My first craft fair (part 1)

Nearly a year ago (July 2013) I attended my first ever craft fair as a vendor.  I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to show you – oops!  It was one of the hottest days of the year, the Wimbledon tennis final was playing and my legend of a mother helped me set up my first craft stall.  If you knew my mum you would know how much of a sacrifice this was for her, especially as Andy Murray ended up winning!  *thanks again mum – I love you!

I was a little anxious at first.  I had spent the majority of the week leading up to it frantically making more stuff thinking that I didn’t have enough.  It was a beautifully sunny week that I had booked off work.  With hindsight I should have chilled my boots a little and enjoyed the sunshine, but hey-ho!

Once we got there I was really excited.  We were allocated a great spot, and I couldn’t wait to get set up and have a wander around all of the other stalls (I do after all love a good craft fair).  As you can see from the pictures, there was soooo much on offer.  There was the sound of vinyl records playing whilst girls had retro makeovers at a mobile vintage hairdressers, all kinds of different arts and crafts and plenty of antiques and vintage for the second-hand junky.

I took about a million pictures, so I’m writing this post in pieces.  Special thanks to: Greenside Deli, Juniper Creates,  Studio Aitch, Me and Thee, and Vintage Rosie For allowing me to take their picture for this (extremely belated) post.

Reetsweet March 2012

Almost exactly one year ago I went to this awesome craft fair in Sheffield.  I can't believe I forgot to share it nearer the time - I only came across these photos again whilst browsing through some old pics and thought they're too good not to share!  I actually ended up buying one of those felted tooth brooches - cute.

Sharrowvale Market

Last weekend was Sharrowvale Market.  It comes along once in a while (I think monthly, but I'm not entirely sure) and I try to catch it when it's here because it's full of great stalls featuring local artists, crafts, vintage and antique items, yummy food and great music too!  I bought myself a few treasures this time around, and we also managed to bag a few great presents for friends (I'll share more later).

I feel so lucky to live in an area that offers such great opportunities to discover new local talent.  I just love markets full stop, but this one is a particular gem!

Heather Dewick

When I visited a vintage and craft fair back in February I was really excited by the amount of beautiful items that were on display.  One of my favourite stalls of the day was this one from book binder Heather Dewick.

As you can see, her designs are eye-catching and beautifully made.  I felt so inspired by her stall and can't wait to get started on giving book-binding a go myself!  If you would like to buy something of hers yourself, you can find her online shop here.

Lui

When I visited a craft fair last month I came across so many lovely craft stalls.  One of my absolute favourites of the day was Lui; she makes beautiful jewellery from old stamps and vintage travel keepsakes.  Her stall was totally charming and well styled.  See more of her here.

Sheffield Vintage & Craft Fair

Earlier this month I went along to a vintage and craft fair I'd seen advertised in Sheffield.  I'd seen this particular venue advertise V+C fairs a few times, but due to various circumstances I could never make it.  This time though I had a weekend free so made sure I got myself down there, and am I glad I did!

I found so many amazing things, I just had to get my phone out and take many many pictures... Yeah, I forgot my camera again!

There was a good mix of vintage and handmade - I did really well not to come away with a million things I didn't really need.  I got talking to some stall holders too, and picked up a few business cards.  I'll blog separately about some of the awesome stalls I saw there, otherwise this post could end up waaaay too long.

All in all I came away feeling really inspired and motivated to get going with my own potential stall.  Since then I've been busy extending my inventory, thinking up packaging and display ideas, and making making making!
Who knows, maybe next I'm I go there will be with stall of my own.

- Lois x