After breakfast.....

I Made This!

This large bowl is the last one of only five I will be making.

It is a great centrepiece and looks fabulous, but it is VERY heavy to work with.

 

Mackintosh And More Rose And Leaf Bowl

Limited Edition Bowl By Marion Brown - Mackintosh And More

When it's chilly outside...

 

You need chilli inside!

O.K. I am NOT a food blogger,

But this is my take on the Mexican classic Huevos Rancheros. I think that "Nigella" makes a version which she calls "Eggs In Purgatory". It makes a nice change from cereal or toast if you have time.

My concoction served three adults and consists of:

A four egg omelet with diced onion, chillies and peas included. A tin of lightly drained chopped tomatoes poured over then sprinkled with grated cheese and finished under the grill.
Add more chopped chillies or herbs, or both! A slice of toast and a Tequila on the side - lovely!

Only joking, I skipped the toast😉

Look at what I found on the dresser!!!

All in a (few) days work for a little old Cottage Industry like Mackintosh And More. My work is inspired by shapes and patterns taken from the Art Deco and Art Nouveau eras. With a hint of Charles Rennie Mackintosh unique style.

This dresser is now doubling as my "Image Factory", you will see it as the background in numerous pictures on this fledgling Blog. Each item needs to be individually photographed to then be loaded onto the Amazon and eBay Marketplaces.

O.K. I know that I have many challenges with my photographic efforts, and I am always trying to improve. They say image is everything and that is certainly the case with internet sales, I do my best but it's a steep learning curve.

I try to take three or four shots of a vase from different angles and rightly or wrongly I have recently included the wine bottle to give some scale. I tend to sit astride a dining chair and rest my forearms on the back to steady the yips! However sometimes I just point and hold my breath.😅

By the by, I'm not using some kind of specialist top of the range mega pixel camera, I wouldn't have a clue how to use it. My current weapon of choice is an everyday "Tablet" computer, maybe it's an unusual choice but I feel comfortable with it at the moment.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Inspired - Now Available.

Mackintosh Rose and Leaf Design

Hello Everyone,


You may remember that I have posted this design previously, it is now available to purchase.

At 30cm tall only £49.95 with FREE U.K. delivery.

Availabe from Amazon HERE
               
                  OR

Available from eBay HERE 

The World Of Gift Fairs - Selling To The Trade - Part 2.

The Trade Show must go on!

First things first, choose the size of pitch you'd like, I usually had 3m x 2m, and pay the organiser LOTS of money. Then they ask if you'd like lights - as though a dark display is an option - and they charge more money for those! Then they ask if you'd like an electricity socket, and guess what? Yep, more money. I was getting scared. This was fast becoming a massive financial investment and I had to make it work.

Alan sourced a display stand which was predominantly glass, this was to minimise shadows and make the  display light and bright. Believe it or not we built it in our dining room, it looked so huge! I spent weeks filling it with vases and moving them from one position to another, grouping colours and such, until I was happy with the result.

TOP TIP - we then took photographs of the completed display to remind us where to put everything. This is key to preserving your sanity when you have lugged all your stuff from the hire van and plonked it in front of your "space".

First Day at Trade Show in my new uniform

At last, the day before the show, we were off to Harrogate to set it all up

 

Wildflower Studio - back in the day!

With everything in position and pens, order forms and calculators to hand. The first morning of the show should have been calm, but of course I was anything but. The cost was weighing heavily on my mind and I was feeling antsy.

When the doors opened, I figured that it would be hours before we saw any potential customers, so I went for a little wander around to help calm me down and left Alan in charge.

I was happily chatting to another stallholder, when some friends from Hexham appeared. They joked that I was 'skiving' and had left Alan to do all the work. I laughed along but was puzzled until they said 'yeah, he's got quite a queue forming'.

  

Shmoozing Customers.

I literally ran back to the stand!

The weather for the duration of the show was blistering sunshine and we almost melted in that Marquee. BUT we took orders steadily for four days, it was heady stuff and we were delighted. I could not believe it!!

All I had to do then was make them...