Craft Fair Liner Hotel Liverpool, 7th August.

What a lovely day Sunday was, my 2nd craft fair was a great success! At the Liner Hotel, Liverpool it was run alongside the Psychic Fair so it had a very spiritual feel to it. There were talks on regression, aura readings, tarot readings, palm readings, massages it had tons going on. A free flowing group of customers throughout the day and lots of interseting scents and sounds filled the room.

I met some fab people as always and though I spoke to tons of people I didn't get half the cards I should have as usual.

The stalls were a mix of spiritual, selling angels, readings, incense, candles, and other objects of spiritual wonder and fashion and craft. Handcrafted cards, jewellery, adorned sunglasses, vintage wardrobe finds, soaps.

Below are 2 of the brand new designers I scouted from the many stall holders showcasing their work.

Styleeyzed - http://www.facebook.com/lian.styleeyezed
This is the place to get custom adorned sunglasses to match your bikini for your hols. Check out the styles on the facebook page and these come with free P&P within the UK.

Masquerade Jewels - http://www.facebook.com/masqueradejewels
A fabulous new designer made her debut sharing with us some unique jewellery with a peacock theme, tassels and great coloured stones. Her unique style is definately worth a check of her facebook page.

So my stall pictures are below - I changed the layout halfway through the day when I had a spare few minutes which lead to renewed interest in the product so well worth the effort - no pictures of the later display though so will have to try to remember for next time.

The event was organised by Memory Land Fairs and the link to their site is below so you can check out the next dates if you are interested in selling or shopping!

http://www.memorylanefairs.com/

And don't forget to click into my facebook page and like me so you can have regular updates about new product lines and where I will be appearing next.

http://www.facebook.com/Olganna

My first Craft Fair!

Today is my day off from mummying and its all about me, by me and for me! I have a stall at a local craft fair and will be showcasing my wares and from 10am til 4 pm.

So 9am and I am in, got my table, right at the door, practised my layout last night so I know what I am up to and 9.20 - finished, all set up. Start to write for this blog post while all the other stall holders who have intricate items and more complicated pieces to display are busy busy, pricing, setting up and exercising their artistic flair with their displays.

Its a moment of pride for us all as we step back and admire our stalls. Check, tweak, double check, tweak and yes, thats it, all done. A few photos and we are done. Ready to sell.

I added new lines with some scented hearts and makeup bags which I have been experimenting with, they went down well so pleased with that and they were an interesting addition to the table. The scent of holidays has lingered all day from the orchid and coconut used in the scented hearts - Lush!

Echoing the room are the sounds of rustling bags as we tidy up and with half an hour to go til doors open we look round and check out the competition.

Opposite me is Ria's Jewellery so we couldn't help but catch eyes all day, and next to her, Jacq of Hearts who makes the most gorgeous fabric hearts, handstitched and made with love. My competition was The Bag Laydeez, but really was no competition at all as our product was completely different and Jessies Jewels were no competition for Ria as the organiser had ensured no duplication and strategic placement of crafts to give an enjoyable mix for the browsing customer. It was an interesting and appealing mix to us all.

For me, today was about gauging my customer, working out popularity and any new product lines, based on feedback. I have spent a long time making in isolation and it did me good to get out and actually meet my market and like minded individuals on the craft circuit.  The mix of stallholders was great in terms of experience as well as product and the encouragement and friendlyness made for a really enjoyable day. I have a few new ideas and lots of feedback on other fairs, footfall, new contacts and new 'friends' who I am bound to see again as I continue with this path.

Jewellery and cards are always the most popular at these events, today there were some really simple but effective cross stitch cards by AKStitching. Really pretty and appealing for a personal touch, something different. Suttons Soap is a fairly new but successful soap company, and the scents are divine - Lush! And the display of nappy cakes by Geeta was fabulous, through doing these fairs her range has expanded since last time I saw her. There were tons of others whose cards I never picked up (including the organiser - sorry Suzanne!), too busy chatting and just forgot, but what  was apparent was how many talented people you could fit in 1 room and it was plenty of us!!!

Although sales didn't come through for all of us due to the poor foot fall due to the FANTASTIC weather (everyone must have gone to the beach) it was definately not a wasted day and I shall be back there in November, and most of the other stall holders have all booked for future dates too. So don't miss it!