Saturday 27 June 2009

Craft Fair Update

Sorry - very blurry pic!!

Well, I made it to the craft fair (and back obviously!) The craft-fair venue is an indoors one (Town Hall) and it turned out to be gloriously sunny outside - not that I could see (no windows inside!) Quite a number of visitors turned out in short bursts and seemed to enjoy browsing round the stalls. There was a lot of browsing, however, and not so much purchasing!!

I really pushed the boat out to be well organised for this craft fair as it's the first one I've done since April 2008, just over a year ago and I was a little rusty to say the least about setting up, etc. It felt pretty much like going back to the beginning, hence the military-like precision of the whole operation! I did a wee practice at home with arranging my stall, and I was glad I did, as it paid off when I got there and I had a fair idea of how I was going to lay everything out.

Ooops - one of my price cards has fallen over!

As I've said the visitors were there and if children had bank accounts I'd probably have done quite well! There were a number of kids who came by, and on expressing delight, were quickly whipped off by anxious parents who were wary of being coaxed into a sale! I'm a parent and I know what it's like myself.

View of the Town Hall from my stall (that's my little nephew in the foreground who kindly came to visit, with his Mom, Dad and sis - thank you folks!)

Was it worth all the effort I put into it? From a sales point of view - not really. For gleaning some knowledge of what's been happening locally craft-wise - Yes, and also for getting some useful contact numbers for other craft fair organisers. And for a little networking with other craftsfolk - yes. Well, that's a result if nothing else! Next time, I would probably have a lot more of smaller items to sell, I think that's the key to sales at craft fairs, but just for now I'm going to go and put my feet up!

Cheerio an Drasda!

P.S. Teenage son lasted all of one hour with me - hence the empty chair beside me in the top pic. So much for my helper!

P.P.S. Green tweedie moon-monster accompanied me in his fragile state, and is now free of his dangly threads! (I took my sewing needle with me). Still looks a little blank though!

9 comments:

Aileen Clarke Crafts said...

Your stall looks fantastic! The positive after a craft fair is that you now have lots of stock and you can have a wee rest. One of my best selling shops has been very quiet the last two months. It's quite worrying. But people are saving for holidays. And when they are on holiday they are only buying the essentials. We will be the same when we go to Ireland next month. i will want to everything handmade in every shop but just won't be able to afford it.
Things will pick up in the Autumn : )

Tweed Thoughts said...

Thanks Aileen - I really appreciate the positive comments :) I worked so hard to get my stock levels up, definitely time for a wee rest!

bec said...

Wow, well done! I'm going to do my first market soon, and feeling nervouse already! I've been chatting to many crafty blogger types at markets, who have encouraged me by saying do 3 markets before getting concerned. The first market is for looking- 2nd market, oh, you're still here, 3rd market, I've been looking at that each time, i'll buy it. It made me feel much better about starting out, anyway. And that's a bit how I shop at markets too!

Swirlyarts said...

Wow - your stall looked great! And you have the right attitude of taking from the experience even if you didn't make much money wise.

Jennifer Rose said...

your stall looks great :) too bad on the lack of sales, but making contacts and talking with other crafters always helps

florcita said...

Well, that is what I keep hearing from people... craft fairs are more about getting your work out there to be seen, than actual sells. People ussually don't buy much but they see you and can have a reference for the future.
i haven't done any fairs myself. I was going to this august but...plans changed. But next year... I will be there!

Tweed Thoughts said...

Thanks folks for kind comments - I feel much better : ) Onwards and upwards!

Janet Metzger, Artist said...

Alison....your table looked great and so full of wonderful treasures. I have done shows and know so very well the feeling of slight disappointment when sales are not what you had hoped for. Times will get better and like you I appreciate the crafty people connections one can make at these shows. Keep at it and good things will come ;-) ...see you in twitterville

Janet

Unknown said...

so impressed by your blog I've posted it to my facebook page - hope that's ok! X