Featured Seller - Maxine from Simply Love Art Studio

This week our featured Dorset Team seller is Maxine from Simply Love Art Studio 


Maxine lives in Wimborne Minster with her husband (also called Max!) and their two tuxedo cats and sells unique, fun, affordable art for your home, workspace and also by commission.


Maxine says "my mantra is 'For Art as Original as You'; I want people's homes and workspaces to be an extension of their personality, one that tells their story."

Things you should know about Maxine in her own words...


1. I think in post-it notes. My studio is always covered in neon squares full of scribbles and doodles that I'm constantly moving around as ideas evolve. The great thing is that once a plan emerges I staple the post-its into my diary - cue instant 'to do' list !


2. I love gymnastics and go to an adult gym class every week. Not only is it good to get away from my desk and get active but its also a great mental workout as you push beyond your comfort zone.


3. I'm not good at sitting still, so aside from creating art I love to sew, knit and crochet. Always making, always creating =)


Would you like to be our next Dorset Team Featured Seller? Apply here: https://goo.gl/forms/TxCqP7XwbJGLet903

Applications open for our 2019 Dorset Team events

We are excited to announce that applications for our 2019 events are now OPEN.

We are looking forward to returning to the Allendale Centre in Wimborne for two events this year (a Spring Fair and a Christmas Fair) both of which were a big success last year.

For more information about the events please see our Facebook pages:

Spring Fair: https://www.facebook.com/events/2247827748830143/?active_tab=discussion
Christmas Fair: https://www.facebook.com/events/797308147271455/?active_tab=discussion

and to find more information about applying to be a stallholder and to apply please see our online application form: https://goo.gl/forms/nKJ6rWqthMo6mFr02

Dorset Team Christmas Fair - Times to Treasure

Our Dorset Team Christmas Fair is THIS WEEKEND (Saturday 1^stand Sunday 2^ndDecember) in the Allendale Centre, Wimborne. Entry to the event is free. 

Each week in the lead up to the fair we have been meeting different stallholders who will be selling at the event. 

Grainne

This week we meet Poole based jewellery maker and designer Grainne who runs her shop, Times To Treasure Uk. 

Grainne specialises in making her jewellery from silver clay but also uses sheet silver and wire and traditional silver smithing techniques.

Grainne's garden studio

She works from her beautiful garden studio in Poole and says that her "shop is constantly evolving and new items are being added all the time. Many of my creations are one of a kind design and unique."

What inspires Grainne? She says, "I take my inspiration from the beautiful Jurassic coast and the Dorset countryside and hedgerows. "

Grainne won a 'Made in Dorset' award in 2014 which she is really proud of. In 2016 she also completed her level 1&2 diploma in silver clay and teaches both classes and workshops.

Come and meet Grainne, see her beautiful handmade jewellery and meet our 60+ other stallholders at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair on both Saturday 1^stand Sunday 2^ndDecember. 

More information can be found on our Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1994393970585608/

We hope to see you there! Entry is FREE

Dorset Team Christmas Fair - Terri Peay

Not long now until the Dorset Team Christmas Fair which is taking place on Saturday 1^stand Sunday 2^ndDecember in the Allendale Centre, Wimborne. 

Each week we are going to be meeting a different stallholder who will be selling at the event. 

Terri Peay

This week we meet Terri Peay who runs her shop of the same name and sells handcrafted illustrated homewares, proudly designed and made in Dorset.

Terri is based in Weymouth in the beautiful rolling hills of Dorset.

She says "I draw inspiration from the serene landscape and its creatures. Through hand illustration, I create homewares & gifts with love, laughter and life at the heart of their design. All of my products are proudly designed, printed and crafted in the U.K and mainly feature British animals. "

Terri's products are hugely popular and have been featured in the past in both Vogue and Country Living Magazine.

Come and meet Terri and our 60+ other stallholders at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair on both Saturday 1^stand Sunday 2^ndDecember. 

More information can be found on our Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1994393970585608/

Dorset Team Christmas Fair - Charlotte Miller

The countdown is on to the Dorset Team Christmas Fair which is taking place on Saturday 1^stand Sunday 2^ndDecember in the Allendale Centre, Wimborne. 

Each week we are going to be meeting a different stallholder who will be selling at the event. 

This week we meet Charlotte of Charlotte Miller Ceramics. Charlotte is a Bournemouth based ceramicist that makes budgies and other small animals in hats and knitwear! 

Charlotte with some of her creations

Her anthropomorphic, whimsical budgie sculptures are both endearing and nostalgic, whilst her range of quirky tableware is a tribute to the eccentric and the kitsch.

As a child, Charlotte became a keen social observer, trawling around car-boot sales with her Dad collecting curios, mid-century kitsch and seaside postcards. Amused by seeing the closeness of people and their pets, she alighted on the idea of melding the two.  Thus, Brian the budgie was born out of the chance meeting of an Elvis lover and his budgerigar.

Before establishing her own pottery studio, Charlotte taught for many years as ceramics tutor on youth, community and degree courses. Through engaging with a wide demographic of students from children to the elderly, her empathy and fondness for people began to feed into her work.

Charlotte in her studio 

Charlotte has a broad technical language in ceramics, allowing her to accurately satirise traditional homely and domestic clay idioms. This results in the fresh and witty social commentary of her aesthetically resolved art works.

Charlotte’s love of print making and sculpture has led her to develop a range of work that concentrates on form as well as illustrative and textured surfaces. Both are influenced by her degree in Contemporary Crafts, where she studied both textiles and ceramics. Charlotte also has a PGCE and teaches ceramics classes from her studio in Bournemouth.

The budgies and other creatures are created by using a combination of press molding and hand sculpting techniques. She uses a stoneware body with underglaze, engobe, earthenware glaze, decal and lustre decoration. All these are made from her Bournemouth studio.

Come and meet Charlotte and our 60+ other stallholders at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair on both Saturday 1^stand Sunday 2^ndDecember. 

More information can be found on our Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1994393970585608/

Dorset Team Christmas Fair - Bark and Banter

The countdown is on to the Dorset Team Christmas Fair which is taking place on Saturday 1^stand Sunday 2^ndDecember in the Allendale Centre, Wimborne. 

Each week we are going to be meeting a different stallholder who will be selling at the event. 

This week we meet Caz Brown of Bark and Banter who sells leather handbags, accessories and dog collars. 

Caz has been a creator all of her life. She spent her early days with her grandmother, who was a gown maker, in her workroom making small bags out of scraps of fabric. Later she moved into jewellery design and learnt how to silversmith and make her own glass beads. 

Caz says her business and use of leather “started because I couldn't find a suitably grand collar for my Great Dane Ruby.” So she enrolled on a weekend course for traditional hand sewing leather skills and became hooked. 

“The smell, the feel, the look of leather, along with its tactile nature is something I have grown to love. It continues to move and change over time with age, and use only enhances its beauty. 

Over the last three years the yearn to make bags returned, and I started to design and create my own range of bags that are just that little bit different. I was always taught as a child that "beauty comes form within" and with that in mind my bags are lined with beautiful fabrics and vintage prints ( some preserved from my grandmothers era!) and my aim is that they are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside. “

Come and meet Caz and our 60+ other stallholders at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair on both Saturday 1^stand Sunday 2^ndDecember. 

More information can be found on our Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1994393970585608/

1 month to go until the Etsy Made Local: Dorset Team Christmas Fair 2018! - Wimborne

Our Etsy Made Local: Dorset Team Christmas Fair is now just 1 month away!

It is going to be a brilliant weekend with over 60 stallholder each day at the fair selling a range of handmade, vintage and craft supply products.

After the success last year of a two day event, this year we are returning for the entire weekend and will be across two rooms in the Allendale Centre, Wimborne.

Here is a sneak preview of some of the products which will be heading to the Christmas Fair 

Dorset Team Christmas Fair 2018 - SAS Creative

Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd of December will be our Dorset Team Christmas Fair. It is going to be a wonderful weekend with stalls from local makers, designers, vintage sellers and craft suppliers. 

The fair is taking place at the Allendale Centre in Wimborne and entry is FREE

Each week we are meeting different stall holders who will be at the fair and this week our featured stallholder is Samantha from SAS Creative who sells original papercut and paper cutting templates for those who want to give it a go! 

Samantha was born in Dorset and originally from Wimborne. She studied at the AUB and has over 14 years studio experience. She says " I found my love of paper cutting back in 2012. After the birth of our daughter I wanted to pursue my passion which enabled me to work for myself. I love designing new paper cuts and selling my products"

3 things about Samantha....!

1) She is inspired by the New Forest 

2) She is a heavy tea drinker 

and 3) she has a passion for colour 

Come and meet Samantha and see her beautiful work at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair which is taking place on 1st and 2nd December at the Allendale Centre, Wimborne. Entry is FREE and there will be two rooms full of local makers and sellers. 

Please find more information about the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1994393970585608/