Guest Blog by Victor Cracknell our Local Woodturner

Here is one more Blog from another great crafter selling through The Wishing Tree. Written in his own words, Victor is a very tallented Woodturner from Norwich, and we are proud to have his work on sale both in the shop and online.

My name is Victor Cracknell, and I have been working with wood all my working life of 49 years as a carpenter and joiner and as a wood machinist, taking up woodturning about 4 or 5 years ago.
2 years ago, several of us woodturners got together and formed Norwich Woodturners, of which I am Chairman, and we have around about 60 members all very interested in wood and what they can make from it.
I like turning native timbers, mainly Yew, Laburnam and sycamore, making apples, pears, mice and other small pieces to sell through The Wishing Tree.
Some of the other small things are pendant necklaces, which are turned off centre in a variety of specially selected woods, looking for unusual grain patterns and colours which will look good on a pendant. Also bracelets in Yew, Maple, Pear, Lacewood and rings, all of which are on the shelf and online in The Wishing Tree.
I also like segment turning, which is where you glue lots of pieces of wood together to make different patterns, and then turn an object, like the segmented apples and pears on the website.
One of the pieces I made has a story behind it, The Love Goblet, and it begins with a young man who is courting a young woman and he goes off into the forest to find a piece of wood to make the goblet. If he is really keen on the young woman he will take time to select a really good piece of wood that will not split and will last as he hopes his love will. If he does not think it will last he will just pick up a piece that will last for a short while. He then takes it back to his workshop and makes the love goblet, to include 3 captive rings on the stem, one for the engagement ring one for the wedding ring and one for eternity. When finished he gives it to his young woman, and if it stays all in one piece and doesn't split so will his love, but if it splits or the rings break so will his love.
So if any of you guys want an unusual way of showing your love for your partner, lover or Wife, there are 2 such pieces available from The Wishing Tree.

Victor is able to do commission pieces too, so contact me through the shop or the website to arrange this.
All victors work can be viewed online in the Handmade Local Craft section of our website.

I hope you enjoyed reading Victor's Blog and clicking the links to view his amazing work

Olivia
01508 536008
The Wishing Tree

Guest Blog by Kate Fisher local Potter

New Guest Blog from our Most Recently Aquired Local Crafter

Kate Fisher came to see me with her Exquisite pots and I had to have them in the shop, below Kate tells us a little bit about how her inspirations lead her to her works of art. You can buy Kates Pots in The Wishing Tree or In our Online Store.


Hello all.

As I am a new crafts person to The Wishing Tree, I thought I’d introduce myself to you all, so you know a bit about the my background and my ceramics, one of the many great things about buying locally made work.

I’ve always had a huge interest in nature, and crafts, and although for most of my childhood I made a lot from textiles, clay seemed to be the closest to a natural source as I could get. I, like many children, used to love playing in the mud, I think being a potter is a natural progression from this.

Like I said above I was always into textiles and I almost went to do a degree in fashion at Salisbury university. Luckily I chose to go to Lowestoft college to stay closer to home and did a BA (Hons) degree in design crafts. In this we got to have a go at everything, woodwork, metal work, textiles and ceramics. I was still adamant I was going to be a textile designer of some sort, until the throwing workshops. At those, taught by Stephen Baker, I found my love for the potters wheel! I went on to specialise in ceramics and carried on developing my work to how you see it today.

I use several different clays, but my favourite to use at the moment is white stoneware. I like the surface texture it has once thrown because, as it says in the name, it looks like stone. I always prefer a semi matt to a full matt glaze as I enjoy form more than surface design and I feel shiny glazes can sometimes distort the shape when you look at them.

Landscapes are where I get my initial ideas and I then allow the shapes and textures to develop naturally from this. I enjoy going out and taking my own pictures, at this point in time coastal landscapes are influencing me a lot. They’re so beautiful and can look so very different from one day to the next! As we all know, rough stormy seas look fierce and frightening where as a calm sunny day at the sea side is warm and inviting.

At the moment I’m interested in creating all sorts of things, for example; domestic ware- mugs, plates, bowls, cooking equipment; decorative items- oil burners, tea light holders, vases; and sculptural forms. I make items and sell them in beautiful shops, such as The Wishing Tree, and I also do commission work to design things for individuals as they request.

I’m currently renting a lovely little studio space in Pulham market with my friend Danielle Wade, who is the name behind Polly’s prints. It’s situated in The Gables Yard, opposite the green, and we’re lucky enough to share a courtyard with four other local crafts people.

So now you know a little bit more about myself and my work, why not take a trip to The Wishing Tree and take a look at what local crafts people are up to these days.

Guest Blog By The Perfect Little Purse Company

Hi, I am Joy Peters, the crafter behind The Perfect Little Purse Company.

I have always loved to craft in so many ways ever since I was a child. I grew up with an expert sewer for a mother and it seems to have rubbed off and now it is my most favourite thing. I have been making bags/purses for about 3 years now and started selling on the internet and now, to my delight, in `The Wishing Tree’
What first made me want to start making handbags?
I had a dream about loads of different handbags. All of them black but every single design possible and I just thought I should be making bags! It sounds so cheesy but it really is true. I set about finding out how they were actually constructed and the first ones were quite ambitious beaded frame purses. These are tricky and quite time consuming. After that I found many more techniques and have got to the point now where most of my designs are my own. I do buy the odd must have pattern if I am allowed to sell the finished product. From time to time I make other things such as Christmas stockings and other decorations at seasonal times. Currently I am making little knitted animals (see blog for details). I do like to vary my work to keep me sharp. Who knows, maybe some knitted bags may roll out next. Watch this space.
What is your design process?
I am often asked how I go about designing a bag. Usually, it all starts with the fabric. I will see some I ‘have to have” and then set about finding a co-ordinate for the lining. This normally leads to several more. Once it all arrives I will decide which fabrics lend themselves to which designs I do. Sometimes they lead to new ones. Sometimes I design around new handles. Its mostly all about the fabric. My not so secret obsession.

The interesting stuff is that which I make to order. I really enjoy the custom work. Folk come to me with their own ideas and themes that I may not have ever thought of. Transforming someone else’s ideas is exciting as you never know where it will take you. Lots of my past works can be seen on my flickr page at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/perfectlittlepurseco/sets/72157606847784417/
and may give you some inspiration for your next new bag. All can be arranged through The Wishing Tree or e-mail me direct.
I also write a blog from time to time and this can be found at http://perfectlittlepurses.blogspot.com/.

Unique Handmade Bags at
www.perfectlittlepurses.etsy.com

Green is the New Black

Reading my E-Mails this morning……

I came across this article about Ethical Clothing, as well as making interesting reading it is very appropriate as The Wishing Tree has now brought in a range of affordable and Ethical Summer Fashion. We stocked some cotton clothing last summer and the response was very good, so now that the Sun is shining again I decided to bring it back.

All the stock is cotton, Ethically sourced from Thailand, by a friend of mine. The range includes, Tops, T-shirts, beautiful floaty Dresses, Skirts in a range of styles and Trousers. All free sizes, great colour selection so you can be leading the way with colour and style this season without Maxing out on the Credit Card…

Come by and have a look, of course you can Accessorise too, with beautiful funky and chunky Jewellery from Viva Beads and our range of Silver and Gemstones. Not forgetting great handmade bags, new in stock now and online.

Read the article below to see why taking the Ethical Route to Summer dressing is the way to go….

Green is the new black at Pure London



Being eco friendly and stylish has never been easier with the number of amazing ethical and fair trade brands choosing to show at Pure London.

The ethical brands will be edited across the show by type and price point making sourcing easier for buyers. All ethical brands will be highlighted on floorplans and stands so buyers can spot them.


Newcomer to Pure London, Nancy Dee (left) produces simple but quirky dresses from eco-jersey, designed to be wearable, stylish and fun wardrobe essentials.

Also new are Miksa who produce collections using organic, fair trade cotton, low environmental impact dyes and even zips and buttons made from coconut and tagua nut.


Returning for another season is People Tree (left), who form sustainable partnerships with fair trade and organic producers in developing countries to create a strong clothing and accessories line.

Jackpot Organic, who were recently nominated for a Special Ethics award by Danish magazine Dansk, will present their Spring/Summer 10 collection along with Wellicious, Nomads Clothing and Komodo.


Pure London is once again partnering up with the Ethical Fashion Forum. The EFF promotes ethical business practices in the clothing industry and will support and assist with ethical criteria and vetting process in regard to brands applying to be promoted as ethical at Pure London.

The EFF will have a stand at the front of the show and we are working with them to put on an ethical seminar programme that will take place throughout the three days at Pure London. The issues behind ethical fashion are complex, creating tough challenges and inspirational opportunities. They aim to give an introduction to some of the key issues in this section as well as provide buying direction so you can make informed decisions.

Fridge Magnets and Sentiments

It is such a pleasure to receive a small gift. And an even greater pleasure to give one. So affordable and such a diverse choice is available, almost everyone can be included. Yes we are talking about Signs and Fridge Magnets, cheeky, funny, naughty, deep and meaningful, tear-jerking sometimes, but always thought provoking.

They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, made from various materials too. Perfect for posting, slot them into a card for an extra birthday gift, or just send them to remind distant friends that you are thinking of them.
No sarky remarks, I hear you thinking……. you are used to me being a bit more nippy than this….Ha ha.. saving it till the end….or maybe the middle. Lots of these signs, magnets, etc are for a bit of a laugh, to raise a smile, for god sake be honest, we all need it these days hey….. The kids are taking us for a ride…”Taxi” i hear you say, get them back every time they go to the fridge for a snack, and remind them that you know who’s taking who for a ride…. Most of my Blog posts have a cat in somewhere, yep… even the cat has it’s own set of fridge magnets to remind us how important they are, yeh right!!! This has to be my all time favorite, mostly bought for men and boys, i hasten to add our best seller by far, slightly bigger and not quite the thing to pop in an envelope but as blunt as can be…..love it….. Laundry….
So if your Young, Old, Skinny, Cuddly, Addicted to Shopping, A hopeless cook…..get into the swing of making it public, SHOUT IT OUT from the fridge or wherever. Loads available you’ll be spoilt for choice.
In fact we like them so much we give them away free sometimes, if you spend over £20 on our website you get a free gift, we have some magnets to give away, so take a peek at the rest of The Wishing Tree Shop and get your FREE GIFT now. I can’t promise not to be cheeky in my selection mind you….!!
This Blog was constructed during major interuption from 3 little kidletts, so if it is disjointed and rather random I do appologise, just adds to the quirky style my readers are used to. Remember during school holidays us working mum’s still work, adapt to the surroundings and get on with it. Many of you will be familliar with this I’m sure, I feel privilaged to have my cake and eat it.
Signing off to get the dinner ready now, I have this magnet on my fridge. It suits me.
Love to All
Olivia
Always available for a face to face chat in The Shop
xx

New angle on being a Party Hostess

It seems that the idea of hosting a Party has come back into fashion, or did it ever go out of fashion, really?? When I was a kid it was always Tupperwere, shed loads of plastic containers, used for everthing, my Dad even kept nails in them in his workshop..... we seem to be more adventurous with our hostessing these days mind you, the men don't want to go to the pub now to get out of the house as streams of neighbours march in through the front door, Oh no!! they want to stay and see the latest....well ya know what i mean, I don't need to draw you a picture, lets just say fashion, facials and foreplay, nudge nudge. So at The Wishing Tree we decided to get round the problem of Living Room Takeovers, this is how it works:- Enjoy an evening with a difference and invite your friends to check out all our great products. You can host your party within the shop, allowing access to a much wider selection of products. Yep, you got it, bring all your mates to the shop for a little private retail therapy, no interuptions, no clock watching, no missing the school run or any other appointments, just a relaxed evening with friends. And no clearing up after, what could be better??

As the hostess you will receive bonuses and gifts when your friends make a purchase:

A gift for being a hostess of a wishing tree party
10% commission on all sales to use towards a personal purchase when the party sales reach £100
An extra gift from the party when 10 of your guests spend over £15 each
A £5 voucher when a friend books a party for you to spend at their party.
There is also a prize draw at every party to ensure a fun night.

Sounds great hey, your'e right Honey, it is.

If you want to regester an interest just get in touch here.
Or you can phone me 01508 536008
Or pop in the shop and say Hi!

It has been such a well liked idea, and we have had 100% success with happy hostesses. and not to forget you can become a Fan of The Wishing Tree on Facebook too, have you joined yet??

Make your next party a Wishing Tree one.
look forward to it,
Olivia
xx

Did somebody say Chocolate Eggs??

My website is currently off line for a couple of days so, no good directing you there until it comes back up, we are changing hosts, well at least thats what I think Sam at Pixelwood said was happening, he is such a wizz and I, being so dizzy.....Monday should see it all sorted and then I can shout from the hilltops, if i can find any hills in Norfolk. My Twitter is as good as any Hill I know, and I have lived on the West Coast of Scotland (I miss it so).
Easter.....Bunnies......Chicks.....it all comes back to Chocolate though dosn't it? A new British survey has revealed that 9 out of 10 people like Chocolate. The tenth lies. - Robert Paul

"After a bar of chocolate one can forgive anybody, even one's relatives." I like that one!

"If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly."

So that can be the excuse this weekend when the kids look like they may be struggling.
Does Chocolate make you Dream?? I know cheese is supposed to, but hey who could get all exited about cheese? There isn't a whole weekend devoted to cheese either, not like it's as important as eating chocolate eggs for 3 days. Hold on a minite have we lost sight of the real meaning of Easter? Is Easter becoming too commercialised?
So I think, whilst devouring the last of the kids eggs and clearing up after making the Hot Cross Buns, I shall remember how we come to have all these excuses......
and shall leave you with that thought....
With Love and Light

Olivia
xx

Whose idea was it anyway??

Before you ask, I put the giraffe picture in cos I liked it, and a lot of people refer to us as "the giraffe shop", this is really all about clocks, hence the clock picture. So...... whose idea was it to keep moving the clocks backwards and forwards? You can bet it was someone who didn't have Kids and someone who didn't have a job.
How are we all coping with it this time? I have a few friends on Facebook who have made comments about not being able to get the kids to bed and then not being able to get them up in the morning, yes I am one of those Mothers, ranting and raving......
but there is an up-side, lighter nights of course and......well that appears to be it. Ha, so we suffer sleep disturbance to be able to keep the curtains open longer and see the rotten English weather, what a great idea?
Shall I stop moaning, or have you already stopped reading? On the subject of clocks, we have some quirky little time tellers in stock at the moment, anyone like pigs or cats? Catseye, London, the suppliers of these, have a huge range of things we could all probably live without, but don't want to, and I am gradually adding the range to the shop and the website. We mostly have a clock in every room, this obsessional need to know what the time is. I used to stock a range of wine label clocks but the supply dried up. So having now found another supplier, there will be more in after Easter, by that time we should have adjusted to the hour change at least.
Well, time I got on with some serious work I guess, so toodle pip for now,
Love and Light
Olivia
xx

Putting it all into little boxes

Is it Human Nature or something?
I have spent a large part of weekend sorting out the kids toys and putting them into little boxes, for whatever reason, I am sure they would have prefered them all over the floor, especially the teeny bits of lego, don't you just love the way they hide in the pile of the carpet, waiting to strike as you walk barefoot across the room.
Our lives are so dominated by boxes, don't you think?? Well, most of us live in one, divided into smaller ones, we do, yeh??
I love my living box, I feel safe there and it keeps all my finest things together, my family....
So is it any wonder we use boxes to do just that, in oh so many ways, taking for granted, that what is in them, will be safe and protected. We also put our friends and aquaintences into boxes, imaginary ones of course, friends, panic not!!!
Boxes on my Facebook page take a look and see how we organise eachother, it's wickedly amusing, well I think so, put me in the box for "random" !
If you like my way of thinking add me as a friend.
Boxes.....Boxes.... filled with precious goodies, what would you wish for then? are you one of those who thinks the smaller the box the bigger the surprise? I hope your'e right.
Make a wish, and put all those wishes in a box, keep them safe xx

Making wishes come true
The Wishing Tree
01508 536008

Love and Light
Olivia

Do we cuddle as much as we used to??

Do we cuddle as much as we used to??

Now there's a question, When I was small I had a collection of cuddly toys all of which accompanied me into the land of sweet slumbers every night, even when I left home to venture into the world of adulthood, my scruffy and well loved cuddlies came with me. And still now, in my forties, I have a collection of special bears by my bedside.
So have you still got some of your loved ones?, who could, no doubt tell a few stories if only they had a voice, lol?? Are your children as attatched to their teddies, because mine don't seem to be, although they do go through phases of needing a fury friend and then it takes ages to find the one they want. Is it possibly because us Mums and Grannies don't seem to knit and sew as much these days and the emphasis is more on collectables for the shelves maybe??
Whatever the reason, I think it is a bit sad, I told my teddies all my troubles and fears and got great comfort from that, so I think it's time I gave the bedtime cuddle a bit of a revival, this year I will buy lots of bears for all my little people.

At The Wishing Tree we have a huge variety of cuddlies, I wonder why that is ?? Started off with a few cuddly Jelly cat elephants and giraffes and the odd zebra and a few cheeky looking monkeys, but it has kind of grown to large stocks of them now. We also stock Bears From Russ Berrie, and other suppliers, and have a few made by a local Lady too. variety is the spice of life and we certainly have that. Prices range from £2.99 upwards, and we are increasing our ranges all the time due to our customers becoming addicted to Jelly Cat, also more people are finding our website these days too. So don't let the cuddle become a thing of the past, keep your teddies near by and get one for someone close who needs a cuddle too. xx

Love and Light,
Olivia

The Wishing Tree
www.thewishingtree.biz
01508 536008
find us on Facebook too

Valentines

New Year Fresh Flowers

This has been a difficult start to the year one way and another, and I have neglected my Blogging duties somewhat.
Some of my closer friends and customers may know about my Mother being unwell, she is now making good progress at home, with lots of TLC from all who are close.
So now I can put a small amout of time, more often to keep everyone up to date with the exiting things which are happening at The Wishing Tree
We have now introduced a new line, following many requests from our customers, we are able to bring you fresh flowers and potted plants. To start with this week we have beautiful Roses in a pallate of colours, and Daffodils to remind us that Spring is just around the corner. Mini Cyclemen in pots and Hyacinths too. Always popular and last for ages of course we have Spray Carnations. All these are from a local supplier and good quality, as well as affordably priced, so wander up the hill this weekend and give us a look.
Have to also mention we have a new stock of our ever popular Giraffes in this week, but be quick as they are wandering off quite swiftly.
This is short and sweet for now, but is sent with much Love to all our Loyal customers,
Looking forward to February being a brighter month for us all
Love and Light
Olivia
and Helen at
The Wishing Tree
Long Stratton

01508 536008
www.thewishingtree.biz
Always there to make your wishes come true
xx