I was invited to trade at Independent Oxfords first Christmas event at The Turl Street Kitchen in Oxford by Rosie and Anna. The venue itself was tucked away down one of Oxfords many cobbled back streets and looked like a rather inconspicuous choice for a shopping event, but my initial thoughts about the event couldn't of been more wrong! Within 5 minutes of the doors opening the whole first floor was crammed full of eager shoppers busily browsing through the carefully curated stands. It was so great to be part of such a lively buzzing Christmas fair, and hearing customers feedback about my jewellery and watching them gaze at my stall was really humbling. I came away with a few commissions and considerably less stock than I started with and of course full of inspiration! Here are a few photos that I managed to take of my stall. You can find more photos of the event itself on Potters Instinct Photography page. 
To find out about future Independent Oxford events then head over to their Facebook page and hit like!
My next event will be at The Green Fair at Oxfords town hall. Find event info here. 

So not long after I had booked my FIRST event to trade at, I suddenly panicked and thought 'how the hell am I going to present all my jewellery on a stall'! I knew the kind of theme that I wanted, it had to something a bit dark and witchy, perhaps a cross between a witches alter, and a specimen cabinet! I started manicaly pinning things onto a Pinterest board and decided that I needed some sort of display shelf. It needed to look old and a bit weathered, small enough to transport in a small suitcase, yet large enough to display all my packaging jars! Having spent the best part of a week trawling through charity and junk shops to no avail, I finally spotted a rather old and very tatty veg crate. I realised that time was running out to get my stall together and that I would have to make whatever it was that I wanted!

This is KIND of what the crate looked like (I forgot to take a photo!!). Mine was even more tatty than this! Lots of staples and splintery wood! I chopped off the tops of the little triangular wooden posts and sanded the whole thing down. I then used some old wood to cut two shelves, some thin brackets and two small chunky 'feet' to give the shelves some height! I then used some brown acrylic paint, watered down, to stain the whole thing!

I did a few coats to make sure the colour was even and dark enough and left it to dry for a few hours!

The trickiest part was attaching the brackets to the flimsy wood! I had to use teeny tiny nails and tap very gently!  I used some strong wood glue for the feet and let that dry before giving it a final coat of paint! And here it is all finished and in use! I love how it turned out and I just hope it lasts! It looked so good on my stall and I got lots of lovely compliments on my display!

To help boost my motivation, and inspiration, for this blog I thought it would be nice to feature some other pieces that I have come across, and fallen in love with. I have a deep rooted love for anything shiny, nature inspired, and a little bit quirky. Whilst browsing Facebook the other evening I came across a fantastic artist, Anna Collette Hunt, who makes the most exquisite and whimsical ceramics. My eye was immediately drawn to these beautiful glazed 'Stag Beetlefly' bugs.

There was just something about the earthy, organic tones set against the crisp platinum antlers that instantly appealed to my magpie urges! She has some other beautiful pieces too, but I am all about the bugs, birds and animals! Some of my other favourite pieces are the 'scarobflies' and the butterflies. Whats even better is that they are all available to buy on her website! I will have to put the Soft Lilac Stag Beetlefly and the Infestation Box Set on my Christmas list I think, if I can wait that long! Let me know what you think! Whats your favourite piece?

I thought it would be great to add a blog to my website so you can check in from time to time and see what I've been up to. The best place to check out the magic is on our Instagram page. I post about pieces that I'm working on, or pics of things that inspire me.

instagram.com/one4sorrow