I ran 10km!....

Last weekend was a Bank Holiday in the UK and usually I would be in my craft den but if you follow me on Instagram and Twitter you will already know I ran the Bupa London 10km on Monday!

All smiles before the start

The race starts on The Mall and finishes opposite Buckingham Palace. 

Buckingham Palace before the start

The route took us around many of London’s famous sights including Admiralty Arch, Nelson’s Column, St Paul’s Cathedral, Mansion House, the Bank of England, the Old Bailey, Somerset House, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. I would like to say I took it all in but my focus was to get around the course!

Just before 2km

Just after 7km

I'm pleased I ran the entire route in 1 hour, 16 minutes and 42 seconds. It was a great atmosphere, I wish I could thank all the supporters and marshals cheering us on, it really helps to get you round.

I ran the event to raise money for the Stroke Association in memory of my Nan. I have been blown away by the support I have received, at the time of writing this I raised £315.  Thank you!! 

10km done! I'm very pleased with my medal

Thank you to my hubby for being my cheerleader and taking these photos.

fizzi~jayne x

#CraftBlogClub New Upcycling Challenge....

It's time for another #CraftBlogClub challenge - Pimp My Wardrobe!

The inspiration for this challenge came from @giftfrippery in one of our chats, her idea was "how about getting an old pair of shoes and transforming them? Knit, crochet, embellish, decoupage etc" but for this challenge it doesn't have to be a pair of shoes it can be any piece of clothing or accessory using any crafty technique you like.

A Pinterest board has been created to inspire you, which you can find here. If you would like to be added as a Pinner just leave me a comment below and I will add you.

So raid your wardrobe and get out the old clothes or shoes that you have been keeping and give them a new lease of life!

The Reveal....

We will be revealing our makes in our Twitter chat on 21st July and If you have a blog also present your lovely project in a post by this date and please link back to this blog.

There will be a linky set up on THIS BLOG to showcase your blog posts and do take some time to have a look at the other posts, it’s lovely to see some of the amazing creativity we have in our #CraftBlogClub!

Let us know how you’re doing throughout the challenge on Twitter and Facebook. Don't forget to use our #CraftBlogClub hashtag to keep up to date on Twitter.

I hope you will join in and I can't wait to see what everyone makes!!...

fizzi~jayne x

May Craft Fair and why success isn't always measured in sales....

This month I have only done the one craft fair, I was back at the Little Fox Market.  It is always a friendly atmosphere and the majority of the stalls are regulars like me so it's nice to catch up and see what everyone has been making.

This time around we were in competition with a local festival and it was either going to work for us or against us.  Unfortunately it was the latter and the fair was quieter than usual but it's not all bad as the press were there from two local papers and one of them took a picture of me! I'm yet to see if I have made it into the paper or if I am on the cutting room floor.

Obviously it is always good business to make your money back but success isn't always measured in sales....

• Being a regular at a craft fair means you can build relationships with stall holders and customers which can turn into sales at a later date.  Fairs are as much about meeting people and spreading the word as they are about selling. 
• There are still customers who bought my products, which is such a nice feeling.
• It's local advertising, and not just to potential customers but craft fairs are often attended by boutiques and independent gift shops looking for local talent. You don't know who might be picking up your business card!
• Craft fairs are a great opportunity to update your mailing list and hand out cards or flyers.  Sales maybe online after your craft fair instead of on the day.
• Being a part of a regular craft fair means when it comes to the Christmas season, shoppers will already know about the market and where to shop for their unique, handmade gifts plus my customers know where to find me.
• Craft fairs are a great place to try out new products and get feedback on your range.
• Some days are going to be quiet, that's just how it goes.  This craft fair is well organised and advertised and having had a good 2014 there I am remaining positive for the future dates I have booked for the rest of this year.

A view from my stall

I'm back at the Little Fox again on June 13th and you can see what other craft fairs I have booked for the rest of the year here.

Before I go meet my neighbours from this fair....

ellsey bellsey

The Soap Cabin

fizzi~jayne x

#CraftBlogClub Spring Clean Gift Swap Challenge Reveal....

It's time for another #CraftBlogClub challenge reveal!

This time the challenge was to make a gift for a fellow #CraftBlogClub-ee only using what we have in our crafty stash.  The full details of the challenge can be seen here.  We did this challenge last year and it was so popular we did it again, because that crafty stash never goes down, right?!

My swap-ee was the lovely Hannah, the talent behind Crafternoon Cabaret Club.  She really spoiled me and sent me a pretty bracelet and a lavender heart....

The bracelet will go perfectly with an outfit I have for a wedding this weekend.

Thank you so much Hannah, I love my gifts!

So what did I make Hannah?....

I haven't had a lot of time to crochet so far this year and I have a stash of yarn I wanted to get my hooks in to, so this challenge was perfect timing.

I always find the hardest part of doing these type of challenges is working out what to make. I wanted to make something that Hannah would like and I spent a LOT of time deciding what to do. I saw on her blog that she made an apron so I knew she could sew and the light-bulb moment came to make a pin cushion.  I searched on Pinterest, Ravelry and my stash of magazines for a pattern.

I attempted a couple of different patterns with various degrees of success (or rather failures), I hadn't realised how out of practice I was!  The pattern I ended up using is this one from Cherry Heart.  My first attempt was OK but being the perfectionist I am I started to fiddle with it and ended up snipping into it, oops!! It's OK because the second attempt was far better and I was happier with this version....

I added a few pins which I had that colour co-ordinated with the yarn I used.

I recently designed new postcards to send out with orders and I am so pleased with them I included two with her package.

I hope Hannah is happy with her parcel.

I can't wait to see what everyone else has made.

fizzi~jayne x

fizzijaynemakes.com has launched!!....

I'm so excited! (I'm currently doing a happy dance!) I have designed my own little space on the world wide web and I'm pleased to announce that fizzijaynemakes.com is now officially open!

It has been a labour of love and I am so pleased I can finally share it with you.  I wanted to design it myself because to be honest I am a control freak, but I also wanted to be able to update it when I wanted to and not have to pay someone.  There are many providers out there so I used one that met my design needs and has good customer support.

I have new business cards too!

The shop tab on my website will take you to my Folksy shop.  At the moment I can't justify the extra costs that come with a transactional website.  I've chosen Folksy as I have been selling with them since I launched fizzi~jayne makes.... back in 2012.  They are also based in Britain and support small creative businesses like myself.  You can still find me on Etsy and in the longer term I hope to be able to offer the opportunity to buy direct from my website.

My blog will stay in the same place so if you are a follower you don't need to do anything. 

To celebrate my new website I have designed some postcards with uplifting and funny quotes (because everyone likes to receive happy mail).  I will send one of the four designs for free with every order (while stocks last). 

I'm really happy with my new website but I would love to know what you think?

fizzi~jayne x

April Craft Fairs....

I'm now in full swing with spring craft fairs, during April I went to two fairs....

First was New Milton....

I attended this one twice last year and it was one of the successes of 2014.  It was also a good excuse to see my parents and visit the beach.

A trip to Mudeford Beach

The tables seemed larger than usual and I was really worried about the space on my table so I had to be clever with my display, what do you think?

There are a lot of crafters in the area that came to the event so I had a lot of fun conversations taking about craft techniques and took the opportunity to plug this blog (if I met you at New Milton, Hi! *waves*). 

Sales weren't great but I have ideas for new products in the future and people signed up to my newsletter. (Some exciting news coming in the next 2 weeks!!).

The following weekend I was at Royston....

I love Royston, it is such a well organised event by Laura from Kozmic Dreams.  She is so passionate and has worked so hard promoting the event and managed to get featured in local press.  The Mayor came along and spent time taking to all the stallholders, it was lovely to meet her.

There is a good variety of stalls and I was opposite the tea room, Vintage Allsorts, which serves tea in vintage teapots and cups. 

Of course after staring at the cupcakes all day I did have a snickers one and it was delicious!!

From June it will be monthly, unfortunately I can't make the June and July dates so I will be back there in August and every month until the end of the year.

I'll be back at the Little Fox this month and you can see all the craft fairs I have booked for the year here.

fizzi~jayne x

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