Well, who would have guessed???

Well, would you credit it?  It's August Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, we are attending a Craft and Garden Show at the National Trust Propery of Kingston Lacy near Wimborne Minster in Dorset over the 3 days and guess what.............................it's raining!!!!!

Good old British weather,  just after we arrived at Kingston Lacy today to set up it started to rain a little, then it got harder, then it poured.  Getting our products from the van into the marquee in the rain was not much fun.  Luckily we have just invested in a range of lidded plastic boxes to store our stock in, so nothing got wet (except for Chris who was unloading the van).  Me......I just stood inside the marquee and took the boxes from her!!!

It's difficult to decide what to put out at some of these shows, as this one is termed as "Craft and Garden" we thought we would hedge our bets and put a wide(ish) selection, some garden stuff and some craft.  You just never know.

Anyhow, this is how our stand looked before we left it overnight in the marquee, hope its not too windy tonight! 

More new kids

Well, what do you know!  Playing around and experimenting with fabric is great.  I sorted out my fabric stash this week. I got it all organized, measured and cataloged, but then just HAD to do something with it.  Some time ago I had seen some lovely little fabric brooches somewhere, so I thought I would try doing my own variation on them.  Here is the result.

Once this was done, I moved onto bags.  I have been wanting to try making a reversible tote bag for some time now.  Well now I've done it!

This comes with its own removable embellishment/brooch

Here is the lovely Diana modelling

These may very well be going onto our new Etsy shop in the very near future!!!

The beginnings of a new range!

Quite excited about this one!!!  The 'Beachcomber' Range.

Chris and I often walk along the shores of The Solent which is quite close to where we live in Fareham, Hants.  Some of our favourite haunts are Hill Head, Lee-on-the-Solent, Portchester, Hayling Island and Milford-on-Sea.  We have even been known to go out to Selsey at times.

As artists we are always on the lookout for inspirational finds, and over the years have picked up many a pretty piece of pottery, or "must have" pieces of driftwood.  As the collection grows, and I look through the finds, I often wonder what we can do with them. 

As with most of my "good ideas" this one came to me in the shower.  Why not upcycle them into useful or decorative items.  So that is what we are doing.

The jewellery pieces are carefully ground to remove sharp edges, while keeping as close to the original found shape as possible, they have a hole drilled through (carefully) and thoroughly cleaned before adding a ring and chain to complete.

The wooden pieces are from found wood.  This had obviously not been around long enough for the sea to round the edges, but enough to make it look rugged. After drying it out we painted and distressed the wood some more, before printing onto it and sealing with a polyurethane varnish suitable for indoor or outdoor use.

We quite like the results. What do you think?

Stansted Garden Show

Hello all,

This weekend we are taking part in the prestigious Stansted Garden Show in Rowlands Castle, Hampshire.  Open from 10am - 5pm 15/16/17 June.  A great day out for all the family. Lots to see and buy for the garden and home, along with speciality foods and children's entertainment.

The Decima Design stall at The Stansted Garden Show

 

Craftfest - online craft fair

Hello all,

We are trying something different next weekend (as well as attending a craft event at Winchester Discovery Centre), we are taking part in CRAFTFEST.  This is an online craft fair, open 24hours of the day for a week, where we will be hosting a virtual craft stall.  The way it works (I think) is that visitors wander around the virtual stores buying unique handmade gifts etc directly from the maker.  It all sounds very exciting, and we are looking forward to taking part.

More details later in the week.

Another busy weekend

Well here we are at Friday again.  I'm sure the week keeps losing days! 
It's another busy weekend for Decima Designs as we split ourselves between two arts trails. The Emsworth Arts Trail, as mentioned last week, is where Chris will be. And I will be at our studio, along with Alan Longmore, as part of the Havant May Days Arts Trail.  Pop along if you have time!

Emsworth Arts Trail

If anyone has some spare time over this Bank Holiday weekend, you could do worse than visit some of us artists on the Emsworth Arts Trail. There is a very good selection of artists working in a variety of media, and work is generally for sale.  You will find Decima Designs under the umbrella of Group AF at location 35 (20 Tudor Avenue)