32 Purses, Paxton & Preparation

Ever wondered what 32 GraceInk purses look like just after they've been printed?

If the answer to this question is 'No' then look away now, scroll to the end of the posting...quick march! 

Because here is a picture of my print bed looking very colourful after a couple of hours printing a selection of different designs to be made into beautiful purses in the not to distant future. 

Anyway, enough of what a busy bee I've been today, just wanted to let you all know that I'm not shy about a bit of manuel labour (of the printing variety of course). In other news, it is just ONE month until the BCTF (that's what the preparation mention in the title is all about), for those not in the know it stands for the British Craft Trade Fair and is happening down in Harrogate. The purses are part of my prep, I'll only need one of everything when I'm exhibiting because its a trade event and hopefully customers/clients will put in lots of lovely orders. However it is rather time consuming and illogical to produce one of everything, so I've made 32 of these, 6 different designs, so that I'll have some in stock if the need arises to send them out to some lovely shops in the near future.

And last but by no means least, Rob Thomson (of Rob Thomson Furniture...check his work out here), helpfully delivered some of my work to Paxton House last week for the official opening of the season this Saturday 17th March. Crossing Borders will once again be showcasing work from across the Borders and North Northumberland region including framed artworks (including some of my prints above), textiles, woodwork, jewellery and ceramics. Paxton House itself is a bit of a gem of a find, play crochet on the lawn, watch the salmon fishing on the tweed, check out the red squirrels in their own custom built home & enjoy a tour of this amazing stately home.

Shop until you drop...

Well, I thought I was off to a good start, two posts in a couple of days in January and then suddenly it all goes quiet for a couple of weeks, seems like GraceInk has slipped back into her old ways...but fear not I'm back! I've been keeping myself busy (as per usual) and have been doing a little printing (above) of some butterfly bags. Not yet available on Etsy but they will be very soon, I promise. Just wanted to let you know that my work will soon be available in Leeds at The Bowery Gallery, so keep your eyes peeled for shoes and birdcages roaming around in that area. And I've just sent a new parcel of goodies to The Tayberry Gallery in Perth including my new Quirky Doll Brooches, bringing their own kind of charm to the area!

I'm also getting ever so excited about the BCTF (British Craft Trade Fair) this April,  I'm really looking forward to showing off my textiles to a new audience...I'll be keeping you updated on that over the coming months because it's definately more than getting myself down there for the 4 days it is on...so much to do, so little time. I can't believe it's February already but I guess a lot of people are saying that, where does the time go...

Adventures and Excitement in 2012

You're probably wondering where I've vanished for the past month and a half, apart from it having been Christmas and New Year, I have somewhat disappeared off the blogging radar and I'll tell you why...because running your own business is tough! Anyone that thinks it's all drawing pretty pictures and making new products would sadly be mistaken, there's admin, development, courses, networking, printing, distributing, invoicing, researching, events and exhibitions and that's on a good day! But you know what I LOVE it. I've finally set up a fan page on Facebook, developed these new brooches above, started getting my head in gear for an upcoming trade fair (my first trade event selling GraceInk products...scary), started taking lots of photos of my work for my website and managed to finally start listing more goodies on Etsy...not bad for 2012 so far.

I hope you enjoy GraceInk's advancements over the past month and I'm really looking forward to the exciting adventures that lay ahead in 2012, even if it has taken me half of January to say so. Whatever you're upto creatively I really hope it's a successful year for you guys too...work hard, smile lots, eat pleanty of chocolate and everything will come right in the end!