Selling at the New and Improved Milk Market

I had such a lovely weekend! Friday was taken up with crazy amounts of work, but I love doing that, locking myself in the studio all day until I go to bed, it's exhausting but incredibly satisfying!

Saturday I was up bright and early to go to Cork for the Etsy Ireland meeting, more of that later in the week. Because it was my birthday we went for dinner when I got back. I eventually got to go to Freddys Bistro, 10 years of living in Limerick and I only manage it now! This lovely meal was followed by a fantastic gig in Dolans by my great friends Vertigo Smyth and The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra. I also got to catch The Rubberbandits playing in the main venue of the Warehouse. The latter band are pretty hilarious but probably entirely baffling to anyone outside Limerick, and especially outside Ireland, but they drew a massive crowd I've never seen the place so full.

I was rather bleary eyed on fuzzy brained for the early start on Sunday morning for my first day trading at the Milk Market. The truly glorious weather, general excitement, and two Anadin Extra Strength helped to wash away and residual hangover. Wow it is such a treat to trade in the new premises!! There are no worries about weather, or hauling down tables, and it looks so clean and modern. The large white roof reflects the light beautifully so it feels very light and spacious. Also the set up that they have dividing the stalls into little blocks is perfect,which means I was back to back with my fellow traders. I was delighted with my lovely neighbours of Vinny and Noreen, although I was sad that I'm not beside my friend Orla. I blame my rather compromised state for the fact that I forgot my camera, but my good friend Rebecca from Lucky Rainbow Designs took a few cute pics when she was down, thanks for these missy!!

Being honest I think it will take some time for people to realise that there is a market on Sunday, and for traders to come back. Things had gotten very quiet down on Bedford Row, with some of the regular traders giving up the ghost. With new venue they are sure to come back, and I was assured by the organisers that we will have lots new people joining over the coming weeks. I'm really excited about the move, and I'm hugely positive about the potential that it has. In the words of that corny 90's film The Field of Dreams: 'If you build it, they will come'....and I'm convinced they will.

Recycled Glass Jars....Made into Button Heaven

I said in my previous post that I had an idea for some new pincushions, I'm so delighted that I got a few made for the market this weekend. After searching through lots of glass jars I found these three. The aim is to find lots of lovely glass jars of different shapes and sizes an turn them into these super cute pincushion/button holders. Included in the jars is a great mixed selection of beautiful vintage buttons.

As I type this my fingers are suffering from my use of super glue while making these. It feels like I have thimbles on all of my fingers...a very strange sensation. I'm still undecided as to the price of these, especially for the larger jars as they contain a lot of buttons

Knitting Needle Organizer

After looking at the amount of space that I will have at the new Milk Market stand I decided that I needed to expand my range a little bit so my stall doesn't look too empty. Last night when I came home from working in the restaurant I cut out all the panels for 7 new knitting needle rolls, I hope to have at least 10 of them completed for the market. I always think having a range of the same item looks far more eye catching at a stand then just a few bits of everything.

I'll be a busy bee trying to get everything sorted. I want to make sure that the stand looks it's best from the first week. That means I'll have to sort out all of my signs, and make sure I'm fully stocked for all of my buttons and mirrors. A change like this can be a very good thing as it forces me to get organised and breathe a bit of life back into my selection. I'm also thinking of adding a new range of pincushions, but I'm not sure I'll get them done this week.

Handmade Knitting Needle Case

Since I was offered the large lot of vintage knitting needles I've had it in the back of my mind to make handmade cases for them. I had a little root around the bundles of my material in my studio, and I found this cute red and white striped poly cotton. After fiddling around with sizes and measurements for a while I figured out a pattern to make this needle holder.

I've included 5 circular needles, two sets of 4 double pointed needles, 2 bodkins and a needle gauge in the set. I think it's a great present for crafty people cos you get your different sized needles with the case. I listed it in my etsy shop the other day, I really hope they are popular because I loved making it and it would be great to have an excuse to go buy lots of pretty fabrics!!

Paintings:Work in Progress

Yesterday I had to cancel my market due to really horrible cramps, it was a shame not to be there on the last day, but I would have scared the customers away with my pained expression. I tried to just chill out here instead but I got really restless, so after taking lots of very strong painkillers, and strapping a hot water bottle to myself I went into the studio.

It's been ages since I did any painting, and I really love it, I don't claim to be any expert since I did very little of it when I was in college. It was mostly after I graduated that I started tinkering around with small canvases and my flat mates paints. But when Nice Day Designs took off it meant I didn't have any time for it anymore. It was really lovely just to be painting with no real goal in mind. I revisited a project that I worked on in college, childrens illustration style. I just wanted the relaxation of doing something and not that pressure of what to put on a blank canvas.

I worked on the 4 of them at one, swapping over as the layers were drying. They are all still very much works in progress but I thought I would show you some half way point pictures anyhow. The square pieces are just 6" x 6" and the longer one is about 15" x 6".

The Big Move for The Sunday Market

I went down to the Milk Market today to have a look at the fancy new interior and I'm so impressed. I met one of the organisers, Chris, and we had a chat about the stalls, layout and the facilities there. We will all be provided with our own stand, and even tables, which will make my life so much easier since I haul down all my stock on a trolly. He is also encouraging people to have their logos printed on vinyle sheeting, so that wel all look colourful and disttinctive from each other. When it's all totally finished it going to look really amazing and I'm so excited to be moving into it.

When I heard that they were putting a roof on it I was delighted because of the weather cover it will provide, but to be honest a part of me was concerned that it would be dark and gloomy. But I was delighted to see today how light and airy the space feels, and the canopy nearly adds a glowing white light to the space...very serene and stat treky looking.

The dates for the opening are slightly different than what I had thought initially. Tomorrow will be my last Suday at the Bedford Row market, and we will be taking a break for one week, and then we will commence trading on Sunday 20th of June. A small part of me will be a little sad to leave Bedford Row after 3 years of trading there every week, but what we are getting in exchange far out weighs that.

Milk Market

I've lots of news about my market stall. At the moment they are just finishing a massive refurbishment of the historical Milk Market in Limerick city. At the end of June we will be moving from our regular spot down on Bedford row up to the new posh premises on Cornmarket Row. I'm really excited to move to the new market, not only will we have a roof, but also our own little designated stands, I can't wait to see it. After years of trading in the unrelenting Irish weather I'm SO GLAD that there is a roof, I'll never forget selling in -5 degree temperatures over Christmas!!!

I just got off the phone to one of the organisers and I have a confirmed stand at the Friday market, and the Sunday one too, I will also be taking part in a monthly craft market that will be held on the last Thursday on every month.

It sounds like they have lots of lovely things organised like face painters, musicians and magicians, so any of the days would be a great day out for the family. I've been so tired of seeing people flock to the shopping centres outside the city, hopefully this will attract people back into the city centre again. So on all fronts this market appeals to my hippy sensibilities!!

The market will be opening on Friday 25th on June (but I will be at a wedding that day so I can't go), but I will be there on the 27th. If you want to check out there fancy new website click here, there is loads of info on the traders and the facinating history behind the venue.

New Brooches

In preparation for the Sunday Bedford Row market starting back this week I've gone into brooch making over drive. I'm not sure if I'll make it this week, but definitely from the following Sunday this Christmas I'll be selling there every week from 12-5pm. Part of me excited to go back, and the other part is sad to say goodbye to my Sundays again, it is such a lovely day to have off.

Here is what I made yesterday, I won't be listing them in my Etsy shop, so if you want to pick one up they are 10 euro each at my stall.

Hope to see you there :)

Sustainable Materials Exhibition opening

Orla Redican - Ev+A Dress

Marianne Kenny Modelling Nice Day Designs Dress

The opening for the sustainable arts exhibition was on last night, and there was a fantastic turnout. I was so busy running around talking to people and making sales (woohoo!) that I nearly forgot to take pictures. I heard really great feeback from people, saying it was one of the best shows they had seen in the gallery for years. I know this sounds awful but usually in group shows half of it is filler, but in this show there really wasn't any. There is an amazing mix of artists working in every discipline, from fashion, ceramics, sculture, painting, weaving, jewellery, performance and mixed media. There were some familiar faces too,Orla Redican from Farapinalia made this fantastic dress from the old Ev+A sign that had been lying in a skip. My ex-flatmate of 5 years Mark Halpin showed his wonderful illustrations of found tiles. I got to meet the lovely Missy Bonkers while I was drooling over her beautiful clothes. There were also handwoven mats made from found rope by etsy seller Conscious Crafts.

Mark Halpin- Drawing on Found Tiles

Missy.Bonkers Beanbag and cushions

Conscious Crafts -Recycled mats

Other highlights for me was the performance art piece where I guy was doing clay sculptures on his head, very playful and facinitating. Another artist has beautiful cutlery made from found metal and wire, I wanted to take those home, if I had money I would have bought them, they were stunning. I also really loved the mixed media paintings that had loads of found toys and knick knacks in them, they were a riot of colour and you could look at them all day long.

I'm delighted to be part of such an amazing show, it will continue for 6 weeks, and there will be lots of workshops from the artists. More details of which I'll poost about as I hear them. A big thank you goes out to Diarmuid Neilan for organising this fantastic show, I'm sure it's been a lot of hard work. Also I'd really like to thank my beautiful model Marianne Kenny for being stunning, and very patient in those high heels.

Crafty Tattoo

I bit the bullet today and I eventually went and got the tattoo I've wanted for ages. Let me just preface this by saying I'm a super wimp and I have zero pain threshold. It was the memory of that stabby needle that kept on putting me off. What eventually made me overcome my fear of the pain is that Don (the guy who did my tattoo) is leaving Limerick, and I really wanted him to do it.

So off I toddled today with the below array of photos, and I explained exactly what I wanted. My logic on not drawing it myself is that within a month I would start seeing flaws (which I do with all my work), and that's the last thing I wanted with something so permenant! It did an amazing job with the design, I love the look of the scissors and the flow of the thread. In case you are wondering, it's on my right shoulder.

I got a large tattoo on my back when I was 18, a nice tribal piece, but the design is not personal at all. I knew that I would eventually want another one, but I definitly wanted something more personal this time. What better way to mark this time in my life than to depict what I eat,sleep and breath every day!

Thanks to Don for his amazing work!

Red Ballgown

Here is another piece that I'm working on as part of the sustainable material exhibition. I've only got the skirt part of the design started, but I'm happy with how the different fabrics sit together. It doesn't look like I've gotten that far, but patchwork takes quite a while between all the cutting and sewing all the pieces together. I've never done this style of skirt before, but I think it look really pretty. As you can see from the design I have a LOT of work left to do. I still have to A) finish the shirt, with another few tiers of material B) make a black bodice C) make a cage type structure for the inside. For this last part I was thinking of a making it out of rolled newspaper, kind of a papier mache with an extra few layers of varnish to make it sturdier. It's gonna probably cause me lots of heartache trying to make it but I think it will add that extra pizzaz needed for a show piece. In some ways it reminds me of something Bjork wore to an Mtv awards ceremony about 10 years ago.

Woohoo Lots of Sales

Oh my god! I'm delighted I just made 6 sales in the past 12 hours on Etsy...woohoo! I was told my a friend, Tanya about this site Craftcult. It's a website for checking your views and 'hearts' of all your products. Which in itself is very handy, but they also sell ad space too. So I bought a week of one of their carousel ads, which is a roatating banner with images from different shops. So today was my first day of the week long ad, and I sold 6 things, I'm so chuffed....can you tell??

New Listings...1950s Pin-ups

Yikes I'm tired, I just spent the past few hours listing my pocket mirrors and large badges in my etsy shop. I've had these for the past two months but I was too busy over Christmas to list them. Today I got up and went straight into taking lots of photographs. It's really satisfying when a batch of photography goes well, sometimes things like dead batteries and bad light can be so frustrating. After a brief hiatus of a coffee and some yummy cake with my friend John I returned to start editing the pictures.

I've been meaning to do this for ages so it's been a particularly good day to get a good lot of them done. As for tomorrow, more photos, and more listing. I'm determined to get both of my shops full of goodies.

(PS: I'm still really excited to have a camera....can you tell?)

Mother of the Bride

I was quite organised this morning and I took lots of pictures, here is the mother of the bride dress that I was talking about. I really should have gotten a picture of the original.It used to have a high necked frilly collar, and a zipper in the back. I've also taken it up quite a lot, and anything that looks fancy.

Ennis Order

I't been a pretty busy few weeks, but I finished the Ennis order(not the mamoth Kilkenny order, that's still on the boil), here are a couple of pictures of a dress and a coat that I did. Hopefully I'll have time to take more photos tomorrow before I pack them away for delivery. I also finished the mother of the bride dress I was making. I was one of the most difficult pieces I've ever worked on but I'm delighted with it and I think the customer is going to be really pleased. It's great to meet a client first because then I have some idea of how far I can go with something. In this case the lady is beautifully eccentric, so I knew I could go really mad with it. It's quite Helena Bonham-Carter and I love it.

Ps: Are all you lovely Irish folk enjoying the disgustingly muggy weather at the moment? I thought I was going to die of the heat today in work.