Sweet Mary

I have just added some handmade items to my Felt Shop. Click HERE if you would like a look.

Myself and daughter on my Sweet Mary stall Nic of Coulter and Coulter Birdhouses from Perry Davies Beautiful Carabana Vintage Skirts by Sally. Another successful market - date of next one is: Saturday 22nd October

All set up and ready to go at the beginning of my four day stint at the CHB Festival last week. Its always a fantastically social event at this first of the spring fairs to be held in Hawkes Bay. I had a really good spot this year in the Ruataniwha room but unfortunately this excellent spot did not equal excellent sales which means I probably won't attend this fair again as a stall holder. Of course, this means I can go as a visitor and have fun all day. In terms of exposure though its probably a good thing and I got to chat to lots of great people and swap ideas. My super talented husband took these wonderful photos of the views from the venue. We are lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Packing up for The Hereworth Gala this Sunday - see top left or here for details. Alongside my regular Sweet Mary handmades I have also added a few extra lines: bunting, Easter egg cups and cozies, lavender bunches and ribbon hearts. See you there !

Last night I ran a Sweet Mary stall along with a dozen or so other stall holders as part of a fundraiser for a local kindy. All the stalls looked great and the people visiting were lovely but it wasn't the greatest night in the way of sales. What was great was talking to people who stopped by my stall and getting myself in the mood and fired up for the fairs to come over the spring and summer. The next one for me is The Central Hawkes Bay Festival. I will be one of many stalls at the Pukeora Estate from Sept. 3-6. It promises to be fabulous! Click here for details. Annie balancing effortlessly on a fence post watching the sheep... The sheep watching us watching them. Not sure what the lambs are nibbling on but it must have been something delicious. We are surrounded by apple orchards and each spring a few sheep and their lambs are left in the paddock and feijoa orchard to eat grass and generally tidy up and feed the vegetation. This is the view from my kitchen window - not bad.

The night before I left for a few days in Auckland I ran another Sweet Mary stall at Black Barn. It was a twilight market running from 5.30pm to 8.30pm. Most of the stalls were food stalls but it was good to be there and chat to customers and visitors and I sold more than enough to cover costs. Looking out from my stall in to the centre of the market - its a permanent stucture of about 20 stalls in a circle surrounded by trees and the lovely landscape around Black Barn. We returned from our very busy but fun trip up to Auckland to find the sweet peas in the garden desparately needed picking - they smell so good. I did a spot of fabric shopping for my Sweet Mary business while up there and also came home with a nice little stash of presents from the family.