Countdown

Hello good people, I hope the sun is shining on you wherever you are. 
The countdown to the Handmade Fair begins and I am busy sorting out my display and props so that I can make a creditable attempt to reproduce a boutique look in my tiny space of 1.5 x 2 metres. I have been looking at ideas and picking the best jewellery to make the highest impact.
​ I have had to resist the impulse to put everything out on the table and create a jumble sale effect, or wear everything I've got like the sunglasses salesman in the photograph which I took at a tourist spot in Mysore, India.

---

The tiny shops in India are crammed with goods, with everything from fly - swats to flowers, and follow the rule - 'stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap'.  
I, on the other hand need to strive for a degree of sophistication, and the mantra 'less is more' plays on in my mind over and over.

---

 We drove up to Ragley Hall on Sunday just to make sure we find it easily on the day and are not struggling with Sat - Nav's on top of everything else. The pile certainly is imposing - sitting on top of a small hill, with gently rolling greenery surrounding it and a drive through some very pretty, very ancient English villages.

I've got a few days off over the weekend and next week and plan to put the final touches to the pieces I have selected and tag them with prices and pack them up ready to transport. In the meantime, I busied myself with wire and produced a couple of little pendants. It brought back to me how much I love wire and have missed it. Both pendants are inspired by the designs of the most generous Nicole Hanna, with a twist in the design introduced by me.

I embroidered and soutached (is that a word??) around carnelian flowers and stitched them onto a leather strip to make a cuff bracelet held up by an aluminium core. 

A couple of necklaces and I was done for the week. 

And now I have to go and lie down, having caused myself to become so anxious I'm practically hyperventilating!! The thought of the Fair being so close I can almost smell it is a bit scary. I was so calm earlier on, I don't quite know what's happened to me, all this hand wringing angst is not really my style. 
I shall speak to you next weekend, same time, same place - until then, have a fabulous week, see you soon
xx