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

One man and his snow shovel

 Last Sunday saw the first Castlefield Artisan Market of 2012 and the week of winter sunshine promised the ideal weather but as Saturday progressed, and the snow fell heavier, the cobbles at Castlefield looked like a winter wonderland and the Sunday market seemed very unlikely.  Come 6am though, it was different story, the market was on!  Asif and Jodie had been there since 3.30am and by the time we all arrived the cobbles were clear!  It did mean that some of the stallholders who came from areas badly hit by the snow were unable to get there but there was still a great turnout and everyone was eager to make the day a success. 

Castlefield Artisan is situated underneath the railway arches near Dukes92 and we shared our arch with some old friends and new faces.  Our lovely friend Cornelius Potts and Uncle Monty aka Gina was there

with her stall looking as beautiful as ever.  I bought this gorgeous card for a friend's birthday coming up soon!

We were also pleased to see Mark Hobbs back with his cards and prints from his own photos as he'd taken a break from the market for the last couple of months.  My humble photos don't do his justice but you get the idea and I just love his prints!

 I particularly love the idea of this emergency card kit complete with 1st class stamps!






It was also good to see Clare of DesignSixty4 at Castlefield for the first time.  We first met Clare at the fab Altrincham Vintage and Craft Market so it was great to see her here too with her personalised and place name mugs.

Also here for the first time were The Flat Basket Company and CocoByPost .  The Flat Basket Company make amazing collapsing spiral cut wooden baskets which fold completely flat when not in use.  They have to be seen, they're fascinating!  







Sarah's luxury brownies were amazing and her stall looked so pretty with everything beautifully presented and packaged.  I loved the stamped tags and little stickers but then I am a bit of a geek when it comes to design and presentation.

Form an orderly queue please - plenty of jewellery for
everyone!

No-one could deny it was a freezing cold day and we were all well and truly shivering by the end of it but, as usual, there was a brilliant atmosphere and the market was extrememly well supported by local residents and those travelling from further afield who came out and braved the cold with us!













The atmosphere was well and truly enhanced when the fabulous Cotton Town Hot Club arrived, a little earlier than usual, to get the party started! Their fabulous swing music and accompanying dancing always gets everyone's feet tapping and brings a smile to faces and the braver of the visitors even get involved and join in the dance! Overcoats were well and truly on earlier in the day last week so I'll have to get over with my camera when the weather's a little warmer to get some photos of them all resplendent in their wonderful outfits.

One new stall who had a great view of the entertainment was Spotty Dotty Delights who specialises in "all things quirky" including her lovely bake mixes in a jar which include everything you need to make perfect cookies!  Again another very pretty stall perfectly pandering to Jacy & Jools' love of everything pink and pastel! How's that for aliteration! :)

I can't sign off without including this fab picture of Mama K's homemade salsa and tortilla stand.  It has to win the award of most vibrant photo of the day. The salsas are as delicious as the colours are bright and the stall most definitely brightened up a snowy corner of the cobbles.

 

So, despite the weather trying its best to ruin things again, another successful market.  Huge thanks once again to the lovely Asif and Jodie for all their efforts to make the market what it is.  It's going from strength to strength and by the time the weather gods finally shine down on us with sunshine again it's going to be even more bustling and vibrant than it already is!  I had my 'busy body' hat on Sunday and coaxed, bullied and charmed the stallholders to fill out my little form to compile a directory of the stalls with Twitter names, blogs, Facebook pages and other details so we can all get to know each other, chat between markets and promote and encourage each other's businesses and, of course, the fabulous Castlefield Artisan Market  I'll be doing the same again next month when hopefully the snow is gone and the market is back to full strength to include the stalls who couldn't make it this time but in the meantime look out in the next couple of weeks for my Castlefield Directory Part 1 blog.

x

Hold onto your hats...

.... gazebos, carrier bags, leaflets and stock!! It was a typical January day for the the first Wilmslow Artisan Market of 2012.  Thankfully the rain mostly stayed away but to say it was a bit blustery was putting it mildly and Vicky and Denise seemed to spend the day on litter patrol!

As usual, though, there was a huge array of fabulous stalls selling everything from pies, cupcakes and sausages to jewellery, knitwear and dog biscuits and a steady throng of visitors travelling up and down Grove Street eager to look and buy!

We'd made a few small changes again to our stall display and were keen to show them off.

We also featured a little Valentine display to encourage the men folk of Wilmslow to treat their ladies!

Once again we were next door neighbours with our lovely friend Zoe of Honey Bee Designs .  She was testing out a few new display features too and as usual her stall looked fabulous!

With cakes by Tea & Thee on one side of us and the olive man on the other we were bombarded with tempting smells all day and were actually starving by 11 o'clock! I mean, who wouldn't be tempted by this lovely selection:

As well as a large selection of delicious cakes Tea & Thee also offer catering with their vintage inspired afternoon tea parties and have a vast collection of vintage crockery for hire.  Check out their web site for information and prices.

Our lovely Jacy samples an olive! 

Two stalls which, thankfully, seemed firmly grounded in the winds, or the consequences could have been disastrous were the gorgeous glassware and artisan soaps handmade by Carole and Andrew of Select Crafts and the beautiful vintage china from Sheila's The Vintage China Cupboard

Carole and Andrew with their gorgeous glassware and soaps

 Their soaps are made using premium fragrances and vegetable based ingredients and are SLS free having being tested by an independent chemist.  The glassware can be custom made to your own specifications and is hand made using high quality artisan craft glass.

 Sheila's vintage china is exquisite.  In addition to the lovely items she has for sale in their own right she offers bunting and vintage china for hire, perfect for a country wedding or tea party and also offers a wedding styling service.  Her items also make excellent wedding favours or thank you gifts and she sells pretty vintage English cups and saucers beautifully presented in a shimmery organza bag for this purpose.




Our fab friends, the lovely, lovely ladies Vicki and Sam from Dotty Designs and Perfectly Poncho were within waving distance.  Vicki had her lovely new wedding jewellery items on display making their debut together with Sam's gorgeous, high quality, woollen children's ponchos and hats and I have to say it was, most definitely 'perfect poncho' weather on Saturday! Vicki became a 'Twitter Virgin' recently too and you can follow her @dottyvic !!!!

Sam's Perfect Ponchos and hats

Dotty Designs' new wedding jewellery range

The lovely ladies themselves, Vicki's hat unfortunately
covering her 'new do'

More of Dotty's lovely designs - I love the fine silver heart
with set sapphire!

Our gorgeously talented friend Gina from Cornelius Potts also braved the elements with her lovely greeting cards and had a selection of Valentine cards with her too.

Just one of Gina's amazing designs, check out her others
on her Facebook page

It was great to catch up with lovely friend Lorraine for the first time this year.  A regular at the Wilmslow Artisan and Treacle Market, Macclesfield with George's Gourment Dog Biscuits and dog toys and clothing.  No pic this month but hoping to snap all 12 stone of the man himself, George the Old English Mastiff, next time he makes a public appearance!

Last, but most definitely not least two amazing stalls offering very different but equally fabulous, quality home and garden accessories, Jayne Lomas' Bill & Betty and Gill Adamson's 'The Chicken Shed'.

Jayne's business was born out of a love of accessorising her own home.  Her stall and online shop is full of inspirational home and garden accessories sourced from small name brands who, like her, have a passion for their products.  

Gill's Chicken Shed is one of my favourite stalls and Gill kept all of us located near her in December entertained with her cheery disposition.  

I managed to snap this lovely angel, a customer order,  just before is was popped into a bag and carried away.  Gill has two sheds in the back garden of her beautiful cottage in Derbyshire (of which I'm very jealous, the cottage in Derbyshire not the sheds!) working from one and using the other for storage.  This has now earned her the nickname of Arthur as the 'angel customer' told us of a Monty Python sketch featuring 'Arthur Two Sheds Johnson'.  As you can see below Gill is extremely talented and her hand made items are

beautiful.  She always has a great selection with her and is happy to make items to order and can be contacted on 07814 806331.

We're looking forward once more and next on the calendar is the very popular Castlefield Market on Sunday 5 February.  Found on Castlefield cobbles at the corner of Castle Street and Duke Street, near Dukes92, this a busy, diverse artisan market offering the best of local artisan food producers and arts and crafts.  There's always entertainment to add to the vibrant atmosphere and is well worth a visit between 10am and 4pm! 

Nearly forgot!  A huge well done to Gail of Altrincham Vintage & Artisan Market fame who firstly got a tweet from MARY PORTAS no less!!! secondly, got her face in the local paper and thirdly got an excellent piece of free advertising for the market - not bad going in 140 characters or less!!!

Talking of Twitter, we were thrilled this week to exceed our 500th follower and are now heading very rapidly towards 1000.  We also came in new at #594 on the GMTweetmap - the only way is up, as they say! Follow us @jacyandjools