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!!

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