Events – jo bund

26 November 2024

Winter Craft Fayres 2024

Here’s a brief look back at the craft fairs I’ve taken part in so far this winter…

I Am Handmade

This is the first year, since before the pandemic, that the I Am Handmade market had been on; organised by the Southchurch Community College, it was a great event to be part of. Although the weather was a little grim (thanks to Storm Bert!) and we were moved to a room upstairs at short notice, it proved to be a lovely day.

Thank you to all the visitors that braved the weather and dropped by.

I Am Handmade, 23 November 2024 at Leigh Community Centre

These are some of the woolly items that found new homes…

A selection of alpaca socks and woolly socks on display

Christmas Eco Fayre

This is an annual event, held at the Leigh Road Baptist Church in November. The visitor numbers are good and the atmosphere is always warm and welcoming. The amazing selection of cakes available at the cafe are very hard to resist!

Some of the eco products I had on my stall were my 100% cotton washcloths, that proved very popular…

Folk and Bespoke

This monthly event is always one of my favourites. Organised by Katy at Folk & Bespoke this event was held at Leigh Community Centre on 9 November. There is always a varied selection of quality, handmade crafts made by some very talented local makers.

At this time of year, the craft fair had a festive vibe and plenty of lovely visitors.

Phew! Three fayres in three weeks – and then I signed up for one more!

If you missed any of these events I’ll be at the Farmers Market at Scott’s of Southend garden centre on Saturday 7 December for more fun!

Farmers Market at Scott’s of Southend gardenc centre, Rochford

If you would like to commission something bespoke or would like to order an item you’ve seen on my stall/website, please drop me an email: hello@jobund.co.uk Thanks x

1 August 202412 September 2024

Leigh Art Trail 2024

In July this year I exhibited in the Leigh Art Trail with SEVEN artists. We chose ‘Ghosts’ as are theme and we each took a different direction into how we interpreted it. I took inspiration from the book ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghosts‘ written by Sandra Lawrence and, in particular, the quote below:

“The book recalls a world that no longer exists, populated entirely by shadows. A grainy, b&w world in which even major players have become phantoms, sometimes without even a monochrome snapshot to their once famous names.”

Sandra Lawrence (2022) p327

Background

Miss Willmott loved to take photographs. These now gives us a glimpse into her life at Warley Place where she lived from 1875 until her death in 1934. Photography began around the 1840s, and during the mid 19th Century the Spritualism movement contributed to the Victorian’s fascination with spirit photography (or ghost photography); the aim was to capture a ghostly impression of someone in the afterlife. The most likely causes of such ghostly images would have been from scratches, dust, lens flare, double exposure etc that occurred during the photography process.

The aim of my artbook was to take inspiration from Miss Willmott’s Ghost, Warley Place and ghost photography to create my own ethereal images. Collaging layers of b&w photographs, mono prints, drawings, text and stitch. I created seven signatures which I bound together with a concertina spine.

My completed ‘Ghost’ artbook with concertina spine…

Internal book page – collage and monoprinting

Internal book page – monoprinting and sequin waste

Internal book page – rubbings from a record and monoprinting

Our venue

We were in venue 1 at Metal Culture, in Chalkwell Park…

The Leigh Art Trail was on from 6-14 July.

17 July 202329 August 2023

Leigh Art Trail 2023

This year I exhibited at the Leigh Art Trail with SEVEN Collective at the Refill Room. Our chosen theme for the year was ‘Seasons’ and we each produced 2 x DL concertina sketchbooks: one for autumn and winter; and one for spring and summer. For each season I also took inspiration from a different artist.

Autumn – inspired by Gustav Klimt

Using mixed media and collage, for me, Autumn is all about the rich colour palette of reds, oranges and golds.

Autumn sketchbook (inspired by Gustav Klimt)

Winter – Inspired by William Kentridge

The key visual element of winter, for me, is seeing the silhouette of skeletal trees against the sky.

I had recently visited a William Kentridge exhibition at the RA in London and took inspiration from his use of old text pages for backgrounds and his simple drawn animations.

Winter sketchbook (inspired by William Kentridge)

I created my own simple, stop-frame-animation of trees blowing in the wind which you could see via a QR code on one of my sketchbook pages.

Spring – Inspired by Flora Bowley

My spring sketchbook was heavily influenced by the ‘brave intuitive’ approach of Flora Bowley. As spring was very late to arrive this year it was a difficult sketchbook to start, so I relied heavily on being intuitive. Spring, for me, is all about seeing new life in the garden. Green shoots appear along with springtime flowers: daffodils, tulips, bluebells and my ever-favourite Fritillaria flowers.

Spring sketchbook (inspired by Flora Bowley)

Summer – Inspired by Antonio Gaudi

Summer season, for me, is seeing an explosion of bright colours and patterns in the clothes people wear. This reminded me of Gaudi’s mosaics, in particular Parc Guell, Barcelona.

Summer sketchbook (inspired by Antonio Gaudi)

The Leigh Art Trail was on from 8-16 July.

15 January 202315 January 2023

2022 highlights

Handmade crochet accessories – fingerless gloves, cowls and hats

The main highlight of 2022 has to be dipping my toe into the world of artisan craft fairs!

As with any new venture I always find myself spiraling in towards the intended goal before I reach it. So this journey hasn’t been any different and this is how I’ve gone about it:

Step 1: Help a friend with her stall. Back in June I wanted to gain the experience of being at a craft fair without the risk of doing a craft fair. The day included: pickup, drive, unload, (drive back to collect a forgotten item!), set up, hang out for the day, meet and greet potential customers, cover the stall for little breaks, pack down, drive, drop off. The day flew by!

Step 2: Take part in Open Studios. In early October I moved into a new studio and in mid October we had Open Studios – Phew! Challenging to get everything set up but it was a really good weekend with a few sales to boot.

Step 3: Share a craft stall with friends at different craft fairs. In November and December I shared stalls with friends at three local craft fairs, which was a really good experience. I only had half a stall which meant less space (but less stock was needed!), plus it was half the cost. I also had support throughout the day and gained lots of knowledge from the wealth of their craft fair experience.

Step 4: Have my own stall at a craft fair. This is my aim for 2023 and I have applied for a few fairs that take place early in the year, which I’m waiting to hear back from. Watch this space! Very exciting 🙂

Working up some crochet gloves at the Folk & Bespoke Artisan Fair, Rayleigh Mill. (Photo courtesy of F&B)

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has visited the fairs, liked my posts, followed me on social media, my customers and everyone who has supported me – it’s been a lot of fun so far!

Hope to see you in 2023!

BTW: I will be selling throughout the year via Instagram and in person from my studio at Hadleigh Old Firestation. I also take commissions, so if there is a bespoke size or colour you’d like, please DM me to discuss: hello@jobund.co.uk

11 November 202211 November 2022

My first craft fair

Folk & Bespoke artisan craft fair flyers

I’ve been interested in doing a craft fair for a long time. I also know a growing number of people around me who take part in them regularly, which has inspired me to finally take the plunge!

I initially helped a friend with her stall back in June, just to get some experience and to see if I would like it, and I really enjoyed it. She then very kindly asked if I would like to share her stall in November – I jumped at the chance. But then the nerves took over and the more practical questions began…’how much stock do I need?’, ‘what prices do I sell my items for?’, ‘how will I transport everything to the fair?’ etc etc

Luckily I had already decided WHAT I would sell, as over recent months I have received a lot of interest in my crochet wrist warmers. I personally love these and have made a few pairs for myself as my hands are ALWAYS cold! I wanted a simple design with a thumb hole so that I could still use my fingers while keeping my wrists and hands toasty warm. They have since been snapped up by other craft stall holders, artists and dog walkers and they make the perfect gift.

A selection of my wrist warmers on display

To compliment the wrist warmers I also made matching cowls, scarves and slouchy hats. These are a few of the items I had on display.

The display is a work in progress but for a first attempt I think it worked ok. I had varying heights, a space to stash my notebook and water bottle and a long table covering to hide everything under the table. I had also bought a Sumup machine to enable me to take card payments. It was sooo easy to use and accounted for about 90% of my sales on the day! Well worth the investment (in the initial purchase and in the time for setting up the stock items).

I’m now busy making new stock for my upcoming Christmas Craft Fairs, see dates below…

Upcoming craft fair dates where you can find me:

Sat 19 Nov – Christmas Eco Fayre at Leigh Road Baptist Church, SS9 1NN
Sat 10 Dec – Folk & Bespoke Artisan Craft Fair, Leigh Community Centre, SS9 1SP
Sat 17 Dec – Folk & Bespoke Artisan Craft Fair, Mill Arts & Events Centre, SS6 7ED

I also take commissions, so if you have any specific requirements please drop me an email at hello@jobund.co.uk, or pop along to one of the craft fairs above, and we can discuss them 🙂