Made In The Shade Summertime Hop - Thank Yous & Retrospective

We're still recuperating after Summertime Hop here at Made In The Shade HQ. We worked our bobby socks off in the run up to the event and we put in a good 17 hour shift on the day. We need a big snooze!

Despite the footfall being lower than we anticipated, we still managed to have a fun, productive day at the Debating Chamber & Reading Room. Lots and lots of hands helped make the day a success and we gotta give due thanks. First up - thank you to the 25 vendors who set up shop with us. The stall displays looked beautiful and the variety and quality of products on offer was spectacular. We received fabulous feedback from visitors. Customers were thrilled to leave with a little piece of handmade magic or vintage treasure! Special thanks must go to this season's Made In The Shade newcomers for embracing the whole affair and to the hard core that helped with the daytime/night time changeover and continued to sell way into the night! Thank you too to those who donated fabulous gifts to Flora the Tombola! She appreciates it. This season's charity is the SSPCA. They'll be receiving a tidy little cheque from us.

Thank you to the friends and Made In The Shade volunteers who worked hard throughout the day to keep things organised: Ruth Hollywood did a sterling job meeting and greeting our visitors and Sheena May made a fantastic job of managing Nora's Bake Sale & the Craft Lucky Dip. Thanks too to Allan and Jacqueline for ferrying us around and helping out where needed! Thank you to the GU Stitch n Bitch gals for setting up their pretty crafty tea party in the Craft Lounge and thanks to Miss Moovelous for getting in the swing with the crochet craft-along!

We had some flippin' swell entertainment at The Hop! Thanks to David Duffy for squeezing in a sneaky wee acoustic set in the Craft Lounge. This hardworking chap played 3 shows in 1 day! Thanks too to our good chum Dave Arcari for taking part and giving us a sterling performance. We're grateful to Margaret, Matthew and Catriona too. They came as guests and ended up as roadies! The Tennessee Hotshots had us movin' and shakin' into the night. If you get the chance to catch these cats live, then we can't recommend 'em enough. Just swell. Thank you to Aaron & Sailor Tony of legendary killer 50s record hop All Tore Up (and chums) for keeping us entertained and on the dancefloor til we got papped out of the venue. We couldn't think of a more fitting, more fun way to end the day. We'll be donning our frocks and getting along to Blackfriars for another All Tore Up fix soon! Huge thanks go to Ken for providing us with all the technical bits we needed to put the event together and to Paul for putting the whole shebang together. He humphed, he climbed and he plugged everything in AND stayed around to make sure everything went smoothly onstage. Thanks Paul! And thanks to Ian for doing the Sailor Jerry run. That was crucial to the success of the party!

Thanks to everyone who made it along to shop handmade and join in the crafty fun. Special thanks go to our fellow Starter for 6ers for taking the time to lend their support and thanks too to our chums from NESTA and the CEO. Thanks to Josie, Lyns, Lyndsay and Jo for making not one - but TWO trips! 'Twas lovely to see you! And we must give a very special mention to The Birthday Girl who chose to spend her 10th birthday celebrations with us at The Hop! Best dancer on the floor! ;o)

We'll be posting a little photo gallery soon. Stay tuned!

Phewee Jamboree!

Whoops! There goes another Made In The Shade!

Well, we did have high hopes and we did have the jitter(bug) for about week prior, but all in all it's safe to say that the Springtime Jamboree was surely a rootin' tootin success! We received some fabulous feedback from customers on the quality and range of work exhibited by the wonderful vendors and we received some lovely comments from visitors on how fabulous the event was. Shucks!

Thank you to the designers, neo-crafters and vintage sellers who took part in the event. Y'all made such a wonderful effort and it absolutely paid off. Thank you to the 600 visitors who took the time to come see us and spend time at our event (except for the handful of clearly misplaced/lost sneaky petes who tried to get past the welcome table without paying the measly £1 entry charge/charity donation - that's just not acceptable Made In The Shade-style behaviour and we bid y'all good day!) Thank you to Jamie and all the staff at Oran Mor for being such a great support during the proceedings and for solving our early morning 'issues' with calm and poise! Thank you to the wonderful team of volunteers from Glasgow Caledonian University who showed themselves to be a great bunch of folks and possibly the most helpful bunch of guys and dolls a Made In The Shade organiser could ask for. Thank you to Mistress of Ceremonies, Ruth Hollywood (actual name, yes) for being super-efficient and keeping everyone right and everyone smiling all day long! Thank you to all the vendors, generous friends and local businesses who donated gifts to the Early Bird goody bags and to Nora the Tombola. Oh - and thank you to cousin Nora for standing in for Flora at such short notice! Thank you to Gillian for taking some fabulous snaps of the event and thank you to Garry, Suzanne and Michelle for their time spent in the kitchen whipping up sweet treats and bakery delights for the MITS Bake Sale. I think that's everybody thanked? If you've somehow accidentally been missed, accept our apologies - but rest assured that we do wholeheartedly appreciate your input into making the Made In The Shade Springtime Jamboree go off with a wiggle and walk. Many thank yous to you all.

MITS III Loves You!

My! Hasn't time flown!? The Made In The Shade team have successfully made it through an entire year's worth of events, positioning Made In The Shade as a key showcase for neo-craft, quirky design and vintage lifestyle in the UK.

Since the event launched in May we've welcomed around 9000 discerning shoppers through the Made In The Shade galleries at The Lighthouse and we've established an ever growing population of loyal fans and visitors. The feedback we have received from customers has been fabulous. Handmade lovers and vintage aficionados have truly embraced the arrival of Made In The Shade and I suspect we may even have converted some mainstream high street shoppers too as the Made In The Shade word has spread via enthusiastic chatter and press coverage! We have exciting plans for 2009 and we look forward to telling y'all about 'em soon!

For now, we'd like to thank a few folks who made our Festive Shopping Weekender such a success last weekend. 2886 visitors came to see us on Saturday and another 1896 came to see us on Sunday! Quite remarkable really! Thank you to all those customers who showed their interest and support in the event. Thank you to the 70+ exhibitors who set up shop over the two days, providing customers with a vast array of wonderful design pieces and vintage items to browse (and purchase!) and thanks to the makers who offered Christmas gifts up to our gift tree! Thank you to Hollie & Gillian and the staff at The Lighthouse. Thank you to the CEC members for taking part in the CEC showcase. Thank you to Ken, Jennifer, Dominic, Garry and Pauline. Thank you to the team at The List and the team at Selvedge. Thanks too to Maureen Ellis at the Evening Times, Jennifer at Indie Quarter and Caishnah at She's Crafty. Special thanks must go to Janis & The Parsonage for their beautiful peformance on Saturday. We have probably missed some names, but rest assured all your efforts are truly appreciated and we're thrilled to have your support.

We wish you all a fabulous Christmas and a swell New Year and we look forward to sharing our 2009 plans and events calendar with you shortly.

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Happy Christmas!

Made In The Shade II Thank Yous

My word... Two days on from our second event at The Lighthouse and the Made In The Shade team are still exhausted! Although I am most pleased to see that the darn rain has dried up (albeit temporarily) and that the blue skies are back to lift our spirits for a little while, it is taking all my might not to just curl up and slip back under my duvet!

Anyway... Firstly, we have an enormous amount of thanking to do. Many, many thanks to the 2000 handmade and vintage lovers who came to visit us at Made In The Shade despite the gale-force winds, the hail and the torrential rain! Glasgow shoppers truly are dedicated followers of fashion. Thank you so much for supporting our event and the 55 makers, designers and vintage collectors who showcased their work.

Of course, Made In The Shade would not have had such a prestigous home were it not for the fabulously talented Lynsey Smith, Manager of the Creative Entrepreneurs Club at The Lighthouse who invited us to hold the event in Gallery 5 in the first place. Lynsey has worked in tandem with the Made In The Shade organising team over the last year or so, ensuring that Made In The Shade runs smoothly and that the event continues to develop and grow. Lynsey took up the role of Mistress of Ceremonies at Made In The Shade II and my oh my, we are grateful to her for all her running around! Lynsey - you are wonderful x Thank you too, to the staff at The Lighthouse for overseeing the event and for ensuring that all Made In The Shade visitors were well looked after! Special mention must go to The Lighthouse Conference & Events team and to the lovely Gillian and her helpers. Muchos gracias!

Without the pick of wonderfully creative and talented makers, designers and vintage collectors eager to take part, Made In The Shade simply wouldn't work would it?! Why would thousands of people come to walk around an empty room? Thank you so much to all the exhibitors who went out of their way to build interesting, stunning, effective product displays and thank you to those who really embraced the theme of the day and got a little dressed up for the occasion! We appreciate your efforts and we appreciate your support and interest in Made In The Shade. May the event continue to flourish!

Thanks also to: Ken Robertson, Jennifer Nicolson, Ruth, the promo gals, Claire Sawers, Susie Cormack, Diana Kiernander, Maureen Ellis, Kirstin Innes, She's Crafty, Indie Quarter, The Skinny, Robson & Mason, the exhibitors who donated items to our goody bags, Joanne Quinn... and thank you to the exhibitors who noted the amount of work, time and energy that goes in to building a Made In The Shade event and took the time to thank the team (Carrie, Clare, Suzanne and Jo) for their efforts. Flora - thank you so, SO much for your thoughtful gift! Carrie Slug has moved in to my house and is having a lovely time. Gini, Elfie - thank you for your messages. Thank you to everyone who has gone out of their way to help us in the last few months and thank you to those who have positive, encouraging things to say! xx

You Love Made In The Shade

Dear diary...

Click here to read a little Made In The Shade retrospective by Covetables

Click here to read a little Made In The Shade retrospective by Lullabylily

Here's another little post on Made In The Shade by Lost In The Forest

Read about I Like's shopping trip at MITS II here and here

Lullabylily & Covetables - Made In The Shade II display

Flattery! We love it!

Here are a few testimonials from some of the October 25th Made In The Shaders!

"We have nothing but positive feedback about our time on Saturday, we were so impressed with the nice people spending time in the rain handing out flyers. So a huge thank you to them...Anyway just a huge thank you to everyone involved from us and hope to see you again soon"

The Dandelion Project

"I can't believe how busy it was?!?"

Pistol Whip Vintage

"Thanks to you guys for a lovely day. You did a swell job!"

Ding Dong Designs

"Thanks to everyone at Made In The Shade for all the effort they put it in. It was a great day - despite the weather!"

Kes Designs

"Thank you so much for having us at Made In The Shade! We were thrilled to be included and had a fabulous day. You all pulled off an amazing experience and I am so excited about the festive one coming up!"

Covetables

"Everyone looked fabulous and it was great to see so many people come and visit despite the bloomin' awful weather!"

Leah Halliday

"Well done girls! I can imagine how much work went into such an event!"

Anna Whyte

Got a story to share?

If you would like to share any of your MITS II stories, please drop us a line at madeintheshadepress@gmail.com. If you'd like to share any event photos, please add them to our Flickr group :o)