Corris Uchaf, Wales
Posts tagged Wales
we all gathered together
Mar 31st
So, we had a group hug, one or two nibbles and shared a glass of rose sparkling wine.
Cheerio Ann, there is no doubt as to your worth to the current success of King Arthur’s Labyrinth.
You will continue as the part time book-keeper – but you have done so much more for Ian. Glad he appreciates it in the form of either a keyring or a broach (we were not too sure which it was). Anyway, hope you enjoyed the afternoon…..
All the staff of the Labyrinth (even Hugh awoke from his slumbers, so you must have been delighted as well as surprised) and the tenants of Corris Craft Centre were there to wish you well.
The new Season becons and Jackie now controls the shop, Chris Coffi the canteen and Hugh the underground men (the “moles”). Will Steve ever get any redder than tonight, will Garden Jackie ever control Mark’s urge to utter, will Ryan ever be sober, will Sammy ever grow taller than the spindliest cat, and will Hugh ever see the summer or will he sleep through it … Life is never so interesting as that experienced in rural Wales.
So, a ship you have never seen so stable, flounders on.
Us crafters, how do we think? Is this an opportunity or an irrelevance to our businesses?
Only time will tell………….
Cold and Blustery Weekend
Mar 19th
It was a cold and blustery weekend, high winds and bitter air temperatures that just went straight through you.
We could not sew in our shop with its mass of single glazed windows and lack of insulation. In fact it proved to be colder inside the shop than outside.
We put in an appearance on Saturday, but no more than that.
Time to catch up with the Commonwealth Games, and cheer on Michaela Breeze and the rest of Team Wales. Loved that cheeky grin as she nailed her record breaking snatch, and was moved to see this strong, powerful girl almost reduced to tears as our Anthem played for her. Good for you Michaela, great lifting.
We are really enjoying these games, and watching the sports that we don’t usually get to see like squash, badmintion, netball and table tennis. The swimming and cycling have been up to their usual high standard and very enjoyable, with even the Isle of Man entering into the spirit of things which is great.
What am I doing?
Mar 17th
I have been quilting for some years now, on and off, mainly whilst I was housebound as a single mum + 4 kids + elderly and increasing infirm Mother all at home. Quilting was a way doing something creative.
The kids have all flown, and Mum has passed on.
So, at the middle of last year a rare opportunity arose to sign a 3 year lease on a small craft unit at Corris Craft Centre.
A big venture, but with the promise of 80,000 visitors a year we reckoned we could make a profit if only 1/8 were actually interested in patchwork and quilting.
Hard work though. We are obliged to carry in the shop mostly what we make, and have to be open 7 days a week Apr-Oct. Very long hours/days/weeks/months.
Contractual hours in excess of the EU regulations ‘cos we can’t afford to employ anyone to help ease the pressure.
We create the designs, source the materials, sew the things we design, price and then hopefully sell ‘em.
I am the creative one and the inspiration. He indoors has only recently got to recognise what a needle and thread looks like and has no colour co-ordination at all. So its an end to end process, all Made in Wales.
There has proved to be a dearth of Welsh fabrics, so we are designing our own Welsh themed fabrics and hopefully we are going to get them printed in Wales at the Laura Ashley fabric printing factory in Newton, Powys. Finances allowing, as no grants or help is available anywhere from anyone for a small setup like ours.
But. he indoors has given me a web site (I did it!) and he created an online shop for me. So maybe there’s some (not much) hope for him.
So this is my spot to recount how things go as we approach our first creative full season as part of the Corris Crafters.
