I sold some crafty things!

Well, we have had a very busy few weeks getting ready for our two Mummade stalls at local craft fairs over Easter / May Day. The first, at a local fruit farm, was not that successful - we think due to a lack of advertising - none of the other stallholders had a good day either. But the second, at Malvern's May Day celebrations, was much more successful. I sold three cake stands made out of old plates, which I was really pleased about! I'll definitely be making some more of those. Just need to hit the charity shops for more plates - as the car boot sale on Monday was useless. Luckily we have a charity shop in Malvern entirely devoted to crockery. I also sold a felted soap - I forgot the sign I had made to explain what they are so I'm not really surprised more of them didn't sell.

Here are some photos of some of the things I made:

My favourite - this one sold but I have another set of these plates to make another (for me!)

This is the only cake stand I have left. Anything left unsold will be up for sale at our summer residency at a local craft shop/cafe.

I sold two cake stands like this one.

Toddler skirt (designed by me) - upcycled from a pair of adult linen trousers

Toddler dress

More Mummade crafting

The blog has been a bit neglected lately - mainly because in the day Matilda really gets annoyed if I go on the laptop (plus it's been such nice weather we've been outside a lot), and in the evening I've had so much other stuff to do (eg freelance web work, writing stuff for NCT newsletter etc) I've just not had time. On the plus side, Matilda has been letting me do some sewing in the day so I have got quite a bit done in the last couple of weeks. Which is a very good thing as we have our next Mummade craft fair coming up. We're having a stall at the Easter Saturday craft market at Clive's Fruit Farm, near Upton. It's our first proper craft fair so we're a bit nervous! I'm planning to make a load of felted soaps, some cake stands made out of recycled plates, and some children's clothes. So far I have made two pinafore dresses and almost finished a skirt. So lots to do! Picture updates will follow...

Mummade - a new venture?

One of the reasons I was so busy in the run up to Christmas was that I was busy crafting away for a trial of a new venture I have started with some friends. We held a 'Mummade' festive fair in a friend's back garden chalet to showcase our crafting talents and to see if we could make enough stuff to sell.

It was deemed an overall success - we each made a few quid (which we didn't think was bad considering we had not widely advertised the event). I made £25 and sold all the felted soaps I had made, but didn't sell any of my bags or Christmas decorations. Our immediate reaction was that the trial was successful and that we would hold more events in 2011 or attend existing craft markets.

The idea is that Mummade is a collective of 'crafty' stay-at-home mums, making things to sell (mainly from recycled or pre-loved resources) and rediscovering some traditional crafts. I'm fortunate to know some incredibly talented mums! I think we all found it eye-opening how much time goes into things like this!!

Here are a selection of photos from our festive fair (mainly of my contributions):

Felted soaps - made by me

Felted bauble - made by me

Bags - made by me

Resolutions

Well it's back to the blog after a busy December (more about this later). The photos are still downloading, but here's a taste - snowy Lake District mountains rising out of the Eden Valley mist.

We had a lovely Christmas and New Year up in Cumbria at my parents' place. Matilda had a great time with her Granny and Grandad and all her cousins, although I think she found all the noise and activity of Christmas Day a bit overwhelming! My mum had done a great job organising everything - it's my turn next year (yikes!), although it will be a much smaller affair at ours.

So aside from planning next Christmas, I've been having a think about things I'd like to achieve over the next year. Here's a list of resolutions for 2011 - who knows if I'll achieve all of them, but hopefully I'll find time for one or two!

1. Master the art of wet felting
2. Try freehand embroidery on the sewing machine
3. Further improve my sewing skills - particularly dressmaking/customising
4. Learn to knit
5. Start playing football again (or failing that, running or cycling)
6. Help get Mummade off the ground (more about this later)
7. Spend as little as possible
8. Buy as few new things as possible
9. Sort out spare room
10. Have another baby!