Crafts for Christmas - SECC Glasgow

Excited.... I have taken a stand at this year's Hobbycraft event at the SECC in Glasgow. You will find me on stand E10, Crafts for Christmas. For the first time this year, the organisers are showcasing Scottish Highland businesses and there are five different businesses, making good quality handcrafted products.

These are just some of the new items I will be selling at the show and have been added to my Autumn Trade Catalogue.The show will be open Thursday 27 October - Sunday 30 October and 20,000 visitors are expected.

If you visit the show, pop along and say hello.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Dundee Flower & Food Festival .... Continued

We had a great weekend at Dundee once again at the Flower and Food Festival, with Gino D'Acampo being the main attraction on Sunday. He gave a few cookery demonstrations and the one in the afternoon took place on the music stage (above). He was actually a really funny guy, answering lots of questions from the audience.

He also did a book signing and we were right next to him, as you can see from the photo above. My daughter, who had lost her voice from playing and screaming with the kids on the next pitch on site, was shouting out 'Gino' in a very husky voice, it was very cute. Any way, it got his attention as he looked at her (on my shoulders), came over, caressed her face, then gave her a kiss. Not that I was jealous!!!! He even signed my daughter's arm - she was happy really!

The Council staff worked hard making sure the showground was accessible to all after the night rainfall - they go around with mini dumper trucks spreading bark over the ground. They do a great job.

We were pitched next to another family exhibiting at the show who had some children which were great company for our daughter. She had a fab time too!

We had Cornish Pasties every day - they were so yummy (can you tell from the photo).

I'm now getting ready for Open Studios this weekend, so a massive tidy up in the studio!

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xxx

Dundee Flower & Food Festival

It's that time of year again when I'll be visiting the Dundee Festival (where has the past year gone??). It's a great 3 day show with celebrities visiting too - as you can see from the photo Gino D'aCampo and Monty Don are attending this year. I'm secretly hoping that Gino will be doing his 'naked chef' demonstration again?? Well, there's no harm in dreaming!

There is plenty of activities going on too; music stage, children's crafts, food marquee, theatre, floral demonstrations, and a huge craft marquee, where you will find Lazy Daisy Glass. Not forgetting the wonderful garden displays.

If visiting the show, be sure to pop along and say hello.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Art & Craft Exhibition, Elgin

I will be taking part in an art and craft exhibition to be held in St Giles Shopping Centre, Elgin from Saturday 20 August - Wednesday 24 August, 10am - 4pm (Sunday 11am - 4pm).

Demonstrations will be taking place throughout the event and special guest artists will also be exhibiting. Rachel Ashton is one of the artists; Rachel is a well known local artist from Huntly, is self taught and predominantly paints soft landscapes. You can view her work here

This event is also to help raise funds for Help for Heroes, as you know, a worthwhile charity.

Come along and watch our ceramicist, kilt maker or wood turner at work and view the beautiful artworks on show.

Free entry.

Community Project - Portknockie Primary School

I have been working on a community project over a couple of months, where I made four glass art panels for a local school. As you can see from the above photo, the panels complete and installed.

I met a local teacher, Tom Hay from Portknockie Primary School, at a local craft fair and we started talking about glass fusing and that he was interested in learning about it. I mentioned that I wanted to be involved in a community project with a school, his school was working on the theme 'Made in Scotland' and we discussed the possibility of working together. One thing lead to another. I then visited Portknockie Primary and did three 30 minute presentations to each group, explaining the process.

The School ran a design competition, where all the pupils took part and made collage-type pictures of what the village of Portknockie meant to them. There was some fantastic pictures and I was lucky to be one of the judges too. Above - the judging panel.

From the design chosen and in hand, I cut all the designs out of glass back in the studio. I returned a short time later, where the pupils had some hands-on experience by sticking bits of glass to the panels and the youngest ones, cut out fish, seaweed and jellyfish out of copper foil and sprinkled glass frit to the borders.

One of the talented artists (above) painting the little happy fisherman on to the glass.

I also made the plaque displayed below the panels (above).

Each panel measures 600 x 400mm - they make a great display on the wall in the library at Portknockie School.

The panels installed (above) - I think the children have created some beautiful pieces of art!

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Highland Games at Gordon Castle

I attended Gordon Castle on Sunday 22 May - the first Highland Games since the 1930's. I was very impressed with the attendance and really pleased the new event received local support. It was a gamble for Gordon Castle to re-start such an event after 75 years, but they pulled it off. The location is stunning too.

I was there as part of the Speyside Artisans (above), seven of us pitched up to enjoy the day. The weather held up for most of the day, but the wind was too much for all the gazebos and they started taking off. And as a result, we all had to pack away early, as the gazebos were starting to break.

This is the new Speyside Artisans outdoor banner (above) - what do you think?

No Highland Games are complete without a Pipe Band - this is Dufftown & District. They looked and sounded fantastic.

Perhaps the Castle will entertain the idea of hiring a large marquee, so we can have an indoor pitch. The industrial marquees are able to take the weather, better than our little ones!

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Green Fingers - Grow Your Own - Part I

It was a beautiful summery morning - one day last month we were out in the garden at 8am to start work on planting and setting up our mini greenhouse. Our daughter was so enthusiastic, here she is helping to fill the containers with compost:

We bought little grow your own kits - adding water to the plugs, sowing the seeds, and also plated our own seeds from packets, then we watched them turn in to these:

It took us a couple of hours, enjoying the sunshine, to get all the planting done, but we now have a full greenhouse:

I'm glad to say, our daughter's enthusiasm still exists and waters the plants regularly. She still gets excited each week and regularly investigates their growth.

We are growing tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, carrots, pumpkins, peppers, lettuces and sunflowers. At least we will all enjoy eating our own fruit and veg this summer.

Part II coming shortly - how are the plants doing??

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Launch of Highland Key

I recently attended the launch of Highland Key - an online gateway to the Scottish Highlands, offering discount cards to visitors (or locals). The business trade event took place at Achnagairn House in Kirkhill, a beautifully stunning private house venue. The House has 24 bedrooms, all individually themed, a spectacular ballroom, all in a stunningly secluded location. A great venue for weddings!

I was also asked to make some corporate plates for the canapes. The Highland Key logo incorporates the Scottish thistle, and these were then designed in to the plates - green, purple and pink (see above).

Spud the Piper welcomed everyone to the event.

My daughter loved these cupcakes, courtesy of Cupcake Creations in Inverness - she hand paints the individual logos on to each cake, very clever! They are the most tastiest of cakes and always look beautiful and so many people comment on how wonderful they taste.

The main presentation took place in the Ballroom - a stunning room with vaulted ceiling and huge stone fireplace. The chairs were also decorated, courtesy of Dress the Day, again incorporating Highland Key colours.

The Event Manager gave us a personal tour of some of the bedrooms in the house, but will leave that for another blog post as they were stunning, especially the Honeymoon Suite.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Commission Window - Findochty Holiday Cottage

I recently finished a commission window for the Findochty Holiday Cottage and delivered it today. It was a beautiful day to visit the harbour town of Findochty and the holiday let the owners, Clare and Steve, are renovating is delightful. The old fisherman's cottage is just a two minute walk from a quaint sandy beach - what more could you ask for when looking for a holiday. If lucky, you could even see some of the Moray Firth Spotted Dolphins playfully swimming by. They are quite common in the area.

Planning stage - drawing the design to scale (above), shading in areas and marking where colours should go.

Piecing together all the shapes to make sure it all fits (above). I love creating 'sea' themed glass products and was thrilled when Clare and Steve asked that I undertake the commission. Being a Cornish lass, it makes perfect sense to design such patterns.

The final design laid out on the kiln shelf - ready for firing. The window measures 720mm x 500mm and was a great project to work on. It will be placed in the inner porch when entering the property. It will be the first thing people see when opening the front door - I think it's very welcoming and suits the cottage.

If you would like to book Findochty Holiday Cottage, please look at the website. It's a beautiful, quaint cottage, in a lovely part of the Scotland.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Moray Business Women - Mentoring Scheme

I attended the launch of the Moray Business Women's Mentoring Scheme on Monday, held at Voluptu in Elgin. It was a really good turnout, with the local press in attendance as well as STV. The Scheme was officially opened by MP Angus Robertson, and he gave a very good encouraging speech. The scheme was the brainchild of Faith Simpson, local Accountant, based in Elgin, who is also a Committee Member of the Club. As a local business herself, Faith knows there is a lack of support for women setting up in business. There is no one to talk to about the day to day issues they are facing when trying to set up and run a business. So through Moray Business Women, they are launching a Mentoring Scheme for women who are setting up in business and those in the early stages of running their business.

The launch was held at Voluptu because they are the first member on the Scheme. Sharyn has recently opened her Boutique in Elgin, selling beautiful clothes for the curvy lady. And of course, stocking Lazy Daisy Glass!

Moray Business Women have chosen 6 of their members to be mentors, each with their own unique talents and skills. These ladies are offering their knowledge and skills completely free - what a great scheme!

If you require further information about the Scheme and live in Moray, contact faith@faithsimpson.co.uk

I also think Faith should consider a career in PR - she managed to get local press coverage, STV News, BBC Scotland, Moray Firth Radio and the Chris Moyles Radio 1 Show. Fabulous Faith!

I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and networking with other business women and would love to have taken the opportunity of joining such a Scheme when I first started out.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

British Craft Trade Fair, Harrogate

Not long returned from the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate and had a good time once again, although totally shattering! I stayed in the centre of town, the hotel was in the Montpellier Quarter and was ideally situated for everything. They call the Montpellier Quarter "Harrogate's best kept secret" - they are right. It is such a quaint and beautiful area. Best of all, there was a Wagamama around the corner from the hotel. A place I haven't visited since leaving London and has been sorely missed! I love Wagamama so was delighted to have them in my life once again, albeit a takeaway. People were telling me that I HAD to visit Betty's - the famous Tea Room. There were six of us (exhibitors) that met up one evening from the trade show - we had a beautiful meal and evening. I was so impressed with the food that I decided to have breakfast at Betty's on my last day. The most delicious scrambled egg and bacon muffin. Never tasted anything like it before - magnificent! I even managed to come away with some goodies for hubby and daughter, and a Fat Rascal for me!

I also went for a walk around the Quater on my last morning just to take in some of the sights.

Although these shows can be exhausting, I had a lovely break in Harrogate and met some wonderful exhibitors and hopefully will be meeting up with them again next year. In the meantine, I have orders to be getting on with.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Screen Printing on Glass Workshop

I had a fantastic day recently, visiting Rachel Elliott Glassworks in Edinburgh. I travelled down to Edinburgh the evening before, Rachel came to meet me at the hotel and we headed in to town for something to eat. She even gave me a small guided tour of the City. Edinburgh Castle was beautifully lit against the dark night sky and then on to the Indian restaurant. A delicious meal too! I thoroughly enjoyed my screen printing course at Rachel's studio. We caught up on business stuff and covered quite a bit of glass stuff too. These were the designs I made on to glass. They had not been cleaned at this point: Washing the paint from the screen:

I loved all the designs, but particularly like the skulls (below) and made this one in to a coaster:

Thank you to Rachel for being a perfect host and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it past far too quickly. I headed back home the same day, so a flying visit. Hopefully next time I travel to Edinburgh, it will be a little longer to take in some of the sites by day.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx

Charity Auction for Japan

Mel Poxon of Kookie Designs has once again organised a charity auction, with proceeds going to Japan via Oxfam.

She has some fantastic artists' work featured in the auction, ranging from lampwork beads to Japanese textiles. I am offering the Swirly Heart Hanger (above) for auction. Here are some of my favourites and can see myself bidding on them:

Rainbow in my Heart - Joy Funnel (above) Tangled Heart - Lush Lampwork (above)

Poppy Heart - Moogin (above)

As you can see some beautiful pieces of art. Please by Kookie Designs as there are a lot more on offer.

Kathryn, Lazy Daisy Glass xx