Sunday, May 04, 2008

my first craft stall

The stall we had at the May day fair was kind of how I expected it was going to be. Both me and my sis sold a few items each, so not a complete waste of a day but not a resounding success either (although our mum insisted on buying something from each of us, and we tried to protest, but in the end just let her do it because she wanted to support us both)

my stuff

my sisters stuff
Very early on in the day we came to the conclusion that we had the wrong audience - and we may have made a lot of money if we had been to the cash and carry and filled our car with boxes of sweets to sell.
At one point during the day two children came up to me to ask me for £2. I asked them why they needed £2 and they said that they wanted to go on the bouncy castle. I told them to ask their mum for some money, and their answer was that mum needed her money to buy some drink (I presume they meant wine/beer etc). I told them that I couldn't give them my money because I needed it and they walked away saying 'It didn't work'. Damn right it didn't - I would say that I was more in need of £2 than those kids were! I'm just astounded how bold (note use of polite word - insert a stronger one if you wish) some kids are these days.

We were not completely deterred by our first craft stall and decided that maybe we should do a craft fair next time - and see how our stuff goes down with the right target audience. The good news about not selling so much is that we both have things to fill up our esty shops. I will do this tomorrow.
Check out my sisters shop here - she's already uploaded some of the stuff she didn't sell.

I needed to make some more greetings cards and people keep saying to me that my cards are not boyish enough. With this in mind I picked some coloured papers from my stash, and started to sew them together
I then added a bit of gocco lettering and did some creative cutting and this is what I have come up with. What do you think? Is this something that you would buy for a man/boy?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice boyish cards, I would buy them for boys/men :)

Also craft fairs/stalls, always totally hit and miss I'm afraid, you will have a fab one, and then a blooming awful one, no reason at all, sorry :(

Those kids, blimey! I cannot say what I would have done/said!

Monkee Maker said...

Mum's are great aren't they? Dear of your Mum! Both your stalls look fab ... craft stalls and car boots - people always want something for nothing.

And those kids! Cuh! Better luck next time with a .... different audience ...

:)

ps. the boy-y greetings are great.

pps. this week a man came to my office for an appointment and asked me if I had a pound for the parking meter. I said "No, sorry" (I wasn't sorry ... damn cheek!). Turned out he was a minister. Gulp. I'm going downstairs ...

Mrs Moog said...

Your stall looks great and I'm glad you both sold some of your lovely goodies. It's a real shame you didn't sell more but it's always hard to tell with any fair.
On the plus side...all the more for us bloggy peeps to buy :)

As for your cards - I think they're fab (pleeease stop tempting me with the Gocco stuff!!).
You'll find though that people will always say 'Oh, it's a shame you don't have more cards for boys/dogs /elephants/weddings/funerals/etc etc!!!! Anything to avoid spending money on something special that they'd never find in Tesco's!

Oh dear, I seem to be ranting. Maybe I should go......

xxx

Unknown said...

Great looking stall, it's a shame you didn't sell as much as you wanted to.

I like you're 'boy' cards, the colours are lovely and I'd happily give it to a girl too.

Lesley is right. My mam sells her own cards and people are always asking for something she hasn't got or complaining that the ones she does have aren't quite right!


ps - hope stevie is doing well!

Gina said...

Your stall looks fantastic! I've done craft fairs/bazaars etc for years now and sometimes you sell loads and other times nothing. It always seems so random and I've often said never again! But it always lures me back! The cards for boys look great (I'd buy them!)
Gina x

PS Hooray for your Mum!

Locket Pocket said...

Those cards are gorgeous and very boy/man-ly!

Sorry your first sale wasn't a fabby success - from experience I'd say this is very often the case unfortunately - hopefully things will go much better in Etsy where you will have customers who truly appreciate the time and effort that goes into hand-made things.

Those children were incredible to ask you for the money! I'm stunned!

Off to drool over your Etsy shop now (but sadly with no money in my recycled pocket to buy anything at the moment!)

Lucy x

syko kajsa said...

Your booth looks great! Glad you are not giving up, better luck next time! Those boyish cards look great, love the writing!

rachelmp said...

I think your stall looks lovely - I'm glad there is etsy for the truely appreciative. Those kids... I'm glad they are not mine.