Our first Creative Colones event took place on Sunday, 11th November from 2-5pm. The seed for this idea was sown when it was realised at the yard sale in May, 2012 that there are a lot of creative, arty-crafty residents in our midst, some of them being professional and that showcasing their wares a few weeks before Christmas could give us all a perfect opportunity to buy gifts really locally as well as enabling the artists to take commissions.
The event was advertised widely in Stockbridge and amongst all our own contacts so was well supported, resulting in good sales for many of the vendors, especially those who had smaller items on offer. We were very lucky to have a relatively warm, dry and still afternoon too so there were no muddy boots trailing through houses! However, the autumnal feel in the air was conducive to the odd glass of mulled wine and home-baked biscuit available at a few of the participating households!
The merchandise was incredibly varied and had to be seen to be believed! Where do the wonderful ideas come from?! There were hand-made, hand-bound books, beautiful African beads (made of paper but you’d never guess!) assembled here into necklaces and bracelets, stunning framed photographs and greetings cards, unique quirky clocks made from vintage 1950s tins, poetry published here in the Colonies by Mariscat Press, delicate angels, hand-made Christmas decorations and beautiful soft toys, superb silver jewellery, fascinating fascinators…as well as prints and collages of the Colonies. Every one of the participants must have worked very hard to amass enough stock for the afternoon and all their preparation and hospitality really paid off. The full list of what was where can be found on the ‘events’ page but here are a few links to participants’ own websites:
www.AlexisSouthamJewellery.com
The general consensus is that this could easily become an annual event so we look forward to developing more ideas for 2013. Many thanks to everyone who supported it as a browser, a buyer or a creator.