Bruge Doll Show - August 2013

A year ago I booked to go to my first ever overseas doll show, seemed like a good idea at the time!  And you know what, it was a fantastic idea.  It was really hard work, kinda terrifying driving onto a ferry, another first for me and even more terrifying driving across two countries to get there... ok bit of an exaggeration there, two bits of two countries.   But I did it and to be honest it was quite a liberating experience, made me realise actually I am much braver than I thought I was.


A good friend of mine, Morny, stepped in at the last moment to come with me and saved my bacon.  We had a blast, we laughed so much during the trip there, we sang to loud pop music and we generally put the world to rights.  Morny for Prime Minister!!!

After a very very early start and a long... but fun... drive we arrived in the fantastically beautiful ancient city of Bruge, although let me tell you, the one way system is a BITCH!!!

We went around the city one way system 3 times.... all three times we found the venue and the hotel but couldn't approach it as we were being wildly gesticulated at by people telling us we couldn't approach the venue, "no cars allowed"!   Eventually we just thought sod this and approached anyway and finally arrived at the destination. 

Ceinwen (my partner in crime) and her husband were already half assembled when we arrived and from there on in the weekend was just a blur of doll show, faces and laughter.

I took a lot of photos of the show and the city so I hope you take a moment to watch the slideshow and enjoy some of my moments from the weekend.

Brighton Doll Festival 2012

Oh wow, I can't believe I didn't get around to doing a write up about my day at the Brighton Doll Festival... I managed to get my lovely hubby to come with me to keep me company, I decided that it was worth a night at a Premier Inn so that we didn't have to do a really long drive early in the morning.  I don't do 5am... not if I can help it, as someone else said very recently 'I didn't realise there were two 5 o'clocks in the day'.  

So after a very relaxing evening, a wonderful hot shower (love Premier Inn showers, I swear I stay in them just for the shower) and a good nights sleep in a very comfortable bed. Different room this year so we didn't have the annoying hum from the generator on the roof and a cracking breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we set off to set up at the show.

This year was a new venue, a totally different area of Brighton to the Racecourse, I have to say that even though it was a bit chilly in the hall, not that we weren't warned about that and I was wearing a fairly toasty fleece, it was a nice venue, easy to find, a big airy open hall.  Hopefully next year there will be more stallholders which will help the hall to feel a little smaller. But spacewise there was plenty of room and no one could complain about being cramped. 

Ceinwen Clark - Looks innocent doesnt she!

This is my stand set up on the day. 

As usual the event ran like clockwork, Ceinwen had everything organised and under control and running with military precision. I swear she was a drill sergeant in a previous life! But in organising shows this trait can only be a good thing!

A full slideshow is available on the Discovering Dolls and Crafts website.

Diane's new toy

I did giggle watching my friend Diane snaffle her new baby a vintage pram, she had the biggest smile. Heaven knows where she is going to put it!

Ceinwen has said that the show in 2013 will be held in the same venue which I can say I will be looking forward to, another night in a Premier Inn and a great day out with dolly friends.

It Was All Fun At The Fair

The morning was cold, so cold I had to scrape ice off the car and Cassie and I shivered for the 5 minute drive to McDonalds where we captured breakfast bagels (YUM!!!) before setting off for the fair venue.

You know when you have a good friend in someone when they are prepared to drag their carcass out of bed on a Sunday morning at silly o'clock to help you set up and run a stand at a craft fair.
The venue was really easy to find, always a bonus for the geographically challenged like myself and unloading, a breeze we could pull up right outside and just trundle everything inside. So important when you have a stand to set up and tons of stuff to bring in and you're half asleep from lack of sleep from anxiety and excitement.

I really loved the venue, outside great parking and easy access and inside a big airy room with lots of space to maneouvre and bonus 2 bars! We only had one table to organise so it wasn't terribly long before we were all set and even had time to spare to have a chat with another reborn artist who also had a table.

The day was mostly busy with a steady stream of visitors who showed, on the whole, a lot of positive interest in the dolls and were keen to ask questions about how much work goes into a doll and were quite shocked at the estimate of 120 hours of painstaking work.

Cassie and myself took turns to take a little wander around the rest of the show and there were so many wonderful things to see and buy, Cassie was particularly taken by a range of childrens clothing and I was in awe of some pottery and some mosaic glass art that was there for sale.

One of my mini's was lucky enough to find herself a new home with a very sweet lady who seemed particularly taken with the doll art.

By the time the event ended (4pm) I was feeling rather pooped and more than ready to pack up, head home and order a Chinese, mmmm Sweet and Sour Chicken Hong Kong Style, so so good!

Northampton Craft Fair - 31st January 2010

I am very much looking forward to taking part in a new Craft Fair venue in Northampton at the Tetley Stand Conference facility at Northampton Saints Rugby Club which is located in the center of Northampton itself.

The Show's Organiser David Smith is an old hand at organising such events and the day looks to be a really fun exciting one with such crafts as jewellery artists, mosaic pictures, fine art photography, handmade cards, clocks, ceramics, handmade soaps, baked goods and much much more on offer.

Doors open on the fair at 10am and will run until 4pm with admission a very reasonable £2. With free parking for 2,000 vehicles at the venue it should be a really good day out, so come along and say hello.

Click here to have a look at some of the wonderful products, craft and artwork that will be available on the day.

My biggest concern with such a fine array of beautiful goods available will be to try not to max out my credit card buying beautiful things to take home.