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

Lights, camera, action and a giant advent calendar....

...just a standard day in the life of Castlefield Christmas Market which takes place this Friday, 23rd December, on the cobbled streets of Castlefield, near Dukes92  Not only is it going to be a fabulous traditional artisan market with lots of yummy food and produce, individual crafts, beautiful jewellery, sherry, mince pies and music but to add to the excitement North West Tonight will be there live for their 6.30pm show and the event will be unveiled to Piccadilly Gardens as the 23rd is peeled back on the GIANT advent calendar!! Definitely a day out not to miss, open from 10am to 9pm.

A big thank you to all our customers who braved the elements on Saturday and Sunday and supported us at the fantastic Wilmslow Artisan Market and Altrincham Vintage and Craft Market .  A big thank you too to our lovely friends and 'neighbours' at the various events who have helped keep spirits high on some of the cold, wet and windy days we've had over the last couple of months!

A special mention for the lovely Lorraine, of George's Gourmet Dog Biscuits who has become a good friend over the last few months.  Her home cooked gourment dog biscuits go down a storm at the various markets and we were totally wowed by her new line which debuted on Saturday, the Adidog dog jacket seen below!

Lorraine, still smiling despite the rain!

The gorgeous new Adidog jacket

A mention too for our fabulous new friends, the lovely ladies who are Vicki from Dotty Designs and Sam from Perfectly Poncho .  Always cheerful, whatever the weather, they've brightened up grey and rainy day with their fab personalities and gorgeous items.  Vicki's beautiful jewellery and Sam's gorgeous children's knitwear combine to create a pretty and eyecatching stall.  It was such a great surprise when they turned up at Wilmslow Artisan Market on Saturday and I can't wait to see them there again in January!

The lovely ladies Vicki and Sam!

As you may have heard it was Jacy's birthday on Saturday and we ran a prize draw on Twitter, a Make A Wish bracelet for the first 5 drawn out of a hat after midnight on the 17th who had tweeted her a happy birthday.  We also had a bit of fun on Saturday and offered a free Make A Wish bracelet with every purchase to anyone who sang 'Happy Birthday' to her.  I must say there weren't many brave enough to do a solo in the middle of Wilmslow high street but we managed to give a few away!

Happy Birthday Jacy!!

Looking forward again, we're getting really excited now about Castlefield.  We're joined by our extremely talented friends Cornelius Potts and Uncle Monty with their brilliant handmade greetings cards and Louise with her lovely macaron and other tasty goodies!

See you all there!! x

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Well it's been a while since our last blog and that's because we've been uber busy here making lots of new jewellery and preparing for the various sales and Christmas markets we're taking part in over the run up to Christmas... but more about that later.

Since we last blogged we've had three more very successful markets at Wilmslow Artisan Market , Altrincham Vintage and Craft and Castlefield Artisan  All three are fab and they each have a very different feel.  Wilmslow is sited on a busy and bustling town high street which definitely comes alive on market day.  There's a real continental market town feel to the day with huge support from local residents enjoying the full experience of the market and bringing increased custom to the existing shops and cafe bars too. 

Photograph by Lisa Reeves, wilmslow.co.uk
Wilmslow Artisan Market - the high street comes alive!

Altrincham Vintage and Craft Market is sited in the covered market on Greenwood Street next to the Victorian indoor market building, a traditional market setting which complements the craft and vintage theme wonderfully. 

Altrincham's historic market hall

On the third Sunday of the month the market is filled with vintage and artisan craft stalls each offering something very different and very individual.  The market has been taking place for several months now and has many regular return customers and is discovered by many new ones each event and is definitely well worth a visit!

Photo courtesy of Magpies Markets

Photo courtesy of Magpies Markets

Photo courtesy of Magpies Markets

 

Last, but by no means least is the Castlefield Artisan Market  A new market on the Artisan calendar, the December market will be the third and if the first two are anything to go by, it's definitely one not to miss!  Set in the wonderful Castlefield Basin area of Manchester this is a gem in the heart of the city.  It's situated in a lovely cobbled area under the railway arches and the first Sunday of the month it becomes a bustling 'town' filled with stalls selling a variety of delicious produce and artisan arts and crafts at their best.  Entertainment has been provided on both occasions by the fabulously energetic Cotton Town Hot Club and the November market saw the addition of Sax Solution.  They both help create a fabulous atmosphere and the next market is definitely one to put in your diary!

The Cotton Town Hot Club entertaining at Castlefield

We've introduced some lovely new items for the forthcoming markets and they're all on our web site Jacy & Jools now.  Also check out the lovely new items on our sister sites JJKitsch and The Make A Wish Company for the full range of our popular 'Make A Wish' bracelets.

We've have a new sterling silver variation of our JJKitsch 'Love Beads' bracelets, called JoJo bracelets they're available on Jacy & Jools now

Fuchsia jade with sterling silver beads and star

Semi precious turquoise beads with sterling silver beads
and open heart charm

Take a look also at the full range of our lovely new sterling silver charm necklaces - here's a sneaky peek at a couple













Now to Christmas, Jacy's favourite time of the year!  We're really excited about it and we've got a full calendar of events throughout the following weeks.  We start the run up to Christmas this weekend with Wilmslow Artisan Market on Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm on Grove Street, Wilmslow and Altrincham Vintage and Craft Market on Sunday, 11 am to 3.30 pm in the Covered Market, Greenwood Street, Altrincham.

The next Castlefield Artisan Market is on the 4 December in the usual place at the corner of Duke Street and Castle Street close to Dukes 92 and we're excited to be taking part in two Christmas Markets!!  The first is in Wilmlsow and we're there from the opening night Friday 25 November, when the lights are switched on, to Tuesday 29 November from 11 am to 8 pm.  It will be located on Alderley Road from Sainsburys to MultiYork and other attractions include an ice rink, Santa's Grotto and fairground rides.  The second is the Castlefield Christmas Market, just a stone's throw from its usual location outside Dukes 92.  This takes place on Friday 23 December, from 10 am to 9 pm and will be a fabulous traditionally themed Christmas market with entertainment, carol singing, sherry and mince pies.  An event for all the family with a great festive party atmosphere! One not to miss!!

We're also at Heyes Lane Junior School's Christmas Fair on Friday 2 December from 5 - 7 pm and we have the regular Wilmslow Artisan and Altrincham Vintage & Craft on December 17 and 18 respectively at their usual times/locations.

We hope to see you at one of the events, don't forget to come and say hello!

Copies of our flyers about the above events can be downloaded using the links below:
Castlefield Christmas Market
Wilmslow Christmas Market
Find us on the web
See us next!

Putting the custom into customer

One of the great things about having a custom jewellery company is that we get to work with the customer in the design process so they end up with an item that's exactly what they want.  Sometimes we start absolutely from scratch, as was the case with a recent customer who gave us a photo of a necklace they already owned and asked for earrings to match.  We produced a few designs and they chose two pairs they particularly liked and we made them both up for them.

Last week we received an order for a couple of bracelets, one from each of our collections on our Jacy & Jools and JJKitsch sites.  The customer loved the 'Peace Man' but wanted the feature bead in white turquoise instead of blue.  She was thrilled with the finished bracelet and tweeted us this fab picture of both!

So, if you see anything on our site and you'd like it slightly different, a different charm, size or colour of bead, custom size, whatever, please email and ask.  If we can find a way of doing it for you we will because at the end of the day we want you to love your Jacy & Jools or JJKitsch piece and we'll do everything we can to make sure it's just the way YOU want it!!

We've been really pleased this week to read some of the feedback about the Castlefield Artisan Market  There's been quite a buzz about it on Twitter since the first one last Sunday and the next one on 6 November promises to be even better.  On a personal note we were really thrilled to read Sophy Vanner's fab blog TheTrendClash where she had some lovely things to say about us and about the market in general.  We agree it's going to go from strength to strength and will be a great place to pick up some very individual Christmas presents.

With the forthcoming Castlefield Markets, our regular spots at Altrincham Vintage and Craft Market , Wilmslow Artisan Market and the Wilmslow Christmas Market we're all set for a very busy few months.  We're very excited about the forthcoming weeks and we've lots of new items to make and new ideas to try out.  We look forward to seeing our regular customers in the lead up to Christmas and to welcoming new ones too!

Castlefield, Corrie and the Conservatives

Human wall of police on
Deansgate

Sunday saw the first Castlefield Artisan Market take place and true to form in Manchester, the rain came! Along with the rain came convoys of police TAU vehicles and the largest police presence since the riots sealing off roads with human walls and policing the TUC rally and Conservative Party Conference!

Start of the rally near the MOSI

Despite all that, though the market was fabulous. It was reall well supported and there was a great atmosphere enhanced by the live music and dancing.  There were some lovely stallholders selling everything from fudge to flowers and photos to food.  We had an amazing day and even had a celebrity customer, the lovely Cherylee Houston, Izzy Armstrong to all you Corrie fans. 

It was lovely to see a familiar face there too - Gail was there giving out flyers for the next Altrincham Vintage and Craft Market  on Sunday 16 October, 11 - 3:30 in the covered market, Greenwood Street.

Thank you to everyone who came down. We met some lovely new customers and really enjoyed being there with our Jacy & Jools and sister site JJKitsch jewellery. We think it's going to be an amazing regular market and hope to see you there next time - first Sunday of the month!