Yesterday saw us launch our 2013 Calendar of Shows at the Hatton Park Handmade and Vintage Fair, hosted by Blighty Boutique.

We had a fantastic day and met some wonderful people, and were delighted to see some familiar friendly faces.

The fair was a huge success and Amy Young and her team from Blighty Boutique had done a grand job promoting the event, drawing in the crowds with the promise of finding homemade or vintage treasures, and the lure of tea and cakes in their team room.

Our Wild Bird Feeders were very popular and we are working on making another varied selection to take to the next show and to make available on line for those that prefer to shop on line.

If you want to come along and see us then through out the summer you will be able to find us at the following events:

• Saturday 1st June – The Kenilworth Show http://www.kenilworthshow.co.uk/

• Saturday 29th June – The County Show, Isle of Wight http://www.riwas.org.uk/

• Sunday 14th July – Ashby Show (Booking TBC) http://ashbyshow.com/

• Saturday 27th July – Leicestershire County Livestock Show http://www.las-show.co.uk/

• Saturday 7th September – Moreton in Marsh Show (Booking TBC) http://www.moretonshow.co.uk/news.php

We will be adding further dates through the summer and into Autumn and will be looking for Winter events too.  As soon as we have more dates or confirmed bookings, we will provide updates through this page, Twitter and Facebook.

Hopefully, we will meet some of you over the course of the next few shows.  If you do manage to come along then look out for the Austerity Glamour sign and you’ll find us!

Last summer, we received one of our most exciting orders to date: a Wedding Picnic Hamper. 

The parents of the Bride wanted a Harlequin Picnic Hamper to present to the Bride and Groom on the evening of their wedding.  We were given free range with the look and feel of the hamper and the only instruction we were given was the deadline: Easter 2013.

We started work immediately and chose the perfect hamper from our collection,  a square wicker hamper that we had rescued from the south coast earlier in the year. 

Once we had the size in mind, we set about finding the perfect fine bone china.  We selected some beautiful pieces from our Vintage collection and then started our search to find other stunning complimentary pieces.  We searched high and low for pink, gold and flowers……

By  Christmas, we had selected all of the china and started work on transforming the hamper itself.  Boards were cut to the same size as the lid and sides.  These were then padded and covered in fabric, and with weddings in mind, what better than white silk.

Once the boards were covered, they were fitted with new leather strapping and brass fasteners and then carefully hand sewn into place.

It was time for the finishing touches: napkins were starched and tied in cream ribbon with decorative charms, whilst the embroidered table-cloth was pressed and wrapped around a new flask.  After the silver was polished, we were ready to put everything in place.

 The hamper was wrapped in a large white bow and we were lucky enough to deliver the hamper to the wedding and see it presented to the Bride & Groom (who looked very happy and make a wonderful couple.)

We are currently working on more picnic hampers and have just completed another which is now on sale in our Etsy shop.  There are others in the works too, one called Pinky and the other, Ritzy. 

Watch this space for sneak previews!

After meeting some of the staff at Wright Hassall at the Kenilworth Show, we were invited to their offices to take part in the Macmillan coffee morning on 28^th September at the Wright Hassall offices at Leamington Spa.

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Staff and clients were invited to the event, which saw coffee being provided by Starbucks and cakes and pastries by local artisan baker, Meg Rivers.

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There were coffee mornings being held all across the world, but this coffee morning had a twist…. The Wright Hassall team had organised a Macmillan Market, where local traders set up a mini market on Wright Hassall premises so that people could browse a range of stalls before or after having coffee and cake. The Macmillan Market was a great success and there were a variety of goods on sale, including jewellery, home wares, and greeting cards.

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Personally, we were thrilled to be involved, as Macmillan is a cause close to our hearts and something we were keen to support. To help the event, we donated a bone china tea set to be raffled and were pleased to see it gather a high level of interest and raise £118 on the day. The lucky winner was Mitra Mann and we hope that she is pleased with her prize and gets lots of use out of it.

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We also donated 20% of our sales to the cause. When this donation is added to the funds raised from the raffle, the other stall holder contributions and the sales of coffee and cake, the current fundraising total from the morning is £600.42. This is a great achievement and something that we feel privileged to have contributed to.

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We would like to thank the Wright Hassall team for inviting us and allowing us to take part in their fantastic event.

This summer, the main objective for us was to attend a variety of public events so that we could show case our items, spread the Austerity Glamour name and meet potential customers and fellow traders.  We chose to do this with our attendance at county and agricultural shows, peppered with a selection of craft fayres and local events.  During the Spring, we researched and booked our stands and after filling the calendar with events, we began to concentrate on the products we wanted to unveil, and how we wanted to present them.

After our trial of Wild Bird Feeders in early spring, we knew that they generate a lot of interest, so identified a suitable collection of china tea cups and saucers to make into the feeders.  Intended for the garden, we wanted to display the Wild Bird Feeders as gigantic flower arrangements.  We filled two galvanised florist buckets emblazoned with the Austerity Glamour logo, and the effect was stunning.  Instantly, we knew they would make the perfect entrance to the stall.

We had selected a variety of other products we wanted to take to the shows: picnic blankets, cake stands and picnic hampers with settings for two, four and six.  With the stock finalised, we focused on creating an effective display and eye-catching sign-age.  After numerous weekends of sawing, sanding, drilling, waxing and painting, we were finally ready for our first show.

Our first show was the Kenilworth Show at the start of the Jubilee Weekend.  Rain and a 5.30 am alarm started the day, and as Dawn began to break over Warwickshire, we arrived at the show ground.   After setting up the stall, the customers started to arrive and the sales began.  As predicted, the Wild Bird Feeders were most popular and just after lunch time, we were nearly sold out.  Cake stands were also popular and a commission for a bespoke Harlequin Hamper was made.

We met some fantastic people: customers, organisers and fellow traders.  We also saw a tremendous spike in visits to our Website and our Etsy store when some of our products are sold.  For us, it was an excellent beginning to the summer and a positive start to our summer trading.  Since that first show, we have been to the Isle of Wight County Show, numerous craft fayres in nearby villages and the Fillongley Agricutlural Show.  We ended the Summer with a show in the grounds of St Johns House in Warwick.

During the summer we have adapted our stall.  We have seen gazeebo’s come and go, and introduced a gramophone to create atmosphere and attract customer.  At the Fillongley Agricultural Show we were presented with a Silver award for our trade stand, which is one of our personal highlights from the summer.

We have had many other highlights over the summer, but the biggest one is definitely the wonderful people that we have met.  From the W.I. to the staff at Wright Hassal, we have remained in contact with people and been fortunate enough to be invited to trade at future events.

During the last part of 2012 we will be trading at a few selected events that we have been invited to.  On Friday 28th September, we will be at the Wright Hassal offices in Leamington Spa, taking part in Macmillan Cancer Support – Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning where we will be one of the traders at their Macmillan Market.  We have donated a beautiful china tea set, which will be raffled to raise funds for this worthy cause.  For more information about the Wright Hassal event,  please see the attached link: http://www.wrighthassall.co.uk/resources/coffee_morning_2012.aspx

Throughout the summer, we have been thinking about Christmas too, and in early December, we will be trading at the Bilton Grange Christmas Fayre.  Our Wild Bird Feeders, Hampers and Tea Sets will be available, and a variety of our truffle tiers, which are perfect for displaying the Mince Pies and make the perfect affordable Christmas gift.  If you are also starting to plan for the festive period and thinking about Christmas Gifts, then come along and say Hello (and pick up a unique Christmas gift.)  If location won’t allow for this, then don’t forget that some of our products can be found on Etsy.

As we look back on our Summer of Shows, we would like to say thank you to all of the customers that attended and visited our stall.  We hope that you are enjoying your Austerity Glamour products and we look forward to meeting you again at future shows.

We have some of our stock for sale on Etsy and have had lots of interest, even a shipping query from Canada.  The feedback so far hasd been very encouraging and we are working on getting some more variery on there.  At the moment it is a tie between cake stands and bird feeders for which is the most popular!

We are going to have a trade stand at the upcoming Kenilworth Show (2nd June) and are in the middle of building a display stand and selecting which pieces to take along.  We are working on some fantastic picnic hampers and hope to showcase a good selection at the show.  We have just lined one in pink silk and will be adding leather strapping at the weekend.

Our business cards are on order and following positive feedback from the pictures on the website, we have been encouraged to use the X ray cup stack picture on them.  Let us know what you think!