Etsy Made Local, Sheffield - December 2016

So my January has been a little less crazy than December, which means I am working through a few things I needed to catch up on, blogging being one of them! I've been mega busy lately and feel like I've got a really good momentum going now - having a day job plus running a double-sided business (being a freelance illustrator and having an online shop) does take some getting used to, but I now feel like I get enough chill time to savour as well as working like a beaver!

Etsy Made Local in December was my first full weekend fair and I felt so privileged to be there. Not only was Sheffield Town Hall a beautiful, festive and atmospheric venue, but the people were absolutely wonderful. The Etsy Sheffield team were brilliantly organised and the city centre location meant lots of footfall, feedback and sales too - hooray!

Visit my etsy shop here to see what you missed or what I've added to my shop since.

Here are some photos of my stall and the venue...

Though I spotted lots of gorgeous things to ask Santa for, I had to be strict not to buy for myself, for all my pennies and more had gone on expenses recently. But I instantly fell in love with this little guy and HAD to call him mine!

This gorgeous little bear is made by Holly Balfour of Holly Heartfelt. Since seeing her lovely characters at Etsy Made Local, I have followed her on instagram and love seeing her adorable quirky creations, many with endearing, smiling faces like my bear! 

I was also delighted when I found a basket of felted acorns (oh, I did buy more than one thing then) - they felt so delicate and all different from each other. I love saving real acorns when I find them on a walk, but unfortunately they do perish, so Holly's felt acorns had Josephine written allover them. I decided they made fabulous earrings for my Christmas reindeer:

One of the amazing organisers of Etsy Made Local was Sophie Cooke, a milliner and owner of Imogen's Imagination. Sophie makes beautifully vintage inspired hats and accessories, I loved her headbands with big bows on and most of all, gorgeous felt berets. Her lovely website is very inspirational to look at for style ideas for yourself as well as great gifts.

I have always been a beret fan (though I haven't had one I've been attached to for a while) and I saw a particular one I fancied on the website before the christmas market. When I saw that the navy beret with navy velvet ribbon wasn't at the market, but tried lots of other lovely ones on, I casually mentioned this to Santa (my boyfriend) and what a gem, he remembered! So this is me modelling my very special christmas present...

You can visit the Sheffield Etsy sellers website to see more local artists and makers.