Woburn Crafts Fair

It is all due to Ros, who is tirelessly organising the CCC - Crafts, Cake, a Cuppa fair once a month, as well as being a cat lover and a dab hand at painting them too!!
Yesterday (Sunday 17th February) saw the 1st event of 2013. And what a glorious day it was!
The sun was shining and temperatures reached 8 degrees C outside, inside the Woburn Village Hall temperatures were sizzling!

By 10.00am all stall holders had their displays ready and it was clear the room was filled with great talents.

Beautiful cards and paintings with attractive Watercolour-Flowers-Paintings were directly opposite me and delightful to look at; at my side great pin-boards in a range of backgrounds to suit every taste and mug warmers, an ideal present for Mother's Day by Just Quirky.

  

I managed a quick look around before the public started flowing in the hall and I was impressed.



My eye was caught by beautiful glass cake stands and the wood turning objects on the stall next to me.

  

Directly opposite the entrance the public was welcomed by a table full of butterflies.  What a show, colourful, local and exotic, smaller and larger ones and all made of ... paper. What a talent!

Of course you could top up your food reserves too.  Outside the Hall in the main part of the village, the Farmers Market, which runs the same 3rd Sunday of the month as the craft fair. Inside the hall lots of homemade preserves and local honey as well as olives; a table full of tasty cup-cakes, and let's not forget the coffee/tea shop, run by Ros' husband that offered warm drinks as well as a selection of sweet and savouries. You would not go hungry even if you tried!

 

If you like handbags you would have felt at home with 3 stalls displaying an array of handmade bags to suit all.  From denim to designer bags you were spoiled for choice and all at very reasonable prices.

With Spring approaching and Mother's day and Easter only a few weeks away you could find a present for your mum or a wee blanket for that new baby's arrival.

All in all Woburn and the CCC - Crafts, Cake, Cuppa Fair is a destination to keep in mind on the 3rd Sunday of the month as a place to keep amused and entertained all the family; and for those wanting a walk on the 'wild' side what better place than taking a walk on the Woburn Estate among deer or visit the Safari Park. 

 

On the history of BAG

Where do handbags originate from?

Types of Prehistoric bags

Handbags have been essential to mankind since prehistoric times to carry items and have been recorded in fashion history for a very long time.
The purpose of a bag is to carry precious or useful around even though the items have changed over time. We find mention of such an item first in written literature of the 14th century; however the Egyptian hieroglyphs papyrus show pouches carried around the waist. Bags were attached to "girdles", an item of female underwear, and fastened to the waist. The bags were enriched with Embroidery and jewels and demonstrated the social status of the wearer - the more elaborate the bag, the higher and richer the person that carried it.
In the 16th century, handbags became more practical and were made with the use of everyday materials, i.e. leather and fastener at the top with a drawstring. At the same time, travellers’ bags, made with cloth and larger than normal bags were made and were carried diagonally across the body. In the 17th century bags and small purses became more fashionable both for women and men. Embroidery was becoming fashionable among young girls and this saw the rise in beautiful stitched artwork used on handbags.
In the 18th century, women started to wear less underclothing. Wearing a purse could ruin the look of the clothes and ladies started carrying their handbags. These were called reticules.

Type of Reticule

Women had a different bag for every occasion and fashion magazine argued on the proper way to carry them. Reticules were used to carry rouge (lipstick), face powder, a fan, a small bottle of scent or perfume, visiting cards, smelling salts, dance/appointment card.
The term "handbag" was first used in the early 1900 and generally referred to a hand-held luggage bag usually carried by men. This inspired for new bags that became popular with women.
In the 1920's a fashion revolution saw shortening hemlines and lighter item of clothing. Bags no longer needed to match the outfit worn and it became fashionable for rich women to carry a doll dressed exactly like themselves, complete with matching bag.
With the 1940's clothing and handbags suffered the all around effect of the war. Metal frames, zips, leather, mirrors were all in short supply and manufacturers used plastic and wood instead. In the 1950's designer houses like Chanel and Louis Vuitton started to see a rise in importance and with the 1960's the hippy and youth culture overtook the old classical styles.

60's/70s bag

 

Is there future in the handbag?
Of course! Fashion fads, new textures, materials and perhaps shapes will come and go. Some of the ‘classics’ will stay, like the Chanels and the Louis Vuittons, however in my opinion the bag or handbag is here to stay whatever we will come to call it.

Leather or Saddle Bag