Monday 13 June 2011

Mid Summer Madness!!

Wow!! After three days of Mid Summer madness at the fantastic Wealden Fair, I am now firmly back at Maygreen Fairies Head Quarters to relax and take stock of the fabulous three days spent at Brick House Farm in Kent. The Wealden Fair organisers did a super job, the Farm grounds that played host to the tented fair, looked beautiful, lots of white canvas tents with an abundance of summer bunting, and a few pretty chandeliers thrown in for good measure in the food tents, it was all very civilised!
The Maygreen Fairies Stand looked very pretty on the first morning, I managed to take a few moments to rush round the whole Fair before the doors opened and take some shots of many of the lovely Stands, without the crowds to block the pretty views. All was quiet and calm prior to the 9am opening, but we could see the queues forming outside and knew we were in for a busy day! And once those doors opened boy was it busy!!!
Hundreds of people came through the doors over the three days, Maygreen Fairies sales were non stop, which was wonderful. Thank you to anyone who stopped by my Stand, it was lovely to see you, lots of familiar faces, family and friends and some new faces too. It was really lovely to meet Joanna from http://fiddlesnips.blogspot.com/ who came by to say hello and who also very kindly photographed my stand and blogged about the Fair!"
It was also wonderful to see Claire from the super Fabric and Wallpaper Shop "Vintage Bird", if you are ever in the Old Town of Hastings, you must visit Claire's beautiful shop at 48 High Street, it is full of the most gorgeous fabrics and wallpapers, you wont be disappointed.
My dear readers, I do hope you are reading this post with a cuppa in hand, if not, you may want to go get one as it's a pretty big post, lots of eye candy too! (Also I must take this opportnity to explain that my Blog Editor is not working very well and I'm unable to add web links to wording, so all links in this post will be in full, sorry, that's technology for you!).
On the odd moment when my stand was quiet it was really lovely to people watch, everyone who came made a real effort with their dress, there was some amazing outfits, and some really cute kiddies too!! The other nice thing about this Fair is that the organisers allow Dogs on a lead, and it was super to see some extremely well behaved woof woofs!
Another couple of local ladies who popped by to say Hello, were the lovely Linda and Debs, founders of the "Kitsch & Stitch" Fairs, http://kitschandstitchfair.blogspot.com/ the first was held in Cranbrook a few weeks ago and it was a huge success and I am hoping to be involved in the next Fair in September, I will be posting details on this at a later date.
Now enough photos of my Stand, let me give you a little glimpse into the other wonderful array of products available at the Fair, below is only a snippet of what was there but hopefully you'll get the gist of how scrumptious it was......
Above is the view I had from the side of my Stand right out onto the Farms little Lake, it was so beautiful. We were lucky with the weather on the first morning and the Saturday, but unfortunately it did rain quite heavily on the Friday, but the good old British public still came out in their droves, good on 'em!! You can always rely on us Brits in all weathers!
Although having said Brits, I did sell some items to a lovely Australian couple who were holidaying in the UK and also two French ladies who I remembered from the Winter Fair last November, they returned to buy more items from my Stand which was really nice.
The photo above is of lovely Shirley-Ann who runs "A Day in Provence", she always looks so amazing at these events but never lets me take a photo of her so I took one on the sly but only managed to get her back... shame!! Her stand looked so pretty she has lots of gorgeous vintage items on offer as well as her own fabulous art.
There were all kinds of quirky goods on show, the displays on stands were so well thought out, lots of beautiful things to look at and smell... the food tent was amazing, and the outside areas were packed with stunning plants and garden furniture, there really was something for everyone.
I even managed to find a stand with some fairies (above), and just take a look at the cute Bird Boxes below:
Another favourite find of mine are these novel Bird Feeders (below), made from Vintage Teacups, these were flying out the door, I just wish I'd got the chance to get one myself.
I adore the pretty baby slippers below, made by Katie's Originals, all crafted from textiles using hand dyed local yarn, the Mum and Baby Gift Set below was particularly sweet.
There were pretty little things at every turn, and the temptation to buy was high.... I found it very hard to resist, so it was a good job I was a stand holder with little time to browse, otherwise I think I may have got into a little trouble with hubby!!
I must say my favourite Stand was Katy Lou's http://www.katylou.co.uk/ (below); Katy uses recycled materials and treasured fabrics to create the most stunning textile art. I was lucky enough to purchase a picture of Katy's at the Winter Fair and it consistently gets so many comments from friends and family who visit my home.
Katy's work really is a feast for the eyes, and if you can get to see her at a local show then you should, her next show is at the Tunbridge Wells Town and Country Show and you can find more details on this and her work at her website listed above.
So all in all the Show was a huge success and I now can't wait for the Winter Fair in November! I will of course keep you all posted on this event as it really is a must for your diary if you live in the area. For a full list of all the Exhibitors at this years Fair please visit http://www.wealdentimes.co.uk/events/MidsummerFair2011/Exhibitors.asp
Thanks again for all who came by, in particular to my friends who came to support me; Lilius, Cath, Claire, Nikki, Anna, both Sarah's, Jackie, Alison & Nicky and of course my family; Mum, Dad, Jules and little Isabella!

9 comments:

Joanna said...

You took some gorgeous photos, they give a really good idea of how lovely it all was. I got one of those tea-cup and saucer bird feeders - I absolutely love it (although the birds have yet to fall in love with it too)!

It was lovely to meet you too, Amanda, and I'm really pleased to hear the event was a success for you as it must have meant lots of hard work too.

Sounds like my husband and I were lucky dodging the showers on Thursday.

xx

Doll, Dress...Colors said...

uauu fantastic!

Marfi-topia said...

that was an incredible post!everything looks gorgeous....the bird feeders are so cute!
thank you for sharing...hope you are doing great:)

serendipity said...

Everything looks so beautiful *wistful sigh* I just wish I didn't live so far away and drove a car! Hopefully next year...

Jorgelina said...

Wonderful post!!
I am organizing a virtual party my blog, I invite you to participate if you like it.
The theme of the party are the fairies.
On 24 June, "World Day of the fairies".
You can wear a button to your blog.
In my blog I have a translator.
Hugs

Country Cottage Chic said...

It looks wonderful!

Jayne

Anonymous said...

Hello!
It was a really lovely fair - and your stand was so pretty. Thanks for visiting our blog and leaving us such a lovely comment, it was great to meet you and we will definitely see you in September! Kirsty :)

lettice leaf said...

Amanda, what a super post about the Wheaden Summer Fair. What fabby photo's before the event started - a brilliant idea. That's about the only thing Debs and I didn't do for our first Kitsch and Stitch Fair. By the time the doors were open, the hall filled and stayed buzzy and busy all day. So I'll definitely be on the case in September and sprinkle with Maygreen Fairies photo fairy dust.

Thanks for the mention, we both are HUGELY looking forward to you being at our fair. LLX

Unknown said...

Oh Mandy I love living Vicariously through your fun and photo filled posts! I do hope you and your family are well and enjoying the lazy days of Summer.
XOXOXO
Becky