Monday, August 9, 2010

Festival at Bagenalstown Co. Carlow

Hey All!
Had a bit of great luck! I got a call from the organisers of the Festival Weekend in Bagenalstown to invite me to their festival as a TRADER!!!!
I was so thrilled!!!!
Although it was very short notice no way was I passing up this gift.
The Festival was running from Friday to Sunday but I was only able to attend on Sunday.
I had very little made so I worked through the night on Thursday, Friday and till late on Saturday (Thank God I was on holidays from work).Even though I knew my stall would be small I was excited and nervous, this would be my very first trade stand.


Live Music which included Ray Lynham & Richie Kavanagh. A Photo exhibition with great talents and an open day in the fire station.




Bagenalstown is on the river Barrow so what could be more fun than a Rubber Duck Race on the river. It was great watching all the children waiting for the little yellow ducks, hundreds of them, to come around the bend and when they did, to hear their squeals of delight! My pictures of this didn't come out as I could not battle through all the children to get a good shot :)



But here some lovely pictures of the barge rides and other stalls at the Bagenalstown Festival.







A great big THANK YOU to the organisers from me and to the Heavens for the great weather!


The Festival is a yearly event and you should check it out next year!




























Monday, August 2, 2010

Craft Fair at Ducketts Grove Carlow

Once again it's been eons since my last confession,
But you know how it is girls on holiday from school, work, Etsy etc etc,

Anyhoo I just had to stop by and tell you all about the Fab Craft Fair I attended yesterday

I was coming home from an early morning shopping trip into Carlow Town when I spotted a sign for the Craft Fair in Ducketts Grove.

We had attended it last year and it was fab! So I rushed haome picked up my man and the girls and we headed off.

Held in the grounds of Ducketts Grove Castle a gorgeous setting.


Filled with wonderful crafts which included jewelry, pottery,wood turning & glass painting.

My favourites however were the Traditional Irish Craft demonstrations

Basket Weaving on a HUGE scale


Butter Making, Yarn Spinning
Thatching
And my girls favourite Horse Shoeing


It is wonderful to see these ancient crafts alive and thriving in the 21st century but even more so to see them first hand.

Also included were delicious hand made cheeses and Artisan meats, aswell as hand made chocolates yum!


I got talking to a lot of the crafters and spread the love of Etsy as best I could so maybe we'll get a few more Irish sellers :)













A great day was had by all and I came home full of inspiration

Happy Crafting Y'all :)
Basket Weaving by Padraig Larkin, Co.Offaly www.padraiglarkin.com
Weaving by Mary O'Rourke ,Dublin Dublin Mountain Craft Trail
Hand Thrown Pottery by Marion Graham, Baunreagh Pottery Carlow