Happy New Year - Overview of 2010

Happy New Year to all my customers and followers. 2010 was such a fantastic year that I thought I would share some of my highlights.

I exhibited at the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate for the first time in April - it was such a huge show with over 300 exhibitors, which means huge competition. I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience of the show and have signed up again this year.

The other trade shows I exhibited at were the Spring Show at SECC Glasgow, Autumn Show at SECC Glasgow and The Aviemore Trade Show.

The Copse (above)

Standing Stones (above)

The two photos above were some new items I introduced last year. There were too many to list here, but you can check them out on my website.

Exhibiting at Strathisla Distillery, Keith

Coast Art Festival (above)

I exhibited at a few shows during 2010 - starting at the Strathisla Distillery in Keith during the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival. This was a great 4 day event and spoke to many people from all over the world. My second year exhibiting at the Coast Art Festival in Banff. This is a great venue and well attended and again did very well in sales and a commission. The North East Open Studios followed in September, my third year of exhibiting in a local village hall. Speyside Artisans organised the event this year - a collective of talented artists and crafters who live around the Speyside. A selection of my work is also at Boath House near Nairn - a luxury Scottish hotel, and the Craigellachie Hotel in Craigellachie.

Not forgetting my gorgeous daughter, who celebrated her third birthday in 2010. We hired a bouncy castle in the garden and had her friends around for a party. She thoroughly enjoyed the bouncy castle, as did I!! My mum flew up from Cornwall for my daughter's birthday and we had a lovely family time. But it is always a sad time when we have to say out goodbyes, granny saying good bye at the airport:

We also enjoyed a beautiful family holiday in Morocco last year. The weather was perfect, as was the hotel, food and the people. It was our first family holiday and we had such a fab time, so much so, we are hoping to go back this year - to the same hotel. We all enjoyed a morning trek on camels:

I gained some new stockists during 2010, including Baxters Food Group, supplying glass gifts to their Highland Village (below), Celebrations of Turriff, Voluptu Boutique in Elgin, Rosewills Cottage in Whitley Bay, and Lee Chapman Gallery in Keswick, Cumbria, just a few from the list.

New outdoor events were added to my calendar - one of the best ones was the Belladrum Festival was a great 3 day event, and the music was fantastic. The family came and we spent the weekend camping, which is great fun and we were lucky enough to see KT Tungstall, Amy MacDonald, The Whalers (as in Bob Marley), Feeder, Candi Staton (from the 80's) and many more.

I joined Swanky Maison, a new online shopping boutique, offering a selection of high quality handcrafted gifts and homeware. Gifted People is also another online shopping experience, but with a twist. Not only do they sell Scottish gifts, but offer 'experiences' too, for example, a 4x4 off road experience, flying a light aircraft, driving a small hovercraft, or if you fancy something a little more tame, beauty treatments or perhaps a makeover photo shoot. All experiences and gifts are Scottish based.

Christmas was a very busy time also, as I had booked myself in to many more events and was working many hours to get everything done. But thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless.

A quick overview, but hope you enjoyed my wonderful journey (I got the idea from Charlotte Hupfield, whilst reading her blog). I am now gearing up for the Spring Trade show this month and working on a commission project for a local distillery.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx