Tag Archives: helfa gelf

Helfa Gelf Weekend 1 & Psychotic Gingerbread Men

25 Thursday Sep 2014

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I have been incredibly nervous, stressed, scared __________  – insert emotion here! You name it I was feeling it and I have to be honest, having all the emotions running riot around my system was exhausting! I didn’t really sleep for the whole week before the first day so goodness knows how I didn’t manage to kill myself out of pure clumsiness.

The Friday before was a simple day from hell! I had to bring my stuff downstairs, mount a couple of pieces, bake cake & have a pedicure – simple jobs yes? Hahaha, oh but you silly people! Every job turned into a nightmare – even the pedicure! The treatment was beautifully relaxing. I had a dress on for ease of access to ankles/legs, I had flip flops to save any smudging (strike 1). I go outside and a monsoon is threatening (strike 2).  I get to my car and the lock has slipped (?!?) so the only way I could get into the car was climbing through the book, over the backseat, inbetween the front seats and trying to sit down whilst both maintaining my modesty and trying not to smudge my nails. I did it (go me!) but it did not set me up well for the day.

By the time we got to the hall to set up I was beyond exhausted. I can’t really remember much of that evening except feeling tired. By the time I got home I had no energy for anything else. I still had bits to do & had to ice the cakes and the gingerbread men. I’d also left my list of things I needed to do/bring with me in the hall that was now locked up (doh!)

I admit to getting in, eating something and getting right in to bed. I think I managed a couple of hours sleep before the nerves set in again, I tried to sleep with no luck so got up and iced the cakes/gingerbread men. Do you want to know what the product of icing gingerbread men is at 4am?

Icing at 4am = unpredictable faces

Icing at 4am = unpredictable faces

The first day passed in a bit of a daze, plenty of lovely people coming through the door and chatting to us about our crafts. I didn’t get much making time unfortunately but I did get some admin bits done and I had some nice chats with visitors.

I felt a lot better when the first day was done, totally exhausted but so much better! I had a really really good nights sleep and was ready to go the next day!

The Sunday was so much better, not so many visitors though but I did manage to get a whole load of making done, which was definitely a good thing!

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Helfa Gelf

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Exhibitions, Life, Where am I, working on

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So, if you have been reading the blog or catching up with me on Facebook or Twitter you will have heard me talk about Helfa Gelf. For those of you who aren’t in the know, Helfa Gelf is a huge art trail that happens right the way through Wales. It allows fans, customers, clients or just general visitors to go to an artists workshop and view them at work in their natural habitat. I don’t know about other artists but this is something that doesn’t normally happen. It’s a little difficult to work with an open flame at a market or fair with children/animals/other stall holders etc wandering around 😉 If you’d like to read more about the trail or find out what is happening in your area, you can find out more here.

Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to have visitors in my workshop, it’s just not practical. That’s why this year I’m taking part as part of a collective. The Craft Collective are a group of six artists who have come together to share a temporary workshop space for the purpose of Helfa Gelf. If you would like to find out more about us you can look us up on Facebook or on the official Helfa Gelf Artists Page. I’m really look forward to it!

We will be working in Halkyn Parish Hall & Library (CH8 8BU) on the 20, 21 & 27, 28 September. That’s right Folks, first day is this Saturday! I’m still not completely ready, but I’m a good way there. Will comfortably be able to finish off on Friday as well as doing some baking for the weekend (Spiced Apple Scones anyone?).

There will be refreshments available, including homemade cake 🙂 Any proceeds from the refreshments stand will be donated to Charity. Weekend one supports Brain Tumour Research, Weekend two supports BIRD.

So, what will I be up to? The big thing is that I will be launching my new logo & marketing materials (a whole other post…). These have been in the pipeline for a little while so I’m excited that I am able to launch them at the weekend 🙂

I will also be working on some Christmas stock, a couple of exclusive collections. I will be sketching/drawing/painting some new designs. I will be making some stock items up *and*  **drumroll**

I’m really excited to say that for the duration of Helfa Gelf I will be offering one to one tuition to make a simple piece of jewellery. Prices will be dependant on what you would like to make. If you would like some more information then please get in touch via the contact form or the facebook page (link above).

I will have some items for sale that are not normally available at Craft Markets as well as some of the normal products. And there will be cake … did I mention the cake?

So that’s where I’ll be and what I am doing. There are events listings on the Craft Collective facebook page, so pop over and let us know if you are coming!

Isn’t it pretty … (and stuff I learnt)

16 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Exhibitions, inspiration, Life

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Isn’t it pretty ….

Do you ever wander around and think ‘ooo that’s so pretty’? I do all the time – this is where I gain the majority of my inspiration. My inspiration normally falls into two categories – historical or natural. I don’t know why I’m always drawn to these two, but I figured rather than fighting it and trying to force inspiration elsewhere I may as well go with the flow 🙂

On Sunday we went for a great walk around the outer grounds (not the gardens) of Chirk Castle. I love wandering around in the woods at Chirk! My only regret was that I didn’t pick up a cup like all the children had for collecting blackberries as we went around! One technique that I love using in my jewellery is texturing. I like to make my own texturing hammers for that truly unique look. I like to use the rolling mill with random bits & pieces to see what the effect is.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the walk on Sunday was the contrasting textures that I could see. The best seemed to be between the grass/trees/ivy/moss and fungi. Lots of different types, with different textures juxtaposed against harder textures. It was gorgeous, the evidence is below 🙂 Don’t they look pretty!

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We also visited the Helfa Gelf artists that were set up there, the work was really interesting, I particularly liked the work of Karolina Skorek. Some of her pictures were very ethereal, her bug drawings were pretty cool too!

Stuff I have learnt

I have been tuning in to a series of Webinars run by Patricia Van Den Akker from The Design Trust hosted by Ideas Tap. I wasn’t sure about signing up to the first couple. They had titles like Introduce Yourself Confidently, How to Create & Launch Your First Product and An Introduction to Selling Online.

Now I’m not professing to be an expert but I assumed that as I had been in business 12 months these would be going over old ground … I had a surprise! I learnt so much in these presentations I wondered which would explode first, my head or my to do list. So far the to do list is in far more critical danger – the head is coping as long as I write it on the to do list 😉

The last one was last night – How to Drive Traffic to you Website or Online Shop. There were lots and lots of helpful hints & pointers. Also in each of the presentations there were tasks or an action plan to help you put the things you had learnt into place. I found that I could also cross reference some of the tasks with my impending business plan of doom. I’m struggling with the last dregs of this and anywhere where I can do two jobs with one task will suit me down to the ground.

Patricia helpfully told us that she was in the midst of arranging another set of Webinars for November – I can’t wait. She is an excellent speaker and I really do get a lot from the talks. Make sure to have a look at both the Design Trust and Ideas Tap  for more details.

 

It’s all been very busy ….

21 Thursday Aug 2014

Posted by in Exhibitions, Life, shop update, Where am I, working on

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As the title says, it’s all been very busy here!

I’ve been making some changes and bringing things up to speed, slowly, lol. The biggest change is that I now have an official web address. I can now be found at www.sljdesigns.co.uk. I’m super excited that I finally got this piece of the puzzle to slide in!

I’ve been doing craft fairs as normal, including a couple of new venue’s. Some worked out well, others I wouldn’t visit again if you paid me too! One of the good ones was Artisans in the Palmhouse. The venue is beautiful, the organisers do their job really well. All in all it was a really good day that I am eager to replicate, so I am booked in for fairs there on the 5th Oct and 16th Nov.

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Another BIG event that is coming up for me is Helfa Gelf! I’m really excited to be taking part in this this year as an artist in my own right. I’ve taken part previously as a student in Uni, but because the Uni organised it I missed out on some of the organisational bits. I’ve worked hard on these this year – I’ve got myself a portable workbench (or something I can use as … will post pics another time), I’ve had to get extra insurance, write a risk assessment and much more – all things that I am just not used to do doing. But I’m glad I have done them as now I have a basis to work on next time. Also I now own a fire extinguisher – how cool is that?!?  I’ve also got newly designed business cards and packaging on the way to me, not to mention other changes that are happening to the site. The groups facebook page is open for perusal and comments and we have our own Helfa Gelf page that gives all the information on how to reach us.

I still haven’t completed my business plan. I keep chipping away at it but it has now got to the stage where I have to start putting in stat’s and figures and bleugh! All the bits I hate, so although the motivation is there, there are much more tempting things to do, like cleaning the toilet 😀  I’ll get it done eventually!

I’m working on another resin block collection – I have two blocks with start out idea’s tagged to both of them so I’ve been working on sketches and inspirations sheets etc.  When I have more concrete designs in place I may share them … with enough bribery.

Right now, I’m procrastinating looking at the store. It badly needs updating, but I have to go through and do a stock check first … bleugh … I wonder how clean the toilet is …. 😉

 

Random Thoughts and an Announcement

09 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in Custom Orders, Exhibitions, finished products, Life, Super Secret Project, working on

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First, lets do the announcement. Remember a couple of posts ago I said that I was to be involved in a new project that I was excited about? Well, I’m ready to share with you all!

After my last craft fair in Halkyn, the lovely Sarah (aka The Newspaper Lady) rang and asked if I would like to be part of a collective that she a couple of other artists had formed to take part in the Helfa Gelf Art Trail. I was super excited so said yes immediately! There will be six of us altogether, with a wide range of talents between us. Check out our facebook page, leave us a like (if you do) and if you will be visiting the trail in our area make sure to add us to your agenda 😉

Onto random thoughts … you know those times when you are lying in bed awake at night and because you are stupidly trying to sleep, you are not really thinking of anything … just letting the thoughts wash over you. Well my thought process went like this …

‘ha! I wonder what I would be like if I wasn’t allowed to make things …’

‘I’d probably be insane and climbing the walls – I would have been hospitalized in Victorian times …’

‘I wonder if many people were hospitalized because they weren’t able/allowed to be creative …’

(shock brainwave moment) ‘I bet that’s how art communes were invented … they were originally asylums for creative people …’

What do you think you would be like if you weren’t allowed your creative outlet?

I have been doing some experimenting & some making. I did do some work on the super secret collection, but then I melted part of it, so it’s now in time out until it’s learnt how to behave!

I did have some gaps to fill in my stock though, so made up some studs, a brooch & prepared a couple of spoons for some orders. I also made a ring out of one of the spoon handles … it turned out well so I might make some more of those.

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Plans for this week are to finish the super secret collection & fill a couple more gaps in my stock then I will be able to relax before my fair on Saturday in Halkyn. If you are in the area, don’t forget to pop in & say hello, its always appreciated 🙂