Kerry Christmas Market

I've been a bit quiet lately, but I haven't been idle!    I am putting together a big two-day Christmas market for Kerry food and craft producers.  Sales this year have been so poor, that we really need a good event to give us a boost for the holidays.  And it's really shaping up to be a great event!  Lots of fantastic vendors and the Díseart will be beautiful for the weekend.  As Santy himself is too busy to leave the North Pole at this time of year, he has sent two fellas to stand in and make sure boys and girls are being good and are really deserving!  Saturday Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh will be present as Dadaí na Nollaig on Saturday and on Sunday Brendan Griffin will be with us.  Great fun!  Santy will arrive via Dingle Jaunting car at 12pm on Saturday and on 1pm on Sunday.  Loads of details to see to in the final planning, but things are going well...

Another craft fair done yesterday and it was pretty dismal for all, if I am honest.  Most of Ireland is full of anxiety at the thought of the year's budget being launched tomorrow and are just afraid to spend.  We are promised another year of woe and punishment.  I am not sure how many more years of this average people can take.  The politicians have given themselves raises yet again.  It is beyond a disgrace to cut hospitals and creches and people on low income and then to give yourself a €27,000 wage increase (or one for your friends).  I am not sure if people aren't too downtrodden to riot at this stage, but most other countries in Europe would be raging.  Hard to say if it would actually do any good.  It makes keeping a cheery Christmas attitude that bit more daunting, I tell you.  I'd love to say that things will bounce back in the New Year, but I think people are largely thinking craft is a luxury and it is just not on the list of things to purchase.  As well as excellent value, it must be said that not all craft is expensive.  And the negative repercussions of buying overseas imports can be seen as close as our neighbors.  We all buy a certain amount of things that are made out of country, but Ireland has lost so many jobs in the last 3 years that it is critical to keep that money in our economy.  And if people aren't buying craft at Christmas, then I fear for sales the rest of the year.

Tree top angel,  Handmade out of pure wool!

Meanwhile, the craft club is going strong.  We made these little ladies last week and were working on felt Christmas ornaments this week.  I think the last session before Christmas will be Christmas stockings.   I am making these angels for hampers for Bluíríní Blásta Cafe for the next week.  It's all go!

A Foodie Hangover...

The Handmade Sessions on the Dingle Food Festival taste trail was a great success!  We teamed up with Bluíríní Blasta cafe in Lispole and offered up sublime, jamtastic desserts: they baked meringues with their Blás na hEireann nominated lemon curd, fresh cream, and raspberry coulis; lemon drizzle cake with lemon curd on the side; and strawberry jam sponge with fresh strawberries.  All gone by 445pm!  Craft sales for the day weren't great, but there were a lot of people in and out and appreciating the work, so hopefully a preview of Christmas sales.  It was pouring out of the heavens by 4pm and is quite wet now, but still another day of the Festival to go!  We are heading out on the taste trail ourselves and it should be a relaxing, enjoyable day.  I need me some oysters!

It was a rather frantic week of felting and embellishing.  I felted 7 scarves and resist-dyed them and felted two new hats and resist-dyed to match two of the scarves.  I embellished three hats.  And cleaning and hiding all the clutter so the studio would be ready for the general public.  Really, I need a good closet with shelving inside to just store things in and shut the door so my mess isn't out in the open.  The new hat wall looked well and Colleen Bowler and Ursula Tramski's pottery was fab, and the company great all day.  A huge success!

I held the Craft Club on Friday afternoon to make room for the Taste Trail on Saturday, so it was a mad two hours of sewing and helping the girls learn to use the sewing machines.  They really are learning the sewing machines fast for 10 year olds.  Their books are nearly done and next week we start on two weeks of bracelets.  We will felt a lot of pieces and then decorate our bits the next week with stitch and beads.  And then two weeks of Halloween projects, but I have to have a think about what we will do there...

It's all go these days.  I need to do a big stock up on wool as I have a lot of stock to make for Christmas.  Once I have many kilos of wool under my roof, I will sleep well!! New calendar of events for October up, but must get it online still--tomorrow as my day off and then will plot dates for Christmas gift making...Meanwhile, Ireland killed Italy today in the Rugby World Cup and we are slated to play Wales next weekend in the semi-finals--GO GREEN!!

Keeping the Faith

New hat: merino, alpaca, & silk fibres & pieces.  Decor
in progress!

I try not to be a worrier, but it is very hard not to at times.  And these are worrying times that we are living in.  Quite a lot is changing quickly and we are coping as best we can with limited resources and changing incomes.  But I also reach a stage where I think "To Hell with it!"  Either the hard work pays off or it won't.  Either you can make a difference or you won't.  I take time out to think and find the solution for myself and just keep plowing on...

So, I am relieved to see modest progress with my new workshop space.  Craft in Kerry is no longer part of the Handmade Sessions as the summer was just too slow and the guild did not have the resources to keep going forever.  I personally paid out quite a lot of money from my own resources and that could not continue.  I took over the place as a studio/teaching space for myself as of September 1st and things seem to be falling into a nice routine.  The kid's Dingle Craft Club started yesterday and I had a good start.  It will pay the rent and keep me going while I work hard at developing new hats and scarves.  I am looking into exporting as sales are just too slow in Ireland.

Closeup of the texture of merino and silk

I will be on the food trail of the Dingle Food & Wine Festival with Blúiríní Blasta cafe (located in the Seal Sanctuary in Lispole).  The girls make WONDERFUL food, but also sell their homemade jams and are developing other products for sale in their cafe.  The are going to be making their homemade jamtastic cakes for the trail and I will be felting.  Should be great fun!  

I have a whole pile of new hats that are ALMOST done.  Mostly the finishing decorations.  So, it will feel good to put four new hats out by end of day on Tuesday and start work on yet more.  Being productive is a big relief for stressful money juggling!

So, these developments are good. Yes, I would love to be making actual money instead of breaking even, but sometimes you just have to keep going and hope for the best...

New fabric collage for my Green & Gold window that
is going up very SOON.  The All Ireland is next Sunday,
so it has to happen soon!