SOS - A new project!

Hello my lovelies, it has been a great week here in Scotland, what a difference good weather makes to everything.

While I am not one to sit in the sun and toast, I do see it bring out happier people and its infectious.

While the weather has been brilliant, my mind has been on overdrive.

A few years back I struggled with the work load until I mastered the art of delegation. Now I have it so
fine turned that I thought about spending the summer in USA with Debbie and Tom.
After my trip over at Easter and the realisation that sitting at home with they are at work is not a holiday together and we may just have to settle for family vacations together, everyone in holiday mode at once.

Now it leaves me with the summer off, almost.

There has been a desire to get back to my roots for the past few years, joining groups who were going to promote local crafts via a variety of sales venues but they all fail, to many chiefs and not enough Indians as the saying goes. Talk a lot but get nothing done or just to many self centred individuals looking after number one.

I want to be involved with making crafts again, along side like minded crafters who need a little guidance
in selling. There are many creative people who are very good at what they love but no place for them to sell their goods.

Local craft fairs are hard to crack, there are not enough respect for the amount of work put in and customers willing to spend on quality work. I love the buzz involved but for just a few hours its a bit too much.

So this summer I am taking on the project of putting together a POP UP SHOP.

I am hoping that this short term fix with fuel my love of crafting again, as sitting doing paperwork in the office is killing my mojo. I am going back to my roots, this is what I did all those years ago before someone asked me to teach them how to make the cards I sold. 10 years later I am stuck in the office and hate it!

With a little over 2 weeks before we open the POP UP SHOP, I have a lot to do. I have spent an evening at the local furniture sales room and purchased several pieces for use in the shop that can be re used at the end of the event. I have opened accounts with several gift suppliers to top up the hand made items.

I have a customer who brought to me the most adorable Amigurumi original mice and rabbits. OMG these are such an amount of work but totally worth it. I don't think we can get enough of these for the opening. She is delighted at the opportunity to work along side me on this project.

We will be working with Max from A Makers Tale, workshops in re painting furniture with Annie Sloan paints. Today I am painting a few empty frames for the window and a sandwich board for the pavement.

I have a carpenter who want to make whatever I think with fit in,  now where do I start?

I just have so much ideas in my head of what I would like to see in there, its hard to explain to none crafting folks but I round it up by saying .........

............Kirsty Allsop would love this Pop Up Shop.

This will keep me happy for the summer, let's hope I have not taken on more than I am capable of. But my buzz is back, wish me luck. ( find it over on FB  No 44 but its so new there are no followers yet only some photos)

{PS. I am still on the look out for the right jewelery maker, sewing machine queen, knitter and anyone else locally who makes a quality product worthy of a place in our window.}

I purchased a vintage type writer this week, Tim Holtz would love it but I am sure he already has several.

It will go in the shop window today with a print out of the shop opening with details of our mission. I hope for a few crafters to come out of the wood work and pitch in.

********

On an other note I have a couple come to Papercrafts for a day out craft shopping all the way from Fort William.

 On finishing up their shopping I was presented with a project............I've seen one before like this!.

I had already asked them if they had been in the shop before and they had not.
I do have a good memory for people but sometimes I get them mixxed up, but now my instinct was right.
Turns out that Andrea had visited our stall at the Glasgow SECC one year and had give us a similar calender book with each page dedicated to a sugar nellie stamp. It warms my heart that someone loves our stamps, and to make something that takes so much time and timidly give it to us without much fanfare, it just soooooo lovely. It shows that Andrea is a lovely crafter who thinks of others without the need for recognition or glory when she quietly slides her gift over the counter to you.
visit Andrea here  www.craftyingandy.blogspot.co.uk

Better go get painting then, hope you have a great day with a little golden time in there somewhere


Karen