Welcome to my blog... I'm going to post some pictures of the things I've been making and record the progress of my venture into the world of crafty commerce.
I've been focusing on making jewellery from recyled beads and these are for sale on a fantastic little stall in Afflecks Palace in Manchester. As well as using recycled materials I make some of my own beads and love nothing more than shopping for new beads. I am also co-producing a recipe book and love baking so have included my baking adventures too.

Sunday 2 May 2010

My first solo stall..what I did learn

I had my first stall yesterday at 'the mansion' in Rusholme, Manchester. I spent the week before working my eyes out making lots of stock and thinking about packaging and signs and presentation. There is alot that goes into making a stall. My stall was really homemade looking but I quite liked that. I ended up with lots of stock and it did look really good together.




The best part of it was talking to other stall holders, there was about 5 stalls. I got some really good advice and asked them lots of questions... I recommend anyone starting out to pester existing stall holders.. I think they'll probably like it- If I had worked hard getting everything right and becomming successful I would be really proud or myself and enjoy talking about how ace I was.


www.courtesanlatex.com, www.thedandd.etsy.com, www.busybetsy.etsy.com


A man said that the usual crowd would have gone nuts for my stuff. I did sell some bits- mainly the polymer clay jewellery which was interesting.. What was more interesting was seeing everyones reaction to different pieces... certain pieces really attracted people you could see them point at them. Some people were also really helpful.. top tip number 2- ask the customers what they think. That was really helpful.. be prepared as people will be brutally honest with you.

The fashion show was pretty cool too, there was tshirts, jugglers, poi-ing, deconstructed clothing and latex.. oh the latex.

I'm also going to invest in some busts for the necklaces as all laid out it was a bit overwhelming with all the colours. I need a way to display my bundle bracelets as they do look much better on... any ideas? I want a way of encouraging people to try them on.. I did tell them to and I showed them what they looked like on.

Also packaging is really important. Im also going to look into that my sister suggested lovely tissue paper which is simple and effective and I have some brown paper bags with my details on.
So all in all it was really interesting and i'm also taking some of my jewellery to a craft fair tomorrow and have listed the rest on etsy.

http://www.theblackkatdesigns.etsy.com


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2 comments:

  1. asfjh3 May 2010 at 12:38

    The thought of someone being brutally honest about stuff with me makes me feel really uneasy, but probably as I imagine they can say weirder shit than they actually say. How did you make the sign? I like the writing, is it your handwriting or is it a font?

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  2. TheBlackKatDesigns3 May 2010 at 15:07

    Thanks- it's my handwriting. I just wrote it out on paper and put the white paper over it and taped it down so it was stretched and just traced it. I was going to use paint but found a permanent marker worked really well.

    They werent ever horrid but just said what they liked and didnt. People had opinions on everything which was really usefull and I did ask them so it wasn't like they just came out with it.

    The children had some of the best feedback though I liked seeing which ones they were drawn to.

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