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Last month I had the privilege of attending The Handmade Fair, Presented by Kirstie Allsopp, at Hampton Court Palace. It’s a three day event that showcases handmade products and numerous workshops to help the everyday person develop their creative skills. Basically, it’s a creativity-on-steroids event and I walked around like a kid in a candy shop!
Firstly, I was amazed at how big the event was! There must have been thousands of people in attendance over the three days. There were tents upon tents of vendors selling their hand made goods which ranged from jewellery, clothes, cards, artwork, food, skin care products and basically anything you could think of that could be handmade! I was able to attend 2 skills workshops – cupcake decorating and embellishing with Swarovski Crystals (by the way Kirstie Allsopp actually ran the Swarovski workshop, so my claim to fame is that I sat approximately 100 meters away from her). I also had the chance to stock up on creative tools and taste some amazing food.
Attending this event really is a must if you’re looking to develop your creativity or even if you’re already an expert in your creative field. I took my camera along with me to capture some snapshots of the day. So keep scrolling down to get an idea of how my day went. And don’t worry if you missed this years’ event, because the handmade fair will take place in 2018 on the 11th to 13th May in Warwickshire, and on the 22nd to 24th June in Wiltshire (check out the website here and book your tickets)
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MOTD
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Starting off with my makeup of the day: of course I had to represent MSA Be Inspired, so I created an autumn inspired makeup look using rust colours (by the way all the makeup details will be on my Instagram). This is now my favourite look at the moment because it’s so easy to create and works with just about any outfit.
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SKILLS WORKSHOPS
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A ‘full experience ticket’ provided me with entry into the Handmade Fair and 3 skills workshops. The workshops ran all day and if you didn’t book one in advance you could pay for it on the day which was awesome. Unfortunately, the picture above isn’t so clear, so let me give you an idea of some of the workshop topics: Brush lettering, Paper quilling, Knitted jewellery, Lino print greeting cards, Hand embroidered lettering and Origami trinket box (this list is not exhaustive). My friend made the ring below at her jewellery making workshop. I was sad that I missed this session so I’ll have to do it next time.
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I then went for my cupcake decorating workshop where I learnt how to colour icing and pipe floral decorations onto cupcakes.
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Of course, once my cupcake was beautifully decorated I HAD to eat it! It tasted pretty good by the way.
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SHOPPING
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In between skills workshops and eating, I was able to wander in and out of the massive tents where vendors showcased and sold their handmade products. There must have been hundreds of vendors, and after 2 hours of walking I still hadn’t seen everything. I did pick up some great tools which I plan to create some things with. I’m being deliberately cryptic so you’ll just have to stay tuned to see what I create. For a full list of shopping vendors click here.
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I wouldn’t mind one of these dresses for myself, LOL!
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I have a thing for angels and I thought that these figurines made by Gifts2Btreasured were so cute!
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Really cool acrylic jewellery made by the artist Tara Mac. Check her out at www.etsy.com/shop/taramacjewellery
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I fell in love with these Ankara shoes by TomizCreations! www.tomizcreations.co.uk
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Great christmas card inspo
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So that was just a taste of what The Handmade Fair 2017 was like. It was a wonderful day out and I left feeling inspired to keep on creating and learning new skills. I often encounter people who complain that they are not creative. When I ask these people what they do to stimulate their creativity, I usually get the following answer, “Nothing.” So it’s no surprise that these people remain convinced that they are not creative. I can’t encourage you guys enough to take steps to feed your creativity, because whatever you feed grows. So make sure you sign up for The Handmade Fair newsletter (click here) and attend the next fair near you. Now, I’m off to start creating my next project….. Till next time!
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Cor!! I didn’t know such an event existed! Now I do! Must have been something! Thanks MSA!!
Author
It was awesome! I think you’d really love it, so make sure you check it out next year. Nice to hear from you. xxx
This looks so amazing!! Not sure if there is anything like that close to me but it’s a great idea.
Author
Thanks Ajay. You never know, there might be something similar in Toronto or New York?