Gin in Teacups Stall

Well what a day I had doing a stall at the Gin in Teacups craft market yesterday! I had a great time, met loads of other lovely crafters and made a few sales too, yippeeee! It was good to get out and speak to people and see which items of mine were attracting the most attention. Selling online all the time can be a bit faceless and you don't always get feedback. It was also good to have a look around and see what crafts other people were doing too. I even ended up buying some lovely sweet chilli jam and some tomato and ginger jam which is absolutely delicious!

Here is some photos of my stall. I had loads of stuff, so much I couldn't even fit it all on the table! A lot more stuff than when I did my first stall 2 years ago anyway (see my last post). So I guess I better get my wee faerie bum into gear and do lots more crafts fares this summer and hopefully sell lots more stuff!

This picture was given to me by one of my younger fans who had been coming over to look at my Mario range. He says it's a new design I should work on, how sweet!

Well I guess I'd better look into doing some more stalls this summer and also getting a lot more of these Nomi Faerie goodies up on my Etsy page. Plus there is the crafty area to sort out, it's total chaos here after this week. A faerie's work is never done it seems...

Going to Market!

The last few weeks have been extremely busy as I prepare to do a stall for this event on Sunday. Very exciting as I've not done a stall for nearly 2 years and that was when I was first starting out with The Nomi Faerie. I think I have come a long way since then and have a lot more stuff to display than I did before. It's also going to be good to get out on the field and speak to potential buyers too rather than just doing everything online.

I didn't realise just how much work I would have to do for this stall. As it has been so long and I've got lots of new stock, I'm not only having to do lots of packaging but also make lots of little display units for all my different items. I'm also trying to make a few extras of my best selling stuff like my Mighty Boosh and Alice in Wonderland ranges, you never know it may give me a few extra sales on the day. I found a picture from when I did my first stall at West Fest nearly 2 years ago. As you can see from the photo I am 6 months pregnant at the time!

So anyway I'd best get back to it. Big list of things to do today and then if I have time hoping to set up a practice stall ahead of tomorrow. I keep looking at that old photo above and thinking I can do much better this time! I'll post some photos after the event tomorrow and you can decide for yourselves. Wish me luck and if anyone in the Dundee area wants to come down and say hello, it would be great to meet you!

Introducing the new Nomi Faerie Jar Necklace range

Thought I'd share some of the creations that I have been up to lately with you. It all started off with a gnome in a jar...

I've been making a lot of gnomes recently and the more practice I've been getting, the smaller I am able to make them. Then one day I was able to make them small enough to fit inside a miniature jar, yaaay! Well I turned that jar into a necklace and I err... kept that necklace for myself because I loved it that much!!! I would like to introduce you to Herbert Junior, those of you that know me and have seen me lately will probably already have met him!

Don't worry I'm not going to keep all the jar necklaces for myself. I went on to make another gnome in a jar but this time I went all out and also put in a toadstool, some foliage and a wee 'Gnome Sweet Gnome' sign. Norman seems to be very happy with his new terrarium and will be going up for sale on my Esty shop this week.

Then I went even smaller and made Mr & Mrs Gnome in their terrarium of Gnome Love jar! Only thing is with this one is I forgot to glue the base onto the bottom so it has come loose. This will just have to be kept as an ornament instead, oh well, they seem happy enough and haven't complained about it at all.

Moving on from the gnomes now I thought it would be customary to make a little faerie in a jar as well. Would like to introduce to you Louella the Bluebell faerie...

Next up... Did you collect trolls when you were young? I did, I've still got mine somewhere, why is that not surprising eh? Well one of my customers asked if I would make a troll in a jar key ring and I said of course, that just gave me a great excuse to make a bunch of the little critters!

So there you go! That's where I am at so far anyway. Got loads more ideas of things to create in jars although some of them are proving impossible to do and others are just completely bonkers! I am also open to suggestions as well if there is something that you would really like to see in a jar! Just don't be too rotten to me haha! In the meantime keep checking my Facebook page and Etsy shop for new makes and I'll be back with more faerieful nonsense this time next week! 

Morocco Holiday Snaps

Yes, it's been a while. Yes, I said I would write my blog weekly. Yes, it was my New Years Resolution and precisely why I don't usually make them. But anyway I thought I'd share a few of my holiday snaps with you and give you my list of excuses as to why I haven't been on top of things lately. Spring cleaning & de-cluttering the house, doing lots of commissioned orders and decorating the bathroom to name but a few. That means that I will have lots of new exciting posts to share with you over the coming few weeks. That is of course if I manage to get on top of my orders, get all the finishing touches in the bathroom done AND get all the clutter in this house sorted. I wouldn't bet money on the latter!
So anyway, here's a few of the better photos from my holiday to Morocco for you to have a gander and I will be back from all the chaos very soon...

The first thing I noticed about Morocco was the rich vibrancy of colours like in this photo taken at Marjorelle Gardens, Marrakesh. I love how the indigo blue contrast with the soft yellow and vibrant pink blossoms.

Once you get over the chaos and congestion of the main Marrakesh Medina it was actually rather pleasant walking about The Souks and seeing all the handmade nick nacks for sale. I wish I'd had more money with me as there was loads I wanted to buy!

This lovely tent was actually on our hotel roof! This is where we had breakfast and where I was often found escaping the midday sun or reading in the evenings.

This is probably one of my favourite snaps from the holiday and was taken while we were travelling through the Atlas Mountains.

This was a Berber Village we stopped at called Ait Ben Haddou. It is also know as the 'Cinema Village' and lots of films and TV series have been filmed here including Gladiator, Prince of Persia and Game of Thrones.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was staying out in the Sahara Desert under the stars. the sky was so clear you could see thousands of stars and even the Milky Way arcing across the sky. This picture was taken camel riding out into the desert at sunset.

Our hotel was right in the centre of Marrakesh and you could actually see right out onto the main square, the Jemaa El Fna. This photo was taken at dusk when the place really came alive with market traders, food stalls, entertainers and even snake charmers!

Off to Marrakech

Well the day has finally arrived. I depart for Marrakech today and here I am still in my jammies packaging up the last of my orders, writing my blog and have not even hauled the suitcase out the cupboard yet let alone started packing! Oh well, this is the chaos that is my life and just think... in just over 30 hours time I will be sipping refreshing mint tea and soaking up the sights, scents and atmosphere of the Jemaa el Fna where our riad is situated.

This will also be the first time I've been away from my 17 month old son so although I'm actually desperate for a break I know I'm gonna miss him like crazy! I'm actually also a little worried I end up sleeping for the whole holiday as I feel that shattered right now, haha!

We've got loads planned for the trip like hiring a car and going up the Atlas mountains, going on a dessert trip and hitting the coast for the day so sure will have plenty to keep myself occupied with. Am planning on writing a series of blog posts when I get back all about my trip so check back in a fortnight to hear all about the Nomi Faerie's adventures in and around Marrakech - don't worry I will try come up with a catchier title while I am away! Now I suppose I'd better think about getting a shower and hauling that suitcase out the cupboard! See you when I get back! :)

The Sunflower Faerie

Hello everyone! Thought I would share my latest make; The Sunflower Faerie. This is the first time I had made a larger scale character since my wedding cake toppers last year so it was lots of fun getting back into it and not having to make things on such a tiny scale all the time like my fimo jewellery charms.

I had a bit of trouble making the wings but after an appeal on Facebook, Elaine from Random Craftiness And Crafty Randomness very kindly sent me some angelina fibre to work with. Thank you Elaine! Angelina or fantasy fibres are very sparkly, iridescent fibres which are heat bondable. I made the faerie's wings above by creating an outline with green wire then ironing layers of angelina fibre across them on both sides then trimmed the excess to create this lovely, sparkly set of wings.

The Sunflower Faerie was designed as a gift for my friend Shirley who's Birthday it was last week. She loves sunflowers and reading so I thought this would be a great gift to have a little sunflower faerie sitting up on her book shelf sunning herself. Now I've got the bug again I'm planning on making more faeries real soon! I've got lots of new ideas and I am currently working on a new faerie at the moment, although it's taking me ages to finish! Don't worry as soon as it's finished I will get the pictures up to show you! I'd best best dash off and get the tea on just now though, bye for now! xxx

Alice in Wonderland Inspired Baby Shower

Apologies for there being no blog update last week but I have been an extremely busy little faerie indeed. Last Tuesday my friend Lydia and I were hard at work making Alice in Wonderland inspired decorations for our friend's baby shower at the weekend. We got quite a lot done in one evening if I do say so myself but then having new devices in the house now such as a die cutter and a printer certainly helps a lot!

As you can see from the photo we made loads! We made a caterpillar in the style of The Hungry Caterpillar as our friend loves it! I used the printer to print out 'This Way', 'That Way' and We're all Mad Here' signs. I printed out Cheshire cat grins which we stuck to straws to make little masks. I used the die cutter to cut out most of the shapes including the keys and love hearts. We threaded the love hearts onto some ribbon along with the suite of hearts from a deck of cards to make Queen of Hearts bunting. I also printed out and cut out some 'Eat Me' and 'Drink Me' tags too.

That left Friday for baking CAAKES!!! Sorry I love saying that word! I made vanilla cupcakes with blue butter icing, sprinkles, love heart sweets and 'Eat Me' handmade cake toppers. Here's my mum who's over visiting at the moment snaffling one! 

Here's some photo's from the baby shower including all our decorations and baking...

As you can see we had quite a large selection of cakes, in this photo you can also see Lydia's handmade Aztec gold cookies.

My cakes on display next to 'Drink Me' bottle (I picked up this bottle from the pound shop, filled it with juice and stuck a 'Drink Me' tag on it for a great effect)

This is us setting up the buffet table (there was a lot more food added later).

'This Way' and 'That Way' signs before going through the the kitchen. We also put a 'We're All Mad Here' sign on the front door.

The extremely munchied caterpillar.

Queen of Hearts Bunting.

My little monkey mooching food off everyone.

Ella tucking into a cake.

If you remember the blog post about my baby shower, my friends played this game called Baby Come Dine With Me which involves taking all the labels off baby food jars and the players have to guess the flavours. It's not very pleasant and it is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Well done to Jordan who won a scented cupcake necklace with 'Eat Me' tag from my shop.

We then played another game which was more like a quiz where we had to answer questions about Jordan such as her favourite colour, film, cartoon character etc. Simone won and received a miniature tea cup ring from my shop.

Simone modelling her miniature teacup ring

The guests recovering from Baby Come Dine With Me

So all in all I would say the day was a great success, plenty of munchies, good company and cool decorations. Hopefully there is plenty of inspiration here for your Alice in Wonderland inspired Baby Shower too. Now time to get back to working on some Alice in Wonderland inspired jewellery for my shop, keep your eyes peeled for more amazing Nomi Faerie stuff coming very soon!

Competition Winners

Only a quick post today as need to get into town and go to the Post Office. Just wanted to announce the competition winners. They have already been informed on my Facebook page but I said I would write a list on my blog too. Winners are;

Beth Lou                   X-Box Controllers (Black)
William Johnston       X-Box Controllers (White)
Ria Mitchelson          Mighty Boosh Earrings & Lemon Teacup Ring
Sarah Louise Lamb   Scented Key Lime Pie Necklace
Lydia Rolffe-Budd     Mario Fire Flower Brooch

Congratulations folks and thank you to everyone who took part in the competition, also for all your lovely comments and shares. I got lots of new likers for my Facebook Page and a good idea of what Nomi Faerie products you would like to see more of in the future.

If any of the competition winners want to send me a photograph of themselves wearing their prizes then that would be great. Also want to say a big Happy Birthday to Ria Mitchelson who's Birthday it is today!

Speak to you soon folks I must go and post all these faerie-tastic prizes now.

The Fantastic Faerie Prize Draw!

Yesterday my Facebook page reached over 500 likes so in honour I am holding a big competition where you can win not just one, or even three, but six prizes with a total value of £50!!! Prizes include two pairs of X-box Controller Cuff Links, Mario Flower Brooch, Miniature Teacup Ring, Mighty Boosh Earrings and Scented Key Lime Pie Necklace!

• To enter all you have to do is go to my Facebook Page LIKE & SHARE the Competition poster (above) then leave me a comment saying which prize you would like to win and why.
• Every SHARE + COMMENT = ONE ENTRY!!! Entrants may enter more than once, especially if they would like to win more than one prize or just increase their odds of winning!
• The more creative and interesting the comment, the more likely you will be to get entered twice into the draw!
• You can also enter the competition on my Twitter or Google + accounts. Same rules as above apply.

Every entrant will be put into a pot according to which prize they prefer. Winners will be drawn at random from each pot on Sunday 3rd February at 9pm GMT. Winners will then be announced here on my blog the following day. Good luck and I hope you all have fun entering!

Snow and the Strawberry Anarchy Giveaway

Phew, what a week it has been with all the snowfall! Unfortunately living in the centre of town the snow hardly lies and whatever does quickly turns to slush, meh! Makes me wish I still lived up the hills so I could go sledging and make snowmen, haha! But anyway the good thing about being stuck indoors during the bad weather is that I've made lots of new fimo creations and I have lots of new goodies ready to put up in my shop, yay!

Today I am planning a wee jaunt around town with my camera after my little monster awakes from his nap. Hopefully I will catch some nice wintery scenes before all the snow melts away. But before I head off I will leave you with great news about my very talented friend; Strawberry Anarchy's amazing give-a-way. She is giving away £60 worth of her new Happy Flower necklaces. Which one is your favourite? Mine is Petunia the happy flower. Have a look for yourself, they will certainly cheer you up, especially if you are one of the unfortunate people snowed in across the UK right now! You better hurry up though as the competition ends tomorrow, good luck! I'll be back in a few days to show off my new fimo creations, see ya then! :)

The Creative Corner

I have just spent most of this evening sorting out all my jewellery findings and beads into some sort of reasonable order. I realised that I hadn't actually put any pictures up of my craft desk/creative corner and thought that now would be a good time (seeing as it is fairly tidy for a change lol). I had to move my craft desk into my rather small bedroom back in September as my son needed his own room.

It is not ideal as the room is very dark and really tight for space, in fact I could do with putting some more shelves up for everything, but it does the job. It's my own little retreat where I can go and create whilst listening to my favourite tunes. And there's no little menaces allowed, well most of the time anyway!