Sunday 13 March 2011

Handmade Monday Week 7 - Benn Hall Craft Fair

Welcome back for this weeks handmade Monday organised by Wendy of 1st Unique Gifts.
This week i have avoided the lure of the internet in order to get myself organised for my first fair of the year.
For those of you who dont know me i began attending fairs about a year and a half ago with my best friend. Unfortunately, due to personal differences, we went our seperate ways just before Christmas and i made the decision in the New Year that i was going to start my own solo journey.
So today was the first fair for the newly formed CottonsAndDreams.
There were plenty of things to organise this week so on my day off from my "proper job"on Friday i took a trip round the shops to get final bits and pieces.
I found a lovely haberdashery stall on Northampton market and bought a lovely selection of buttons and a lovely string of embroidered coloured flowers.


Then off to The Bramble Patch for MORE fabric! They will know me by my first name soon!
In Wilkinsons i found these cool black fruit baskets and thought they would go well on my stall.
Also in Willkinsons some cream bowls for smaller items.



And after a lovely pub lunch with my mum i went home and organised myself into bag making mode!
I managed 4 more bags for the collection.






















I finally crashed into my bed at 1am last night and up again at 7 this morning to finish little bits, pack and head off for The Benn Hall in Rugby town center.
It was a decent sized fair and it was good to see a few familiar faces.
I used some long boxes at the back of the table to give me a bit of height and was overall pleased with my first attempt at setting up the stall. I know it takes a while to get your desired layout sorted. The photo below doesnt really do it justice as it looks a bit cramped and slightly cluttered.

So how did i do?
Well i didnt make a million and was a bit disappointed that there wasnt a lot of interest in the bags but i DID sell quite a few of my fabric flower brooches and a really good selection of everything else plus an order for a bolster cushion so i am a very happy and very tired lady this evening!
And i have another fair on Tuesday at Blooms garden center so fingers crossed for more sales.
Thanks for taking the time to pop by and if you have the time check out what the other participants of Handmade Monday have been up to this week by visiting Wendys blog and clicking on the links.
Until next time.
xxx








21 comments:

  1. I love your stall layout though - its very clean and fresh looking :-) I admit I am a Wilkinson's "Virgin" as the store just not to long in the distant past here - but if they have goodies to be had I will be there ! :-)

    Francesca x

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  2. Your stall looks fab - the black background makes your colours "zing"!

    I'm a fan of your bags - those flowers finish them off beautifully :-)

    Thanks for taking part in Handmade Monday x

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  3. Love your stall and all your creations, sorry you did not do as well as you would have liked but good on you for going it alone.
    Thank you for stopping by by blog.

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  4. It's really nice to see in pictures how your stall came together. The bags look lovely - hope there are more bag lovers there on Tuesday!
    Anna x

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  5. I'm really proud of you setting up on your own. Your range of items is really building up and I'm sure the bags will sell. I love the last one!! xx

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  6. Well done and you have done amazingly well.

    Drew

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  7. Thanks to all for your comments on the stall layout, it's made me feel a little more positive. Glad you like the denim bag CJ as it's actually for someone at work and she hasnt seen it yet as i wanted to see if it sold first!!

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  8. Well done on going out there on your own, i'd be very proud of a set up like that, you had some wonderful things on display.
    Good luck for Tuesday :)

    Kimberley x

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  9. Your stall looks amazing, the colours really do stand out. you're brave doing it alone.. ive never done one, a little scared lol. your bags are amazing.. really really pretty x

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  10. Good for you for stepping out by yourself. Your stall looks excellent; really attractive and very professional. Beautiful work too.

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  11. Hi Lisa, your new bags are great, LOVE the blue one! Will see you tomorrow at Blooms, this will be my first fair of the year, hoping the weather stays nice!

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  12. I love how everything seems to float on the black, very effective. I can't believe you make those bags, they are awesome. Good job! :)

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  13. Love your bags, the flowers are gorgeous. It's a great idea to take the smaller items too, the bags will draw the attention but hopefully somebody will have taken your details and be back for one. Try some smaller purses, I found these sold at fairs. Good luck with your next one xx

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  14. What a eye catching stall. The colours just zing. Hope your next fair goes a bit better and you have some more sales. I like the black bag the best.

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  15. I really love you bags - must try to save up instead of spending it all on beads!

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  16. I think your stall looks lovely and well done on 1st craft fair sounds like you had a good day these things are a bit hit and miss sometimes but keep going it will be worth it as your bags are so cute
    xx

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  17. Your bags are so fresh and pretty - lovely work!

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  18. Love your stuff.. really do, you're very clever x

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  19. hi lisa, i was selling at the spring craft fair too-i was on the stall opposite you selling cupcakes etc,well i loved your bags but couldnt decide which one to buy!! do you still have the pink polka dot one as i would love to buy it? xx

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  20. Lynsey, thank you so much. I actually sold 4 bags at Blooms garden centre today and have 3 orders so will be producing more this weekend. Not sure how to contact you but if want the pink polka dot one email me on cottonsanddreams@btinternet.com and we can sort it out.

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  21. Good Luck with Cottons and Dreams - your stall looks fabulous.
    Those bags are so lovely - they WILL sell. Sounds like Tuesday's fair was better.
    Rebecca x

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