Leicester Vegan Fair 2015 is coming soon!

Posted: October 25, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

And it looks like it’s going to be amazing!

I really enjoyed the fair in 2013, which I wrote about here and this year it’s moved to a bigger venue at De Montfort University’s Queens Building, where the fair will run from 10am-4pm on 21st November, followed by an after-party at a nearby pub.

Here’s the poster:

lvf15-final

There’s a good-looking mix of local and larger businesses, organisations and charities (and the charities usually have fancy calendars and chocolates and that kind of thing, which I like), a tempting array of purveyors of delicious things to shove in my gob (I cannot wait to see what Gelato Village bring to this fair!) and enough businesses who I’ve not encountered before for me to be intrigued.

I gather there’s going to be a family room which I heard and thought “sounds like it will be noisy and full of prams, I’ll stay away” but then I heard the person organising the room is planning all sorts of fun things, so I’ll probably have a good nosy around that as well.

I’m really starting to get excited about this event and it’s still over three weeks away! I hope there are a lot of visitors from Leicester and further afield because I really do think this city has a lot to offer vegans and those interested in eating more plant-based foods, and it gladdens my heart to see that we’re in the list of towns and cities putting on a fair this year.

There’s an events page on Facebook if you want to be reminded or there’s a community page where I think stall information is going to be added. Oh, and it’s on Meet-up under Leicester Vegans too, if you like to meet new people in a formal kind of way.

Hope to see you there! 🙂

More beady stuff (picture heavy, variable quality!)

Posted: October 1, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | 1 Comment

bead-set-pt-small bracelets-close1-small 3x earrings-small green ring-small lavender-ring1-small (2) necklace flower-necklace

A departure from food: beading bonanza!

Posted: October 1, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments

My cousin got me some wire, combination pliers and some seed beads as a Christmas present when I was 12 years old, and I’ve been a beader ever since. My first job out of school was as a jeweller, during which time I got a qualification in design and manufacture of fine jewellery, but I’ve always preferred cheap and cheerful, there’s so much more scope for grand sparkle and it’s so much less catastrophic if anything goes wrong!

Like many of my hobbies, it waxes and wanes. A few years ago I started teaching some simple projects as Adult Learners’ Week courses. I picked a design, broke it down into stages, purchased a lot of wire and beads in bulk (so much cheaper, as always!) and most of the people who came to my classes left with something wearable, which was quite pleasing when a lot had arrived proclaiming their supposed lack of skill.

This year I was recovering from surgery during the Adult Learners’ week and unable to deliver any classes, however I still have many kilos of beads left from previous years. I decided to make some quick bits and pieces to get my hand back in (I’m always meaning to make decorations for winter fairs, and then never quite getting round to it) so I made some earrings, some rings, a couple of necklaces. Then I started making some simple friendship-type bracelets and once started I kept thinking of different colour combinations I wanted to try. These are just one series (in my favourite colours) and I’ve made a couple more since I took this picture yesterday!

forearm almost covered with a series of bead bracelets in purple, turquoise and silver colours

I’m thinking about organising a craft swap, so I’ll probably put up a couple more posts with some other bits I’ve made in a little while…