Sunday 30 November 2014

Chrismas Craft Fayre. Some afterthoughts

I took part in my first Craft Fair last Saturday. I mean - as a felter and on my own. I've left it rather late so when this village fair came up (it was their first year) I grabbed the palce immediately.
In general it was a good and pleasant experience. Venue was warm, light and suitable decorated, stuff was very helpful and everything was arranged nicely. (Thank you, Ruth!). Fellow crafters were very friendly and quite a lot of local people turned up. Here are the pictures of my stall. Unfortunately my camera is out of order at the moment so I'd to use the old one hence poor quality pictures, sorry!


Chrismas Craft Fayre - Getting ready

Chrismas Craft Fayre - In process



I've sold quite a few items so it was fine from this side too. But still there were some disappointing things and it seems they are general and regular for practically every fair or show which are not large scale craft shows:
- the buyers of my staff were mainly friends, friends of friends, members of stuff and other makers. General publc - very few.
- people attending were not ready to pay more than ...The most of my items were out of that range even if I was selling them cheaper than usually in the shop.
- the majority of visitors had no idea about felt, what was this "fabric" and so on... I am thinking about doing demonstration next time!
All this is quite understandable, but still frustrating. I need to think it over and learn the lesson.
Hope you have nice time with your fairs if you are taking part in any!

8 comments:

  1. Your booth looks marvelous! It's always a learning experience but you really shouldn't lower your prices - your work is really good. You just need to find the right market - always the hard part.

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    1. Yes, I know that to find a right place is important... Anyway it was a valuable experience and I had a nice time. Thank you Ruth!

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  2. Your stall looks great, I love how you have your fish on little podiums (it's always good to have a variety of heights on your stall). I agree, felting demonstrations may be the way to go, I have been having similar thoughts, I don't think many people really understand how felt is made even after I've tried to explain it to them...

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    1. "I don't think many people really understand how felt is made even after I've tried to explain it to them." - absolutely the same! Some were talking about "some glue" or needle felting at the best. And demonstration always attract attention. May be in summer I'll try it...

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  3. I'm glad that in spite of some dissapointing moments your fair went well and that you sold some of your beautiful stuff. Your stall looks gorgeous, so colourful and so many attractive items. I am going to a Christmas fair this Saturday. i have informed all of my friends from that area to come.

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    1. "i have informed all of my friends from that area to come." Well done, it's always nice to have support from friends I wish you to have a great time and a lot of sales!

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  4. Your stall looked very inviting - and your felted items are not only very attractive but also of a high quality.

    It's a sad fact, but the only time you will get fair payment for your goods is when they are presented to people who either don't have to ask 'how much?' or who simply appreciate their real value.

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    1. Thank you Lyn! Yes, felt is a tricky thing to sell apparently!

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