CandyBelle Strikes Again

Its been a while since the last blog, life has went a little crazy, first up we had the easter holidays and the shop was a tad busy followed by a whirlwind of events and hen parties.

On May 5th we had a wee vintage stall at The Big Beach Ball, a music Festival organised by the brains behind Snafu and Atheneum. It was a brilliantly gloriusly sunny day, one of those rare no jacket days. Within the confines of the Beach ballroom the combination of music, imported faux beach, and heady atmosphere it really felt like you were abroad somewhere. It was so so nice to have something different and fun in Aberdeen for a change - roll on next year!!

The beach ball was swiftly followed by our 3rd Candybelle fair on the 11th May. Our strategy this time was bigger stall spaces and fresh blood from outwith the Aberdeen area and we were pleased as punch this time round to have attracted vi nouveau who sell re-worked vintage clothing and accessories, Ivy Rose Vintage with homewares and finally Full Circle Vintage and their fab range of hats and vintage dresses. These businesses all hail from the central belt area and really did bring something extra special to our fair. But our homegrown businesses also looked amazing - well done girls!!

Candy Belle day dawned bright and early - 5.30am to be precise. Having not had access to the hotel the night before we had to get in super duper early to set up and sleep deprivation did not serve us well in the morning! Mitchell and myself had a nightmare of a morning when one of the wheels broke off our runner rail. There I was thinking I was so organised, everything was ironed, hung and colour flowed on a runner rail that was stowed away in a nearby garage lent to us by a friend. Then in the morning the idea was to wheel it over to the hotel, 5 mins, boom, done ... or so i thought. We discovered that pesky broken wheel and as we had no other option we had to carry over to the hotel. hmmm not easy when the rail was stuffed full and weighed a ton and the street we had to carry it over was a charmingly old but bumpy cobbled lane. Never before have i been so ungraceful with sweat rolling down my back, not helped by the cosy polyester vintage number i had chosen to wear.  It was a real chucklevision moment with frayed tempers and Mitchell shouting at me to "PICK IT UP" and me shouting "ITS TOO HIGH, GO SLOWER!!" My short wee legs did not keep up so well. After 20 mins of this to-ing and fro-ing and having only moved a whole 2ft Mitchell threw down the gauntlet and humpfed the rail onto his back and dragged the rail on its remaining 2 feet the rest of the way. what a star, my hero. haha. i say that now but i was mad mad mad at him that morning.

Luckily the rest of the day went without a hitch, set up was completed with time to spare to decorate the outside with a pretty pom pom and lace garland. a quick chat with stall holders and im good to go with 20mins left for photographs. But being the numpty I am I didnt check the camera the night before and it was missing a memory card - doh!! well ive scrounged around for some photos and only have a few to share this time :(

Before i knew it the day is over and all other stallholders are packed in a jiffy and it looks like we were never even there. It was another successful and fun day and i hope all who attended had a great time!! See you next time. xxx

Me and my best pose in my shop within a shop

 

applique heart necklaces by Barbara of Rocking Stitch

 

donut crochet cushions by Arlene of Allsorts - love these retro colours

Finishing School

 Lately we haven't had a chance to go any more road trips so do not have any new on location shots of craft and vintage, but on the other it means getting the chance to knuckle down and get a few things finished off. Firstly some new ideas have been baking in my head since I discovered the sheldon dolls over by Amidorable Crochet ... i haven't finished yet so dont want to give away too much but here is the progress so far.

This is the sheldon doll made following the pattern by Amidorable crochet, you can find the pattern here

The sheldon doll has inspired this project, the doll is complete with snug fitting grey boxers. I've knitted a pair of jeans using a pattern from the Knitted Dolls book by Arne and Carlos but much to my dismay it's turned out a tad too small around the belly area and my doll ended up with a muffin top :( back to square one i suppose. I think this time i will crochet a pair and make up the pattern.


Also been making a few of these cute kitsch tea cosys, these will be making their way to the CandyBelle vintiques fair. Already sold one at the shop so i think these will go down a treat, here's hoping so anyway.

Candybelle is on the 11th May at the caledonian thistle hotel on Union Terrace so hope to see you there! 

hello Hoooked...

Part of our new years resolution for the shop was to possibly start selling supplies. This came about after a wee poke in the right direction from my neighbours at Bead Pop alongside a major light bulb moment during one of my classes, i noticed i kept sending folks over to John Lewis to get this needle or that wool and I thought - why am i doing this?? shouldn't I be profiting from this instead of a big multinational?? Don't get me wrong I love John Lewis but an extra pound in my pocket shouldn't harm their bottom line too much.

So I did some detective work over christmas, in particular I was looking for Hoooked zpagetti. This was introduced to me by Babs of Rocking Stitch. This lovely lady hails from Holland and attended one of my crochet classes to initiate herself into the Aberdeen craft scene whilst meeting some new buddies at the same time. She was kind enough to bring back this yarn after her holidays and I have to say i was hooked (literally). So in my christmas eating haze I found the supplier after much sleuthing and quickly registered to become a stockist and hoooked has finally landed and it has been a super success! It is a fab yarn as its lovely and chunky and to add to your green credentials it is a by-product of the textile industry so each cone could be a slightly different shade and fabric so it makes it all the more exciting. Only drawback being the troublesome knots you inevitably get but I suppose with it being a recycled product it would be hard to find great big bits to make into the yarn. but the knots are easily hidden inside so its really no biggie.

I have been busy making doily mats (which has been turned into a intermediate crochet class) and a knitted cushion. As the yarn is quite heavy it is quite hard-going on the ol hands but it is sturdy and i reckon it would make fabulous bags and baskets which is my next project .... after the millions of other projects i have planned.

hoooked doily mat

intermediate class making hoooked doily mats

chirpy cheep cheep - its springtime!!

This week it finally feels like spring may be peeking its head around the corner after record levels of coldness and flurries of snow last week. It really felt strange to be putting together a spring window while getting pelted with hailstones each time I went outside to check it. Well after months of prep the window was finally put together - do we like??

the window in full glory, i realise there is actually lots to look at in this window and punters probably need to come up close to appreciate it.... some feedback for myself for next time

crocheted daffys, pattern courtesy of lucy from Attic24

crocheted daffodils and vintage needles make a lovely display and ain't that needle-felted bunny just the sweetest?

crocheted chickens and hens on a knitted loop stitch panel. 

my favourite piece - the crocheted springtime garland.

hoooked yarn.

its spring - really?!

Looking out the window you would be forgiven for thinking it was deepest winter time with the icy roads and yucky slushy snow. Don't get me wrong i love snow but its not the powdery crunchy stuff, only soggy wet stuff that gives me chillblains and not to mention its MARCH!!

March time is supposed to mean lighter nights, shedding of winter woolies and creme eggs! oh well global warming is having its moment. but time ticks on and so I have been planning the easter window despite the yucky weather. Remember the knitting challenge?? i had an abundance of chicks knitted from the wooly scraps and i am so so pleased with how they turned out - so cute!!! 

Knitted chicks and hens

My busy hands have also been making a few other bits and bobbies for the window - a spring time crochet garland as influenced by last month's mollie makes magazine, daffodils using the pattern from attic24 and a ripply ripple blanket in shades of green. trust me it will all come together! I think I will finish this window this week to show you keen beans.

Marketing Road Trip - week 2

The sun finally took its hat off for a wee while this week and I took the opportunity to visit the Elgin/Lossie area as some of my handcrafted goodies are being sold in The Tee Shack in Lossie. Excited!! Fingers crossed the good people up north like my wares!

The Tee Shack is a cosy cafe attached to the Cove Sea Links Golf course, stunning views, homebakes and hearty soups makes this a must visit destination if you are ever in the area. Even if your not a fan of golf its worth a visit as I am informed by the lovely Angela who runs the cafe that the area has a microclimate and they always seem to have nicer weather than the rest of the country. Even if its a dreich miserable day in Aberdeen the weather in Lossie and surrounding is always a few degrees warmer and the sun likes to come and play a bit more often. I was lucky enough to catch such a day, absolutely stunning views - judge it for yourself!

Gorgeous view from Kingston

Marketing Road Trip - week 1

As is typical of January months we all reflect on the trials and tribulations of the past year and its time to make promises we can't keep. Of course my thoughts were dwelling on the highs and lows of I Heart Art's second year of existence - we had a super crazy busy (for us) start of the year and we really felt like we were establishing our brand in the Aberdeen social scene. We did some fun things like the Aberdeen Art Fair, the eco day at Ashley Road school, the Randox Polo Match supported by Princes Trust and of course we won our award at the start of the year.

But then the summer ended and everything went to pot, we moved shop which was all consuming with months of packing, moving and unpacking and still trying to run the business at the same time. Every single moment felt like we were moving heavy boxes to and from the car. Our flat was like an episode of serial hoarders - box upon box upon box. Not to mention we were still mega busy in the run up to Christmas with fairs and events. I think if you had encountered me during this time I may have came across as some crazy headless chicken wifey. But now im feeling all rejunvenated and motivated and my head is semi screwed back on in that I may be able to string together coherent sentences. So having had this time to reflect I feel that the past 6 months have been such a stresshead time that I didnt give I Heart Art the love and attention it needed and I feel it has suffered. Poor ol heart! I need to defib it back to life - stat!

So part of my action plan was to head out with my new neighbour Alex of Bead Pop and head oot to the country to leaflet and flyer unsuspecting town halls, community centres and other businesses. You never know who is out there that might just be interested and need a crafty fix. We finally took that step last Tuesday where we headed south to stonehaven with our first stop being the most mouth-watering of sweet shops.

Giulianotti just off the town square is heaven with rows and rows of tradtional glass jars filled with bright sugary treats. Just the type of sweet shop that has become lost over time but still brings back so many happy memories. We spoke to the lovely shopkeeper whilst we were in there and it was amazing to find out that the shop has been there since 1899!! whoa that is over 100 years and it's still there, not to mention that the same family that has run the shop since the 1920's. That is no mean feat and we truly need to keep supporting businesses like this to ensure their survival! Definatly worth a visit to fill your boots with lucky tatties and fizzy saucers on the next summery day.

We did a round of the square, leaving a cheeky flyer or two in the town hall then having an awkward moment in a fish n chip shop we jumped back into the car and took the next exit. However, taking the next nearest exit left us in a pickle as to which side of the motorway we were on UH OH!!! woman drivers!! (ps you are a great and careful driver alex). we soon found out we were most definately on the wrong side heading back to Aberdeen. Oh well when life hands you lemons you make lemonade so I suggested we should head to the cults area as it has a few local shoppies that might be friendly.

To cults we go! I love the community spirit in cults and many of our customers come from this area so I knew there were a couple of places that we could put up our posters.

We had success in Terroir, a delicatessen and coffee shop with a delicious home-cooked food and tantalising smells. It looked great too with its vintage singers for display, piled up wicker baskets, chunky chopping boards and cosy bistro feel. I had the french onion soup which was delish and was served up with the cutest little basket for my butters and cutlery. I also loved the wee teapot salt and pepper shakers! 

loving the use of vintage singers for displays and the cutest teapot shakers.

Never one to pass up the opportunity for thrifting, I was rewarded by my final visit of the day to the Chest, Heart and Stroke boutique charity shop. It has gorgeous displays and good quality stock. Unfortunately I didnt find anything to take home but it was still a treat and good inspiration for vintage styling. 

the gorgeous, inspirational, displays of the Chest Heart and Stroke shop in Cults.