Deborah Panesar 8/1/19 Deborah Panesar 8/1/19

House of Illustration Summer Fair Round Up

What an honour it was to have been invited back again to the House of Illustration summer fair the other week!

I’ve been a bit behind in getting this post written up due to some lovely client work I’ve been beavering away on, but still wanted to share some of my favourite illustrators from the fair who I had the pleasure of meeting.

What an honour it was to have been invited back again to the House of Illustration summer fair the other week!

Miss Ella’s beautiful illustrated laser cut jewellery

Miss Ella Illustrator

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Ella from when I studied at Norwich University of the Arts back in 2007-2010, and since graduating I’ve been seeing her beautiful work at various events across London. Her jewellery is just so imaginative and whimsical, and I am totally in love with those pink moon earrings.

Aleesha Nandhra

It was so lovely to meet Aleesha at the last House of Illustration fair back in December - especially when we realised that she was a distant relative of my husbands! Needless to say it was great to meet back up again (along with her amazing mum) to see the beautiful new work she’s been creating. She’s been travelling around the world (check out her visit to Nepal) and you see how these beautiful experiences have influenced her work.

Aurore Swithenbank

Plants? Check. Black on natural card? Check. Insects? Check check! All the things I love and more. It wasn’t just her gorgeous artwork that I was head over heels for, but her display stole my heart (LOVED that she brought along her linocuts) as did her gorgeous hand typed business cards. It just shows that it’s the little things that really make a difference.

House of Illustration Summer Fair held at The Crossing in Granary Square

There were so many more illustrators I wanted to shout about but I’m pretty sure you don’t have all day to scroll through it all. So here were some of my extra favourites:

I absolutely love coming to this fair as I always come away so inspired by the talent there. It’s so easy to remain in your little creative echo chamber but stepping out of this comfort zone always gives me the fire to try and do something new or pursue one of my illustration project dreams (and that list is long).

Fingers crossed I can make it to the Christmas event, and perhaps see you there!

Deborah Panesar 12/6/16 Deborah Panesar 12/6/16

Nottingham Etsy Made Local

Another year, another successful Etsy Made Local from the Nottingham Etsy Team!

The girls, yet again, put on amazing event, showcasing not only over 40 stalls of local and handmade talent but a whole host of extra features such as a VIP early access event, candy floss machine, free craft workshops and plenty of festive sparkle.

Another year, another successful Etsy Made Local from the Nottingham Etsy Team!

Amy from Super+Super hosting the free drop in craft workshops to make Christmas decorations.

This was my only fair of the year after spending the past 12 months focussing more on my freelance career and client based projects than on the handmade wares side.

It was so lovely to meet my wonderful customers face to face! I forgot how much I missed doing fairs and markets after spending a year just working from home. I definitely missed the interaction and the chance to be out in the world making lovely human connections that markets bring with them.

A good sign of a super busy event is when you don't find enough time to take the photos you want! I really wanted to share with you some snaps from the event of some of my personal favourite items (which, believe me, is hard to do when every single one of the 40 stalls were amazing!) but since I didn't manage to, here are 5 of the 40 stalls that I'm seriously swooning over:

Delphine and Max

I was opposite Delphine and Max at the fair and loved not only their stall set up but all of their beautiful porcelain items! These porcelain and gold earrings in particular stole my heart.

Modflowers

Expert crafter, seamstress and blogger Modflowers' adorable dolls and fairies were a beautifully whimsical and vintage touch to the market. I know these beautiful handmade dolls would look so lovely in our little girls room!

Cocoa Tabby

As well as having a mouthwatering Etsy shop, Cocoa Tabby also has a bricks and mortar shop in Derby that you can go and visit if you have the restraint to wait and buy her chocolate in person! These Christmas tree chocolate slabs are getting added to my Santa wish list.

Petrichoralia

I have a jewellery obsession, especially when it's been made with unusual materials! Petrichoralia's jewellery is made from concrete, and finished with gold and silver for a wonderful mix of industrial and elegance. These concrete and gold earrings are just too beautiful not to share.

Fabritzia Design

I've been coveting Fabritzia Design's work for a long time, but trust me when I say it's even more beautiful in real life! Her prints and cards feel almost too good to give away as gifts, I just want to frame them all, especially this pigeon woodcut.

The end of the fair was also a bit of a calling card for some of the team leaders, including myself! Captain extraordinaire Becky [Becky, Queen of Frocks] has now officially stepped down in order to continue with her studies and work, as well as get married in the next few weeks! One of our social media team leaders, Katherine [Dendiko], will also be leaving the team as she embarks on a teaching career in Egypt. I have also stepped down as leader whilst I prepare for our little girl to be born in March, something I didn't appreciate would consume so much of my time!

The Nottingham Etsy team is now in the good hands of Rachel [REW homeware], who will be taking the helm alongside our remaining leaders Michaela [Blue Stiggy] and Amy [Super + Super] until new leaders have been recruited. I'm still excited to take part within our growing and ever evolving Nottingham Etsy community, and can't wait to see what the girls bring in 2017!

Did you manage to make it to our Etsy Made Local event? If so share your photos on Twitter or Instagram by tagging myself @deborahpanesar or @NottinghamEtsyTeam - we would love to see!