Tuesday 14 July 2015

Glastonbury 2015 Photos!

14th July 2015

As many of you are probably aware from our previous posts, we have recently got back from another year of having a stall at Glastonbury! We had a brilliant time as usual and raised a total of £726.96 for our Nepal Earthquake fund - as we donated 10% of all proceeds to the fund and 50% of all proceeds from the henna tattoos we were doing at the stall!

Here are some photos from the week...

Felt items, Balinese bracelets and more inside the stall 
A front view of the stall
Our 'hook a lotus' game at the front of the stall! A prize was guaranteed every time! 
Our dream catcher display added a little decoration to the stall this year 
More dream catchers!
Amazing Nepalese art work for sale inside the stall
Inside the stall! Here you can see some of our Mathila paintings and jewellery which both went down a treat this year 
Colourful, summery jewellery with some of our wooden carvings and cushion covers in the background
Cool shot of the stall through the hook a lotus game! 
£3 necklaces!
Practicing henna
Practicing henna 
Intricate henna tattoo on a customer
Sally and Tanya doing henna on customers 
Lovely hand henna tattoo
Gorgeous henna on a customers leg 
Henna tattoo done by Tanya on Lydia
Sally and Tanya busy at work!
Another henna tattoo
Robby's henna tattoo!
Sally packing away
Sally packing away
Packing away the stall, feeling sad to be leaving
As you can see from our pictures we had another great year and we can't wait to return to Glastonbury again! Thanks for reading another installment from Elefair!

Friday 3 July 2015

Another year another Glastonbury

We recently got back from yet another year at Glastonbury and what a success it was! We travelled down early on the Monday before the festival officially started on Wednesday to set up and decorate our stall in time!

Our Elefair stall!
Our stall was a bit different this year as we focused on donating some of our proceeds to our Nepal Earthquake Fund - 10% of all proceeds in general and 50% of all proceeds made from the henna tattoos, which were a huge hit as usual!

Tanya doing a henna on a customer
A beautiful and intricate henna tattoo done by Tanya John
As well as working at the stall, we got the chance to enjoy the sunshine and lovely weather that surprised us all! We also got the chance to see some brilliant performances from artists such as: Lionel Richie, Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, just to name a few!

We were sad to leave Glastonbury on Monday but now we are back we are working hard on expanding and improving our shop every day. We really enjoyed Glastonbury this year and all of our Elefairies worked extra hard to make the stall our best yet! We are already feeling those 'Glastonbury Blues' but we can't wait to return next year already! :D

Monday 8 June 2015

Glastonbury 2015 Preperations!

8th June 2015

Festival season is upon us and we are so excited to be having a stall at Glastonbury again this year! Prior to this we have lots of things to prepare beforehand to make our stall look amazing and we have already started brainstorming different ideas to improve our stall.

Our stall last year! 
This year we want to incorporate the Nepal earthquake as a running theme and we will be donating 10% of all profits made from Glastonbury to the Nepal Earthquake Fund. We will also be doing henna tattoos again this year and 50% of the profits made from this will also be sent directly to Nepal.  We are very excited about this and hopefully our fundraising efforts will be successful!

Our henna tattoo section was a big success last year 
We will be sporting our trusty pink tent again this year and we hope to decorate it even more this year, with new signage and fixtures to draw more lovely customers in.

We have also been thinking about which products we can showcase for the festival season, some of which include our new yak wool shawls, musical instruments, dreamcatchers and fans!

A lovely couple in our stall last year
So, exciting times ahead for Elefair as we get ready for another year at Glastonbury. If you are attending Glastonbury yourself this year please feel free to pay us a visit! We are hoping for another year of fun, with some added fundraising bonuses!

Wednesday 27 May 2015

Fundraising for Nepal

27th May 2015

Hi everyone, Lydia here again with an instalment of our fundraising efforts for the Nepal earthquakes!

Since flying back from Nepal, we have been working hard to raise money to support all victims of the Nepal earthquakes. We now have donation pots in our shop, which were set up whilst myself, Ele and Robby were still in Nepal by our Elefairies. These have been very successful so far and we have been humbled by our customers kindness!

The donation pots in the shop 
Also, while we were away, we had a Kiosk set up outside the shop, giving people a space to donate anything to be sent directly to Nepal. They have requested, most importantly: waterproofs, tents and blankets, but anything you can offer is greatly appreciated as these people have lost everything!

Unfortunately, we no longer have the kiosk anymore, however we are still taking donations of absolutely anything inside the shop.

Our donation kiosk outside the shop
Following our return from Nepal, I attended a fund raising event in Rotherham, where my mum works in a health centre. We held a cake sale, where all the proceeds have now been sent to victims in Nepal. The results were fantastic and even though the event only ran through the morning, we managed to raise a lot of money and it felt good to meet people who were interested in supporting the cause!

Me at the fundraising cake sale in Rotherham
In addition to this, Ele and her parents have been doing alot of fundraising of their own! Ele has set up a specific bank account especially for all Nepal Earthquake funds, these funds are being sent DIRECTLY to people Ele knows and trusts in Nepal, who are distributing aid in the worst effected areas. If you would be interesting in donating to this fund, the details are as followed:

HALIFAX BANK ACCOUNT: Account Name: Mrs E Corriette (Corriettes Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund) Account No: 01383659 Sort Code: 11-03-94

Ele's parents, Marilyn and Phil Walker, have also been working hard with their fundraising efforts and have set up a 'Go Fund Me' page where people can donate and keep up to date with the situation in Nepal, they have been very successful so far and have already raised over £2000! Details of this page are as followed: www.gofundme.com/nepal-needs-you

In the shop, we have been brainstorming ideas for fundraising activities regularly! Today we are holding a cake sale, where you can buy a cupcake and a drink for the small fee of 50p, with all proceeds going directly to Nepal! So please feel free to pop by if you'd like to help!

Our cute cupcakes are on sale in the shop TODAY
We are also holding a competition in store, where you could win an adorable hand carved wooden duck made in Bali! All you have to do to take part is to come into the shop and try and guess the name of the duck for a small fee. Once again, all money raised by the competition will be sent directly to help the people of Nepal, so feel free to come in store and get involved if you would like to help.

Our prize duck with his birth certficate!
That's all for now everyone. We hope that our lovely customers and friends will continue to help us in our mission to support Nepal! We are very grateful and appreciative of everyones efforts so far and we hope to progress further to help Nepal rise again!

Lydia x

Tuesday 12 May 2015

Earthquake hits Nepal!

12th May 2015

Hi everyone! Lydia here again with a little update on recent events.

By now, I'm sure you are all aware of the devastating earthquake, that measured 7.9 on the Richter scale, that hit Nepal whilst we were there just over two weeks ago. We were at a friends house drinking tea when it happened, the building began to shake and our cups of tea flew off the table. It was very scary but at the time it was hard to process what was happening. We made our way out of the building, noticing on the way that a water tank had burst and a fish tank had almost emptied, causing the floors to be very wet and slippery. Needless to say, we made our way down from the fifth floor to the bottom as fast as we could.

People gathering in the streets after the first earthquake
Once we got outside we found people gathering in the road, understandably many were very upset, whilst others were still in shock. All the phone networks were down and there was no internet or TV available so we were completely unaware of what was going on around us until people started arriving with images on there phones of the destruction, this was when we started to realise how bad the earthquake was but even then, it was hard to process what had just happened. We sat in the road with everyone for a couple of hours before making our way back to our hotel to see what the situation was there. On the walk home, it was clear that a lot of damage had been caused and we started to notice more and more destruction the closer we got to our hotel. Luckily, our hotel was fine, but the managers were very worried and told us they were going to close to hotel until 1am.

Some destruction we spotted on our walk back to the hotel 
Fallen buildings near our hotel 
We went back to our rooms to get changed, before heading out into Kathmandu to try and find somewhere to eat and to see if we could find out any more news. It seemed like a ghost town, certainly very different from it's usual busy, bustling vibe, it was rare to find anything open at all but luckily we found a restaurant that had stayed open, so we sat and ate there whilst watching the news! It was a very surreal time as we finally got more of an understanding of what had happened, however, throughout this time aftershocks were happening constantly and you never knew when the next big one could come.

After this, we went to a little shop that was open (but was just about to close) and stocked up on water and snacks. From here we headed to another hotel which had been kept open and had many people gathered in the downstairs bar, where we could get drinks and watch the news. People were resting after a long and stressful day, but it was very hard to rest as the aftershocks were frequent. By about 1:30am we decided to head back to our hotel, to find that they had opened again, although reluctant as another big quake was rumoured! We headed in our rooms to get some much needed rest, however, a few hours into our rest, another quake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale hit, awakening us and I headed outside for a while to find people gathering in the street to seek safety. In the morning we all got a knock on our door telling us they were going to close to hotel and head to an open air camp. We packed all our things away, although, with Ele being pregnant and unwell we weren't keen on the idea of sleeping outdoors! This is when Ele had the idea to head down to the British Embassy to see if they could be of any help.

As soon as we got to the embassy, we were reassured that they would look after us and send us to a British base camp where we would be provided with food, shelter and safety. We were all so relieved, so we headed back to our hotel to collect our things and headed straight back to the embassy, where we were put on a bus to the camp! We spent the next 5 days in the base camp where we were fed and looked after. We ventured out in the day times to catch up with our friends and to check they were all okay, many of them are homeless now and many of them are working in the rescue teams, even having lost their own homes and family! We were so glad that we got time to see our friends before arranging an earlier flight home, but it felt so bad leaving them in this condition. We ventured out into Patan and Kathmandu and saw lots of destruction around us which was pretty shocking to see. By the time we saw this destruction, people were already attempting to clean up the rubble and we saw people working in the rescue teams, despite having lost their own homes and family. Although some of the scenes were sad to see, it was good to see the Nepalese people working together and supporting eachother in this time of need and we found many open air camps that had been set up by the Nepalese where people felt safe and secure.

A fallen temple in Patan 
A rescue team working in Patan
A camp set up in a forest where we found a lot of people staying
On the Friday we flew back to the UK, although reluctantly and still not fully registering what had happened, we felt very lucky that we could jump on a plane and escape but many are not as lucky as us and they need our help. Since we have been back in the UK, we have been doing our best to raise awareness and fundraise as much as possible for Nepal. We have already had a lot of success but we urge people to support the appeals every day. We have left Nepal in a state of desperation and they need as much help as they can get before the monsoon season hits in June! Also today, we have been saddened by the news that another earthquake, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, hit Nepal this morning. This has only made matters worse and has taken even more lives, along with causing more destruction in and around Nepal! We hope that people continue to support Nepal as well as they have been doing so far, as even though it may not be covered as widely on the news anymore, it is still a huge problem where our help will mean so much to this beautiful country and it's beautiful people! So please keep up to date with the facebook page where you can keep updated with all of our fundraising ideas.

Thank you guys for reading my post! Hopefully my next post will be a more positive one with news of some of the results our fund raising has enabled! In the mean time, we'd like to thank you for all your kind words and support so far and we feel positive that we can make a huge difference with your help and support to Nepal.

Lydia x

Thursday 23 April 2015

Updates from Nepal :D

19th April 2015

Hello everyone, it's Lydia here writing from Nepal! It is our eighth day today and we're having a great time so here is a post of what we've been up to!

After a long journey from Manchester we got picked up from the airport and taken to our hotel in Thamel, Kathmandu by the lovely Rabrindra! We got settled into our rooms then got ready to go out for dinner, we went to a lovely Italian restaurant and then headed to a bar afterwards where there was a live rock performance. We headed back to the hotel shortly after as we were still very tired from our flights so were definitely ready for bed!

Ele and Robby with Rabrinda
The day after we headed to the Monkey Temple, it was a really beautiful, sunny day so we wanted to make the most of being outdoors! There was lots of really cool things to see in the Monkey Temple, including little shops, wishing fountains, temples and monkeys! Not to forget the gorgeous view of Nepal from the top of the Temple, it was a really peaceful place and we got to watch the sunset from the top. Afterwards we went out for dinner and drinks, feeling a little more energetic than the previous day.

The Monkey Temple
Beautiful view from the top  
Monkey watching the sunset :)
 On Friday it was Robby's birthday, so we had a day of celebration! We started the day by meeting Kancha and friends with some of the blind children from 'Tri Netra' that we sponsor at Elefair. We ate dal bhat and a delicious birthday cake and sang happy birthday to Robby! Afterwards, we headed to 'The Garden of Dreams' where we got to chill out and enjoy some beautiful scenery. We walked around the gardens, discovering mini waterfalls, little animals and little plants before we relaxed on the grass, enjoying every moment of relaxation before returning to the bustling streets of Kathmandu. Unfortunately the weather wasn't in our favour and we headed home before it started to rain.

Robby's birthday meal 
Robby covered in cake! 
Ele and Robby in the Garden of Dreams
Later on in the evening, we headed to a restaurant called 'Killroys', we ate lovely food and Robby even got a free birthday dessert, a delicious lemon tart :) From Killroys we headed to the Reggae bar where we saw a live performance from 'Cobweb', which was really good and then we headed to a club and danced, it was busy as it was Friday night but it was fun and we had a really good night!

Robby with his birthday lemon tart
The following day we went to Basantapur (Durbur Square) to visit Ele's friend Ishwar! It was cool seeing a different place in Nepal and we ate samosas and sweets whilst catching up. We stayed at Ishwar's house for a while and then headed back to our hotel for a chilled night.

On our fourth day and we started off by having something to eat in an outdoor terraced restaurant, the weather was beautiful again so we enjoyed eating outdoors with the sun shining down :D Afterwards me and Ele headed to a little cafe to do some work! From there we met Robby and went to Bouddhanath, the biggest Buddhist stupor in the Northern Hemisphere! We met with our friend Dipak who showed us around and shared his knowledge and stories of Bouddhanath. It was a really nice experience and we enjoyed the chilled vibe that the place seemed to have. Despite it being about 9pm, it was still quite busy and we saw many people meditating and praying, whilst we walked around.

Bouddhanath!
The next day we started off by meeting with one of our silversmith's Sitaram and talked about new products we wanted to buy for our shop! We also got to see some new designs that Sitaram has been working on which we absolutely loved and will hopefully be stocking soon. After this we got the chance to have a sunbathe by a nearby pool! The water was absolutely freezing and only Robby dared go in, but it was entertaining enough watching him float around in a little rubber ring haha.

Elefair meeting with Sitaram 
Robby in the pool
Later on, we met with our paper supplier, Sushil. I got to see his shop for the first time and gained inspiration about what paper products I want to design for my range, whilst Ele discussed an order of new paper products that will be in stock in our shop soon! From Sushil's shop we went out for dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant, where the food was 'expensive' for Nepal but very worth it!

Some of the paper lamps that I liked in Sushil's shop
Yesterday me and Robby went on a walk around the shops in Kathmandu whilst Ele saw one of her friends. We went round taking photos and looking at different products as inspiration for new products for the shop! We saw lots of pretty things that may be featured in our store soon and there were so many nice things I wanted to buy :) later we went for dinner and drinks, where we saw a few more live performances!

A mixture of products that I liked when looking around yesterday!
As of today, I have been working all day on my range, which is coming along nicely :) Ele and Robby have gone for another meeting with Sushil and we will meet up later again for dinner!

That's all for now! Keep your eyes peeled for regular updates on our actions in Nepal! We're looking forward to the 3 weeks and we should have some exciting news ahead :D x