Showing posts with label craft markets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label craft markets. Show all posts

Monday, September 21, 2009

18 days to go.. how bout a tutorial post?

With the Northside Makers Market coming up.. I've been getting really busy getting things ready for it. One of the things I did was to make lace bowls out of doilies.

I know there are quite a few tutorials out there on how to make this, but there's no harm in sharing the joy again right? These photos aren't very pretty, but they show you just how easy it is for us to make things out of recycled and pre-loved items.

Okay so first you need to gather your materials:




1x PVA Craft Glue
1x cup of water
1x Lace Doily (50 cents from my local op shop!)
1x Empty Bowl (make sure that this is the size you want your lace doily bowl to become later on!)
1x Sacrificial Bowl (you'll see why later)
1x Mixing tool ( I used an ice cream stick)
1x roll of Clingwrap (you don't need very much!)



To begin with you take the PVA craft glue and your cup of water and mix equal amounts of it into the Sacrifical Bowl. Mix it well with your mixing tool!



You should get this watery white substance like the picture above. Doesn't it look like coconut milk? It is not edible, don't even try. This is also why I say use a sacrifical bowl. I don't think I want to be eating out of this bowl ever again! You can of course use other things such as a bucket, or an empty can. There's no limits here!

Take your doily and soak it in the white substance thoroughly. Make sure every bit of the doily is soaking wet!
You can even leave it in there for a small soak.

And while the doily is taking its soak, you can quickly clingwrap your bowl.



The reason you do this is to prevent the doily from sticking to your bowl and you potentially ruining the shape of the lace bowl when you are trying to pry it off the bowl. So don't skip this step!

Take your soaking doily out and squeeze the excess out. Make sure it's not dripping anymore, or else you will get sticky water dripping all over the place. Not fun.
Once you are done squeezing it out, drap it over the bowl you just cling wrapped and pop the bowl onto something else to keep it elevated. I just used another glass.



Take this time to shape the bowl however you'd like. I made tiny pinches all along the sides to give it a slightly wonky shape. I wanted the bowl to look weird and wonky! It's part of the charm, really.

Leave it to dry, preferably somewhere that has the potential for direct sunlight. My kitchen window sill is perfect for this so I sat it there for about 48 hours.



Once you are sure that it's completely dry, it should harden up significantly. Take it off the ledge and proceed to remove the lace doily from the bowl. Be very gentle!! If you find it hard to pry the bowl out, try unwrapping the clingwrap and sliding the bowl out from the clingwrap. You should find that this makes it much easier and the bowl will dislodge itself from the doily quite willingly.



And voila! Your very own lace bowl. Easy isn't it? If you do try your own, please link back and show me your bowls!



Can you spy the chocolate? Mine's going to be filled with yummy rings and such at the market, so children can have a go at digging for their favourite sweets that won't rot any teeth!
Hope you found this tutorial fun and easy to read. Till the next one!


Notes:
1. There are other ways to starch lace such as using corn starch, sugarxwater or commercial fabric stiffener. However commercial fabric stiffener is permanent and won't wash out while the rest can be washed out if you dislike the shape of your bowl! Sugarxwater will melt in heat, so not suitable for outdoor markets or any place that's hot. Corn starch is definitely a good way to go.

2. You can also dye your bowls, just dye the doily before you starch it, or add the colouring into the starch.

3. If you think your bowl is still too soft after it dries, you can spray it with a bit of corn starch to help stiffen it up.


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Friday, September 18, 2009

Little Waltz @ Northside Makers Market

Remember my talk about Jewellery displays for craft markets? I mentioned that if Lady Luck shone upon me, then I'd have a spot in the brand new Northside Makers Market.

Well, she did shine upon me. *does the hippy happy dance*

So yes. Little Waltz will be at the brand new handmade market : Northside Makers Market on the 10th of October (Saturday)





How exciting is this? I'm so stoked yet so completely and utterly nervous as well. What if I don't sell a single thing, what if people hate my creations? What if I don't have enough stock, what if .. what if... what if....

But you know what, that's half the fun. That's part of the excitement. And I definitely know what I'm going to be busy with for the next few weeks now.

If you are in the area and free... do come down and have a look see! It will be great fun, I promise. At the very least you will be able to pick me up from the floor where I, most definitely, will have melted into a puddle of panic.


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Saturday, September 5, 2009

Jewellery Displays - It does the head in.

With Spring off to a slightly wet start, I've started thinking about craft markets even more so than usual. Something about good weather screams outdoor markets and picnics, don't you think? I've put myself down for two markets this December at the Camberwell Sunday Trash and Treasure Markets, but if lady luck shines on me, I might be able to have a place in the brand new market organized by Northside Makers.

However applying for markets is one thing, and being ready for it is another. Part of the preparation process is working out your display. And that's something I'm really picky about. I have an image in my head on how Little Waltz should look like, and I really want to stick to that. You'd think with an image already all sorted out, the rest should be easy right? Wrong. Not with me anyways.

While having the image and the idea is half the battle, that doesn't actually mean I know how I want my pieces displayed. So I turned to Flickr.com to have a look through. I found groups such as: Arts & Craft fairs & shows and Show me your booths that had quite a number of beautiful photos contributed by crafters showing off how they did up their booths.

Here are a few of my favourites:


image by Sugarcookie


image by TheCupcakery Girl


image by Glass Elements


In the commercial market right now, there are different different types of jewellery display. If you were to waltz out there right now, you could probably come home with enough to fill a table. However, the problem for me lies in that it looks commercial. While the lovely white busts look really good in photos; on a craft market table, rows and rows of them remind me of goldsmith shop windows: not a favourite look I'm afraid. I'm a crafter, a handmade supporter. It seems wrong for me to go out there and fork out the money for commercial displays. Is this weird? Possibly. But I think I will sleep better at night for it.

That really leaves two pathways for me to take. Either I make my own displays stands, or I salvage something vintage and recycle it, modding it to suit my needs. There's always the ever popular corkboard on a stand: I've tried it, and have noticed that it potentially poses as a safety hazard (It pushes over easily). And winds or crowds can easily do that.

I also have to be aware of the very real time constraints that I will have while setting up, and packing up. I can't take hours uhm-ing and aah-ing over my table. So whatever I come up with will have to be easily packed up and put away efficiently.

And then there's the clutter aspect to be careful about. It can't be cluttered for that will just look messy and buyers will lose interest if they get lost within your own goods on the table. The presentation must be eye-catching or potential buyers will wander past without a second glance.

All these and so much more to think about: Just how do you decide on one? It seems to go on and on and on, and I'm ever so afraid of making that first step.

But when push comes to shove, I know I will come up with something that will do myself and my pieces justice. It's only that right now, I have absolutely no idea what that is.


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