Happy New Year!

A bit late with the New Year's greetings, I can't believe we're nearly half way through January already!

After the wet and windy weather leading up to Christmas we're hoping for a bit of winter sunshine to cheer up the January and February markets we'll be attending.  We certainly had to battle the wind and rain at the Castlefield Christmas Market but it definitely didn't dampen spirits and we even welcomed North West Tonight who aired part of their show live from the cobbles.

North West Tonight live
from the market

Yorkshire Imperial Brass Band

We were entertained magnificently throughout the evening by the Yorkshire Imperial Brass Band  with fabulous arrangements of traditional Christmas music.  Their playing definitely lifted the spirits and brought a smile to everyone's face and Kate from The Groovy Gang Handmade Soaps and Fiona from Rose & Lee Vintage Living joined in the entertaining and tried their hand with the fundraising bucket!

Fiona of Rose & Lee Vintage Living (photo
courtesy of Kate Peterson - Groovy Gang
Handmade Soaps' Facebook page)

We made some fabulous new friends including Fiona from Sciolti Chocolates , Lela from DoodleLove and Melissa from Jopp Design .  Also 'neighbours' with us were the lovely Louise with her gorgeous macaron and fabulous friend Gina with her beautiful Cornelius Potts and Uncle Monty cards.  Her stall looked fab, as you can see below!

The fabulous Cornelius Potts and Uncle Monty

We had to experiment with several different positions for our display tables as we proceeded to spring various leaks in the gazebo roof throughout the day and evening and managed to stop the drips with varying degrees of success!  We still managed to make it look pretty  and were pleased with how our new banners looked on one of their first proper outings.

Asif and Jodie did a fantastic job getting the event organised and they had a great mix of stalls offering some great quality items.  The BBC's presence was a great bonus and the brass band were brilliant and created a lovely atmosphere.  A little less of Manchester's trademark rain would have been nice but it seems to have been a recurring theme in the run up to Christmas - here's to a crisp and dry one this year!

Looking forward, it's the first Altrincham Vintage & Artisan Market this Sunday.  It's crept up on us quickly this time.  It will be in the usual location in the covered market area on Greenwood Street, Altrincham from 11am to 3.30pm and will be the regular mix of vintage clothes and other items, artisan crafts, food and entertainment.  There's always a great friendly atmosphere and it's well worth a visit.  We'll be there with our Jacy&Jools contemporary jewellery and our quirky JJKitsch range with a fun vintage vibe.

There's a great article about the market in the Messenger, by the way, and you can read it here

See you there!

The final countdown to a Castlefield Christmas



The giant advent calendar in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens
Photo courtesy of menmedia.co.uk

Only one more sleep until the fabulous Castlefield Christmas Artisan Market opens for festive fun.  As the 23rd is peeled back on the giant advent calendar in Piccadilly Gardens the market opens at 10 am.  On the cobbled streets of Castlefield, near Dukes92, you will find speciality foods and produce, artisan arts and crafts and even sherry and minces pies.  In the evening there will be entertainment and North West Tonight broadcasting live.  A real traditional family Christmas market with something for everyone until 9pm.

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

More Christmas Markets...

We have a busy week coming up with the last Wilmslow Artisan Market before Christmas on Saturday 17th (10 am - 4 pm Grove Street), the Altrincham Vintage & Craft Market on Sunday 18th (11 am - 3.30 pm in the covered market, Greenwood Street) and the Castlefield Christmas Market on Friday 23rd (10 am - 9 pm Castle Street, near Dukes92).

This is the 6th Wilmslow Artisan Market and the last six months have seen it go from strength to strength.  The market takes place on the main high street in Wilmslow town centre and there are now a huge amount of individual, quality stall holders offering a vast array of food, drink and artisan crafts.  Well worth a visit!

This weekend sees Altrincham's very own Christmas Market.  Called The Christmas Kitchen Food Fair it has been organised in conjunction with Altrincham Market and Barry Cooperman from La Rioja, The Belgian Bar and The Fish Game and will be open from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday.  The regular market will be open as usual on Saturday as will the Vintage, Craft and Food Producers' markets on Sunday.  Of course, we'll be there, as usual, as part of the Vintage & Craft Market!

See the Christmas Kitchen Food Fair mentions on NetMums , Messenger Newspapers , J Davidson and The Hale, Altrincham & Sale Independent

Last, but definitely not least, is the Castlefield Christmas Market.  Hot on the heels of the successful monthly Castlefield Artisan market comes this special traditional Christmas Market. 

As I've said, it's on Friday 23rd December, just right for those last minute Christmas presents and for fabulous locally produced food from award winning producers.  It will be open from 10 am to 9 pm and situated on Castle Street near Dukes92 .  A fabulous traditional market offering an eclectic mix of Artisan specialist food, and festive hampers, chocolates, flowers, vintage gifts, jewellery, sherry and  mince pies with music and dancing from 5 pm onwards.  Something for all the family! 

Read more about Castlefield Christmas Market on the official Visit Manchester - Mcr Loves Christmas site, the Castlefield Forum , Yelp and CreativeTourist.com

See you there!

♫Happy birthday to you.....♪♪

It's our lovely Jacy's birthday on Saturday so to make it extra special we're running a birthday competition on Twitter.

If you tweet 'Happy Birthday' to Jacy on Friday 16th December on any of our Twitter accounts - @jacyandjools, @jjkitsch or @makeawishco - you will be entered into the draw.  At midnight, as her birthday begins, the first 5 people out of the hat will receive a free 'Make A Wish' bracelet!

Don't worry if you miss out on the Twitter draw though.  On Saturday we are at the Wilmslow Artisan Market on Grove Street from 10 - 4 and anyone who sings 'Happy Birthday' to Jacy will receive a free 'Make A Wish' bracelet with their purchase!

Good luck x

Coming up in 2012

We always have our next three events displayed on our blog but we have so many events coming up in the new year we've produced a downloadable document showing where we are going to be for the next few months. 

New events are always being added so it's always best to keep checking back on the blog or keep up to date by following us on Twitter @jacyandjools

Just click the link below which will take you to 4shared.com where our document is stored ready for download

Events 2012

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!