Gifts for Him from Dorset Team Christmas Fair Stallholders

Hi everyone,

Very excited that it is less that 2 weeks to go until the Dorset Team Christmas Fair 2016 and also just over 1 month until Christmas!

I always find my boyfriend really difficult to buy presents for. He loves films and music but if there is something he wants to listen to or watch he will normally buy it as quickly as he can when it is released. He is quite difficult to buy clothes for, doesn't like stereotypically 'man stuff' etc so aside from buying him gin or packs of socks (!!) I struggle for inspiration with products on the high street so normally try instead to get him something really different from Etsy.

I have managed to buy some really lovely and unique gifts from there including a handmade leather bag last Christmas and an architecture drawing for his birthday.

I am putting together this Gifts for Him gift guide to give inspiration for anyone else who struggles to know what to buy for the man in their life! All of the following sellers have online shops which I will link but if you are local to Dorset, you can also come along on the 3rd December to browse their stalls at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair.


1) Map print cushion

I love this map print cushion by Bahru Boutique. Perfect for those of you who have wanderlust!


2) Embroidered hoop art

A modern twist on a vintage sampler. This embroidery hoop is a great way to easily add interest to a room. Find it HERE in Studio Pickles.

3) Art Print

Limited edition Giclée print of 'The Needles', created by Maxine Walter.

4) Notebook

For notes, doodles, ideas, drawings and more...! Notepad by Gemma Bullen Designs 

5) Bike Card

For guys who love cycling...(or just cool cards!). This fixy bike card is by Dorset artist Sarah Lovell 

Thanks for reading and hope to see some of you at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair this year!

Dorset Christmas Fair - Wimborne Allendale Centre - 6th December 2014

Hello everyone!

Well Tuesday is normally my day for telling you what I am up to in my shop or what I am making but at the moment I have been busy busy busy with preparations for the Dorset Team Christmas Fair so I thought I would tell you about that instead!

The Dorset Team are a team of over 300 Etsy sellers. We come together to support one another with our online shops and have a fantastically active forum which we use to share tips, cross promote and ask and receive advice. As well as being active online both on our team forum and social media pages, we also like to put on events! We hold meet ups and organise craft and vintage fairs. We have held several fairs in Christchurch and for the first time we are holding a fair in Wimborne Minster.

The fair will be our biggest fair to date with 80 stalls all by members of the Dorset Etsy Team. It will be wonderful to get together so many members of the team selling at the same event. Lots of the sellers have very successful Etsy shops so mainly (or sometimes only) sell online so this is a fantastic opportunity to see their wares in person and also meet the seller behind the shop.

Above is a photo collage I made of some of the items made by stallholders coming to the fair. This is just a very small selection of stallholders who are coming. To just mention a few.....

*Katie Rewse who is a local designer who sells surf and skate items including prints and decorated decks and surf board fins

*Nicolette Dawn who makes amazing wire sculpture animals. You can see her ducklings on the far left second row.

*Jilly from Jilly Bird who makes retro and Scandinavian inspired home wares including mugs and prints

*Susan from Bound who makes beautiful hand bound leather books

Lots of the stallholders are offering special discounts and you of course will save on postage fees by coming to the event. I have also heard from many stallholders that they will be bringing exclusive items which have never been shown on their online shop so a really great opportunity to buy some unique Christmas gifts.

The Details:

Wimborne Allendale Centre, Wimborne Minster

Saturday 6th December - 10am - 4pm

Free Entry


We will be posting lots more information, fair updates, photographs etc on our Facebook event page as well as sneak previews and exclusive discounts so please pop over, tick that you are coming and see all what the fair has to offer by clicking HERE

We also have an eventbrite page with all the information in one place Please take a look here!

Heidi M Illustration - Dorset Christmas Fair in Wimborne, 6th December, Allendale Centre

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday to you all, did you have a good week? Over the last few weeks I have been showing you some of the stallholders who will be coming to our Dorset Team Christmas Fair. If you would like to see last week's feature please click HERE and see the wonderful work of Isobel Barber.

This week I would like to share with you Heidi's work for Heidi M Illustration. Heidi's paints with watercolours magical storybook style characters. She is inspired by Quentin Blake and Shirley Hughes, two of my favourite illustrators. I particularly like Heidi's cat lady illustrations! 


If you are reading this from Dorset please come along and meet Heidi and the other sellers at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair. It is a large event in Wimborne for Christmas shopping and celebrating the work of local artists, crafters, artisans and vintage sellers who form our Dorset Team


Date: 6th December
Where: Allendale Centre, Wimborne
Time: 10am - 4pm
Entry: FREE, children welcome

You can find more information about the fair on both our Facebook event page by clicking here and also our Event Brite page which you will be able to find here

The Dorset Team is also organising a fair on 26th October. please see the Facebook event page for details by clicking HERE. The fair will be in Christchurch