Craft Fair Liner Hotel Liverpool, 7th August.

What a lovely day Sunday was, my 2nd craft fair was a great success! At the Liner Hotel, Liverpool it was run alongside the Psychic Fair so it had a very spiritual feel to it. There were talks on regression, aura readings, tarot readings, palm readings, massages it had tons going on. A free flowing group of customers throughout the day and lots of interseting scents and sounds filled the room.

I met some fab people as always and though I spoke to tons of people I didn't get half the cards I should have as usual.

The stalls were a mix of spiritual, selling angels, readings, incense, candles, and other objects of spiritual wonder and fashion and craft. Handcrafted cards, jewellery, adorned sunglasses, vintage wardrobe finds, soaps.

Below are 2 of the brand new designers I scouted from the many stall holders showcasing their work.

Styleeyzed - http://www.facebook.com/lian.styleeyezed
This is the place to get custom adorned sunglasses to match your bikini for your hols. Check out the styles on the facebook page and these come with free P&P within the UK.

Masquerade Jewels - http://www.facebook.com/masqueradejewels
A fabulous new designer made her debut sharing with us some unique jewellery with a peacock theme, tassels and great coloured stones. Her unique style is definately worth a check of her facebook page.

So my stall pictures are below - I changed the layout halfway through the day when I had a spare few minutes which lead to renewed interest in the product so well worth the effort - no pictures of the later display though so will have to try to remember for next time.

The event was organised by Memory Land Fairs and the link to their site is below so you can check out the next dates if you are interested in selling or shopping!

http://www.memorylanefairs.com/

And don't forget to click into my facebook page and like me so you can have regular updates about new product lines and where I will be appearing next.

http://www.facebook.com/Olganna

Rustic Holidaying in Nottinghamshire!

So, happy holidays been had by all in Robin Hood's old haunt of Nottinghamshire. Hired a lovely log cabin in a deep dark forest with a spa bath and 4 poster bed. Had to choose the central heating option due to the toddler, so no log fires for us but it was lovely, spotlessly clean and just perfect.

Despite the immaculate condition of the cabin, my dad had got me so worried about the hygene of the spa bath and gave me specific instructions on how to clean it, that I packed my soda crystals, and the very first thing I did when I walked in was clean the bath - just to be on the safe side.

I couldn't have rested til it was done!!

I paid an extra tenner for the 4 poster bed, simply as I had never slept in one before. Bargain price for the amusement it provided as my other half is 2 inches taller than the beam that runs across the top, so a frequent thud preceeded a cloud of blue air, closely followed by a muffled chuckle from myself! Occasionally he scored a double whammy thanks to a rather badly postioned shelving unit; which I managed to avoid the whole time, (a miracle as I am constantly covered in bruises from bumping into eveything else!). Cue, another little giggle!

Plenty of open spaces to walk around and we went to see the Major Oak at Sherwood forest, a 600 year old tree being propped up by scaffolding. One could not help thinking 'Let it die'. My first thought as I walked round the corner to be faced by this relic was that is seemed like an elderly, wrinkled old pensioner on life support. The branches were literally about to drop off were it not for its' crutches. It just was not natural. I suppose as its the major tourist attraction of the forest they have a vested interest to keep it hanging on. Definately worth the visit a richly informative exhibition about the legend of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. Robbing from the rich to give to the poor, my, how things have changed...

On site there was a pool as warm as a bath - really toasty and relaxing, and you cannot go to Nottinghamshire without trying archery, so we did - I have bruises! It was fun despite me being rubbish. On a drive through the city we saw some school boys practicising their archery in the playing fields - only in Nottingham??

Of course I enjoyed some creative thinking, hard not to with the absence of the internet and all the usual paraphenalia that crowd my mind daily. Took some lovely pictures and sketched my next creations for my shop for which I have made a pattern this evening. Eager to get back to it and await the return of my poorly Singer hopefully this week. Dog feeds mended and nursed back to good health.

I had to show this example of tree bark taken in Sherwood Forest, what a fabulous contrast in natures colour and quite inspiring for the designer in me!!

Big up holidays in Nottinghamshire! 



Ghost the Musical - Opera House Manchester - Review

The well known 80's screenplay Ghost, is brought bang up to date and into musical format with fantastic production and a digitally enhanced, all singing, all dancing set.

We were lucky to get seats for this as we booked late but so glad we did. It was very entertaining throughout with some laughs and some touching moments.

It seems that everything can be sung these days and with dialogue crow-barred into song this was no exception, and despite lacking memory of the film it was easy enough to follow. The lyrics at times seemed repetitive and the dancing slightly random but it did not disappoint. We even had the added effects of vertigo and near heat stroke, this was due to our elevated position coupled with unusually sunny weather for Manchester at any time of year, let alone April.
The singing was strong, Richard Fleeshman (Sam) was the winner of Celebrity Pop Idol so has proved himself already as a singer, but the most entertaining came from the con-artist/medium character Oda Mae Brown who really owned the stage. She was larger than life and added a comic element which engaged the audience and really made us love her. During her huge solo number toward the end the backdrops were fantastically arranged Vegas stylee, allowing the audience into her delight as she had finally made it.

The orchestra were flawless, to the point that until almost the end when I caught sight of them, I
forgot it actually was an orchestra playing. This also is testament to the whole production in that I could not keep my eyes off the stage. A real first for me as I have a habit of getting fidgety and losing concentration after about 20 minutes during films and theatre.

The 'ghost' elements will not disappoint as the well constructed set, illusions and direction are all well combined and rehearsed to ensure superb special effects.

The construction of the set was brilliant, lots going on, very modern and more technologically advanced than I have experienced in theatre, showstopping - literally. At one point it was obvious the props were not where they needed to be. This caused an impromptu interval while technical difficulties were remedied. A whispering audience speculated about the issues but it was soon forgotten as we went into the last act.

It is a musical, and to be honest I was not a fan of the songs or much of the dancing, but it really did not detract at all - for me - from the overall greatness of the show.

I am by no means an avid theatre goer so this review is just an amateur observation, but I went with 2 girlfriends and one of their mothers in law and all of us really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend booking to see Ghost the musical.