and the winner is...

Congratulations to Shaz of Oddsox for winning a handmade ceramic brooch, magnet and hanging star on my blog giveaway. Shaz was one of many other possible winners who left a comment on my Blog Giveaway Post, telling me what they like about my work and suggesting something new for me to make. I loved Shaz's suggestion of making some ceramic buttons, which I will start on soon! Thank you to everyone who entered. I'll be having another giveaway when I reach 200 followers :)

The giveaway was also a great opportunity to browse some lovely new shops. Just look how cute these Stocking Pocket Terrors are! All handmade by Oddsox who creates a mixture of creatures from socks, recycled woollen jumpers and fabrics. Check out her shop to view more latest additions, the hedgehogs are cute too!

And congratulations to me too! I won my first ever giveaway this week, it was these hand knitted tree decorations from SophieCat. I received them this morning, they were wrapped up in a box - I hope I wasn't supposed to wait til Christmas to open it?! I'm putting my tree up next week so they will hang nicely on there.

I'm a bit worried about putting the tree up this year... what if Molly knocks it down by climbing up it or pulls off all the decorations? She is 6 months old now but still a little rascal. How do you other cat owners find it at this time of year?

I'm hoping to have some new decorations for the tree this year, from the Frankfurt Christmas market in Birmingham that I'm going to this weekend!!! I'm so excited, I can't wait to smell all the Christmassy smells and see lots of handmade crafts and gifts. Will let you know what its like when I'm back!

Free surprise with every purchase!

From now until Christmas, all customers will receive a free surprise handmade gift with every purchase made from my online store or my Folksy shop!

New items are constantly being updated in both shops so be sure to keep visiting.

Just remember to e-mail or message me quoting "FREE SURPRISE 09" after completing your purchase.

Thank you to my recent customers :)

Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience

I had a fantastic day at this event yesterday, it was one of the most successful craft fairs I have ever done! I was very impressed, especially because it was the first year the event was being held. The flow of customers coming in the door was pretty constant all day, it got very busy at lunch time and my stall got swamped at one point! I had customers queuing up to pay for items, I was buzzing!! I got to the venue nice and early so enjoyed setting up my stall with plenty of time.

The Warwickshire Exhibition Centre venue where the event was held was bigger than expected, there were around 100 lovely handmade stalls to explore. There were 2 very cute Alpacas in a pen near to the entrance, I can't believe how soft their fur is! There was also a Santa's Grotto, plus free craft workshops for children to make their own Christmas crackers.

A huge thank you to Claire at Lady Luck Jewellery for organising and promoting this craft fair. She worked her socks off!

As always, I got to have a walk round in the afternoon when it got a bit quieter, thanks to Dave who looks after my stall for me (and also carries all my boxes, loads and un-loads the car, etc!). I managed to talk to some of the other stall holders and admire their stunning work. These are just a few of my favourites;

• 1. Orange & Cinnamon Soap Slices by Just Soaps.
• 2. Fingerprint Jewellery by Kirstie Darnell.
• 3. Three handmade ceramic heart buttons by HodgePodgeArts.
• 4. Beautifully felted items by Creative Bumble Bee.

Latest News & Commissions

Here are two latest commission pieces that are now settled in their new homes. The new owner of this hand built ceramic sculptural vessel piece has placed it outside at the bottom of her driveway, as she didn't have a sign leading to her house. She lives deep in the countryside and plans to fill the vessel with gravel. I think it will look great in the natural surroundings.

This dish was made for a customer who wanted a nice earthy and organic gift for his mum as a Christmas present. I really like the flowing shape of it, and the colours which aren't much different to those used on the vessel above. I melted some recycled green glass into the bottom of this dish which was pooled in the centre, producing a nice glimmering effect when the light catches it. The customer was pleased, I hope his mum is pleased with it on Christmas day.

My new online shop on my website is going well. I'm slowly adding more and more products so keep checking back to see whats been newly updated.

You might remember the class of autistic students who visited my exhibition in September, and used my work as inspiration for their clay project. (To view the post, click here.) I sent the students and their teacher a bowl and lots of decorative magnets today, as a thank you to them and an early Christmas gift. The teacher knows to expect the parcel but it is a surprise to the students, and says she will display my bowl where all visitors will see it. I hope they like it!

In the meantime I'm preparing for my next craft fair on Sunday. I'll let you know how it goes next week :)

Flickr Favourites - Nature

I've picked 4 of my favourite images from Flickr that best reflect the source of inspiration of my work. I love organic surfaces, textures, colours and patterns.

1. Perfect*, 2. Tree Bark Texture, 3. Pebbles, 4. porth nanven

Whilst browsing Flickr I found an amazing Set called Intrestingness by Tina Manthorpe, some beautiful images - check it out!

To take part in sharing your Flickr Favourites, hop over to Mitsy's blog and join in - it's fun!

Craft Fair Essentials - Check List

It's too cold, wet and miserable to be out in the workshop, so I've decided to stay in the warmth and prepare for my next craft fair this Sunday - The Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre on 22nd Nov - This event has been really well advertised and promoted and should go well, fingers crossed. Some of my products were used in a photo shoot for the show last week, which are now in surrounding area magazines and newspapers. I'll let you know how it goes next week.

I've been booking new events for 2010, and have typically lost my list of things to take to craft fairs, so I thought I'd update a list on my blog - that way I can never lose it. I hope my list will also help some of you. Maybe your first fair is coming up or you have lost your list like me! Some things on my list may not be relevant to you but you should be able to adapt it to suit your products. Let me know if you find it useful, or if there is anything you think I have forgotten.

DISPLAY

• Table cloth
• Table cloth clips
• Boxes under table cloth for variations in height
• Clear acrylic plinths
• Stock of products with spares to replace sold items
• Display boards
• Props - dried sticks, pine cones, shells, dried orange slices, baskets, flowers etc.

OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS

• Money box & float
• Stationary box - pens, notebook, scissors, blu-tac, pins/clips, string, cable ties, cellotape
• Receipt Book
• Price Tags
• Calculator
• Business cards & holder
• Sales list book including item sold, description & price
• Carrier bags
• "Thank you for your purchase" tags
• Tissue paper
• Bubblewrap, packaging
• Sticky labels stamped with "Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics" to tape up sold items, rather using than cellotape.
• Banner
• Profile showing a bit of blurb about me, my inspiration, commission details, showing that all work is handmade.
• Signage for customers - eg. "Pieces can be displayed outside" - Let them see everything they need to know.
• Leaflets & holder advertising online shops, next events etc.
• Lighting

AND DON'T FORGET!

• Food snacks & drinks
• Tissues, wipes
• Camera
• Insurance - public/products liability
• Coat/jumper - something to take off if you get hot but to also have with you incase you get cold!
• Waterproof ground sheet if craft fair is in outdoor marquee
• Dust sheets if craft fair is on for more than one day and some products are being left out.

Decorate your stall according to seasons!

Giveaway Competition - 100 Followers!

Firstly I'd like to thank those of you who follow my blog and find it interesting enough to read!

I reached 100 followers yesterday, and to celebrate I've decided to run my first giveaway competition. The winner will receive a handmade ceramic turquoise magnet, a decorative shiny red hanging ceramic star, and a cream & brown handmade ceramic brooch with engraved hearts.

The brooches look great as decorations on your handbag, as well as on your jacket.

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is follow me if you aren't already, leave a comment on this post telling me what you like (or even dislike!) about my work, and suggest any new items that you think I should make. Oh and leave a link to your blog/shop etc so I can be nosy :)

To make it fair all names will be entered into the Random Number Generator. You have until 23rd November to enter, and the items will be posted out to the winner that week. Good luck!