All this week, we will be showcasing some of our lovely Christmas Fair stallholders. Today, hear from some of our talented stallholders who will be showcasing their unique, beautiful handmade artworks this weekend.
Meet Claire Seeley Glass Design
After experiencing a sell out at last years’ Christmas Fair, Claire Seely Glass Design will be returning to Delapré Abbey with a new range of unique products…
Why I love Delapré Abbey
“The Delapré Abbey Christmas Fair is such a friendly event, well organised, well-spaced stalls and all in such an historic set of buildings, the perfect setting to display and sell my products. I’m so excited to welcome guests to my stall in the oldest part of the Abbey, certainly an appropriate place for a 900-year-old craft which is very little changed since the 1100s with every step of the process carried out by hand, and all made just a few miles down the road. Sales at last year’s event were fantastic and I sold out of several of the Christmas decorations, doves and trees especially, so I’ll be making lots more of those this year.”
My unique products
“As well as full size window commissions, I also make an ever-expanding range of small panels and hanging decorations and a small selection of fused glass jewellery. This year has seen some fantastic window commissions.
This Christmas at Delapré, I’ll have seasonal decorations ranging from inexpensive little trees and candles, some with shiny dichroic glass accents, leaded Santa hats, Christmas stockings, doves and stars with big ribbon bows. There’s also lots of gift ideas from little and big hearts, butterflies, dragonflies, angels and small traditionally made panels, some with fused sections, microscope slides and agate slices.”
Meet John and Linda Walton
Husband and Wife, John and Linda, will be sharing their passion for painting for the first time at our Christmas Fair…
About us
“We are just two people who enjoy painting, we’ve been painting for about 30 years and our proudest moment is always when someone expresses to us how much they like our paintings. We also love when people are able to relate to our paintings too.”
Why we’re excited to be at Delapré Abbey
“We thought that it would be wonderful for us to offer something a bit different at the Delapré Abbey Christmas Fair. We’ve heard amazing reports from previous stallholders and it’s a great way to show off our art to people who may not visit galleries. It’s gives an incredible opportunity for guests to buy a truly unique Christmas gift.
All of our paintings are original pieces of art and we are hoping to even do some live paintings at the fair. Mainly the work will be landscape paintings, and some will be extraordinarily small (about 5cm by 7cm). There will mostly be watercolour, pen and ink and oil paintings. We also do commissions which will be on offer to visitors.”
Meet Sophie Slade Art
“Delapré Abbey is a brilliant setting for a Christmas Fair, it’s such an idyllic location with lots of beautiful space. I’m looking forward to interacting with my customers face to face and meeting some of the other stallholders.
“My series titled Paint the Town in Colour depicts architectural settings of Northampton, capturing both well-known establishments and hidden treasures. In order to create unique and striking paintings, different to a photograph, you’ll notice that I’ve used alternative colour palettes for some of the landmarks. The main purpose when creating this collection has been to draw attention to the vast range of architecture which we have here in Northampton, encouraging everyone to look up, noticing details that we have perhaps not noticed before. My newest product is a jigsaw that will make the perfect Christmas gift.”
Meet Handmade by Suzy Q
Susan Cooper of Handmade by Suzy Q will be exhibiting her locally handmade products.
“This will be my first fair at Delapré Abbey, and I could not be more excited, it’s a beautiful building and grounds and I’ve no doubt it’ll be a great, festive event. It will be wonderful to be able to speak with visitors, I value all feedback on products so this will be the perfect opportunity for that.
“Everything that I sell is handmade by myself. Visitors will be able to buy earrings, necklaces, coasters, bookmarks, wine glass charms and Christmas decorations. One of my most popular products is the resin coasters, that come in two distinct styles – geode irregular shaped coasters, made with ink and foil and stone inserts or square coasters with image and word inserts.”
