New Year New Outlook

 Trashing my Stash

So a new year of crafting has begun and the craft group Iattend weekly have done the usual recycling of Christmas cards for the first meet of the year.

I do not receive loads of Christmas cards, but enough to join in. This year though I decided not to make tags or reuse the front of the cards for new cards, instead I made a couple of folders and some notepads. 

Next week the group will be making some of the notebooks as they liked the idea of having them to give as little presents. These will probably not be made with christmas cards but with papers from our stashes.

Mini books made from one sheet of 12 x 12 and decorated on the front with a recycled card

The insides have been given pages to record Christmas Cards and presents recieved this year and on the back items for Christmas 2025. 

I also made Some folders to put tags and notebooks in:

The notepad was made using a small card with folded paper from my craft stash. I always keep any copy paper that is approximately A5 or larger and make notepads with them. These can be the leftover from scrapbooks, or the other half the page when I print postage labels. As I sell on ebay (5170 Denise) I gather up quite a few sheets, and they are just right for this project. The folder is made from a 12 x 12 paper, this is actually “The 12 days of Christmas by Crafters Companion” which I had completely over purchased when it was on offer. I am selling a couple of pads and decided to blitz the remaining sheets. 

Scored at 5 7/8” and 6 1/8” one side turn and score at 6” This makes the binder centre. Then fold the bottom 2 squares into the centre folds. Fold up the bottom half to meet the top . Once you have burnished the fold, place a narrow strip of glue of tape along centre seam and fold up to make the storage areas. The bottom picture show the small notepad inside the folder and I will probably add some tags to the other side.

As well as these folder I made myself a mini brag book. This is a 12 x 12 sheet scored at 3,6,and 9” on both sides and then cut to enable the sections to be folded to make a book. 

I thought I would make a Christmas version and a general version, and then all the items I make this year will have a picture taken and placed on a page in the book, making them into a portfolio of makes during 2025. 

  There are 14 pages for projects . I may need 2 of the general version but this one will do for Christmas cards, and projects.

Whilst doing these projects I realised I had far too much in the cupboards for easy use,  and am in danger of buying more because I cannot find something. So I am making this years resolutions to TRASH MY STASH and empty some of the cupboards. I want to be ruthless, and my  first project worked well for this.So check back soon to see what I made and how I cleared out some old stock.

Happy Crafting

Dee.

Craft Fair RoundUp

Christmas Craft Fairs 

Hello everyone. It’s been a while since my last post as I have been busy with 4 November Craft Fairs and life in general.

I thought I would finish 2024 off with a round up and  look back at the year of crafting, what worked at the Craft Fairs and what did not sell so well.

So over the year I did 6 local craft fairs. The furthest I travel for a fair is 30 miles (45mins) from where I live. The shows are small local events mainly church and village hall affairs . The table prices range from £15 for 2hours to £10 for 10-3.30, so a very different mix. Three of the fairs run in my home town and are the 10 - 3.30, all day fairs,  for £10 a table, but the results are very different during the year.

Christmas fairs are more consistent and generally better sales, but i like to take part in different venues during the year, even with low turnover for the day, as it is an opportunity to trial new makes and talk to customers and fellow crafters. You can see new trends and hear about other crafters successes. 

As this was my first full year selling my bags I decided to keep a note of sales and stock movement, and compare the venues. To make a comparison I took into account the travel time and length of the fair, as well as the cost of the table. 

The result was surprising with a 2 hour Christmas Craft fair coming in at over double the revenue of the other fairs. 

Next I looked at the best selling items:

This was a surprise result. The highest selling item were my homemade cards, as I had only taken them to the Christmas fairs, to trial 2 new designs (Star cards, and Tag cards) I was really pleased with the 50 sales, which  resulted in the 2nd highest revenue .

No 1: - were the brooches in jewellery pouches. These were packaged as a gift idea. You choose a brooch and a jewellery pouch for £5. 

No 2 : I have been trying several different bags over the past 18 months, and this year the craft bag was the best selling bag, this is a wide tote with 4 outside pockets. I sold 8 with a total revenue of £53.

No 3:  best seller were the makeup bags, I sold them individually and in sets, these often use up the pieces of fabric left when I cut a large bag, and are priced depending on the fabric cost and size, prices range from £3.50 to £8.95 for a set of 2. 

No 4: Fabric covered notebooks. These ranged from full A5 covered books to small handbag notebooks, the smaller one proving good stocking fillers. 

No 5: Christmas Gift Bags. Disappointingly I only sold 6 and this gave me £24 revenue. I will need to rethink How I present them on the table as they are a good medium size and competitively priced so are worth trying again. 

No 6: Tote bags. Great to throw in the handbag and a good size for a crochet bag, but I need to look at including a couple of internal pockets and perhaps a drawstring top and rebranding.

No 7: Shopper Bags. These are a good size and lined, and sold well in 2023, but slowed down this year, again I think I need to find a way to present them well on the table, also I am going to try some with fun transfers. 

No 8: Pad Bags. I sold 2 of these @ £7.50 each . The bags have a zip and handle, they contain 4 reusable makeup pads inside, and are a suitable size to carry sanitary products. 

No 9: Alternative Selection boxes. These were made the size of a selection box, with the idea that they can be reused each year to give a a selection of favourite sweets or chocolates. 

No 10: coming in at number 10 are my Nightdress cases. I did not have many of these so it was difficult to make a show of them on the table, and I think they got lost, Whilst I loved them I doubt if I will continue them, as I am not sure if they are used that much nowadays, although I usually take one on holiday to keep the room tidy. 

So thats a round up of my sales for 2024. These figures were interesting and in-house statistics are the most reliable. They will help me decide what I make to sell in 2025, however as I sew for something to do and as a hobby, what I make is also decided by what I enjoy making. I will continue with shoe bags ( I think there is a market for them),   glass cases  and pad bags even though they have small sells, as they compliment the other bags I make.. All the money from sells throughout the year goes to my local hospital, and I have outlets with friends who sell for good causes for items that do not sell on my tables. I will also be looking a making cards again, and hopefully introducing a few gift items.

Happy New Year Everyone

I will be back soon with new makes and crafty ideas. So keep popping by, subscribe and leave me comments,

Dee