It's darling! Christmas Fair

And so...we are very pleased to announce that the It's darling! Christmas fair will be on 11th December at the Friend's Meeting House, York Street, Bath BA1 1NG. Please put it in your diaries now and start planning your Somerset long weekend because we are looking forward to seeing you.

It's a great venue, just down the road from the Christmas Market so happy shoppers will be able to get the best out of Bath's festive shopping. It has two rooms over two floors and so upstairs will be shopping heaven and downstairs will have more stalls and a cosy tearoom, perfect for sheltering from the cold and taking the weight off your feet - and having tea and cake at Bath's most affordable prices.

We're very excited - hope you are too - so please keep reading and watching the Facebook page for festive fun - even if it is still only Summer! And if you fancy a stall, please email us for an info pack.

Look forward to hearing from you

Becky and Cath xx

You name the day

Hello everyone, hope you are having a wonderful July, albeit a bit cloudy/rainy at times. Rebecca and I had great fun at the very first "It's darling!" and were so inspired by your support that we have decided to try and arrange a Christmas fair.

We looked into dates at the Guildhall's Bruswick Room, but the key Christmas dates (26th November and the 4th December) are already booked out. So we are thinking of running the fair either on the 20th November or the 11th December. The advantage for us on the 11th is that the Christmas Market in Bath will still be on, so there will be more people in the city with their shopping heads on. The disadvantage is that it could come at the end of a number of Christmas shopping events and people might be fed up of forking out by then.

So we thought we would ask you - stallholders and customers - and have put a little poll on the sidebar of this blog. We are also looking into potential other venues in Bath so if you have any suggestions let us know. If we do have the Guildhall we are thinking about making the fair bigger, but that will depend on interest. Anyway, it would be great if you could fill in the poll and let us know your thoughts below or email us at itsdarlingfair@gmail.com

Thank you

Becky and Cath

The very first 'It's Darling!' Fair..

Well after 4 months of hard work and planning, 17th July finally rolled around, and from 7am, the Brunswick Room at The Guildhall was a hive of activity with 21 stallholders making their space beautiful - and what a fantastic day we had!

We even had our own lion at the door, seeing in the visitors, courtesty of stallholder Nicky Snow.


What a beauty!

So with workshop space ready..


The Makery Girls at Work

Tea and Cupcakes ready..


Which one to choose?



We were ready to welcome our visitors..



And with thanks to Alice and her young man, who spent most of the day spreading the word throughout the centre of Bath, our visitors kept on arriving throughout the day..


Thank you Alice!

And our stallholders certainly didn't dissapoint, the room looked absolutely beautiful, with vintage treasures and handmade delights tempting you from every direction.


Scrapiana


Random Vintage


Kay's Eclectic Vintage


Raspberry Jewellery


Nicky Snow


Sprinkles Sparkles


Faith Barber


Rose Cottage Boxes


Plump Pudding

And that's only a taster.. we also had spinning demonstrations from Shepherd's Moon, vintage china from Mrs Stokes, beautiful candles and soap by Purple Sparkle Crafts, the most wonderful handmade millinery by Angharad Gamble, rails of fabulous vintage clothes (Bisous Vintage and Rock Follies Vintage), and more!

You can see lots more photos on our Facebook Page. Don't forget to 'like' the page and keep checking back for updates on our next fair, which we plan to be just in time for the festive season.. your Christmas can be just darling this year! We will keep you posted.

Well done to Lisa, who won the 'It's Darling!' blog giveaway which we ran at the end of June, and collected her goodies from the Purple Sparkle stall on Saturday.

And huge huge thanks to everyone who made the day possible, all of our fabulous stallholders, and of course all of our visitors - we will see you again soon!

Becky and Cath
Purple Sparkle Crafts and Mrs Stokes Vintage China

Meet the stallholders: 60 seconds with...Catherine Stokes from Mrs Stokes Vintage China

I moved to Bath last December after giving up a hectic media life and wanted to see if the dream of living a quieter life would live up to my expectations. So I decided to sell vintage china, mainly because it's so pretty - and now I am hooked. I had the idea to present them in nice giftboxes which has been a popular wedding/christmas gift and have a regular stall at Green Park Station Market in the city where I also sell handmade jewellery and other vintage bits and pieces too.

Mrs Stokes looking a bit pale - working too hard on "It's darling!" methinks

I am married to a wonderful, curly-headed fella called Jai (J for Jonathan, although don't call him that), have a wonderful mother Suzanne who is taking a stall at the fair too, lovely sister, brother-in-law, niece, stepdad, dad, little brothers and sisters...it's a big family and I love them all. I never planned to organise a vintage and handmade fair, it just kind of happened that way, when I met the very talented Rebecca Amesbury of Purple Sparkle Crafts. We were having a coffee one day when we thought "wouldn't it be good if...." So three months and not-a- lot-of-sleep later we have arranged the hall, booked the stallholders, bought the tea, washed the china and are ready to welcome whoever comes through the door!

Mrs Stokes' signature teaset-giftboxes

We really are looking forward to seeing what happens on Saturday and want to thank everyone who has supported us and the stallholders. My teaset giftboxes will be £20 rather than the usual £25 as a special offer for the fair only.

My three second wisdom is life's too short to worry (although I do all the time), my desert island survival kit is Redbush tea, my husband (he's really good at making things and would love to think of himself as a bit of a survival expert), and of course a cup and saucer (does that count as one thing?)

To find out more go to my blog, my website or come and visit me at Green Park Station in Bath on a Saturday.

Meet the stallholders: 60 seconds with.....Suzanne Lenihan aka Mrs Stokes' Mum

Suzanne Lenihan is calling her stall  "Mrs Stokes's Mother". It's true after all and she is bringing her gorgeous array of handmade cushion covers, bunting, lavender/rose bags and various other household soft furnishing items. She lives by the seaside in glorious Hayling Island in Hampshire and has been making things "since the children were small."

Suzanne in her lovely sunny garden by the sea

1. Why did you want to be part of "It's darling!" Did Mrs Stokes bribe you?

Ha, ha, no, it's because I thought it was such a good idea - aren't we all a little bored going around the same shops, selling the same things in every town we go to? There are so many talented crafts people out there but it's not always easy for them to find the right places to show their work.

2. What's your passion?

My family - my wonderful husband John, beautiful daughters Cathy and Emma, their fantastic husbands Jai and Owen and not forgetting our utterly delightful granddaughter Erin. My passion apart from my family is circle dancing ( which is not line dancing)

Suzanne made this bunting especially for "It's darling!"

3) Have you any special offers for "It's darling!"

I'm selling bags of assorted coloured beads for craft projects at 40p a bag

4) What's your three second wisdom - life or craft advice?

Love what you're doing/making, go back and fix any mistakes because even if nobody else notices it you'll always know that it's there. And stop when you get tired because that always the time that things go wrong.

Beautiful handmade cushions

5) What's your desert island surival kit?

Hand cream, BBC Radio 7 and a soft pillow.

To contact Suzanne please email her.

Meet the stallholders: 60 seconds with...Soleil from Bisous Vintage

Soleil Martin spends most of her Saturdays at Green Park Station market at the moment, helping Mrs Stokes sell her vintage china. Soleil has an eye for the beautiful and the stylish, which is why it's no surprise that she is putting her talents to good use and running her own vintage clothes and accessories stall at "It's darling!" She doesn't have a blog or a website at the moment but she says, "if the fair goes well, who knows?"

Sunny Soleil

1. Hi Soleil, what's behind the name of your stall?

"Bisous" is French for kisses. My father is French and my name means "Sun" in French.

2. How long have you been doing what you do? 

This is the first time I have held my own stall; I usually help run Mrs Stokes Vintage China stall at Green Park Station market.

3. Why did you start? 

My dream is to one day open my own shop selling vintage clothing.

4. What's your inspiration/ethos behind what you do?

I have always loved vintage clothes. I’ve always liked the idea of wearing clothes that have a story.

"Bisous" is French for kisses

7. Why did you want to be part of "It's Darling!" 

I’m very excited to be part of ‘It’s darling!’ because I think it’s about time Bath held a vintage and handmade fair.

8. What's your piece of "three second wisdom"?

"People need to be made more aware of the need to work at learning how to live, because life is so quick and sometimes it goes away too quickly" – Andy Warhol

9. What in your life would you say is "It's Darling!" and can we have a picture of that? 

I recently bought a blue polka dot 50’s style dress, I definitely think it’s darling!

Soleil thinks this gorgeous dress is darling - so do we

If you want to contact Soleil, come and find her at Mrs Stokes Vintage China on Saturdays at Green Park Station Market - or at "It's darling!"

The It's darling! guide to Bath

We know that there are many of you coming to Bath for the day on Saturday and we are really looking forward to seeing you. But we also thought you might like a bit of a potted travel guide to Bath, "It's darling!" style - where to find us, how to get there, where to have lunch. We'll be adding to it over the next couple of days, so keep checking!

Where to find us
 
The Guildhall, High Street, Bath, BA1 5AW, Tel: 01225 39 40 41
The fair opens at 9am and last admittance is 5.30pm. And it's free to get in.

Click here for a streetmap

Where to park

Cricket Pavillion Carpark - long stay

Charlotte Street Carpark - long stay

Waitrose Carpark - short stay 4 hours at a time but very near The Guildhall

Public Transport

By rail: Bath is well-served by trains. There are hourly direct trains from Southampton and Portsmouth and half-hourly trains from London, Reading, Didcot and Chippenham. You can also reach Bath from Wales via Bristol Parkway and from the North via Bristol Temple Meads. There are also local routes from Bristol, Weymouth, Westbury, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge and Frome - and probably more besides.

See http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/ for more details

By bus: There are plenty of great bus routes -check the First Group Website for comprehensive details and maps. If you are planning to travel by bus should note that the area around Bath might be busy that day because of different events in the area like an air tatoo in Fairford - so leave early or with plenty of time.

Park and Ride: Services operate every 12-15 minutes making it a great option for visitors.

Where to eat and drink 

The Garrick's Head
Gastropub near the Theatre Royal. Stylish pub, good grub (although a bit hidden by the scaffolding over the theatre at the mo).

The Riverside
Near the, ahem, the river - and The Guildhall (round the back of it). Veggie burgers, salads, pizzas. Some outside seating but it does get busy - as does everywhere at lunchtime.

Jamie's Italian in Milsom Place
Well worth the queue to get in and in a very swanky part of Bath too

The Metropolitan Cafe
Stylish vegetarian cafe above a gift shop in the centre of town

Tea Time - opposite Bath Spa station
Cute tea party vibe - sandwiches, smoothies and of course cakes (though there will be plenty of those courtesy of Country Cupcakes at the fair). The perfect place to stop on the way back to the station.

There is also a big new bar-restaurant at the back of Jolly's House of Fraser store on Milsom Place. We can't remember at all what it's called but it is huge so there will always be enough room for everyone and it looks very swanky too. 

Other things to do

Get there early and visit the Farmer's Market at Green Park Station, near the big Sainsbury's where you can park for an hour. There are artisan stalls there all day (we love them all, especially Wiltshire Tea and lovely Becky Sage the florist) but the food producers leave by lunchtime. Our favourites include: Homewood Cheeses.

Visit the "Diana's dresses" exhibition at the Fashion museum. Starts 17th July - 10 of Princess Diana's most famous dresses.

After you've done the royal dresses, check out her ex Prince Charles' Highgrove Shop on Milsom Street - his second store. It even sells Highgrove champagne don'cha know. 

Take in a bit of high culture at the Victoria Art Gallery, opposite the river behind the Guildhall.

Sit in the square near the Abbey, watch the coach parties watch the street magicians and artists and sing along with Bath's one reggae busker (yep, there's only one doing Bob Marley, so he's Bath Main Celebrity. Think he's considered "alternative")

Talking of celebrities, try and spot actor Anthony Head about town. He's been spotted in Waitrose and Starbucks recently, both of which are near the Guildhall. He's obviously "between jobs." Happens to the best of us, Ant.

Go for a walk in the Botanical Gardens in Victoria Park

Bring your cossie and spend a couple of hours in the Thermae Spa - Bath's natural spring. You've got to try the heated rooftop pool with views of the Abbey. Beautiful (but if you're on your own, give it a miss at dusk. Tends to get a bit "romantic" then).

For more ideas check the Visit Bath website - we're on there too