Art in the Gardens

I've been very busy lately (hence a little absence from here). One of the things that's been keeping me busy was preparing to take part in Art in the Gardens in Sheffield's Botanical Gardens which took place over the weekend. It's a popular annual event showcasing arts and crafts from all over the UK which I go to every year as a visitor, but this was my first year as a stall holder.

My friend Sue from Apple Harvest suggested we should apply for a joint stall earlier in the year as it's an event we both loved, and were thrilled when we got a stall! Like me, Sue uses lots of vintage papers and upcycling in her work so it seemed natural to show our pieces together.

The weather forecast had promised us a lovely weekend outside, but when the Saturday morning came it was a different story. Setting up was a little dull, and then the rain started - and didn't stop all day! It didn't prevent some determined visitors though and we had some customers to chat with. Being quieter than the event usually is also meant that we had plenty of time to wander around visiting other stalls and talking to other artists and craft makers.

Saturday was dripping wet...

...and very grey.

Sunday though was a completely different day. The sun shone, the sky was blue and the event was packed! It was wonderful seeing so many people enjoying the art and the gardens in the their full glory. 

Bargain Craft Supplies at Bird's Yard - and some ideas on what to do with them

It's sale time at Bird's Yard (Chapel Walk, Sheffield city centre)! The designers have been having a sort of their supplies and have brought them in to make a 'pop up craft shop' full of bargains.

It started with me having to move a cupboard in my house that was full of supplies. After emptying it (and wondering how so much stuff could fit in one cupboard) I realised there were things I'd had for years, that although pretty, weren't being used. So the idea was sparked and here it is.

Here are some of the bargains you can find if you call in, and some ideas so they will get used.

Craft Supply Sale, Bird's Yard, Chapel Walk, Sheffield - Thursday, Friday, Saturday this week 10.30-4.30

Ceramic animals

Galabeer and the Dog have brought a large selection of Wade Whimsies at £1.50 each of 3 for £4. They're lovely to collect or here are some ideas on how to get crafty with them...

Fun jar lids. Find the tutorial at House to Home

Paint them to make fun decorations at Doodle Craft

Buttons

There are a selection of vintage buttons from various designers starting at just 50p!

And The Life of Jennifer Dawn has lots of quick and simple ideas on how to get crafty with them...

Fairs, Markets and Unique Shopping Events in Sheffield - July, August, September

There are lots of events that happen around Sheffield which are great places for local artists, crafters and producers to share their work...and for customers to find unique treats, do some one of a kind shopping and meet the makers. 

Here are some that are coming up in the next few weeks...

July

4th-7th
The Steel Stage for the Tour de France 
Music, stalls, entertainment, beer festival and lots more. And on the Sunday you get to see the Tour de France go passed too!

5th
Sheffield Country Market
A regular Saturday morning market at Broomhill with locally made food, crafts, plants and produce. Spooner Road 9am-midday.

Sheffield Alternative and Burlesque Fair
A shopping event full of burlesque, rockabilly, vintage, gothic and much more at the Corporation nightclub.

10th, 11th, 12th 
Craft supply sale at Bird's Yard
The designers based in Bird's Yard on Chapel Walk are having a clear out and selling lots of supply based bargains in the shop.

12th & 13th
Kelham Island 1940s Weekend and Vintage Fayre
Lots of wartime themed entertainment including a tea dance, vintage hair and beauty, swing dancing and live music as well as vintage and craft stalls.

20th   
Sharrow Vale Market
The popular street market returns with a mix of food, entertainment and crafts along Sharrow Vale Road. 12-4   

26th
Bird's Yard Craft Fair
A mix of food, craft, art, handmade and other entertainments in the city centre shop on Chapel Walk. 11am-4pm.

Devonshire Market
A mix of food, drink, vintage and handmade at the outdoor market. 11am-6pm

 

August

30th
Devonshire Market
A mix of food, drink, vintage and handmade at the outdoor market and this time it's a Street Theatre Special 11am-6pm
 

September 

6th and 7th 
Art in the Gardens
A two day celebration of handmade, crafts and arts in Sheffield's Botanical Gardens.

14th
Whirlow Farm Fayre 
Stalls, food, entertainment and animals all set on a farm!

Sheffield Antiques Quarter Late Summer Market
Both indoors and outdoors at the Abbeydale Picture house, this market offers vintage, antiques, crafts and food. 

20th
Mary's Marvellous Market 
A mix of vintage and craft at the popular market held in St Mary's church, Bramall Lane.

21st
Nether Edge Market
An outdoor street market packed with food, craft and art. Lots of entertainment too! 12-4, Nether Edge and Glen Roads

27th
Devonshire Market
A mix of food, drink, vintage and handmade at the outdoor market and this time it's a Sheffield Jazz special 11am-6pm 

Lou Lou's Vintage Fair
Lots of lovely vintage clothes, accessories and home wares at the city hall. 

Craft Supply Sale Preview

On the 10th, 11th and 12th July Bird's Yard in Sheffield is holding a special sale...and not just any sale - it's all about craft supplies! Their independent designers have been having a sort out and are setting up a special section full of bargains for customers to get crafty with.

As one of the sellers in the shop I'll be taking along some supplies, but I've also been having a little nosy through what others are selling too. I've just got to make sure I don't come home with more than I take...

There'll be supplies from lots of the shop's designers covering lots of crafts. Expect to see treats from: Galabeer and the Dog, Handpicked Books, Inkling, Life's Big Canvas, All Wrapped Up By Alice, Atelier Raniera, Talented, Shadowcrafts, Molly Rouge and lots more!

Here are a few sneak previews of what you might find (if you're quick enough!)...

Pink Flamingo (me!) ... lots of embellishments. Look out for fabric, scrapbooks, stamps, vintage papers, craft kits and beads too.

Galabeer and the Dog will have lots of vintage choices... this is just a little taster of what you'll find

Life's Big Canvas is bringing lots of origami inspirations... as well as buying packs to take home you can also learn how to do it yourself on Thursday the 10th July.

My Weekend...

I had a fun weekend with two different events where I was able to meet people, do some organising and a little shopping too!

Saturday

I helped to organise and run a 'competitive craft fair' at Bird's Yard in Sheffield where customers could vote for their favourite stall from independent designers. We also had live music and tarot card readings!

The winners were My Vintage Sister who make scented candles in vintage teacups and glasses as well as pretty paper creations. They'll be joining the shop in July for free!

Sunday

On Sunday I went to Nether Edge Farmer's Market as part of Sheffield Country Market where I had items for sale along with other local handmade craft and food treats. I also treated myself to lots of local food from the other stalls too including delicious marshmallow from Sociably Sweet, oat and apple bread from Forge Bakehouse, beetroot sour dough from Seven Hills Bakery and some lovely curd made with goat's milk (as well as chutney, ice cream, burgers, stuffed vine leaves, raspberry shortbread, mushroom flan, coconut and rice milk drinks...there's a lot of tempting stuff there!)

Let Me Introduce You To...some talented local designers

In my last post I wrote about the 'competitive craft fair' I'm helping to organise at Bird's Yard in Sheffield this coming Saturday (11-4 on Chapel Walk!); here are the 'competitors' who'll be displaying their work hoping the customers will pick them to be the shop's latest designer.

All the sellers are local, independent small business owners and make wonderful, unique pieces. Click on the titles to find out more...

Tommy and Zac

Cute and Quirky Girl

Apple Harvest

My Vintage Sister

Strangelord

Natalie Burton

Sillie Billie Designs

Maker's Meadow

A 'Craft Fair' with a Difference - Bird's Yard 21st June

Craft fairs are great places to find unique items, local interest products and good deals. I love shopping at them and selling my own creations at them too. But now I also have a  new way of approaching them...helping to organise one.

I love organising. Any excuse to make a list and use colour coded folders makes me happy! So when Bird's Yard in Sheffield was looking to hold some events, I jumped at the chance to help out and get out my notepads and highlighters.

The event I came up with is a 'competitive craft fair' where potential new sellers for the shop get to hold a stall and tell customers about their work, as well as letting them buy it. The customers can then give their feedback and the stall with the most votes gets to be Bird's Yard's latest designer rent free in July! (And of course if our customers fall for other stalls too I'm sure they'll be space for them along with our other sellers).

As well as the craft stalls there'll also be live music to entertain us and the customers throughout the day, tarot and playing card reading and face painting too. Lots to keep you entertained on a Saturday afternoon!

To find out who's selling there visit the event page

or visit on the day!

Bird's Yard, Chapel Walk, Sheffield, S1 2PD

Pink Flamingo and Apple Harvest

Yesterday I tried something new for a craft fair - a shared stall. I'd been chatting with Sue from Apple Harvest about a new craft fair that was taking place in Sheffield and we thought we'd try it out together. So together we went along to Lou Lou's Artisan Market at Sheffield Town Hall...

Pink Flamingo and Apple Harvest's shared stall

Sharing a stall meant thinking of different ways to display my goods too. Not only was there less space so I had to get creative, but I also got to play with Sue's display items too! This basket proved useful for carrying items to the market and looked great on the floor in front of the table with my pictures and notebooks in it along with Sue's lavender hearts.

One of Sue's ebay buying sessions lead to her acquiring this handy little stand - perfect for my Sheffield keyrings! And she was generous enough to lend it to me for the day.

There were also a wider range of goods for customers to look at and we inspired each others' making sparking ideas for each other. I loved Sue's 'chopstick flowers' which have her hand felted flowers attached to chopsticks which are covered in green ribbon but still have Chinese writing visible on the bottom. I thought they also looked rather cute in their beer bottle vases!

A selection of goodies from Apple Harvest

And there was a box of vintage sewing supplies! Sue was sharing her cotton and sewing accessories for sale (even though she'd be happy keeping them for herself!) I loved the tags hanging from the box showing prices and saying what they were - an idea for me to use too.

We're planning other projects together in the future which I'm sure will be a lot of fun! Look out for us in September at Art in the Gardens, Botanical Gardens, Sheffield.

 You can find out more about Apple Harvest here:

Apple Harvest's Etsy shop

Twitter

Farm Yard @ Bird's Yard

On Saturday 24th May Bird's Yard in Sheffield city centre held a new event - Farm Yard @ Bird's Yard. For those of you who don't know, Bird's Yard is a shop that sells lots of local designers' work as well as unique pieces and now the downstairs has been turned into an event space where their first market was held at the weekend.

I sell some work in the shop and offered to help organise the event (I love organising!) inviting lots of delicious local food stalls and talented musicians to take part. Although the weather was against us (Chapel Walk where the shop is was more live a river than a pavement) everyone who braved the torrents loved it!

Here's what happened...

Cupcake Time even made some farmyard themed cupcakes!

 

And Hollow Meadow Flowers brought a true farmyard touch with their locally farm grown flowers...

There was also face painting and glitter tattoos from Dreams and Screams and food art from Michael Borkowsky (and if you happen to be in Sheffield on Monday they'll be there again!)

All Good Stuff in Sheffield

A couple of weeks ago I shared the news about All Good Stuff opening on Arundel Street in Sheffield and added some photos of the artists whose work would be available there. Well, now it's formally opened I've been back to take a look myself and I couldn't help but take my own photos to share with you!

There are lots of beautifully handcrafted and produced gifts, art, jewellery and more from a range of talented makers all connected with Sheffield and Yorkshire. It was nice to see some familiar items there from some of my favourite local makers but there was also a great variety of (new to me) work to discover. Here are some things I found...

All Good Stuff at Butcher Works, Arundel Street, Sheffield city centre

Opening Hours:
Tues - Sat 10.30 - 5.00

All Good Stuff on Facebook

Farm Yard @ Bird's Yard 24th May - a Sneak Preview

On the 24th May Bird's Yard is hosting it's first market in its new downstairs event space. The popular city centre shop in Sheffield will be transformed into a farmyard complete with farmers market, live folk music and hay bales!

Here's a little preview of what you'll find there as well as special offers in the shop...

These are just a few of the wonderful treats on offer... join us on the day to to see them all!

Farm Yard @ Bird's Yard

24th May 12-4

Bird's Yard, Chapel Walk, Sheffield

Places I've Been, Things I've Seen...

Here are some places Pink Flamingo has been to lately...

Fairs, Markets and Unique Shopping Events in Sheffield

There are lots of events that happen around Sheffield which are great places for local artists, crafters and producers to share their work...and for customers to find unique treats, do some one of a kind shopping and meet the makers. 

Here are some that are coming up in the next few weeks...

 

April

26th 
Burton Street Spring Fair, Hillsborough
A mix of stalls, activities and farm animals with proceeds going towards the Burton Street Foundation's work. 1pm-4pm

Sheffield Country Market
A regular Saturday morning market at Broomhill with locally made food, crafts and produce. Today they're promoting their 'One Stop Shop'. 9am-midday.

Up Market 
Visit the vintage and craft market in its new location at Sellers Wheel Courtyard on Arundel Street in the city centre. 10am-5pm Saturday 11am-4pm Sunday


27th
Sheffield Antiques Quarter Vintage Spring Market
A mix of Sheffield's vintage and craft sellers to be found at Abbeydale Picture House in the Sheffield Antique Quarter. 11am-5pm

May 

3rd
Sheffield Vintage Fair
The ever popular Lou Lou's vintage fair returns to Sheffield Town Hall. Lots of vintage clothes, accessories and homewares. 11am-5pm

10th 
Sheffield Alternative and Burlesque Fair
Burlesque, vintage and alternative finds of all kinds. Corporation, Milton Street. Midday-6pm.

11th
High Storrs Craft Fair and Carboot Sale
Various ways to shop at High Storrs school! 10am-1pm.

17th
Mary's Marvellous Vintage and Craft Market
They market themselves as 'Quite possibly the best vintage and craft market in the world...ever!' They do have a lot of great stalls there! St Mary's church, Bramall Lane. 10am-4pm

17th - 31st
The Hat Stand
The latest pop up shop in the Winter Gardens in the city centre. This fortnight it focuses on all kinds of headwear. 

31st 
Lou Lou's Artisan Market
Following on from the success of their vintage market, Lou Lou is hosting their first Artisan market in Sheffield with lots of crafts, arts, clothing, food, jewellery and more. Midday-5pm.

Devonshire Market
A popular outdoor market at Devonshire Green. Find foods, crafts, clothes and more. 11am-6pm.

 

June 

3rd
Tapton Spring Food and Craft Fayre
Lots of tempting local foods and crafts on a Tuesday morning 9am-2pm.

22nd
Nether Edge Farmer's Market
A mix of lots of delicious local food with some crafts and entertainment thrown in too! Midday-4pm.

28th
Devonshire Market
A popular outdoor market at Devonshire Green. Find foods, crafts, clothes and more. 11am-6pm.

29th  
Crosspool Festival's Street Market

A mix of stalls outdoors in Crosspool.