TODAY I WENT to Margate to give my shelf at ROUGH TRADE a bit of a Christmas makeover.  

While I was waiting for my lift I noticed what a lovely place this area of Margate is.  Known locally as Margate Old Town it is full of beautiful

buildings, charming squares,tiny streets and alleyways.  Situated close to Margate Harbour and the Turner Contemporary every corner hids a new treasure.  And it is here slightly off the 

 beaten track that ROUGH TRADE can be discovered - a collaborative trading area. http://www.roughtrademargate.co.uk/#!

Stalls include  MODS AND ROCKERS (a hairdressers, bespoke silver designs, vintage items, upcycled curios,and various other interesting stalls and items.  A "pop up shop"  way before Mary Portus came to Margate.

 CIGAR BOX BAGS - THREE DIFFERENT DESIGNS, an ALICE BAND with a needle felted flower and some of my LEOPARD PRINT FLUFFY PENS.

 There are a lot of needle felted items here.  SEAHORSES, HEARTS, A BLACK COIN PURSE WITH CHERRIES and my new line of CAT CHARMS. A CAT FOR COMPANY for all of us cat lovers.

A UNION JACK paper mache bag with a London Transport theme, a JAR OF SEAGLASS, SNAIL FRIDGE MAGNETS, and a notebook showing my wonderful cat Bruce sleeping.  

All manner of goodies fridge magnets, Christmas brooches, purses and seahorses.

 A CAT FOR COMPANY currently three designs on sale here at ROUGH TRADE. Marmalade, Perfect Grey and Lucky Black.  There will be more designs to follow.

Just behind the notebook with Bruce is a box of needle felt Christmas brooches. Comets, holly leaves and Christmas Trees.  I keep trying to choose a favourite but haven't managed it yet.  Each brooch is different. 

 AN OVER VIEW OF MY SHELF.  JUST ABOVE IT IS THE ONE SHARED BY MY NIECE AND HER FRIEND.  I think their items are lovely.

LUCKY BLACK CAT

The WHAT'S YOUR POISON BAG has a glittery sheen giving it an unearthly appeal.

The two hearts here were needle felted, then had needle felt flowers and leaves attached to them.  Both have a ribbon loop for hanging. 

One of the Christmas Trees.  This one has bead garlands.  
 

MY SHELF IS NOW A REALITY

SO NOW AFTER A BUSY WEEK MY SHELF IS A REALITY. 

 The second shelf up from the bottom is all mine - filled with handbags, needle felted purses, snail fridge magnets, and decorated jars of sea glass.

The beautiful items on the shelf above make me feel I am in good company and have made the right decision. 

 It took me longer than I thought to get everything labelled and priced.

I must remember this when I do a craft fair, and make sure to leave enough time.

 Once everything was priced and put onto my practise shelf I listed it all so that I wouldn't forget what stock I had taken to ROUGH TRADE.

second shelf from the bottom

my display

TODAY IS THE DAY OFF TO ROUGH TRADE.

THIS IS IT THEN a morning of frantic finishing, one last shelf run through before loading up this afternoon and taking my wares to ROUGH TRADE.  http://www.roughtrademargate.co.uk/#!__rough-traders

I am quite excited about this.  The people who I have met so far are friendly.  And although it is slightly away from the main area of Margate's Old Town it is on the way to the sea and the Turner Contemporary. http://www.turnercontemporary.org/

Fridge magnets and phone charms

I found some magnetic paper that can be used in an inkjet printer a little while ago and thought that I would see what I could do.

I spent some time drawing snails (mostly because I had decided to do a goldwork snail as a practise piece before starting on my goldwork embroidery project).  This was mostly to get the size right but as I was doing it I found that each one seemed to have its own little quirks and character.  By the time I had five different little characters I stopped trying to draw a goldwork design and started to think what other personalities I could invent.  I now have ten cute little snail characters completed and printed onto the magnetic paper. 

Each little snail has a different story to tell - a story that I have enjoyed developing almost as much as I enjoyed creating the snails
http://folksy.com/items/3267590-Zombie-Snail-Fridge-Magnet

Zombie snail fridge magnet

 From poor little Zombie Snail with his damaged eyestalk, bite marks and the holes in his shell to Cheesy Snail with his big grin I am struggling to find a favourite snail.  




I have just found some information about zombie snails (and I had no idea that they are real) I feel quite sorry for them.
 
I am not that keen on that thousands of snails that seem to have chosen to live in my garden but I love these fellows.

Cheesy snail

I love them so much that I decided to also print them on shrink plastic and make them into phone charms.   I have listed both the fridge magnets and the phone charms on my FOLKSY Shop.



http://folksy.com/shops/DREAMTIMEMAKES 

pirate snail phone charm

At the moment all the snail fridge magnets and the phone charms have free postage and packing. 







surprised snail        zombie snail
sad snail               bashful snail
sorry snail            vampire snail
happy snail          pirate snail
cheesy snail         hippy snail

so why not come and meet them all at . . . . . . . . . . http://folksy.com/shops/DREAMTIMEMAKES
I look foreward to seeing you there.