'I Love Craft' Fair @The Civic 17.11.12

Yesteday was the 'I Love Craft' Fair at The Civic in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. It was a moderate day, I made the most sales in the morning and then at lunch time it really dropped quiet. The customers came in drips and draps for the rest of the afternoon. However some customers had said the event was poorly advertised and had only caught sight of an A4 poster in the reception area of the Civic. Other craft stall holders said they had heard the same comments. I suppose it's just one of those things though, some craft fairs do amazingly well, really well advertised and greatly attended....then other fairs are just a dud, which is a shame and I'm sure there are crafters that end up making a loss at times. If you have ever attended a craft fair and had a stall/table there, please let me know what your experiences are!

So anyway, here are some photos of my stall at the event. I was also selling some of my Mum's hand made cards and stuffed bears, as well as some 'Woollies' items, which was a business that me and a friend did whilst at college and I still have some leftover stock.

Packaging Off

First off, I want to apologize in not posting for so long. I've been so busy with my new apprenticeship job and just not had time to upload anything.

So I've been selling a couple of item on my Etsy shop (I desperately need to put more items up in my Etsy shop now!) and I quite liked packaging them up and sending them off on their ways to my customers. Here's some pictures of the process I go through to send a package off your way.

Firstly I like to wrap the item up in some tissue paper (Although I need to get some more tissue paper!) and then I get some raffia and tie it around.

I think doing this makes it look like a cute little present or gift for the buyer. Plus I like doing the nice little touches.

Bubble wrapping is a must, I like my parcels to it-stand nuclear bombs (touch wood no nuclear bombs). I think that I have put the time and effort into making my items, I don't want them to end up getting ruined whilst in transit to the customer.

I finish it off by doing a hand written message, just simply saying thank you and that it may need a slight iron after being folded up in the parcel. I also like to give them a 10% discount code to use in my shop in their next purchase (which I've smudged out so that you cheeky readers can't use the code until you've already bought something haha!) 

I sincerely hope that my parcels do make it to you and that you enjoy what I have done :)

Ladies Indulgence Evening Craft Fair

Last Thursday, Hannah Elizabeth had its first craft fair! It was at Darton College and was an evening of crafters and beauty treatments, along with a fashion show. It was lovely to meet other stallholders at the event, I always like to talk to other people and listen to their story of their businesses. However, we only just about covered the stall cost and I only sold one item which was a little bit of a let down.

My fingers are crossed for the next event on November 17th at the Barnsley Civic for the 'I Love Craft' Fair as it will be closer to christmas so I hope to sell more for potential Christmas presents. 

Preparations for Craft Stalls

This weekend I've been preparing for Hannah Elizabeth's first craft event! The event will be at Darton College, Thursday 18th of October 6.30pm-9.30pm. I'll have all my collars as well as some bags and cuffs. I'm sharing the stall with a friend who will be selling the 'Woollies' brand items, as well as my mum decided to tag along to sell some hand-made cards and stuffed bears.

When preparing for a fair there is a few things I like to do to make sure I'm all organised, from tagging to making a stock sheet. I've been making my own business cards that have my contact information on and links. I've doubled these up as swing tags, hand-writing the info and prices on the back of them.

Making a stock list is quite an important task to do when going to craft fairs. It makes you aware of how many items you are taking with you, as well as being able to tick off each item you sell whilst there, making it easy to double check your money takings at the end of the day. I like to number my tags, corresponding to the stock sheet and then I know which item is which and making sure I write a good description of each item.

Finally, double checking that all items have be accounted for and all have prices on their tags. You don't want the embarrassing moment when a customer finds an item without a tag or price and you frantically try and work out a price that could end up being over priced for the customer, or under priced for your costings.

Being prepared for a craft fair is very important and saves you a lot of hassle and stress on the day. I next need to sort out what I will be doing for the presentation of my table and deciding whether I need any display boxes or props. Also on the day before going to the fair, I plan on ironing some of my items as they sometimes get creases in and I want my items looking pristine!

Items in the Making

I've been trying to create some more accessories for me to sell at some upcoming craft fairs. I love doing crafts fairs, it gives me the chance to speak to my customers directly and its always nice to speak with other crafters that all share the same passion. Here's some items I've made over the last couple of weeks, I finish them off in between work and college whenever I can, but try and get the bulk of sewing done on my day off.

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LFW Exhibitors from Days 4&5

At London Fashion Week, days 4 and 5 saw a couple of other exhibitors, here's the highlights from them.

All photos are from www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

^Fred Butler S/S 13

^Anya Hindmarch S/S 13

^Nasir Mazhar S/S 13