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.

WASPS Spring Exhibition...it came...it went!

Wow! What a weekend. The Selkirk WASPS open studio was the weekend just past and was an amazing event, really happy that so many people came to support the group of artists and designers and many sales were made which is an added bonus! The Private View on the Friday night was buzzing, just a shame that we were all so busy having a good time that we forgot to take some photos...opps. Above is Saturday during the day, a really nice feel as people chatted and viewed the stunning artwork on show. Find out more about the individual artists here.

This is my pile of well lit cushions in the corner, thanks must go to Rob for sorting out the lighting for me as they looked really good and stood out with the light on them.

And here is the rest of my stand, I tried to go for an artwork hanging on the wall approach again to try and keep it within the style of the event, however I've been given a couple of good ideas for next time which I might try. I spent the weekend replacing the Tea-towels and Canvas Bags as they sold which I suppose can only be a good thing! Also I had a couple of framed prints which was a little different than usual.

And here is the other goodies that were for sale, plenty of cards for those (like me) that can't afford the artwork! Such a good idea as you can easily frame them and have your own mini artwork at home. I believe the next open will be in October and that one is nationwide so looking forward to that...keep checking the WASPS site for more information.