The weather outside is…

Here we are, Monday 21st December 2009 and I am soooo disorganised lol.

We had a snowfall here in Stoke on Trent last Thursday and everywhere is still white as it has been so cold that it hasn’t had a chance to thaw!! We’ve had the occasional flurry of snow since then but nothing worth talking about really lol. But outside is like a skating rink, so I hope everyone stays safe and careful if they venture outdoors.

Cards and Candles For All Occasions are having a short break over the festive season as we have soooooo much to do to prepare for Christmas and visitting family and friends but we will be back with our online store re-opened and updated on Monday 4th January 2010.

I’m starting the week with the big craftroom clearout and tidy up, simply because we need to use my room for storage over the holidays to make space for our visitors, so it’s tidy tidy tidy today then move things in here so it looks like a bombsite again, then I can start on the rest of the house.

Also on our “to do” list for this week is some homemade shortbread, mince pies, muffins and peppermint creams then the preparation and shopping for Christmas dinner… we’re staying at home on Christmas day and have my father in law joining us, so a nice quiet family day.

Either today or tomorrow we also need to go into town to do the last of the Christmas present shopping… not a task I’m looking forward to, but we know what we’re buying and from which shops so hopefully it shouldn’t be too traumatic!! lol.

I found a lovely website which I thought would be great for the kiddies as Christmas approaches… though I’m sure the grown ups will love it too, have a look and see what you think:

Portable North Pole >Click Here<

Off now to email the wonderful Susan McKeen to let her know our wonderful parcel arrived bright and early this morning, a lovely box full of homemade fruit cake and empire biscuits… yum yum!! Thank you Susan!! Can’t wait to taste them… being good just now though, waiting til we’ve been shopping and can sit and relax with a cuppa.

Well, lots to do… tidying, cleaning, more decorations, baking, shopping, packing for our trip to Scotland on 28th December and catching up with friends – all with only three and a half days to go until Santa arrives so I best log off for now and go get busy!!

Hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas enjoying snuggly catch up time with family and friends, and best wishes for 2010, hope the New Year brings you all you wish for.

Lots of love, Laura, Gordon and our angel babies xxx

The end of another year!!

Well, here we are seven days before Christmas and at the end of our crafty year… lots of things have been learned, ideas and criticisms taken on board and lots of plans for 2010 but here at Cards And Candles For All Occasions we are having a break for a couple of weeks to relax and recharge our batteries, while spending some of the festive period with family and friends.

Throughout 2009 we have expanded our papercrafts ranges from greetings cards and keepsake cards to include handcrafted notebook and writing sets, bookmarks and gift tags, memorial verses and gift boxes, we have also expanded our range of handcrafted candles and these will continue to expand throughout the coming months.

We have attended several craft fairs at various venues throughout the year and made contacts with some wonderful events organisers. Some of the events we attended in 2009, we have lined up for 2010 while others are filed in the “not worth it” category and we have already began looking into events for the next twelve months… it’s never too early to start getting organised!!

At the moment we are in the planning stages of a few new ranges which will all be handmade by Gordon and myself, including dreamcatchers, beaded keyrings and phone charms and I hope to expand my crochet ranges so although we are having a winter break from our “normal” crafts for a few weeks there is lots of planning and experimenting for our new projects which is all very exciting!!

So, all in all , 2009 has been a huge learning curve and we have made some fantastic friends and connections along the way, so we would like to take this opprtunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!

Delapre Abbey Christmas Craft Fair

On Sunday 13th December 2009 we returned to Delapre Abbey in Northampton for their annual Christmas craft fair… after our success at the 2008 event we were full of enthusiasm, Christmas spirit and I’m sure our expectations were quite high, after all last year we almost sold out of cards and candles and our little gifts went well too.

This year we made sure we had plenty of stock, more than last year and a wider range too, ready for the fantastic day we were expecting… unfortunately things weren’t looking quite as great from the outset.

We decided to drive down on Saturday evening and stay at the Premier Inn so we didn’t need such an early start on Sunday morning… we spoke to several staff both at the hotel and the adjoining restaurant none of which were aware of any event at the Abbey, bearing in mind the hotel was less than three miles away from the venue. Not to worry, we were sure there would be plenty of signs in the surrounding area and local advertising so we enjoyed a nice meal in the restaurant before returning to our room to relax watching X-Factor and an early night.

Sunday morning came round rather quickly and we were able to sort all emails in our room before a nice hot shower, breakfast and a drive to Delapre Abbey for the day ahead… thankfully we knew where the venue was as the only sign we saw was at the end of their driveway!! Not really a good start. Anyways, we got there and found someone with a clipboard (an organiser? who knows really!) and he told us to “choose a table and set up” as they had decided NOT to allocate tables and to just let everyone decide for themselves.

We set up our table in what seemed like a relatively good location with plenty of space for potential customers and visitors to have a look around without feeling claustrophobic but as we were setting up we noticed that the lack of organisation was becoming very apparent… there were seven stallholders who just “turned up” and they were given tables!! Bearing in mind there were apparently nine stallholders who didn’t turn up, who knows where they would have been put!! Other stallholders were using several tables when only one had been booked and as a result they were bringing in extra tables to accomodate the stallholders as they arrived. As you can imagine it ended up very cramped, everyone very close together with very restricted space for walking around the marquee and a lot of people complaining.

The number of visitors who attended the craft fair this year was definitely less than last year and those who we were chatting to had found out about the event purely by chance or seeing the sign at the end of the drive on the day, from what we heard there was no local advertising. While people were happy to browse there weren’t many people who were buying on the day, though lots were taking business cards and contact details for possible future purchases. We did cover stall costs with this event but our takings were about 75% down on the same event in 2008… very disappointing.

Customers and stallholders alike were commenting on the freezing temperatures within the marquee and also the poor lighting. When we booked for this event we were promised heating and lighting within the marquee… did we get it? No, don’t be silly… when someone asked about it, they were told that the lighting outside the marquee was sufficient and they had no facility to provide heating, bearing in mind last years venue had both heating and lighting provided.

The highlight of the day was being surrounded by some lovely crafters and meeting new people as well as being able to catch up with crafters from last year including the lovely Ren and her beautiful daughter Lauren of Urban Angel Jewellery, as well as Alison of Frute Juce, Mary and lots more lovely people.

Sadly, the change in organiser of this event was clear to see as there were several areas which were very disappointing in comparison to the previous year, including several stalls selling mass produced and bought-in goods, and a few of the crafters we spoke to did say that they would not return for future events at this venue which is a shame but as crafters we cannot afford to spend time and money on venues where the organisation and advertising is so poor.

I sincerely hope that if the craft fairs at Delapre Abbey are to continue then then people who are responsible for the organisation look at this years advertising, layout and variety of stallholders and take these things into account for future events as it is a lovely venue and seems a shame for such an awful turnaround in the space of twelve months.

It’s A Hit

What a day!!

Sunday 29th November 2009… cold, wet and frosty!! But none the less, we were up and out of the house by 7:30am for the Craft Fair at Stockton Brook Scout and Guide HQ in Stoke on Trent.

We arrived around 8:00am and had a prime spot in the hall with our cards, candles and gifts… the first stall as soon as visitors came in the door!!! Thank you Claire

We got everything set up in plenty of time, had both of our tables arranged and had time for a cuppa and ten minutes to chill before the event opened at 10:00am.

The craft fair was well signposted, lots of advertising in place and people were definitely in shopping mode, we heard people say they’d spent more at Sunday’s craft fair than they did in a full day’s shopping in Chester the previous day, so they were happy to get lots of Christmas shopping completed!

We had a great day of sales… our Snowman Soup and Reindeer Food proved to be a grat hit with grown ups and kiddies alike, so we definitely need to make some more of those for our next event on 13th December 2009 at Delapre Abbey, Northampton.

Not only did we make a very good profit on Sunday we also managed to do a bit of Christmas shopping and catch up with some lovely fellow crafters and friends.

Stallholders included Katherine and Guy of Made With Love Designs, Claire of Pawprints of Staffordshire, Lisa of Lisa Carr Bead Lady, Quirky Cottage and Two Hoots as well as several other crafty stalls all of which with fab handmade goodies!!

Can’t wait for Claire’s next event… not sure when it is but we’ve already booked our space!!

Half empty or half full?

I’ve been thinking a lot over this last week about promoting our website, ways of generating sales and boosting our positivity… we’ve had a rough year but we’re still here to tell the tale so surely we should be having a positive attitude to things and counting our blessings that we have overcome the not so great obstacles we have faced.

Our Positive Mental Attitude… Glass Is Half Full approach starts here!! Today has seen lots of discussing and planning and writing “to do” lists. A few emails have been sent and things sorted for our next craft fair in two days time.

Craft Fair on Sunday 29th November 2009

Open 10:00am until 4:00pm

Stockton Brook Scout & Guide HQ
Moss Hill
Stockton Brook
Stoke on Trent
ST9 9NW

I have recently spoken to the lovely Claire of Pawprints of Staffordshire and she has told me that there will be a fab range of handcrafted goodies just in time for Christmas, including cards and candles, teddy bears, bags, jewellery, a photographer with limited edition prints, silk scarves and accessories, wooden plaques and letters, a couple of people who do glass painted items like vases, candle holders etc, sock monkeys, knitted and embroidered gifts, crocheted and knitted scarves, wooden gifts and even a lady who makes posh dog biscuits!!!

We’re really looking forward to this event and have lots of new goodies available on our stall including greetings cards, keepsake cards, notebooks and writing sets, bookmarks and gift tags and a fab range of scented and unscented candles. We’ll have some “on the day” special offers to, so don’t forget to come along and say hello and see what bargains you can bag!!

Our next craft fair is in two weeks time and involves an overnight stay in Northampton’s Premier Inn for an early start at the annual Christmas Craft Fair on Sunday 13th December 2009:

Open from 10:00am until 5:00pm

Delapre Abbey
London Road
Northampton
NN4 8AW

We attended this event in 2008 and despite pretty awful weather, it was a fab weekend… Delapre Abbey is set in beautiful surroundings and there were lots of gorgeous handcrafted gifts for sale, as well as lots of friendly crafty stall holders and lovely customers too. Hopefully this year will be equally successful although better weather would be nice as last year was very wet and very cold lol – watch out for me this year, I’ll be the one wrapped up in a dozen warm layers of clothes!!

For 2010, we are hope that this will be the start of something big… we are planning to expand our online presence and add our products to other selling outlets, eg. Ebay, Etsy and Folksy where currently we are only listed on >Misi< and our own website.

We are also looking to attend more craft fairs and events throughout the year, already having booked a two day event at Tutbury Castle for 30th and 31st October 2010.

As our ranges and crafts continue to expand so does our commitment to supporting causes which are close to our heart, through family circumstances and such like, for this reason we are looking to start a “Annual Nominated Charity” whereby we will donated a percentage of all sales throughout the year… this is something we are looking into at the moment and more details will be available as we progress with this plan.

We are looking into embroidered polo shirts and fleeces too, to give our stall at events a more professional look as well as being an additional marketting tool. We already have our name badges so these will be in the same colours and will hopefully help with our craft fair ‘presence’ in showing our commitment and enthusiasm for what we do.

So… all in all, our ideas are there and now we need to look into them all and put them into action, with lots of positivity, hardwork and commitment our aim is to make 2010 our year… can we do it? We’re going to give it our best shot so watch this space!!

Motivation… Priority… Perspective… Remembrance

It’s Wednesday!!!

Had a great night’s sleep, and even though I wasn’t in the best of moods yesterday we got quite a bit done… bills paid, blog updated, promotional emails sent, supermarket shopping done, hubby even treated us to take-away for tea last night, then we just relaxed together and watched a few random programmes on television.

This morning though, I’ve woken up feeling refreshed but lacking in energy or motivation. I have lots of crafty ideas and to-do lists but don’t seem to have the “get up and go” to start anything. Perhaps I should have a full day off from crafting and start again tomorrow? Nah!! What would I do with my day then? lol… oh dear, I need to get motivated, I need a swift kick up the rear as I know that once I start I’ll be fine – the problem seems to be my starter motor being seized!!

But today is an important day, a time for reflection, a time to think about what really matters and put things into perspective… take the time to remember the servicemen and woman who fought for our freedom, who lost their lives through no fault of their own – simply through standing up for their country and fighting for what they believed in. We must also remember the service men and women who are currently serving in our Armed Forces, their families and loved ones.

It’s the Military, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press.
It’s the Military, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech.
It’s the Military, not the politicians that ensures our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
It’s the Military who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the …flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag.

Please take the time to remember the people who fought to give us the lives we have today. Let us never forget… but today is not only a time to be proud of the soldiers who have died fighting for their country, but to also be grateful to those who have served and are still living. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

I’m going to go for a nice soak in a hot, bubbly bath to relax, then make myself a nice healthy lunch of yoghurt and fruit, put on some feel-good music, something nice and catchy and lively, then get out some of my crafty bits and see if my inspiration jumps into gear. Fingers crossed!!

If the day goes to plan and I find my “oomph” then I’ll make a start on our own personal Christmas cards, perhaps make more Snowman Soup then just go with the flow and take the day one step at a time.

43 days to go!!

Here we are on the 10th November with 43 days to go until Christmas and we are incredibly organised… it’s not like us at all!!!

Our next craft fair is on Sunday 29th November 2009 at Stockton Brook Scout and Guide HQ in Stoke on Trent, which is running from 10:00am until 4:00pm – this is the first of our Christmas themed events for this year

For those of you looking to come along to see us, the full address is:

Stockton Brook Scout and Guide HQ
Moss Hill
Stockton Brook
Stoke on Trent
Staffordshire
ST9 9NW

Admission to this craft fair is free and all products will be handcrafted… no mass produced items – all unique and personal for your loved ones.

Why not come along, say hello and do some Christmas shopping in a lovely, friendly and stress free enviroment?

Our product range is ever expanding and our selection of each item is constantly growing, though as always we love to receive commission orders from our customers as we enjoy the challenge of working to your own personalised requirements and providing something personal for our customers and their loved ones.

Our range now includes:

Greetings cards
Keepsake cards
Gift tags
Bookmarks
Notebooks
Writing sets
Scented candles
Unscented candles
Natural candle holders
Container candles
Snowman soup
Reindeer food

Our gift ideas start from only 95p each, great stocking fillers or a little treat for yourself!!

All in all, I think we’re pretty organised for our forthcoming craft fairs… all we need to do now is concentrate on the gifts we need to make/buy for family and friends then we’re done!!

Not much to do now, so we have some time to relax… much needed time too

Playing With New Toys

As some of you may already know, here at Cards And Candles For All Occasions we have been on a bit of a shopping spree lately stocking up on lots of new goodies to allow us to expand our selection of greetings and keepsake cards.

Today, we have been working on a special Christmas card for our friends daughter.

Firstly, the house shape was scored and cut out using the Glitter Girls Media and Pastimes board.

Next gold outline stickers were used to highlight and emphasise the edging and details.

The card was then mounted onto A4 cardstock which was cut and shaped to suit the house design.

Then an extra door and window sill were scored and cut out, edged with gold outlines and finished with an eyelet door handle which was applied using the Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile.

Next we added a diecut wreath to the front door, a Christmas tree embellishment to the window sill and a “Noel” sentiment in place of a letter box.

We then took one of the boards from the Crafters Companion and scored and cut out the Snowman before colouring him and attaching him below the window.

Lastly, a personalised stocking was hung from the roof of the house and the completed card looks like this:

What do you think?

Themed Christmas Cards

A family member is very interested in boating, and with having their own canal boat we thought this would be an ideal theme for thei Christmas card:

This is a 3D decoupage canal boat scene, layered onto red glittered card stock, then onto our cream card stock, completed with a Christmas tree and Snowman embellishment and “To Both Of You” sentiment.

Hope they like it!!!

Christmas Cards

We have also been adding to our Christmas card ranges for the loved ones in your family.

Special Friends at Christmas

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mum and Dad at Christmas

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There will be lots more cards added over the next couple of weeks, although if there is anything specific that you are looking for or would like to discuss your requirements please email me at laurascardsforalloccasions@yahoo.com