Makers Market at The Steeple and The Handmade Show

My events marathon continues with the Makers Market at The Steeple in Newburgh this Saturday and The Handmade Show at Perth Concert Hall this Sunday!

 

Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth (behind M&S)

Sunday 4th November, 10-4pm

FREE ENTRY

 

 

I am working flat out this week to keep a full range of everyone's favourite

Aileen Clarke Crafts makes, enough for both events so apologies for the short blog post.

 

Lots of photos and tales from the fairs coming soon!

I will also be listing some new things in both my Etsy and Folksy shops next week.

 

Hope to see some of you at these events.

Pitcairngreen Village Hall Craft Fair This Saturday

Craft Fair season is well and truly upon me with five events in a row over the next few weekends.

It started last weekend with the Exclusively Highlands Meet the Makers event at Birnam House Hotel.

I was invited to exhibit by Isabel who organises the event and I really enjoyed it.

I met so many lovely artists, designers and food producers from all over the Highlands of Scotland and so many lovely customers too.

 

 

 A few visitors said they had come just to see me which is hugely flattering. Two different ladies from south of the border were sent by their daughters who follow my work online! Another lady who follows my blog here was on holiday a few miles away and came in to say hello and purchase a few things she had had her eye on.

 

I have more photos to share but they are on my Mum's camera so I will do a more extensive post at a later date.

 

This Saturday, the 27th October I will be at Pitcairngreen Village Hall. This is a fair that my Mum and I have been doing for about 8 years. My Mum was born in the village and I grew up near there so it always feels like going home.

 

I am working on a few new things this week to take with me. The weather has been so dull this week though and the days getting shorter that I am finding it hard to get photos.

 

Set of Three Cards £6

or £2.50 each

 

 New cards arrived yesterday and I took a quick snap before the light faded.

They are available as a set of three or individually.

 

The Sheep Pendants and Earrings are still very popular so I will be making more this week, especially the cottage ones.

 

Sheep Pendants £20

Earrings £18

 

The Calendars and Notebooks are proving very popular. I had to get a new supply of Harvey the Highland Cow delivered and I expect him to be popular at all the upcoming fairs so if you have your eye on one you might want to snap one up to save disappointment.

 

 

 

 

 Calendars, Cards and Notebooks are available on both Etsy and Folksy.

Everything else can be found in my Esty shop or from me at one of the following events.



October 27th (Saturday) 2012Craft Fair
Pitcairngreen Village Hall
Pitcairngreen nr Almondbank, Perth

November 3rd (Saturday)
Makers Market
The Steeple
Newburgh
Fife

November 4th (Sunday) 2012
The Handmade Show
Perth Concert Hall
Mill Street
Perth
10 - 4pm

November 10th and 11th (Saturday & Sunday) 2012
Exclusively Highlands
Meet the Makers, The Finest Arts, Crafts and Foods in The Highlands.
Blair Castle
Blair Atholl
Perthshire

Hope to see some of you there!

 

 

Aileen Clarke Crafts 2013 Calendar

The Aileen Clarke Crafts 2013 Calendar is here!

 



This is a really colourful Calendar to brighten up your wall featuring 12 different designs, one for each month.

 

 

 Everybody's favourite, Harvey will keep you company throughout February and the great thing is that your favourite images can be framed after use!

 

 

 The back of the calendar shows all the different designs.

 



 

This photo mosaic shows all the images used as well.

 



 

 

Limited Edition, available from my Etsy shop here

 

The notebooks are still in stock too with four designs to choose from.

 

 £4.95



Don't forget that I will be exhibiting at all these events over the next five weekends.

October 20th & 21st (Saturday & Sunday) 2012Exclusively Highlands
Birnam Hotel
Birnam
By Dunkeld
Perthshire
An opportunity to meet 40 Exhibitors from around Scotland selling a variety of different arts and crafts.

October 27th (Saturday) 2012
Craft Fair
Pitcairngreen Village Hall
Pitcairngreen nr Almondbank, Perth

November 3rd (Saturday)
Makers Market
The Steeple
Newburgh
Fife

November 4th (Sunday) 2012
The Handmade Show
Perth Concert Hall
Mill Street
Perth
10 - 4pm

November 10th and 11th (Saturday & Sunday) 2012
Exclusively Highlands
Meet the Makers, The Finest Arts, Crafts and Foods in The Highlands.
Blair Castle
Blair Atholl
Perthshire

Hope to see some of you there!

 

Notebooks Back In Stock

Printed Notebooks are back in stock and now come in four different designs!

 Late Summer Lupins

Harvey the Highland Cow

 Vibrant Hills

 Island and Gulls

The pages alternate between blank and ruled, making these little books perfect for both sketching and journaling.

 Notebooks measure 14x14cm and contain 38 pages.

£5.95 each from my Etsy Shop here

I will also have the notebooks with me at all my upcoming events.

October 20th & 21st (Saturday & Sunday) 2012Exclusively Highlands
Birnam Hotel
Birnam
By Dunkeld
Perthshire
An opportunity to meet 40 Exhibitors from around Scotland selling a variety of different arts and crafts.

October 27th (Saturday) 2012
Craft Fair
Pitcairngreen Village Hall
Pitcairngreen nr Almondbank, Perth

November 3rd (Saturday)
Makers Market
The Steeple
Newburgh
Fife

November 4th (Sunday) 2012
The Handmade Show
Perth Concert Hall
Mill Street
Perth
10 - 4pm

November 10th and 11th (Saturday & Sunday) 2012
Exclusively Highlands
Meet the Makers, The Finest Arts, Crafts and Foods in The Highlands.
Blair Castle
Blair Atholl
Perthshire



Scone Recipe and October Events

 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago I had a lovely visit from fellow felt maker Gill Pinkney while she was on holiday over on the East Neuk of Fife. We enjoyed tea and scones and plenty of chat and enthusing about felt and fibres and she said she loved my scones. A few folk on Facebook asked for the recipe so here it is:

 

8oz Self raising flour
2oz butter
2oz caster sugar
2oz sultanas1 egg
splash of milk

Sieve flour and rub in butter until it resembles bread crumbs.
 Add the sugar and sultanas and mix it all about a bit.
Crack the egg in, add the milk and mix with a wooden spoon until it starts to bind. Use hand to form a dough adding a teeny bit more milk if it's too dry.

Form the dough into scone sized balls, much like you would make a snowball except slightly flattened (makes eight small, six medium or four monsters) The ones shown are six medium.

Bake in oven at 180°C for 20-25 mins

Serve with butter and jam and cup of tea : )

 

 

I bought this beautiful Print from Caroline Rose Art last week. It looks great in the kitchen as our walls and kitchen units are a similar colour to the background. There is a matching cup cake print too! Tempting.

 

In between baking scones and rearranging the kitchen to accommodate new art work, I have been busy making lots of Sheep Pendants for upcoming fairs.

 

 

I also put this Tweed and Felt Box into my shop as a set with a matching gift card.

 

 

The next event I will be exhibiting at is held by

Exclusively Highlands at Birnam House Hotel, near Dunkeld.

Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st October, 10-5pm

This event gives you the opportunity to 'Meet the Makers' and enjoy Art, Craft and Food from all over Highland Scotland (and Fife!)

Entry is FREE.

 

I will then be at

Pitcairgreen Village Hall Craft Fair on

Saturday 27th October, 10-4pm

 

This is a lovely event and I think my Mum and I have exhibited at it for eight years in a row now. I always look forward to it and stock up on lots of handmade soap and other gorgeous things from people I see there every year.

 

I will have my full Aileen Clarke Crafts range with me at both events plus new things that have not arrived from the printers yet that I can't wait to show you!

Watch this space!



Little Landscapes and Latest Leaves

It has been all about pictures and brooches this week. I've had a real run on pictures since we got back from our holiday in August. Lots of commissions and these little landscapes flying off the shelves as soon as they are listed.

 

 

Wildflower Meadow Cottage

£55 Framed

 

Available now Here

 

Fraoch Cottage

£55 Framed

 

I have also been busy building up a stock of brooches.

I love making these as each one is different. Choosing just the right area of felt to cut the leaf shape from, stitching it up then sitting by the fire of an evening sewing all the beads, wires and brooch bars on is a never ending project. I'm not good at sitting doing nothing so always having a wee stock of brooches to work on is very satisfying.

 

Ivy Leaf Brooch Pin/Cloak Clasp

£15

 

The Ivy Leaf design is loosely inspired by the cloak clasps given to the Hobbits by the Elf Queen in Lord of The Rings. If I remember rightly, the clasps in the film (which I only saw this year and fell asleep half way through), were green enamel and silver. Mine have extra long brooch bars on the back making them perfect for keeping a cloak, shawl or cardigan closed. I often wear a brooch on my bag as well and they would also work on a hat.

 

 

 

 The red Ivy Leaf has sold but all the rest are available in my Etsy shop here

 

 

The Birdie Brooches are Harris Tweed with little handmade felt wings.

 

Hopefully I will have some new sheep pendants and earrings available next week.

Playing At Shops in a Shed

On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending at Open Day at Gillies and Mackay, makers of fine sheds and summer houses an Errol, near Perth.

The idea was to install various artists, crafters and beauticians in different sheds and summer houses to show how they could be used for more than just sitting in or for storing a few tools.

 



 

 

 

I really enjoyed playing at shops in this beautiful summer house.

There was plenty of room for a little work table as well and if I did have this one at home in the garden, there would be room for a comfy chair to relax in and plenty of shelving as well.

 

 

As you can see, it was a lovely day on Saturday. Really bright and frosty in the morning but warming as the sun came round and filled our sheds with lots of light.

This one was inhabited for the day by The Beauty Room, Errol.

 

 

This incredible structure below is a proper living space complete with wood burning stove! It would make a wonderful home office, studio, guest accomodation or therapy room. It was being used for the day by a lady offering massage, manicures and Partylite Candles.

 

 

Another of the summer houses was occupied by Sutherland based artist Catherine Mackay. Catherine also makes beautiful enamel jewellery. Her butterfly pendants are absolutely stunning!

 

 

 

 

Even the smaller of the summer houses would make a great garden studio. In fact, I rather fancied the potting shed as it had a big window, lovely long work bench and plenty of shelving.

I will carry on day dreaming though and continue to work from my little space in our cottage. It's handy as we have a wood burning stove that keeps everything toasty through the winter and I can still look out onto the garden.

 

 

Two artists I met during my visit to Perthshire Open Studios earlier in the month do work from garden studios.

 

 

Ceri White Ceramics, Dunning

and Lorna Radbourne, Catriona Glass, also at Dunning.

 

 

 

 

 

If you fancy a visit to Gillies and Mackay, they are right next to the Cairn o' Mohr winery which has a lovely cafe, wine shop and tasting room.

 

 

 

 

Don't all these bottles look lovely with the sun shining through them!

My favourites are Spring Oak leaf and Elderberry.

 

 

 

View across The Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire

 

 

I spent some time this week listing new things in my Etsy shop and spent all day yesterday making felt so look out for lots of new pictures, boxes and jewellery coming soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open Day at Gillies and Mackay, Saturday 22nd September 2012

 

I will be at this event tomorrow with all my wares.

Gillies and Mackay are based near Errol in the Carse of Gowrie between Perth and Dundee. They make wooden sheds, summer houses, play houses, garages and more and want to show you all how these structures can be used for so much more than just storing a few tools!

 

 

I will have my full Aileen Clarke Crafts range with me

and my embellisher machine to do a little bit of demonstrating.

The Cairn o Mohr winery and cafe is right next door so guess what I will be relaxing with tomorrow night!

 

 

I can vouch for this wine being an aid to creativity.

 

I also have some new jewellery pieces made including these new hearts pendants.

 

 It's been a busy few weeks with commissions so I'm a bit short of framed pieces but will have a few on display.

 



 

 

 I do have lots of new brooches though.

 

 

 

 

 Perfect for keeping your cardi or shawl closed at the front or for brightening up a lapel, handbag or hat.

 

 

 

 

 I also have a few new boxes made and they now come with their own little cardboard

gift box.

 

 

The new notebooks flew out of my Etsy shop and the cottage design is sold out! There are more on order though and I will have some of the seascape design with me.

 

 



 

I will be listing new things on line next week and will let you know when the new notebooks arrive.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and that we can all enjoy some Autumn sunshine.