Saturday June 18th was a scrapbooking bonanza courtesy of Nikki (Paint Pots and Petals) who introduced us to a more refined version of a favourite childhood craft. She provided a feast of papers and adornments as well as ideas for layouts and colourschemes. We were a small gathering this month with a few regular faces missing but turned this to our advantage and spread ourselves out with gusto, as you can see...

Refreshments were kindly upgraded from biscuits to delicious home-made rocky road thanks to Ruth.

Things got even more exciting when Fay arrived with the Big Shot. There was much ooohhing and aaahhhing over this magic shape cutter which gave us even more choices for patterns and designs on our scrapbook pages. Paper, cotton, leather -  the Big Shot rocks!

Here are some of our designs in progress and some finished articles.  A HUGE thanks to Nikki for her demo and for providing so much material for us to use. Congratulations also on her apperance in Scrapbooking magazine. Very well deserved Nik! 
See you all next month x

Just wanted to share some photos of CCC's summer fair last Sunday. Let's get straight to our beautifully British preoccupation with the weather (even though our event was indoors) and acknowledge that it was not a scorcher. Is someone bringing the rain with them as they cross the Chorley border?!?
Anyway, footflow was steady and those that came to see us got a treat with some new faces (and fragrances, if they went upstairs for a bathbomb demo) and a new room. As usual our selection of makers was of a superhigh standard and buying local and handmade could not have been easier...

As usual, Kellie and Nikki from Paintpots and Petals kept the atmosphere lively with a vintage tea set raffle prize and 1940s attire. What would we do without you? x

Thanks to everyone who came along and to all our wonderful bakers, seamstresses, painters, sculpters, jewellers, graphic designers, card-makers, bee-keepers, photographers, alchemists and all-round creative makers.

We have quite a long rest now until our next craft fair so plenty of time to create over the summer months.

Our monthly meet-ups however continue unabated and on June 18th Nikki is running a workshop on Scrap-booking.
Be there or be square.

Bye for now x

And then the rain came....

 

Here we are, Saturday afternoon, full of optimistic anticipation for the day to come. Marquee lined with our handmade fused plastic bunting, stalls arranged ready for everyone to fill the following morning.

When Sunday came, unfortunately for us and the main event organisers (Royal British Legion & Chorley Council) who had done a phenomenal amount of preparation, visitors were up against the most awful wet and windy weather and understandably either didn't bother braving the rain at all or came briefly and then swiftly took their picnic hampers back home.
There's no denying it was not the day it had promised to be but that said, our marquee was a place of beauty and solace for the committed visitors who came to see us. The atmosphere, as ever, was friendly and jovial and despite low numbers of paying customers (a lot of people were drawn to our shelter as much as our arts and crafts) a good time was still had by all.

Here are just a handful of images from the day. Many more to come in future posts (and on members personal blogs and websites!).

The following week was our regular meet-up in Chorley which included a workshop on the very fashionable art of paper-cutting. The afternoon yielded some beautifully delicate pieces and will have hopefully inspired people to create some more designs which we may see at a future sales event. Craft knives at the ready... 

Sunday June 5th is our next craft fair at our regular venue - The Coach House, Astley Park. We are covering two floors again with over 20 makers, some of whom were with us at the Picnic in the Park, some who weren't. It will be a fabulous day come rain or shine!

Saturday 18th June meet-up will be a scrap-booking session run by Nikki from Paint Pots and Petals so don't miss that one. Contact Charlotte at silvermousey@yahoo.com or Sarah at decolalia@hotmail.co.uk for more details.

Back next month with more so bye for now x

Just over a week to go and we will be providing a decorative spectacular at the Picnic in the Park. It has been a busy month since our last post. First we had our extra IT session led by Lynsey of Purpleshmurple who did an amazing job. Her patience and attention to detail were incredible. Not only did we get tips and advice on making the most of the internet to exhibit and sell work, but also some very comprehensive handouts to take home and practise with. She even managed to persuade some of us stalwart facebook sceptics to sign up and get accounts. Impressive!

Our regular monthly meet-up for April was another session led by a member. This time Rachel from Birdhouse Press joined us and offered advice and tips on photographing items for websites, blogs and online shops.

It was a very informal session with Rachel giving each of us some specific ideas for improving how we photograph our particular arts/crafts. The major issue that came up for many of us was the constraints of photographing items at night, which is when we get our precious time to devote to our crafts if we aren't lucky enough to be doing them full time. She also highlighted the use of props and locations to enhance the look of items. Sounds obvious but is something that gets overlooked when you are rushing to snap and upload photos with limited time.
Thanks to both Rachel and Lynsey for their time and kindness.

So, back to the May 15th event. Really hope everyone is getting organised and excited. We will have some new members with us on the day so looking forward to welcoming them and having some new makers in the mix. Fingers are crossed for perfect weather but if last year's event is anything to go by, Chorley people are up for anything and certainly not put off by a spot of rain on their picnic blankets...

Once we have finished that event we meet up as usual on Saturday 21st of May and then two weeks later we are back to our regular craft spot at The Coach House for our summer fair. Busy, busy, busy!


   

Furious Fusing

Our gathering this month was, for once, less talking and more making as we returned to fused plastic and worked very hard to produce more decorative bunting for use at our craft events. We were a bit better equipped this time and had a gaggle of bag cutters, three 'fusers' (ok, ironers) and three machinists so managed to create plenty of beautiful bunting and raise the temperature of the room to what felt like almost boiling.

Proud Kellie and her punk-inspired creation..

try not to spot the branding...

Thankfully refreshments were particularly wholesome this month as Rachel, our craft baker (Hopcutts of Chorley) provided some last minute red-nose cakes for the session so we got to fill our faces and raise some money for Comic Relief at the same time.

It was lovely to have a few new faces at the group - we now have a really diverse range of makers not only in terms of what they actually make but also their style, approach and exprience. It is an exciting time.
Next month we have a cheeky extra session run by our resident (self-proclaimed) nerd, Lynsey from Purpleshmurple. She is helping the luddites amongst us get to grips with raising our online profiles so expect our blog(s) to take a sudden turn for the better.

Improvements coming soon ; )