Margaret Glackin Ceramics

Margaret Glackin, originally from Ireland but now based in Yorkshire, is a ceramicist and woodworker creating both larger art works and domestic ware.  She is also a very lovely and interesting person.

Margaret's BCTF stand 

Margaret's yarn bowls and domestic ceramics are fired in her own glazes which she has mixed with her Irish and Yorkshire heritage in mind and they all are named accordingly, for example Giant's Causeway and  Brimham Rocks.  This creates everyday items that are also works of art.  

Dipping bowl set with board

Margaret uses reclaimed timber from places such as house renovation projects which she then gives a second life as furniture items.  In her repertoire are large pieces such as dining tables and benches as well as shelves and log carriers.  She is such a capable woodworker that her and her partner built a workshop and studio where she works in her back garden!

The studio.

One of Margaret's most popular ranges are her yarn bowls which she recently had featured in Simply Knitting Magazine.  For those of you unaware of what a yarn bowl is it is a bowl for knitters to put a ball of wool inside to stop it from rolling across the floor at regular intervals.

Yarn bowl

These are stunning in their "heritage" glazes and I know of people who have bought more than one for themselves!  

Should you want to find out more about Margaret and her work you can visit her website here or visit Fabrication in Leeds where she has many items on sale.

Babs Pease Design

I met Babs a year and a half ago as a newcomer to BCTF.  She too was a newcomer and we were to be neighbours for three days and I'm pleased we were as we couldn't have had a nicer person to chat with in the quiet spells!  What's more, it meant that I could stand and look at her work which is truly lovely.

Babs Pease Design BCTF stand

Bab's lives out in the countryside in Scotland and so her work is often on a rural theme.  She is a painter and illustrator and a very accomplished print maker.  Her prints are lino cuts with such stunning detail in them, I particularly love this one of a sleeping fox...

Lino print fox design

...and this one of the rabbit.

Rabbit lino print

I love the gentle humour in her work too.

Hedge hog lino print

Zebra lino print

These are all examples of her larger art work but she has cunningly adapted her designs for smaller gift items and she has developed ranges of cards...

Babs Pease card range

...notebooks...

Babs Pease notebook range

...and mugs amongst other things!

Babs Pease mugs range

Should you wish to see more of what Babs does you can follow this link to see her Folksy shop or visit her website.

Melanie Tomlinson's Magnificent Menagerie

Melanie Tomlinson is an artist working with illustration and metal.  She creates stunning sculptures and dioramas using techniques she has honed over many years that involve her creating gouache paintings which after being printed on to tin are then formed into beautiful works of art.  I met Melanie at BCTF where she was exhibiting her brooches.

Melanie's stand at BCTF

I have to admit I am a bit of a stalker when it comes to Melanie's work and I am lucky enough to own a butterfly brooch of my own. I also have my eye on the dragonflies with the stunning cut out wings.

I love the wings of these insects, so intricate.

When looking at Melanie's stand two things really grab you, the colour and the detail in each piece.  When the brooches are all displayed together they remind me of beautiful iridescent specimens in Victorian collection trays and they draw me in.

A display reminiscent of Victorian collectors trays

beautiful detail

Her jewellery ranges are not just insect based, she has birds and fish too, all equally as colourful and intricate.  Should you want a closer look at some of Melanie's work you can find her website here .

British Craft Trade Fair

BCTF - British Craft Trade Fair

The BCTF is a large trade fair showcasing the best of British handmade crafts for perusal by a range of retailers from many different sectors.  The likes of Liberty and The National Trust rub shoulders with boutiques and art galleries to look around the dazzling and beautiful stands that exhibitors have gone to a great deal of effort to create.

Lunaria pendant

For three days of talking to prospective buyers and interested parties, some exhibitors have been planning their stands on and off for a whole year.  From the moment they booked their spot at the end of the last fair they have been developing and creating stock and art works ready for this event.  Ranges will have been decided upon, hundreds of photographs taken, tweaked and editted for websites, online catalogues and pictures for their stand. They will have debated prices for hours on end, under valuing themselves and asking various friends for their opinions and so will have worked through prices several times until they are happy that they can charge that price and still pay themselves a wage and pay the rates.

There are so many decisions to be made and so much money that could be spent!  We'd all love glossy brochures and stunning lighting, amazing props and bespoke furniture to grace our stands but the truth of it is that many of us are independant businesses working on a limited budget and so we need to rein ourselves in and keep costs to a minimum where possible.  Sometimes though, that can be a false economy and if you were to spend a bit more money on something it might be the thing that turns your experience from an okay show to a brilliant one.  There is just one draw back, there are no hard and fast rules and what works for one product may not work for another and so there is a lot of pressure on making the correct decisions.

Nimanoma publicity 

So decisions have been made about what publicity you need and all that needs to be done then is the design.  If you are lucky this can be given to someone else to do but once again many of us do that ourselves to cut costs.  I know my brochure was an awful lot of work, masking out images, aligning everything, making it as fuss free as possible but to be honest the price list and order form were equally difficult to design!

Set up day

Possibly one of the most important decisions is how you will display your work to show it off to its best potential.  My display consisted of a two tiers to give me height and space but the shelves I used were from my kitchen and so hundreds of books had to be relocated to the living room!  At last the fair arrives, and set up begins.  It's all very exciting and a little nerve wracking, never mind hard work lugging everything in from the car!   Soon the empty stand you have been given begins to take shape and the plans you have had for the last year start to come together.  

Nimanoma stand set up and ready for action

What a feeling though when all the work is done and all you have to do is meet the buyers.  I say all you have to do, that's a whole different blog post!  And before you know it, the three days have passed and you are breaking down your stand hopefully with orders in the bag and contacts to follow up on and your stand booked again for next year....

Ta dah!