2024

January started off way busier than usual! I had a mad few weeks of making my copper aluminium decorations that were themed along the Twelve Days of Christmas. The website kept going ‘kerching’ which was very strange and I found myself sending them off across the globe!

February is always a quiet month, these are the weeks when you hope to sit and come up with future ideas.
It’s also the time when planning is started for FolkEast Festival in August.

March often brings about the start of markets & fairs, ours began with a Spring fair at the Assembly Rooms in Norwich, followed by Local Makers Market Samples & Seconds sale at the Old Shoe Factory. I was also pleased to be part of Converge in Framlingham, a pop up gathering of makers at the old Con Club.

April we worked towards the Old Hall Spring Fair! It’s a great venue where you can do a couple of good walks, take some time out for coffee and cake and have a browse at 50+ makers in their old cow shed! It was a brilliant event.

May we had another Local Makers Market at The Forum in Norwich and we were also part of a group show at Little Bentley church hall with Anglian Arts Project. Ed also had a couple of letterpress workshops, where you can come and have a go at setting your own type to produce a poster! You also get a simple lunch plus cake and refreshments.

June we had another visit to the Old Shoe Factory with Local Makers Market, we love this venue and it’s great to catch up with old and new stallholders and customers. Ed also had an exhibition at The Canteen in Southwold. A lovely place to go and eat or have a coffee and you can also pop into the library if you fancy finding a book to read.

July we were still waiting for the weather to improve, it hadn’t quite been the Summer everyone was hoping for? We went off to North Norfolk for a fair in Blakeney, it’s a beautiful part of the world with incredible coastline and landscapes, well worth a visit if you’ve never been? We also became part of the new co-op with Craftco, an exceptional little store showcasing beautiful crafts in Southwold, an exciting venture for us to be involved with, a shop that has been close to our hearts for many years.

August sees us racing towards FolkEast Festival which is in its last year at Glemham Hall. We have a Marquee full of talent and an Art Arcade that encircles the marquee with gazebos bursting with amazing makers. And of course I mustn’t forget the music!!

September sees the re-opening of Craftco which has been refurbished with new shelving and a lick of paint to accomodate the different layout, as we are sharing our space with Tourist Information. We get of to a brilliant start with lots of customers coming in and letting us all know how much we’ve been missed, which is really lovely!

October was a quieter month with stints in Craftco but no markets or fairs.

November was a busier selling month with three markets to get ready for! The first was Old Hall on the road into Southwold, a festive affair with lots of stallholders. We then had a two day event at The Cut in Halesworth which is their Xmas Grand Bazaar, so many talented makers and artists with a bit of vintage thrown in too. Then we finished off with Local Makers Market at the shoe Factory a lovely Christmassy market in Norwich.

We are now in December and will be in Craftco doing the odd day to cover the shop leading up to the new year, we hope that 2025 will be a good one for all our makers who supply us? Happy New Year