Events
Details of craft fayres and other events organised by Sea Witch's Cavern can be found on our Event blog - Click on the link on the Blogroll to find out more.
On Friday I had a phone call from my sister-in-law to say that she was ill and wouldn’t be able to do the refreshments. Terry and I thought about the stallholders we had coming and which of them had family who might help out. Terry phoned Tony Marriott of Tony’s Toons and within the hour we had confirmation that his wife would come to our rescue and be our tea-lady. We were very pleased because we want to build a “family” of stallholders, where we all help each other.
Saturday dawned bright and sunny, even if cold – One of those beautiful frosty mornings, where even if the cold bites the sun makes the spirit lift. I was happy as I had worried that we would be knee-deep in snow after a flurry of snow late Friday night left a thin layer on the road. I arrived at Uley after a slightly hairy (for me) drive up hill and down dale to find Terry and a couple of other stallholders already there setting up the tables.
My choice of pitch was dictated by where there was a power point for the lights on my twisted willow branch earring display. I got busy unloading and setting up my tables while Terry finished setting up the tables and Ronald Large, our resident wood-turner and Tamara Moffatt from Threads of Imagination set their displays up.
The other stallholders continued to arrive and began their own setting up. The next hiccup in the smooth running of the fayre happened when Tony was preparing to set up his display. He had a table and then the stage at right angles for his card display. He needed a power point too. Before he started setting up he asked Terry if there was anywhere that he could plug-in his extension cable for his display. He asked if it would be ok to look on the stage for one and Terry said “Yes”.
Tony looked behind the curtain and found a double socket. In one of the sockets an extension was already plugged in, the other one empty. Above the socket was a sign saying “Don’t use this plug”. When he read the sign above it, which said ‘plug’ he took it to mean not to use the extension ‘plug’ that was already plugged in. So Tony plugged his extension into the empty socket.
The electricity blew and we were all plunged into relative darkness apart from the light coming through the windows. Good thing it was a bright day.
Terry walked round to talk to the Hall key holder, who rang four electricians, who weren’t available. Arrgh! After coming to the hall himself to check the situation he thought of a neighbour who was handy at D.I.Y and asked him to see what he could do. Terry told me later that he thought his liability insurance may take a beating but the key holder told him that the sign was ambiguous and there was a known problem with the electrics in the hall.
The fayre opened with no lights, no power for the refreshments and no heating.
- Carnelian Flower Swirl Pendant
We had a steady stream of visitors and I was happy with a sale of one of my Carnelian Flower pendants within the first ten minutes of being open for business. All the various designs of Sterling Silver Swirl pendants I have had on display at jewellery parties and craft fayres have sold. I must make some more 
I didn’t get a chance to browse the stalls myself until later than normal because Terry was busy checking in with the progress on the work on the electrical problem. My impression was that Tony too observed the work a lot. Both obviously wanting the problem fixed as soon as possible.
When I did go round and talk to the other stallholders it was nice to catch up with the ones who had done previous fayres and to see what changes they had made to their displays. Gill Webb with her Glass by Gill stall had some lovely Valentine glass hearts on hanging chains in a variety of vibrant colours . I gave her an idea for a variation on the theme. More will be revealed at the Sheepscombe Craft Fayre.
It was also great to meet our new stallholders. Threads of Imagination had wide range of arts and crafts products and Emma Prittchett with her Biggerdees stall had a wonderful selection. I wasn’t quite sure what she would be displaying, just that it would be wooden toys. Her products weren’t just anything – They were quality, brightly coloured children’s toys. I didn’t get as much time as I would have liked to browse her stall but next time…
I’m not sure what time it was when the electric went back on but we were all getting cold and gasping for a hot drink when it did. A cheer rang round the hall when the lights came on. There was a slight pause while the power for the sockets and heating was fixed. Pretty soon though Tony’s wife had the kettles boiling and Tony brought us mugs of coffee and tea.
I don’t think Tony had much time to chat with visitors to his display because of what had happened, which was a shame because his work is brilliant. I love his toon below.
I think that the problem with the electrics could have been set off by any of us who needed power. I don’t think I would have read the sign any differently. Another learning experience - In future we will need to find out if there are any problems with the halls that we need to aware of when Terry visits the halls prior to the fayres. At earlier fayres this wouldn’t have been an issue as Terry was the only one in need of a power point but we all seem have jumped on the bandwagon with lights for our displays.
After clearing up, I was meant to be following Terry to my house; where we would unpack my car and then I was going to take him out to dinner. As I’ve said before I haven’t been driving for long and when I was a passenger I must have gone round with my eyes shut because in spite of living in the area all my life I have to rely on my SatNav to get to places out of Cheltenham. All was well with me following Terry until I got stuck at a roundabout. I thought one car, a big 4 by 4 thing had got between us. At times I couldn’t see Terry but thought I was keeping him in sight most of time until the car I thought was him indicated to go left and then I thought “Is that him? Is that car purple?” As it took a right and I followed onto a housing estate in the back of beyond, I was able to see that no it wasn’t purple it was green. I pulled up and got my SatNav out and set it up to get me home.
As I pulled out onto the main road I spotted Terry coming the other way and flashed my lights at him and then pulled in to wait for him to turn round. He pulled in behind me and I told him that I’d not try to follow him as I had the SatNav and would go first and see him at my place, shortly. Famous last words, methinks.
All went well until I fluffed the exit off the roundabout from Junction 11 of the M5. I knew I’d missed it so went all the way round but on the second attempt, I took the exit before the one I needed and ended up back on the M5 going towards Tewkesbury. I was so cross and most of the several mile trip toward Tewkesbury I was imploring Tom (the SatNav) not to send me back down the M5 at the next junction. I had visions of me shuttling backwards and forwards all night or until I ran out of petrol between the two junctions and admit to giggling at the image in my head.
Fortunately although I did have to do a circuit of the next junction roundabout and get back onto the M5, it was to go to Junction 10 and at that exit roundabout I had no problem and actually knew where I was.
I got to my house and Terry wasn’t there. I knew he didn’t have his mobile and didn’t think it was a good idea to go looking for him so started unloading the car. By the time I’d carried the boxes to my front door he arrived, to my relief. He got out of his car and gave me a big hug. He’d been worried, never dreaming that I’d taken a side trip to Tewkesbury but was worried that there had been an accident. Where we planned to go to eat had a 30 minute seating wait and the second restaurant we tried had an hour wait. The local chippie was the last resort.
What a comedy of errors – When I said that the Uley craft fayre would be fun, I didn’t mean it quite the way it turned out. It was a good day for us though and I hope for the other stallholders and visitors.
All the accounts and tax returns are completed, apart from meetings with three clients for signatures and then for me to submit the returns online. Phew I really didn’t think I was going to get them done on time and have time left over to get myself organised for our first craft fayre of the year. At the worst I could have just picked up the boxes from December’s craft fayre at Cranham but I am tweaking again. I do like to have different items at each fayre and I having been designing a new range of jewellery specifically for the fayres.
Terry has booked four halls for this year so far and we are both astounded that we are almost fully booked with stallholders for all of them. We need to check with a couple of regulars on Saturday who are coming to the Uley Valentine Craft Fayre to see if they want the available spaces we have left at Minchinhampton and Leonard Stanley.
We’ve had to say no to several crafters who are making and selling products similar to stallholders, who have already booked, so that we don’t have duplicates. We’ve also had stop taking bookings for Uley and Sheepscombe because they are fully booked. We could have taken another half a dozen at both if we wanted to squeeze the stalls in like sardines. That is something we are not going to do. We want space for both exhibitors and for our customers to move around freely.
Terry and I both hate turning people away so we are now looking at bigger village halls. It will be very interesting to see how the Minchinhampton Easter Market and Craft Fayre goes. That is in the village market hall and we have booked both the undercroft and the hall above it so we have more space available.
This coming Saturday at Uley Village Hall we have a lovely variety of stallholders with our regulars and also several new exhibitors. We are both looking forward to the day, it will be a lot of fun. If you are in the area please come and join us, we would love to meet you.
- Midnight Blue Dragonfly Pendant
Shopping online earlier this month for Swarovski crystal beads and pearls for my daughter’s wedding jewellery I just had to check out the Swarovski pendants. I spotted Swarovski’s new Dragonfly Wing crystal and couldn’t resist buying half a dozen. I knew exactly what I was going to make with them. Dragonflies of course
Swarovski have produced various colours but I liked the one with one of their special coatings in a silver shade, which is a perfect match for the colour of real dragonfly wings.
Ever since I received the order I’ve been wanting to make them up but had a couple of custom design orders to make first. Saturday evening I finally had my chance and made up the three pendants pictured above and below.
The dragonfly bodies are made with Swarovski crystal beads and pearls with a 925 sterling silver daisy bead in between. The pendant is suspended on a sterling silver chain. To finish the pendant off I put a curve in the tail because it looked too stiff whereas dragonflies are in perpetual motion.
Olive Green Swarovski Crystal Dragonfly
Powder Rose Swarovski Crystal Dragonfly Pendant
I’ve always loved dragonflies and bought and embroidered the picture below when I stayed with a friend in America nearly two years ago. The pendant dragonflies seem to be dancing on air too. All three are listed at Sea Witch’s Cavern online shop and are available to buy. They would make lovely gifts or a treat for yourself.
- Carnelian Gemstone Dolphin
Carnelian Carved Gemstone Dolphin
Rose Quartz Gemstone Pyramid
It has been a hectic few weeks. January is my busiest month with the accountancy service; my other business. I try to keep my weekends for working on Sea Witch’s Cavern but that is not going to happen this weekend. I have to complete at least two sets of final accounts and tax returns.
Every year I nag my clients to bring the paperwork in early and every year I get the stragglers. Believe it or not I still have one client yet to bring me their paperwork with only nine days to go to the deadline! I do worry that I won’t get everything done but somehow I always do even if it means eating scratch meals of yoghurt, fruit and whatever will go on top of a gram flour waffle – my version of toast as I’m allergic to wheat.
Last weekend I spent most of the weekend taking photos and listing carved gemstone ornaments in the shop. It took longer than I expected because when I got the carvings out of the box I realised that for some I would have to do multiple listings. The Carnelian dolphins shown above are a prime example of the variation in colour in natural gemstone. If there is a lot of variation I do like to list those items separately because it can be disappointing if when a purchase arrives it isn’t as the picture shows.
There is always going to be a slight variation with handmade products or those made with natural materials; it is part of what makes them unique and attractive to many. One of the most important of senses when we buy a product is sight, that is what attracts us first to a product. It’s why there are so many makes of cars; if all we needed was an engine, wheels and seats they’d all be box-shaped.
Personally I think both the Carnelian dolphins are beautiful and I wouldn’t be disappointed with either but just as they are unique so is every person. What attracts one person will not be another’s choice.
Photography is an important part of my business, luckily it’s always been something I enjoy doing. With the latest upgrade to my shop software I can upload multiple photos and I aim to take full advantage of this to show different angles of my products. My goal has always been for every customer to be delighted with their purchases and getting good photos so that they know what to expect is the first step.
This week I had a regular customer order a pair of earrings to match a pendant she bought previously and we got into an email conversation lasting several days. It was lovely to know what she thought of my jewellery and unintentionally I sold her on a pendant I haven’t even made yet That to me is a huge compliment. She liked the description of the pendant and said ”Somehow it reminds me that we are much nearer to Spring than we were and what a lovely thought that is.” The correspondence made me happy for many reasons but the most important to me is that she loves everything she has bought and my jewellery gives her pleasure when she wears it.
As long as I can remember the natural beauty in the World has been a source of wonder and food for my soul. The latter sounds a bit cheesy but even when I’m stressed or down I can see something that I think is beautiful and that sense of wonder comes over me and the stress disappears or I feel my spirits lift.
I think that is why I work in the mediums that I do with my jewellery making - Natural materials, even if they have been processed and refined like the sterling silver and gemstone beads give me that sense of wonder because of where they originated.
I wondered whether this post would fit into this site but it is part of whom I am and so I believe, does.
A couple of years ago a friend bought me a bird feeding stations for my birthday and it is an endless source of pleasure to me. This year I added a feeder for fat balls, which I’ve hung on my Twisted Willow tree. On a cold winter’s morning it is part of my routine to replenish the food and to defrost the stone birdbath and sundry saucers I have dotted about the garden. Usually I do it as dawn is breaking and there is just enough light to see so that once the birds wake up and become active there is water and food for them.
Yesterday morning I looked up from my desk and saw several Long Tailed Tits in the Buddleia. I went to the French doors and there was a flock of them, too many too count as they kept flying about the garden and the various feeders. The garden was a real hive of activity with them as well as several Blue Tits, a Robin, a Wren and a Blackbird. The Blackbird is a female and I recognise her as a regular visitor because she has several white feathers in on her back. The Robin and Wren too are frequent visitors.
I stood enchanted while watching at least half a dozen Long Tailed and Blue Tits hang upside down on the peanut and the fat ball feeder. A couple of the Long Tailed Tits came over to a Fire Thorn Bush I have only a foot or so away from the French Door and so I got a close look at them through the glass. They are so beautiful and graceful – With a tail longer than their bodies they should look unbalanced but they don’t, it just adds to their charm.
It has been a busy weekend with me working flat-out on transferring all the content from the Webjam site over. All is now done for the present until the DNS settings for my domain names take effect and I can update them here and at the Event blog.
Now the framework is set up I can go back to writing about the things that interest me and hopefully you.
I hope you had a good Christmas and I wish you a rather belated peaceful, happy and successful New Year.
We had a good Christmas. It was just Terry and my youngest daughter and I here on Christmas Day so fairly quiet but very nice and relaxing. We watched a film on the box in the evening - I did a bit of jewellery making while watching. I’ve been making some earrings and pendants up in birthstone colours and made a few more sets up.
Boxing Day my eldest daughter and her fiance arrived for an overnight stay. It was lovely to see them. My daughter and I sorted out the jewellery she wants me to make for her bridesmaids and flower girl and hopefully some jewellery for her to wear on her Wedding Day too. I would be really proud to see her wearing my designs as she walks down the aisle, although no doubt I will be bursting with pride without her wearing my jewellery.
The youngest went out with her boyfriend in the evening and the rest of us spent the evening playing Trivial Pursuit, which was so much fun we ended up going to bed really late.
My daughter and her fiance left to return home the next day and I settled down to do some family history research. I haven’t had the time to do any for ages and it was great to get back to it. Mainly I was typing up an interview I had recorded with my Aunt regarding some of her memories of my Father but I also searched the 1911 census. I found most of the relevant entries for the branches that were alive at that date but had to be rather inventive to find one set of my Maternal Great Grandparents.
The transcribers had got their name wrong. I started off thinking that perhaps they’d spelt the end wrong as their name ended with zky and tried all the combinations I could think of. No joy until I used a wild card in place of the first letter. They’d transcribed it as a T not a J. I didn’t find their daughter, my maternal Grandmother, she wasn’t living at home. It’s possible that she was living in Switzerland as she met and married my Grandfather a couple of years later. My biggest problem once I start researching is that I don’t want to stop. I find it so addictive and get such a buzz as I discover more. The trouble is I find, that I may discover the answer to one puzzle just to open up half a dozen more avenues to explore.
I dallied with having a Webjam website and there were a lot of good things about it. The biggest problem with it was that it was slow to load and one additional page I added froze all the time on me. After discovering that the page was freezing on others I decided that there wasn’t really any point in continuing with Webjam and resurrected my WordPress blog.
I’ve spent all day working on it and have all my blog posts from the Webjam site copied across. One thing I couldn’t do with WordPress was have two blog pages – I had one for Sea Witch’s Cavern and one for the events that we organise at the Webjam site. I’ve had to use a bit of a work around but hopefully it will work just as well.
I now have two WordPress Blogs – This one and also an Event Blog I have lot of work to do to update the latter tomorrow.
Rose Quartz, Aventurine, Lemon Agate, Onyx, Snow Quartz
When talking to my daughter earlier this week I told her that I would be having a nice relaxed evening playing beads. She smiled, she knows that when I get a delivery of beads that I am like a kid in a sweetie shop.
Playing beads involves organising them with code numbers and putting them away in my bead boxes in between admiring the colours and almost caressing them, while thinking of designs to turn them into jewellery.
I’d put in an order with an overseas supplier to restock some of the gemstone beads I was short of and also to buy some different beads. I had realised through my displays at jewellery parties and the craft fayres that the majority of colours I had in gemstone beads were what I’d term as Earth or Mother Nature colours. Browns, greens, yellows and oranges. I do have some blues in Sodalite and Blue Lace Agate and of course Amethyst and Rose Quartz add a bit more colour but nothing really vibrant.
When I did my order that was my quest and I found some beautiful Jade – The Purple Jade and Coral Candy Jade certainly are gorgeous. I am looking forward to getting creative with them. The Snow Quartz, which I bought thinking they would go with any colour as a contrast are beautiful – One of the things I love about semi precious gemstone beads is the variety of colour in a single string of beads and I was amazed at the variety in the Snow Quartz. So many shades of white ranging from the purest white to an almost silvery grey white. Also included in the piles of beads shown in the photographs is a couple of strings of natural Turquoise, which was a find. A lot of Turquoise beads are dyed or are reconstituted so it was great to find natural Turquoise and again the variations in colour are stunning.
Originally posted to Webjam 5th December 2009
Jades, Tree Agate, Tiger Eye
I had a great weekend, my eldest daughter and her fiance came to stay. It was an early start for all of us on Saturday as we had to be in Cirencester to go bridesmaid dress shopping by 9.30am for my youngest daughter and her step-sister. My eldest knew the range of dresses she was interested in but it was a slow start getting the bridesmaids to choose, perhaps they were shy or didn’t want to handle the beautiful dresses. Fortunately their Dad didn’t have any such qualms and started going through them and taking any off the rail that they liked.
While they then tried the dresses on and gave us a fashion display I checked out the wedding jewellery in the display cases. I was amazed at the prices for simple necklaces and earrings. My eldest has been saying ever since she started going to wedding fairs that I ought to get into the wedding business, lack of time and confidence has been partly responsible for me not doing anything about her idea. Seeing the jewellery on display I know that I could make wedding jewellery as good if not much prettier and without the 500% markup . My brain is buzzing with ideas. I am making jewellery for my daughters bridesmaids and flower girl and will be working on making a selection for my daughter to see when she and her finance visit at Christmas. Watch out for the new wedding jewellery category at Sea Witch’s Cavern.
My youngest daughter and her step-sister successfully chose their dresses while my mind was working a mile a minute and in the right colour and without the pins pulling the dresses in to fit I know that they are going to look beautiful on my eldest’s big day.
After the relaxing weekend it has been busy while I get ready to go to stay with a friend in Kent. It will be a well deserved break but I am also doing a jewellery party at her daughter’s house. I am only going for a three days but as I haven’t seen Jan since June last year it will be great to catch up properly. Chatting on the phone regularly is not the same. I am looking forward to the headless chicken bit being over as I get ready. I love it when the time comes for me to set off, when the car is packed to the gunnels and I can just concentrate on driving. I’ve only been driving for four years and it still symbolises freedom to me, I often find myself grinning to myself like a loon as I am driving. My youngest will be looking after the cat, the house and the shop and posting all the parcels out for me, so that I can relax.
Originally posted to Webjam 24th November 2009
We also had some different stalls with different products. Ronald Large a woodturner from Dursley had some beautiful products that he had made for sale, very reasonably priced. We chatted and he told me he loves working with wood -That was obvious from the craftmanship of his clocks, candle holders, bowls and other products. I don’t think any of the stallholders did quite so well as last week but they all told us they were interested in future dates as they are arranged and several will be at Cranham in early December.
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