Crafts for Men

I have long said if people could come up with crafts for men at fairs they would have a winner. After all do we not make our OH's trail around after us. They are a captive market stuck in a room being forced to walk in circles. so when i saw this I thought it was getting close.

Mustache Flasks

Available from whimsy and ink. It may also be a nice gift for that someone special.

9 Tips for Craft Fairs

I posted on Etsy forum about craft fairs and I thought I would post about it here as well in a bit more detail. I am no expert and do not claim to be, I do about 6 fairs a year, here are some of my tips.


1. Pick your fair carefully. Venues and timing makes a real difference. Christmas is a massive time for me but small fairs aren't quite as good. So I am better shelling out for the big fairs and doing less of them. Better return for my time.

2. Target your customers. Not every fair lends itself to the same sort of stock. I do 1 or 2 summer fairs and I always bring more mini clutches (purses) because people are more likely to make these smaller purchases.

3. Have a unique selling patter. I like to draw people in - for me it is talking about the fabrics I use, where they come from, why I picked them. It is less "hard selling" and more getting them to do more than lift a bag, set it down and walk on. It also means they are more likely to come back or check out my website. Talk lots about your items being handmade locally. People often assume that products are bought in and sold on. Local produce is big.

4. Practice setting up your table. This is my big weakness. I want to put every bag on show, but I can't the tables are tiny. I sometimes over clutter and need to take stuff back off. I always tell my customers I have loads more that aren't on show. It would be the first time a customer is behind my table poking in my stock boxes.

5. Business cards. Make them pretty. Thrust them on everyone - if they can't remeber your name they will never check you outwhen they get home. Make them useful -I have calenders printed on the back of mine and stumped up for a glossy finish. I know I usually keep a card with a  calender.

6. Lighting. This can really make you items pop. I don't shell out for electricity at every fair - £30 a day ($45) is just too much - but if it's free or a couple of pound I pay for it. It really makes a difference when it starts to get a little darker.

7. Try not to look like a market trader. I know it's cold and you want to wrap up but do you really need to wear your entire wardrobe - especially that raggy old jumper that is so warm. Invest in good quality thermals - socks, undershirts, even longjohns. Wrap a pretty scarf around your neck, pop a cute hat on. Wear your good coat when selling if your really cold, just not your hiking gear. Your image is everything, you are a crafter, creator, artist, you want people to buy the idea, the concept of your work. Bring your super warm stuff for setting up and taking back down when your customers are gone.

8. Bring food. This might seem obvious but you don't want to spend all your profit on coffee. Or worse still get there and realise there are no food outlets. I know you think "what sort of fair doesn't have a few food stalls for the visitors" but I went to one last year that had the food products separated in another tent 1/2 a mile from the craft tent - a big country estate fair! There was one coffee stand and no food stands within easy reach. I always pack a good picnic - rolls, crisps, bakery items, tea break nibbles and a big thermos, we don't always eat what we bring, but it's there just in case we need a pick me up.

9. Believe. This is the hardest thing to do with your own work. For my first fair my friend called in to keep us company for a bit and she was a master, very engaging, but she had nothing to lose if someone said they didn't like a bag, she didn't make it. Now it doesn't bother me as much. If someone makes a comment I don't take it to heart because I know my product is good and well made.

Crafting Tilda's Friends

Crafting Tilda's Friends is an a recently published Tone Finnanger book. I am a big fan and have many of her other books, but this one has a different feel. This book is actually a republish of one of her earlier books and the differences of style are obvious. It is a lovely eye candy book and there are some simple projects to make, but the instructions aren't fantastic. A good bargain buy, and certainly worth the money but not as good as some of her more recent books.

craft book

I splashed out on Stray Sock Sewing, because it is super cute and I welcome a fun new thing to do over the Christmas Hols. As soon as I picked this book up I was hooked, it is full of fun animals just waiting to be made. The book is split into sections, there is a section showing a variety of animals having adventures and a section showing how to make some of them. It is fun feel-good book which I am looking forward to trying out.

This little guy is the very last picture in the book and I just love him.

5 Things I learnt about selling face to face

1. It's very hard. You really put yourself out there for people to criticise and be rude. You need to have a thick skin and be confident enough in your product to know they are actually just rude.


How do you do this? Well start small, don't throw yourself at the mercy of a craft fair 1st time out. Take you stuff in to you work colleagues, church group, toddler group, where ever you have people who are your side. You still will get people who are a bit of hand but most people will find something positive to say. Take these comments and use them.


2. Know your market. I sell a wide range of bag sizes and I have discovered different bags for different people. Before the craft fair I thought how much do I usually spend as my max in a single purchase at a fair and with this in mind I made more of my 6inch bags. This was by far the most popular size and outsold the others hands down.


3. Find a natural born seller and befriend them. If you are quite shy about selling yourself, get someone else to do it for you, until you can see that people are interested. It is much easier for someone else to say how fab your stuff is. My person is Max, she is a true drama queen in every sense of the word, but only has my best interests at heart (btw I didn't befriend her just to sell my product). However be warned don't hard sell you customers, they will just walk away. I do.


4. Have lots of product. We all like to look and we will stop to look at someones work if there are plenty of things to look at. Have a good variety of price range, everybody has a price range and your need to cater to all.


5. Make your customer feel special. Go that extra sticker, it will pay off in the long run. No-one wants to get a lovely handmade item, or anything for that matter, shoved in a plain white plastic bag. Wrap it, stick it with some printed stickers, bag it in paper or wrap it.

Craft Fair

I did get them all framed and I survived the craft fair, as well, but only with a little help from some friends. It was the most fantastic 2 days, we had great craic, drunk lots of coffee and indulged in a little cake.


It was a very early start on the Saturday morning, about 6am, after a very late finish, about 2am. We got all packed up said goodbye to the dog and set off. We arrived at St Georges Market at about 7.30am and went and located our stall. We had a good spot, a little of the main path through the market. We set up.....



and waited...

After I had made my first sale I felt much better. The thought of going, putting all that effort in and selling nothing was very stressful.

After the 1st sale was the next and next. In total we sold about 50 bags on the first day, I went home very happy, but a little worried as I had only brought 92 bags with me, so I made some more that night. I was quite lucky I had some bags that were 1/2 made so just needed finished, while others had to be started from scratch. In total I was able to make and finish over 20 more. It's amazing what you can do when you backs up against it.

Sunday was not quite as busy but brisk enough. We sold another 40 bags, including all of the ones I had made on Saturday night.

So all in all it was definitely worth it. On Sunday my husband & I were able to chill out for the first time in weeks. I was asleep by 9pm.

Craft Demo, why oh why?

Why did I agree to do a craft demo? I feel very under prepared, I still have bags to frame and so much to organise and it is on Wednesday night!!!! I still feel under the weather and seriously under slept. I am at the stage when I can't see the wood for the trees.

Grrrrh......oh and my sewing machine has picked today to be "difficult". Woe is me.

I must think positive and write a list, I am a list person and that has to help. So make a list of things to do and go to bed, it all has to be better in the morning. Ta for listening, it was therapeutic just to vent a bit of stress.

Busy Busy Busy

I have been flat out lately, between work, Christmas shopping and sewing. I finally found out that I definitely have a stall at St Georges Christmas Craft Fair in Belfast, 6th & 7th December. I have been working on the theory that I was getting it and have been working on getting a decent inventory ready. As a consequence, my house looks like a fabric shop and my second bedroom has become a storage facility. I haven't been counting as I go along, but bravely checked last night and there is 100+ bags and still 2 weeks to go. Woo Hoo.


There are so many lovely bags and some new ideas I have been working on, so I am quite excited and scared all at the same time.


I have also come to the conclusion that I really need to factor in more sleeping time. I reached this decision due to the fact that I have acquired a stinking cold. When you are running a business being sick really sucks, even just from the point of view that you need some down time to get better, and during this down time all I can think about is I have so much to do. However tomorrow is another day and I'm hoping that when I wake up I will be feeling much better, as at the mo I am very motivated.

A Weekend of Sewing

This is what my work room looks like after a weekend of sewing. Little scraps and debris lying everywhere.

The floor under my sewing machine

A used tube of glue buried under some scraps

A discarded empty spool

When I am making my bags and I am doing the corners, I am left with these little squares. They remind me of little beaks, with a mixture of colours and textures. I usually keep a few sitting on the shelf above my sewing machine, for inspiration and because they make me smile.So after a major weekend of sewing what was the outcome?

16 pretty new bags, all waiting to be framed, some made with new fabrics, which have not yet hit my shop, including some lovely new Japanese fabrics. These bags are destined for a different venue, but more of that later.

Parcel Packaging

Imagine my joy when I checked into my ETSY store and discovered 3 sales tonight. I had just turned out and packed 3 custom bags, so I had to start to do more parcels. Here is what they look like when packed.

First each bag needs to get its little hanging tag.

These are from moo a great place for fun cards.

Then they get wrapped in tissue paper and get a little MOO sticker

Then they get put in a plastic baggy (to keep them dry in case the box is damaged)

with a handwritten note and some business cards.

All nicely boxed and taped ready to go to a new home.

New Things

I am always up for trying new things, so this week I decided to give PVC a go. I came across a lovely bit of red polka dot PVC in Laura Ashley which I just couldn't resist. I thought it would be really odd to sew, but it wasn't and it made a lovely little number.

I think it's just fab, great for a day at the beach as one needs to look stylish at all times, or for makeup at the gym. The possibilities are endless but we will have wait and see if the world shares my love.

Some Pretty Things

I have been working hard at starting my own business making clutch handbags. This is something I have been playing about at this for years, making bags and giving them to friends and relatives as presents. People have been telling me for ages that I should be selling my bags, but I just didn't believe anyone would buy one.

A couple of months ago I found Etsy.com, and I saw an opportunity. I had always intended to sell online because everyone has been telling me that's the way to go. Etsy allows me to have a large international market and to get some passing trade.

I set up my little shop about 4-5 weeks ago and I have had 6 sales, not quite retirement material but a good start. What has been great is that it has given me a profile and this has lead to 4 custom orders in the last 10 days from people I know.

Call back soon for an update on how things are going.