Wow What a weekend

Well what a high this weekend has been !! It's no secret that this weekend has been a bit of an event for me ( and my Studio Buddie Lucy ) .

 After deciding to do our first Open Studio event some 8 weeks ago it was soon upon us . My goodness me it has been  very hard work ( 7 days a week and working two jobs ), stressful , tiring , exciting and much much more all rolled into one but you know something , it's all been worth it !

 What an amazingly exhilarating day Saturday was but it has all built up and gathered pace over the last several weeks . 

Firstly there has been a lot of buying and acquiring of furniture to fit out our studio and I have been in much need of my D.I.Y skills . I love the challenge of flat pack furniture , no really I do !!

 Some unbelievably generous friends have lent us a table on long term loan and some chairs .

I have been doing lots of sewing and have sooooo enjoyed making my new Angels they have been great fun to make . Some days I have just simply sat and played with fabric combinations , colour and embellishment .

 More Hares and Mice were created and they are such a pleasure to make ! In fact I've had a great deal of creative fun over the last few weeks seeing new ideas come to life and watching the stock build up and fill the space I had created to display them . Another thing that came out of this very productive time was that I was finally able to see how long it actually takes to make my creations. Oh boy have I been getting my prices wrong . Let's just say that anyone who has previously bought from me has had a real bargain , I still can't bring myself to charge what I should charge for my beautifully bespoke handmade pieces but I am now charging a price that reflects the quality of the materials I use and the time they take to make . Also this is going to be my only job once we start the school holidays as I handed my Notice in today at school and in three and a bit weeks I will no longer be in there employment . I've decided I need to do this properly and give it my all ! So for this reason I have to get it right as it is what is going to provided me with the means to support my family . ( Sorry for getting all heavy and serious lets get back to the fun event ).

So lovely stock made , it was time to start organising our spaces , Lucy and I did a lot of trips back and forth to our respective homes to bring furniture , items to dress the room and Lucy really wanted to share some of Attic 24 and it's recognisable items with visitors. I have so enjoyed watching Lucy's area burst into life , It grew more colourful by the day and when I sit at my table it is a pleasure to glance over my shoulder and get some serious colour therapy !

This was Thursday morning , my fab hubby called in to bring me some postcards and greeting cards I had ordered from moo.com . I had wanted just a small batch  to see what they were like and what sort of response they would get from people , a bit of an experiment . I was quite pleased with most of them .

Friday morning was a major flurry of activity and organising , it was great fun arranging stock and setting the scene . We were also getting excited about Friday evening and our preview party . We bought flowers and I cut some fresh ones from my garden to add more colour to Coopers . My roses are so beautiful at the moment .

 I took lots of my little bottles down for this windowsill which is on the staircase that leads up to our studio , the coloured Victorian glass is beautiful and I wanted to enhance this space with an injection of colour that reflected what was already there .

The room next to ours also had a major makeover the coopers lady's plus Lucy and I wanted people to be able to have an additional  space  to use . Essentially a more chilled out extension of the cafe and a place for people to have coffee , cake  , chat and meander too and from our room . Boy did Suzanne work her creative talents on this room  with little touches from Lucy and I . The room has an elegant sophisticated feel with a twist of creativity and we love it !!

  Lucy's felt ball garland .

 Twigs , paper pom poms and hearts very artistically arranged ! All in soft muted colours which I lurve !

 Then Lucy hung some Yarndale bunting drawing people into the studio .

 I continued to arrange ,  tweak , organise and prettify .

 Setting things out to make the place feel inviting and intimate and an extension of our selves was very important to us .

We wanted the space to say a bit of what were about as individual , but also what the space is about and what we hope to use it for in the future.

 We had the room dressed and ready for it's unveiling just in time for the party , oh boy were we ready for that . It was just a little party to say thank you to our close friends and a few business people for supporting our endeavours . OOOOoow the food was good all made by the lovely talented Suzanne , yummmmyy!!

 Unfortunately this is where my camera decided to die so  there are no more party related photo's but I know Lucy took some so pop on over to have a look ( I know I will Be ! ).

It was a late night on Friday I didn't get home until after midnight and was back down at the studio for 8.30 am  .
To be truthful I was a bit nervous about what the day would bring , as soon as we opened the door at 10am we had people in soaking up the creative vibe . We soon got packed out , to the rafters at some points and I never met such a crowd of  , patient , courteous , friendly , enthusiastic creative people . I encourage some people who were not too shy to get their projects out and sit at our table and have a drink and chill and crochet . The support we received was outstanding people had travelled from all over the country . We had people from London , Exceter , Nottingham , Liverpool , Wakefield , Huddersfield , Whitby, Scotland and our only two men of the day ( Knitter and crocheter) were from Leeds ,you guys were a delight to meet . I could go on with where people came from . It was really quite overwhelming , in a good way we didn't stop all day , we chatted and I sold some of my lovely handmade items . I had two cups of cold coffee and a box of Strepsils ( I had a very sore throat ) and no lunch and my feet had swollen by the end of the day , which was quite funny as I had to change into my flip flops to work home and my feet just looked weird.. But I was on such a high it has taken until today to sort of calm down . There was a real buzz of excitement on Saturday and we feel the people who visited really enjoyed them selves . This event has really given my very young business a real boast which I am truly grateful for that and really appreciate people supporting what I am trying to do .

We received lots of good luck wishes  and well done messages  , we both received gifts from people who follow our blogs and one lady and her delightful daughter nearly made me cry with their kindness and generosity.  ( I will be doing a little post later this week about this as this post is getting nearly as long as War and Peace ).

On reflection this morning all I could think was I can't wait for the next Open Studio event  , I loved it!!

All there is left to say now is a big 

THANK YOU 

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