I think I must be one of the last of us to post about this, but on Saturday I was definately surrounded by beauty at the first Vintage and Handmade Fair, and I can confirm that it was just an unforgettable experience.
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So many lovely, friendly and talented ladies (and some of their gentlemen), stalls full of beautiful handmade and vintage loveliness, a real treat for the senses.
Jayne and Michele had decorated the hall in traditional union jack bunting which gave it a lovely garden party feel, despite being November!
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If you read the same blogs as me you will have seen lots of pictures already, mine didn't turn out too well, but I know that Hen and Sue at Vintage to Victorian have posted pics of all the stalls.
I managed to stuff my stall to overflowing, some things didn't make it out of the boxes, and some things I meant to put out and just clean forgot about!
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There was something for everyone - colourful, muted, vintage, recycled, shabby chic, ethereal, cute, quirky - and the quality of everyone's work was outstanding. There are some great photos out there but I can tell you they are no comparison to seeing everything for real, and do not do justice to how beautiful everything was - ten times better than any picture could show. I think the customers were surprised and delighted at what they found.
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It was such a busy day, I wish there had been more time for us bloggers to chat and get to know each other, but it was a case of grabbing a few minutes to rush around with one eye on one's own stall to rush back when customer's appeared - which they did - all day long! I think I was in a bit of a daze a lot of the time as well. Fortunately I was next to the tea hatch, where Julia, with Jayne's daughter, did a grand job of keeping everyone refreshed with tea and cakes.
Naturally I did a bit of shopping for myself . This pretty dolly and lovely lilac fabric and flower covered box from Frances at A Little Bit Vintage.
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Frances' dolls are exquisite and I had a real hard job deciding which one to buy. Fortunately her stall wasn't too far from mine as I had to nip over several times before deciding which one to get.
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I'm really pleased with my choice. (My sister-in-law came along later and bought what was my second choice, for herself, so I can pop round and admire her too!)
Next to Frances was Lynn at Sea Angels where I bought this gorgeous collaged heart and waxed cones - aren't they delightful. Lynn's stall was divine, I wish I'd taken some pics of it.
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I bought the little rose tin from Michele, the cute bird from Carol at Katherine's Dream, and the vintage wallpaper snippets from Sue.
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And just look at the lovely packaging too (puts my recycled carrier bags and paper to shame!)
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My purchases are just a very small cross-section of the goodness on offer. If I hadn't had to stick to a budget, I could have bought from every single stall, they were all stunning.
And as if that wasn't enough, Jayne and Michele had organised a Secret Santa -look at the lovely bag of goodies I got (from Hesta at Green Glamour).
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Lavender sachets, a cute egg cosy, badge, sweet toadstool card, lovely mohair wool, all recycled, and in the background a pretty pinny (just right for Mr. Bloom to wear on Christmas day when he cooks the dinner - hee hee!)
There is a small issue I'd like to clear up though - somewhere out in blogland there is a picture of me behind my stall (despite my best efforts to avoid being photographed). I have my head down and my hair has fallen forward making it look like I have a pudding basin haircut. I would just like to state for the record that whilst I may have had such a haircut as a child, I do not now have a pudding basin haircut!
Of course, all this was thanks to the hard work of Jayne and Michele who did a spendid job and I'm glad to say will be putting themselves through it all again next May - an event not to be missed. I'll be there for sure!
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p.s. I've switched my comments back on as I don't want to appear arrogant, and actually, it's quite lonely without them. I have rather a lot of demands on my time at the moment and don't log on regularly, so I hope you'll understand if I don't always reply.
Update 26/11 - oh, and how could I have forgotten to say thank you! to everyone who purchased from my stall. I'm not sure how many blogger customers we had but I hope I didn't not acknowledge anyone who bought from me - I was in a dizzy daze at times.