Dorset Team Christmas Fair 2016

For those of you local to Dorset, please be sure to put Saturday 3rd December in your diary for the Dorset Team Christmas Fair!

For the third year running, the Dorset Team will be returning to the Allendale Centre in Wimborne for their annual Christmas Fair. There will be 70+ stalls and the fair will offer a fabulous selection of locally made art and craft. There will be something for everyone at the fair, from handmade clothing and accessories, to ceramics, woodwork, artwork, jewellery and homewares, all of which have been made locally. For those of you who are creative minded, many sellers will also be selling crafting supplies and DIY crafting kits, perfect if you would like to make your own Christmas gifts this year. This is also a brilliant opportunity to speak to local independent entrepreneurs in the area and perhaps get inspired to start up your own shop.

The event coincides with Small Business Saturday which is all about supporting small local businesses. You will find some really unique gifts here which you won't find on the high street.

Entry to the event is FREE 

For more information and a sneak preview of seller's items please see the Dorset Team Christmas Fair Event Page: www.facebook.com/events/866031100155674/

Special Offer - Today only!

Hello everyone,

Super excited to share with you all my special offer which will be running today only in my Etsy shop.

I have recently hit some really big milestones with my shop (1000 sales on Etsy and 1000 Instagram followers) and I really wanted to do something to say thank you :) so today only I am offering a free gift with every order over £10.

Gifts will include necklaces, keyrings, brooches, gift tags etc.

Offer ends at midnight tonight and is valid worldwide

Please find my Etsy shop by clicking here

Enjoy :)!

The Dorothy Days Xx

Dorset Team Christmas Fair - Gift Guide for creatives!

Buying for a fellow creative can be super tricky. Lots of my friends are super talented creatives and I want to buy them some unique gifts this Christmas but it can be hard to find something so this week I have put together a gift guide for gifts for artists, makers, crafters and fellow Etsy sellers.

All the sellers who are featured in this collection will be selling their wares at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair in Wimborne on the 5th December as well as having their own online Etsy shops. 

For more information about the event please see our event page Dorset Team Christmas Fair

1) Handmade Business Card Holder

William Morris once said “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”. These handmade business card holders by Sonia from Layoutlines tick both boxes!

Perfect for a friend who does lots of shows, fairs and events

Shop online at Layoutlines or visit Sonia's stall at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair

2) Bunting

Everyone loves bunting right?! I love this vintage style doily bunting by Anna from Tinker Temptress which has been made by crocheting. This would be a great gift for a creative friend who has a work room, studio or shedio!

Shop online at Tinker Temptress or at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair  

3) Fabric Basket Organisers 

Craft rooms deserve to look pretty too! These handmade fabric baskets are perfect for organising and storing craft materials, fabrics etc

Suzanne from Sunny Bunny Craft sells them in a range of different fabrics and sizes on her Etsy shop  or come and browse Suzanne's stall at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair to see her latest makes! 

4) Crafting Kit

If who your buying for crafts or makes for a living perhaps they would like to learn a new skill or craft to do for pleasure which is totally different from the craft they sell in their shop.

I particularly love this beading kit and tutorial by expert beader Lynn Davy. Not only does it have step by step instructions but there is everything you need to make one her designs.

Lynn has a beautiful online shop  and will also be showcasing some of her prize winning designs as well as kits and jewellery for sale at the Dorset Team Christmas Fair. Lynn has recently written a book on beading which will be available to preview at the Christmas Fair and available on Amazon for pre-order. This would make a fantastic accompanying gift.

Hope this has given you some gift inspiration and hope that you have enjoyed reading this blog post!

All the makers in this blog post are Etsy sellers based in Dorset and stallholders at the Etsy Made Local Christmas Fair in Wimborne on the 5th December. Please come along and say hello and meet the sellers behind the shops.

The Dorothy Days X

Flash Sale - Ends Monday

Happy Sunday everyone! Last 2 days of my flash sale and there is up to half price off in my shop.

Please head over to grab a bargain!

http://thedorothydays.etsy.com/

Style Saturday - Dusky Purple Interiors

Total Shop Review - Etsy School

Hello everyone,

Thought I would share with you all today what I have been up to in my shop. I am taking part in the Dorset Team's Etsy School Module. It is a really intensive month of live chats discussions and the Dorset Etsy Team work together to help one another improve their shops. There is a different theme each week and it covers everything from SEO to photography, it is great! I am hoping to improve my shop photography in particular and that is the topic for tonights live chat so I will be there with my notepad jotting down ideas and hopefully (watch this space!) will start making some big improvements to my shop photographs.

Hope you are all having a fantastic week so far, the sun is shining here!

The Dorothy Days Xx

Happy 2015 from The Dorothy Days

Hello everyone!

Happy New Year to you all. I can't believe that it is now 2015. 2014 seems to have flown by so quickly and so much is different now than it was a year ago, feels so strange thinking back.

Just wanted to wish you all a wonderful new year. I hope that 2015 is a good year for you all and a time to make a fresh start if 2014 was a difficult year. Thank you to all of you who have supported The Dorothy Days in 2014. You have all been amazing and it has been wonderful to see support not only from those in the U.K (particularly local support) but also those across the other side of the globe. I can't even begin to tell you how exciting getting feedback from a customer is about their purchase or someone messaging me to say they enjoyed reading my blog or my tweets. Excited about what is in store for my shop in 2015 and also for the Dorset Etsy Team.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Quote of the week - Week 10 - C.S Lewis

Etsy Captain's Summit - Berlin 2014

Hello everyone,

I have arrived safely in Berlin for the Etsy Captain's summit.  The flight was okay...did get stuck a few seats in front of a large stag party which wasn't the best but was so tired (a combination of late night packing and an early start) that I slept most of the flight. Managed to navigate across Berlin and didn't get lost...hooray! Checked into the hotel, the rooms are really nice and I have a great view out onto the street below. The hotel has fun little quirky features like a TV that plays a clip of a fire burning everytime you come in! Rather relaxing to look at! The weather looks like it is going to be nice, fingers crossed and Etsy have just posted a little teaser of the conference tomorrow, looks so amazing!

Anyway, as promised here are some photos from my trip so far...

Up bright and early at Gatwick airport but apparently chips at 9am is not a normal thing! Did some tweeting while watching the world go by until McDonalds served chips at 10.30am! 

New notepad for the trip and here are my new business cards that I designed myself, what do you think?

Hello Berlin!! The view from my window 

and the other way...!

The rather weird but wonderful fireplace TV! It crackles and flickers like a real fire.

Super hungry so managed to find a supermarket to get a few snacks....even managed to find some wasabi peas! YUM

Off out to supper tonight to a local resturant to meet everyone, very exciting!

The Dorothy Days Xx

Christmas preparations!

Hey everyone,

How are you all? thank you to everyone who has been commenting on my blog, really nice to read your replies. Can't believe that it is November, Christmas is going to be here in a flash! I have done two Christmas craft fairs and now will be focusing on getting my shop prepared for the holiday season. So much to do and to make but trying to get as many things made and listed before Christmas is here. 

This week I have been making lots of hair grips for my shop as I thought these would make lovely stocking fillers or as a secret santa gift. 

I have made them in all different designs.....some wooden ones, some button ones, some fabric ones. Here are a few of the designs I have listed so far.....

My wooden heart hair clips, how cute are these?! Click here to view

 Set of two vintage style floral fabric hair grips/ bobby pins by The Dorothy Days Click here to take a look

These fab retro style hair clips are some of my favourite Click here to view

I have updated my shop with the last shipping dates for Christmas.....

Wednesday 4 December Asia, Far East (including Japan), New Zealand
Thursday 5 December Australia
Friday 6 December Africa, Caribbean, Central & South America, Middle East
Monday 9 December Cyprus, Eastern Europe
Tuesday 10 December Canada, France, Greece, Poland
Friday 13 December USA
Saturday 14 December Western Europe (excluding France, Greece, Poland)

and I am also taking custom order requests and gift requests too :)

All set for taking Christmas orders and hopefully will get even more Christmas gifts up soon. Watch this space!!! 

The Dorothy Days 

Please click here if you would like to see what else my shop has to offer