting The Scene with a great collection of vintage suitcases, a fabulous old typewriter just like the one my mum once had and other interesting items

I think this Sunday was one of the best, if not the best, Altrincham Vintage market we've had since they started last year.  This market has gone from strength to strength and this month's made all Gail's hard work worth it with a fantastic turn out of new customers and regulars who visit each month and enjoy the wide variety of stalls on offer and the wonderful, friendly, community atmosphere the market exudes.  This market can't rely on passing trade, the visitors keep coming as a result of advertising, Twitter and word of mouth and they come specifically to experience the individual, different and unique qualities of the many and varied retro, vintage and artisan stalls.

On another of my wanderings, leaving the lovely Jacy to man the stall, I met three more stallholders I hadn't spoken to in previous months.  Vividart and The Odd Glass Shop shared a stall thanks to amazingly generous size of the 8' x 4' market stalls!  Vividart presents the contemporary art work of Viv Parkes

and The Odd Glass Shop sell lovely hand painted glasses which they can make to the customer's own requirements.

The Vintage Angel has a great stall, pink and pretty with lots of lovely items to feast your eyes on.  She stocks hand-made cards, decorations and painted furniture and also has a shop in the Traders' Outlet in Altrincham.

Looking forward Jacy&Jools are at the Castlefield Artisan Market next on Sunday 4th March when I will be looking to add the stallholders who couldn't make it last month to the new Castlefield Artisan Market Directory.  The market is going to be bigger and better this month with over 80 stalls, many of whom will be new to Castlefield so don't miss out of this fabulous monthly event and come and experience the variety of artisan produce, arts and crafts on offer and uplifting, foot-tapping entertainment from The Cotton Town Hot Club

Castlefield Artisan Directory Part 1

As promised, here is the first part of the Castlefield Artisan Market Directory.  This is by no means a complete and definitive list of the stallholders at the market.  Many of the stallholders were not able to make it at the beginning of February due to the snow and there will be over 80 stalls from the March market onwards.  This very much a work in progress and will be added to and amended over the coming months.  If you want to download a copy of the list please click here

Vintage Va Va Voom!

Our collection ready to go to the showroom

Yesterday we visited the Rose and Lee Vintage Living's event 'Champagne and Sweets' Vintage Soiree  This was our third visit to Fiona's showroom so this time we managed to get ourselves from Altrincham to Walker Street without a hitch!  Little bit of a problem on the way home when for a very short period of time we found ourselves on the way to Leeds, but we won't mention that!  I can hear you laughing Fiona!!! We were really excited about the event, firstly because Fiona's done an amazing job with the showroom and her events are always well organised and fabulous and secondly because it was the first time a collection of our pieces would be on show there.  

The day included the champagne, sweets and cupcake reception and a vintage make-over and photoshoot and when we got there it was already in full swing.  The showroom had been transformed into a glamorous photo studio and it was like stepping into a film set from a bygone era.

Kate Peterson was there from Groovy Gang Handmade Soap and Bath Treats looking very glamorous herself in fur.  A collection of her hand made soaps are also displayed in the showroom and looked as pretty as ever adorning the various dressers and chests of drawers they decorated. 

Some of Kate's Groovy Gang products on the
dresser

Kate took us into the dressing room to see the hair and make-up artist from Pinup Vintage Makeovers at work creating the fabulous vintage looks. It was fascinating to watch her at work and amazing to see the finished styles, I don't know how she does it!

It was lovely to see Brooke again of Brooke's Cupcakes and Vibrant Vintage by Victoria Claire both of whom we'd met before briefly at another of Fiona's events.  It was really good to chat to both of them and we came away with some great ideas to work on for the future!  We look forward to seeing both of them again soon.

The photographer Sean Carnall seemed to put all the models at their ease and I'm looking forward to seeing his shots.  He was very generous too letting us amateurs cash in on his eye for composition and nip in and take a few snaps of our own.

We were very pleased that one of the models wore our Marilyn brooch with one of her outfits - thank you Kate for the idea!

Fiona joined in the fun with a makeover and photoshoot too looking very glam in both outfits she modelled.

We had a lovely day and all Fiona's hard work and preparations truly paid off as everyone who participated and visited seemed to have a great time.  The champagne was flowing, there were delicious cakes, good company and conversation and plenty to see with the showroom pieces and the fabulous photoshoot.  What more could you ask for!

Of course it took 3 attempts before I took a
photo these two lovely awkward ladies were
happy but I ignored the insults and persevered!

On a personal note, we were really encouraged by the reception our jewellery received and thank you to those who bought pieces.  We'll be busy making more now to replenish stocks!

Finally, a huge thank you and congratulations to Fiona!  Hope you get a little bit of R&R before you're off to Italy, weather permitting, as you truly deserve it!!