From a Successful Weekend.....

......to the most Disasterous Weekend!!!

Oh boy oh boy....what a weekend. I froze to death, despite the numerous amounts of layers on and a hat, scarfe and gloves. I just to say managed to get back out of the field in my little KA as it was that muddy and boggy and in the end I made a total loss of £100, taking the cost of my pitch, petrol and food into consideration.

So put it this way, I never went back for the fourth and final day!!! Instead I stayed at home to snuggle on the sofa and eat lots of chocolate. Lol

Hopefully this weekend will fair better. For starters I am indoors so that will be a bonus.
This Saturday I will be doing a Health and Healing Fair. I always enjoy going to such fairs as the atmosphere is always friendly and calming. See poster below for details.

Then Sunday I am at a totally new event. The Makers Market at Blackhall Mill community centre which also promises to be a fantastic day. Showcasing sellers who have lovingly designed and crafted their wares. So be sure to pop along if you are looking for something unique and not found on the High Street. See my website http://www.hannimaydesigns.co.uk/ for full details of all of the events I am attending over the up and coming weeks.

Hope to see you all aty either of these events xx

A successfull Weekend...

....even if I do say so Myself!!!!

First of all let me say a 'Great Big Thankyou' to all who came along to support me at my first Living North Live exhibition. I had a great weekend. Hope you all enjoyed yourselves too.

The event was fantastically organised from the minute that I turned up with my flat packed shelves and storage boxes to the minute it was time to pack up and go home. I would recommend it to anyone thinking of having a go. Not only that but I also managed to make a profit too. A very small profit, but a profit nevertheless. Sadly some holders didn't even manage to do that. It's certainly a sign of the times - people just weren't spending their hard earned pennies and if they were if was just for a small treat.

Anyway, I've managed to get booked in for all of the three Christmas Living North Events (Newcastle Racecourse, Hardwick and Harrogate) so hopefully, fingers crossed they will be a success too. If this weekend is anything to go by, I'm sure they will.

As well as making sales this weekend I also was approached a couple of local retailers who asked if I would consider stocking my jewellery with them. I've had a sneaky peak at one of their websites and 'wowee' would I ever !!!! I'll hopefully be visiting over the next week or so to discuss options etc so I'll keep you all posted on how that goes.

And in the meantime, more new designs will be added to the website over the next up and coming week so be sure to keep checking back and Hanni May Designs will be off to Selby this weekend for the Selby Game Fair 2nd - 5th April. So be sure to come along for a fab action packed day out!!!!

Hope to see you all there xx

Pins N Needles - this coming weekend

From being redundant in January to very busy in February......

But I thrive on the pressure and love it, love it, love it!!!!

February has been a month of getting organised, pulling my fingers out and being creative to build up my stock levels for this weeks exhibition/selling event at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.
This Thursday, Friday and Saturday you'll find me at the very inspiring 'Pins N Needles' - Needle, Quilt and Craft Show where you'll find a Crafters Paradise of stands selling crafts supplies, contemporary and original goodies such as Textile, ceramics, jewellery and in the centre of the arena a full scale boat made out of fabric.

For further information on this event go to http://www.initialj.co.uk/ where you can see photos of the textile artists who have created the boat, ticket and venue information.
                                                   So I hope to see you all there!!!!

In the meantime I have been adding new designs to my website http://www.hannimaydesigns.co.uk/.
They include an elegant Black Agate necklace with Onyx heart pendant retailing at £20 shown in the pic below, also available in Rose Quartz or Turquoise too.

As well as a gorgeous chunky bright Turquoise and Amazonite necklace £18. So far they have proven to be very popular at the events I have attended this month so be sure to get in quick before they sell out!!!

First Event of the Year

My first event of the year is coming up this weekend. Yeay....I can't wait.

 I have felt as if my right arm has been cut off since Christmas. Reason being is that before Christmas I was lucky if I got half an hour to myself to relax and just chill out. From October onwards last year I was attending Christmas type events every weekend and then during the week I was working Part time as well as making more jewellery for the next weekends event. Now that Christmas has been and gone and January is always a quiet month I have felt rather redundant.

But this weekend it starts all over again with a local event in Hartlepool, Teesside on Saturday 6th February. I will be attending a Mind, Body, Spirit Convention so if you live local and you're interested in all things 'Spooky' then why not come along.

You'll find Hanni May Designs in Hartlepool Borough Hall, where as the poster says there will be Mediums, Card Readers if you'd like to know what is in your future, Holistic Treatments if you need to relax as well as Stalls with all things Spooky related.

I hope to see you all this weekend xx

It has been a Sad week

As this week's title says it it has been a very sad week. My heinz variety cross who was at least 16 years old called Jessie died of old age at home. He was a stray when we found him, many moons ago.

He had been slowly deteriorating since Christmas and we knew the inevatable was coming but when he did decide it was time to go it was still heart breaking. On the up side though (if there is one), we managed to keep him at home till the end where he slept comfortably in his little dog bed. If I had to have taken him to the vets I would have been devastated. So as you can imagine the house feels a little strange still at the moment and I can still feel his presence in the house. Although 'Will' the Springer Spaniel is trying desperately to fill his void by being even more naughty than ever!!!

Trying to help with changing the duvet covers.

Although work wise I haven't been in the mood to get much done I have spent this week sorting through my stock deciding which products to keep and which to dismantle. That is the beauty of working with beaded jewellery. If you don't like it you can take it apart and start again. As I trained to design silver jewellery I am hoping this year, now that business has picked up, I will be able to start adding some silver pendants and accessories to my range. As mentioned before at least with beaded jewellery if you make a mistake you can take it apart and start again but with silver design if you make a  mistake it's for the bin and then it becomes costly.

There is one plus side to this week. I have had some good news. I received notification that I have been accepted at the Living North Live and Living North Christmas fairs this year. These events attract thousands upon thousands of visitors so I am hoping I will do well in March and in November. Looks like I'd better get cracking with the new designs!!!!

Snow,Snow,Snow and more Snow......

But thankfully it has all thawed out. Or at least for a short while, so say the Weather forecasters. I was starting to get cabin fever from being inside and not seeing much daylight these last couple of weeks.
No wonder people suffer from S.A.D syndrome with weather like this, bring on the Spring is what I say. I can't wait to get the flip flops back out of the wardrobe and wear some nice bright colours and shedding a few layers.

Speaking of colours I have been researching the Key trends for Spring/Summer 2010 and Blue seems to play a key role this year. No matter what the shade whether it be Navy Blue for the ever popular Nautical theme to a bright Royal Blue for a vibrant stand out tropical theme, once again Jewellery is playing a major part in accessorizing our outfits this Spring and Summer.

In the meantime, whilst I have been stuck indoors I've been creating fabulous stretch Hematite bracelets for 'Gifted and Blessed', in Norton, Stockton - on - Tees (http://www.giftedandblessed.co.uk/) . The reason for this is that they hold 'Psychic Circle' classes where people can learn about Healing, Aura's, Angel Readings and anything else on the spooky side and Hematite is said to be a good all round healing gemstone to be worn. Hematite is also said to be good for warding off Negative energy and is used for enhancing one's logic, mathematical abilities, rational thinking and depth of technical knowledge as well as being able to reduce insomnia.

All of the bracelets made are of different designs and there are many of which to choose from, some even having Charms as illustrated in the photo above. They can purchased at 'Gifted and Blessed' in Norton or from my website - http://www.hannimaydesigns.co.uk/ for £5.00 each.

New Year Resolutions

Despite the fact that January is supposed to be a quiet month for one and all after the Fun and Frolics over the Festive period I have never stopped. My first sale of the year, and it was a large order at that, was made via my website on January 1st so fingers crossed this bodes well for Hanni May Designs for 2010.

I have started the new year as I mean to go on and that is to be 'Organised'. As the Craft Fairs season doesn't normally start back up until February I have spent the last week or so working on my website, updating photographs of some of the exisiting stock which is now on Sale as well as adding some of the new designs which I didn't get chance to do before Christmas.

 Every now and then I will have a favourite piece, which at the moment is the Blue Agate  necklace http://hannimaydesigns.co.uk/shop/article_N366/Blue-Agate.html?shop_param=cid%3D3%26aid%3DN366%26  as well as the Rose Purple necklace retailing at £22.00 http://hannimaydesigns.co.uk/shop/article_N365/Rose-Purple-Agate.html?shop_param=cid%3D3%26aid%3DN365%26  both pictured below.
           
These pieces are most definitely statement vibrant stand out items of jewellery which would love fabulous with a suntan and a strappy dress on holiday. If only I could keep them for myself. If my mum had anything to do with it she'd have a different piece for every day of the week. But I keep her in check!!!

I've also added more new earrings to the website including the very popular Hematite heart drops. These were certainly one of my best sellers in 2009. See http://hannimaydesigns.co.uk/shop/article_53/Hematite-Heart.html?shop_param=cid%3D2%26aid%3D53%26 .

A select few of my products can also now be found on http://www.misi.co.uk/ as well as http://www.folksy.co.uk/. Both of which are sites that promote Artists and Designers and can enable shoppers to find something hand made and unique that cannot be found on High Street websites. Its worth having a look as there are some stunning items at reasonable prices too!!! Not just jewellery either.

In the meantime my events calendar is starting to fill up with, hopefully, lots more events to be confirmed. I managed to grab the last place for a jewellery stand at the Newcastle Mind, Body Spirit Fair taking place 23rd/24th at the Newcastle Racecourse at Gosforth park. This is a brand new venue for the organisor so fingers crossed there will be a fantastic turn out. But keep checking back as I will update my blog as soon as more are confirmed and add the to the Events section of my website at http://hannimaydesigns.co.uk/shop/page/6?shop_param .