Hard to believe that this time last week we were awaiting the arrival of Hurricane (later known as Super storm) Sandy. I know we weren't expecting it here, but sometimes the tail end of weather in New York nips over to us. More important though was those of us with family and friends in America who were worried for their safety. I am so pleased that my brother and sister-in-law are safe. The news and photographs of the devastation throughout New York and New Jersey are very hard to take in and I know that everyone there is working very hard to return things to as near-normal as possible and I wish them well.
I took part in my first Christmas event of the season yesterday (Godalming Independent Christmas Market) and I am really pleased to say it was a great success - in fact I did better at this one than at the same event this time last year. A sign of improving times? Not sure, the public are a fickle bunch when it comes to handmade aren't they? right place, right time? My mini-cards sold really well and always seem to be very popular - long may it continue. I had also made up some packs of 5 different-design cards, but of a similar theme, and these sold well too. I sold two of my fabric decorated hearts and my best 'bit' of the day came when one of my Twitter friends, Lesley ( known on here as a guest blogger under the name of the Mad Dog Woman of Shackleford) came to see me and ordered a Christmas fabric wreath. Thank you Lesley, a lovely order to receive.
Here are a couple of pics of my stall. I had ordered a new banner from Vistaprint and hoped it would arrive before yesterday - as so often happens it arrived yesterday. A great shame as the wall behind me was crying out for some information about me.
It wasn't successful for everyone and as we all know, this is often the case. One stall holder was selling very beautiful jewellery she had made but it was priced in the £100 region - people visiting these types of craft events are not necessarily looking to pay that sort of price. A couple of other stalls didn't sell anything, and it seems Craft Fairs are still very hit and miss. My cake-making friend, who had the stall next to mine, did well - her cup cakes were very popular, as were her gorgeous coffee and walnut cakes. She is still taking last-minute orders for Christmas cakes, so if you would like one let me know and I will ask her to get in touch with you.
Some more news 'of the week' is that I won a book in the blog hop managed by Make and Craft to celebrate the publication of the first issue of their magazine. Each day was hosted by a different person and on the day that it was hosted by Hannah Blavins (Spans Studio) I decided to enter as I very much liked the look of the book prize: A Compendium of Mosaic Techniques. I had decided that if I didn't win, I would buy the book as the projects looked great. You can imagine how pleased I was to receive an email from Hannah telling me I had won - wonderful news. Thank you Hannah and thank you Make and Craft - there are lots of projects that I plan to have a go at, in particular the dragonfly which looks beautiful.
The next two weeks will be, almost, non-stop work making things for the event at Secretts. I am looking forward to it, but also thinking 'oh, boy, have I done the right thing booking into a 3-day event'. Well, he (or she) who dares and nothing ventured, nothing gained, etc. I have also booked into the next Frensham Pond Hotel Wedding Fayre in February 2013 - seems a long way off as Christmas is still to be managed, but as you all know these bookings have to be secured early.
Wallace and Gromit (oops sorry, Wallace and Jasper) are still with me. They are slowly becoming less nervous, but it is a long process to get them over their nervousness. They are lovely and it is great fun to sit and play with them. Richard was Senior Kitten Looker-After on Saturday while I was at the event and I know Jazz and Daisy will have kept an eye on them too. Of the three black kittens I wrote about recently, I am pleased to say that Mo has found his fur-ever home - hopefully it won't be a long wait for Jessica and Bradley to be adopted.
Compared with normal weekend posts, this one is a shortish one but don't forget to visit the bloggers taking part in Handmade Monday this week. Blog posts now are getting very Chrismassy. I hope you all have a good week and I will be back with my usual Wednesday post and my Friday Guest Blog post - it has become such an interesting part of my blogging week and I really missed having one this week. I have some spaces in November and December, so please do get in touch if you would like to be a guest blogger (christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com).
Jill
Great to hear your stall was a success Jill. Well done you! Sounds like you are busy as always! Good luck with the future events. Congrats on winning the book.
ReplyDeleteAww, it's lovely to hear that folk are having successful fairs. They never really worked for me, but it's great to know they are worthwhile
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the fair. Your stall looks lovely which I think always helps. Hope things continue to go well for you. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the stall went well for you (and cakes always seem to go well too!). Well done on winning the book - it's always lovely when you win something that you'd be prepared to buy!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your craft fair was really successful. Congrats on winning the book. I wonder if you'll incorporate some mosaic into your pottery work :) Glad to hear the kittens are settling in.
ReplyDeleteAli x
P.S. Will the leaves turn to snow in December.
your stall looks fantastic!! really inviting, i'm glad the day went so well for you :)
ReplyDeleteyou're right, the buying public are a fickle bunch! x
Good to hear things went well at your fair, it always amazes me how different things can be for people at the same event
ReplyDeleteYour cards look great. I've got a Vistaprint banner too and loads of people comment on it. There's not so odd as folk - never a truer word when talking about customers!
ReplyDeleteSo glad your fair went well Jill, your cards are awesome and everyone knows it! :) I cant wait to see what you make from the book, I have a few projects in mind too x
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to hear when a craft fair has done well for someone and I'm so pleased for you. Bit jealous of the book you've won as I love mosaics. It's on my long list of things to do!
ReplyDeleteSo nice to meet you, Jill, and glad to hear it was a successful fair. Linda's Christmas cakes looked very good, I hope she gets loads of orders.
ReplyDeleteI did notice that jewellery wasn't doing too well, but I wonder if that was more to do with the uninviting stand and shy person?
You had a good location too, but the banner would have been great - look forward to seeing it at Secretts x.
Well done with the craft fair, let's hope that it's a sign of changing times and that we will all see a pick up in sales.
ReplyDeleteWell done on the book win too. I have joined the Make and Craft site and subscribed to the magazine but just don't seem able to find the time to explore it all properly!
Havee a lovely week. xx
What a cool book to win (I can never resist a book on mosaics, sadly). Lucky you. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad your craft fair went well, I know it takes a lot of work. I can't even imagine making enough product to take to a fair. Good job!
I'm glad your fair went well for you, it's so true that they can be a bit hit and miss. I tend to buy smaller cards now so they will fit into the 'Letter' category rather than the 'Large Letter' which is more expensive to post.
ReplyDeleteLove the look of the book :)
Jan x
Hi Jill, lovely looking stall! I've just joined in with Handmade Monday so am doing a tour round to check out everyone's blogs :-) Good luck with the kittens! Simmi x
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you did well at the craft fair and best of luck for the 3 day event! Sounds daunting but i'm sure you'll do great! x
ReplyDelete