Craft Shows – A Beginner’s Guide (…Part 2…)

 

How To Display & Package your Work

Congratulations! You’ve found an Event and Booked a Stall.

Now you need to get ready.

This part of my Beginner’s Guide looks at What you Need To Do to Prepare for your Event.

 

How to Display Your Work

Think about how you are going to display your work to Maximum Advantage. For me this is not easy and I am constantly changing the way my stall looks.

You will need to consider:

- What will Attract People to Your Stall in the first place.

- Maybe one or two particularly Eye Catching Pieces that will draw someone to your stall for a closer look?

- A Banner? Sweets for the children…..? A competition…..?

- Height is important. Make sure you use the air above your stall to the maximum. Consider how to use various heights to display your work.

 

I use Cork Boards covered in fabric and one or two Necklace Busts. Both lift my jewellery off the flat table making it more visible.

 

I also have a Small Silver ‘Tree’ and some Miniature Easels that I use to hang necklaces on.

 

For a time I also used Twigs displayed in a vase from which I hung various pieces of jewellery.

You could consider Shelving and anything else you can think of to vary the height of your display. Be Creative and make your stall stand out.

- Group things together. This may be similar types of things, sets, colours….you decide what works best for you and your customers. I use small mirrors on my table to give my bracelets a ‘home’ and help to group them.

- Strategically placed items. Consider putting items with a similar theme at intervals around your stall. This will help to lead a customer’s eye around your stall, encouraging them to look at all your wares.

- Signs. Is there anything you would like to tell your customer with a simple sign e.g. Everything handmade locally? Make up simple clear signs before you go and decide where you are going to put them on your stall.

- Banner. Do you need a banner to identify your stall? You can get one made relatively cheaply and it doesn’t have to be huge. I’ve got one, but I must admit I don’t use it very often. I love my banner, I just haven’t worked out how to hang it! At the front of the table is no good as it won’t be seen once you have customers browsing. It is however fine if you have a good wall behind you to display it on (and a way of attaching it to the wall!).

- Lighting. Make your own mind up on this one. It will depend on what you are selling and the venue. For jewellery, lighting is essential. Whatever the stall, however, I personally think that good lighting says “this stall is open”!

- Stability! What will happen to your stall when a small child approaches it to see their mother? …What will happen if the wind blows?… Need I say more?

- Portability. This may be stating the obvious – make sure you can carry everything you need with some ease. Stallholder parking is not always that close to the venue!

- The Cost of your Display Materials. You can spend a fortune if you’re not careful! There are many many display materials available to buy on the internet.

 

Some may be essential, but you can often make your own and save yourself a lot of money. I made this bust from strong cardboard – not bad for a beginner and it cost me nothing.

Have a look on the internet and you are sure to find some useful tutorials.

Charity Shops can also often prove a good source of unusual display items.

Having said that I do ‘treat’ my stall to new display materials every now and then, but as a general rule try to keep my outlay to a minimum as this all eats into my minimal profits!

Finally, make sure you practice your display a day or two before you go so that you know exactly what you’re doing when you arrive. This also gives you an opportunity to decide what works best and will give you a rough idea of how long you will need to set up your stall. (It takes me about an hour – if I’m not chatting too much!)

Take a look at this great blog for more ideas

http://craftshowdesigns.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=10

Packaging

You may also want to think about How To Package the Goods that you sell.

In my mind this is all part of the shopping experience for the customer. Once they have decided to buy, I want them to go away with something special – something that their friends will want to know about. Almost like receiving a little present!

When thinking about packaging consider:

- Style of the packaging – which should reflect your branding if possible.

- Portability – if people are at a craft fayre they may find it easier if you can give them a bag with handles?

 

 - Promotion – Do you want to put your logo on your packaging? This may not be necessary, but if people are wandering around a fayre carrying a bag with your name on it that might not be such a bad thing?

 - Cost – yes it’s that word again! You can if you want spend a small fortune on packaging. The cost will no doubt be a big consideration.

Think carefully about how much the cost of your packaging will add to the cost of your goods. Or you might decide to offer your customers special gift packaging at an extra cost?

- Ease of Use. If you have a queue of customers waiting (we can dream can’t we!) you don’t want packaging that is too fiddly or time consuming.

 

These are my thoughts. I hope you have found the second part of my Beginner’s Guide of some use. You will no doubt have other ideas. Please leave your comments – I would love to know what experience and ideas you may have to add to this guide.

Below are some links you may find of use.

Useful links

Jewellery display ideas:

Make your own Necklace Display stands

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kotomi-jewelry/sets/72157608157754111/

I like this one:

http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2010/01/give-away-from-budget-wise-home.html

For my jewellery packaging I have used:

Box Displays www.boxdisplays.co.uk

Noble Packaging www.noblepackaging.com

The UK Crafts Forum is always a great source of ideas and help www.craftsforum.co.uk

 

 

Craft Shows – A Beginner's Guide (Part 1…)

You have spent hours making Beautiful Handcrafted Goods. Now you want to Sell your Work at a Craft Show or Fayre.

This is my Beginner's Guide to Craft Shows. I hope you find it useful.

I thought I’d start by talking about Things to Consider Before Agreeing to have a Stall at an Event. As I’ve found out to my cost, just because an event is taking place, it does not follow that it’s always the right place for your to sell your work. Asking a few basic questions up front will help you to decide if it’s the right event for you, as well as making sure you come prepared with everything you need on the day.

Questions to Ask The Organiser

Before Signing Up for a Stall.

Some of these are stating the obvious, but I’m working on the basis that what’s obvious to some may not be to others – bear with me on this!

• How Big is the Event – How many visitors does the organiser anticipate there being? (The footfall.) You may also want to consider the type of people likely to attend. Do they fit with your target market?

• How Many Stalls are there? What type of stalls are they? Consider if these fit with the work you are trying to sell.

• How Many Similar Stalls will there be? One or two is OK, but I once attended an event with at least 11 other jewellery stalls! This gave the public a very limited selection of goods to browse and in my opinion was just too many. It is worth asking the organiser if they are setting a limit to the number of any given type of stall.

• How is the Event being Advertised? I have in the past attended events which have been poorly advertised resulting in very few visitors. This is a difficult thing to judge – go with your instinct (your gut feel).

• Will the Organiser be Providing a Table & Chair? If so what size will the table be? This helps you to plan what to take and the layout of your stall.

• What Size will Your Pitch Be? I always like some space to package up goods, write down orders etc. and often bring a very small table with me for this purpose (but only if there is room).

• Is Electric Provided? If so, is this provided at an additional cost? How far away will this be from your stall? (You may need to bring an extension lead with you.) This may not be important to all, but it is fundamental to those of us selling jewellery who need lighting.

• Is the Event Inside or Outside? This will obviously affect what you will need to bring with you or if you even want to take part – an outside event on a wet winter’s day is not to everybody’s taste!

• The Cost of the Stall? This may be a flat fee or a percentage of your sales. Consider whether you are likely to make enough money (profit) to cover the cost of the stall.

• The Date and Time of the Event. You also need to know how much time the organiser will allow you to set up your stall before the event opens to the public. For me I need about an hour to set everything up, but for you it will depend on what you are selling, how complicated your display is etc.

• Time of Year. Consider this in relation to the goods that you are selling. To take an extreme example there would be little point attending at event in March to sell your beautifully handcrafted Christmas Decorations!

These are my thoughts. You will no doubt have other ideas. Please leave your comments on this blog and share your experiences….

Product Design GCSE And Jewellery!

 

Well I never thought I’d be writing about GCSEs!

I’ve recently been called upon by two lovely young ladies from Castle School (www.castle.gloucs.sch.uk/) for help with their Product Design GCSE.

They are Designing Jewellery as part of their course and wanted to ask me about the Beads and Jewellery that I make. In particular Tagua and Lampwork Beads.

Tagua

One of them was particularly interested in a Tagua Necklace I had made.

Her questions were about Environmental Aspects amongst other things.

 

 

 

Tagua comes from the Tagua Palm growing in the South American Rainforests.

 

 

 

The nut is left to dry in the sun for a few weeks & the interior of the nut turns to Palm Ivory. Some of my jewellery is made from this ivory.

 

 

Using the Tagua nut leaves the rainforest untouched, gives an economic use to the forest & helps to protect it.

 

Lampwork Beads

The other girl was keen to know more about my Lampwork Beads. I happily wittered on (for probably too long) about the beads and how they are made

 

 

– showing her Glass Rods …

 

 

 

… Mandrels, Bead Release …

 

 

M

 

My Kiln and much more.

 

I also gave my first ever demonstration of how to make a bead! I was a bit concerned that I’d make a real mess of it – I haven’t been making beads for very long. As it was I didn’t need to worry – I made the beads with ease and have promised to give them to her once they have been annealed.

It was good to be able to help and great to talk to people who appeared to be genuinely interested in Jewellery Design.

The GCSE sounds really interesting – covering all sorts of areas including market research, target markets, graphic design and packaging. I’d love to know more about it and really hope they do well.

 

Ladies Pamper Evening at Thornbury Castle

 

I was delighted to be a part of the Ladies Indulgence Evening held at Thornbury Castle this week by Hammer Out Brain Tumours (www.hammerout.co.uk). 

 

 

 

 

Those who came along had the opportunity to have a glass of wine and a pampering treatment or two in the most atmospheric surroundings.

 

Thornbury Castle was such a fabulous setting - take a look at their website www.thornburycastle.co.uk to see what I mean.

 

 

 

I was there selling my jewellery alongside some other great stalls and therapists.

 

 - Sorori Design  – a freelance florist was making some beautiful creations (www.sororidesign.co.uk).

 

- Ladies were treated to Colour Analysis by Charmaine Shenton (www.mysecretdressingroom.com)

 

- Paul Golding provided Before/After photos by Gold Seal Photography (www.goldsealphotography.co.uk)

 

- Whilst Little Sprinkles (www.littlesprinkles.co.uk) tempted us all with some pretty cupcakes.

 

These are but a few. There were also many many more therapists, make-up artists etc. all working hard to ensure the evening was a success.

 

It was great to be there and to meet so many interesting people. From where I was standing it looked very much like an enjoyable time was had by all!

Technorati Tags: Jewellery,Pamper Evening,Thornbury,Hammer Out

Jewellery For Real People

 

People often ask where I get my inspiration from when making my jewellery. I have never really known how to answer this question.

 

Then it occurred to me that it’s not from nature or the sea or anything as romantic as that.

 

 

My inspiration comes from real people – people I know, my customers, people I see all around me everywhere I go.

When I am making a piece of jewellery I often ask myself who would wear it. I imagine the people I see looking at it, touching it, wearing it…

Will they like it, will it suit them, is it the right colour & style for them?  

 

Some like delicate, yet beautiful  designs and will be drowned by ….

 

 

 

 

 

…..chunky styles

 

 

 

 

 

……some prefer pendants

 

 

 

 

 

 

……charms & dangles…..

 

 

(Not everybody wants red either!)

It may not work every time, but judging by the positive feedback I have received from so many kind people I must be doing something right.

My First Ever Blog!

Well here goes......

I have never ever had a blog before. I am very new and am still finding my feet in 'blog world'. But as so many people seem to rave about blogging I thought I'd give it a go. So far I have set up this blog and made it look a bit like it's mine - I've a long way to go, but you have to start somewhere. All being well there will be more to follow.

Whilst I'm working out what's what here's my latest creation for you to look at.

Thanks for reading my first blog!