The Easter Bag & Card Workshop

Gift Bag & Easter Card

Hi Crafters

You will have seen from a previous post that I was going to take part in a craft workshop for my WI group.

I had been asked to provide papercrafts and suggested a gift bag and Easter card. As it was a short run up to the actual craft day I put together the bag and card quickly to give anyone attending an idea of what they would be making. `they could choose from knitting, sugar crafts, paper-crafts, beading and sewing.

When it came time to prepare my groups items I decided on a bigger bag and a slightly different finish to the card.

As you can see we used the Tim Holtz leaping bunnies to decorate both the card and the bag. I used the 8 x 8 bag from Sam Calcott and cut and scored all the papers ready for the group of ladies taking part so they could finish both in the time. 

From my vast stash of ribbon I found some lovely cream ribbon 1cm wide with rabbit on. 

Here are the Instructions 

Card is a 6 x 6 Kraft Card 

Coordinating 4” square cut with a 3” circle die

Doily 

Tim Holtz Leaping bunny topper

Insert:- copy paper 11” x 5.5” folded in half

Bag

2 pieces of 12 x 12

Both cut down to 8 x 8 

Used cut-offs to make 3 pieces 8” x 4”

1st 8 x 8 is scored at 1.5” and 7 1/8”

2nd 8 x 8 is scored at 7 1/8th

2  side panels are scored at 1.5” and 2.5” lengthwise

Turn and score at 1/2” and 3.5”

Then score at 2” down to first score line

3 piece is score at 1/2” and 3.5”

Punch 2 holes along the top score line of the front and back

2 - 2.5” from either side

Put together and decorate to match the card

Everyone seemed to enjoy the afternoon and we finished in plenty of time, each person took home a lovely bag and card, with ideas of making more, particularly for Christmas. 

Happy Crafting 

Dee

Covered Journal

 Reusable Covers for your Journals

As a lover of pretty stationary, one of the items I have started to sew for my craft stall, is a fabric Journal Cover. The journal slips into the cover so that when you have filled it up you can slip it out and re-use the cover on the next journal you use. 

 I have then added a decorative closure 

As I enjoy making charm & beaded danglies I have added them to one or two of my Journals.

The two above use the same fabric, one decorated with an elastic fastener with a decorative button.The other one has a printed elastic closure with a large elephant charm.

Both have been made with embroidered fabric.

The third  one also used embroidered fabric with a lovely red flower. On this one I added a beaded dangly I had made from recycled jewellery..

These will be a regular on my stall as I see people using notebooks all the time and I think a lot of people like the action of writing down their daily lives rather than just using their phones and iPads, both of which I have but I find it much easier to look back over my memorable moments when they are written down, so I keep a journal for design and craft ideas, travel-logs and notes from meetings etc.

Back soon with the outcome of my spring fair.

Dee

Another Craft Fair item

 Travel Bag & Makeup Bag

So here are my bag sets for holidays and weekends away. I think they would make great Mothers stay gifts.

The larger bag will hold lingerie , nightwear etc , while the smaller bag is o perfect for makeup 

I have decorated the larger bag with a solid cream tassel .

I have several sets  in a  good choice of fabric patterns.already made and packaged.

Back with another show item tomorrow

Happy Crafting 

Dee

Easter Egg Collecting bags

 More items for the Craft Fair next week

So my machine came out ready to make items for the Craft Fair next week. I had some items to finish and I wanted to make some small bags suitable for Easter egg collecting. 

These bags were made with 2 pieces of fabric 12” x 15”. I used one piece of fabric from my fat quarter stash and I piece from the upholstery fabric end of rolls fabric, as this saved using a stiffener to form the basket. The handles were made from a yarn that is made from recycled cotton called Bobbing. I love it for craft work and purchased it from a shop called  Magpies  in Bideford, when I was visiting North Devon last year. The yarn is strong enough for this type of small bag and is soft enough for little hands.

I added a pocket to the front with a piece of matching “fat Quarter” fabric which was embellished with an Easter Bunny.

These cute baskets will hold enough eggs for anyone to enjoy.

I have made just 5 to try at the Craft Fair. 

Check back soon to hear more about the Craft Fair.

Happy Crafting 

Dee.

Next Workshop

Easter Workshop 

With the new year underway, I am looking forward to trying to work through some of my craft stash. After recycling my Christmas cards, I am moving on to pastures new. 

I have been asked to do a workshop in March and was looking for an Easter based project. Looking at the papers in my stash I decided to offer a gift bag and matching card. The papers were The Paper Tree card pad and to decorate I just love Tim Holtz Leaping Rabbits, for Easter. 

I cut the rabbits from Kraft Card, and used distress inks around the outer edges to give them some colour layers. One of the 3 rabbits in the set was used on the card. I  l cut 2 layers of  the same papers as the bag, with a few strands of string around the top layer, before the rabbit was added to the top 

I

The bag is made using a video from Sam Calcott.

I thought  the bag would be the right size for Easter Egg hunt or for an Easter Gift ..

My problem now is: I have a craft fair coming up at the beginning of March and some sewing to do to make my stock levels up, but now keep seeing paper projects I want to try. So keep watching to see which craft gets my attention 

Happy Crafting 

Dee 

Christmas Craft Fairs & Me

 Christmas Fairs 2023

Hello Crafters

It ‘s been nearly 2 months since my last post, so what has happened and how did  I do at Christmas Fairs, with my new products.

Well as anyone who reads my blogs will know, this has not been a good year for me, and Nov and December continued the trend. My first Christmas Fair was a lovely large one in a country town near Bristol. Run by the Methodist church it is spread over 3 halls and runs from 10-4, with their members supporting the event and coming out from Bristol to buy their Christmas presents. It has in the past been my best event for income and I was looking forward to seeing how my new products went. Unfortunately I had Covid the week before the event and although I was showing clear on the Friday before the event I would not attend as I may pass it on, but also this Covid was totally exhausting and even with a friends help for the day I could not have managed the 10 hour day with the loading, unloading and standing most of the 6 hours of the Fair, so that was the main event of the year gone.

I did a local fair in a neighbouring village in early November and this was to be my only Christmas Fair for 2023. As it only lasted from 10 - 1.30, I had decided I could manage it on my own and set off in time to set up for 10am. All ready and with my table set up with my lovely Christmas pieces I stood at the side of the table happy to converse and show my products. Imagine my horror, when after an hour and a quarter , I had not sold an item. Being an experienced seller I did not let it show, but I was very worried that this could be the first show where I did not sell an item. At times like this you have to put a smile on, look around and see how everyone else is doing and if you can learn anything from their successses. 

The table next to me was a friend I know from Craft group and she was doing reasonably well with her beautifully painted Plant Pots and other items, although from chatting to her (probably not quite up to previous years). Other tables were selling though not in large numbers. 

After the Bell-ringers had performed for 15 minutes or so, I made my first sell. 4 Christmas cards, which whilst not a vast amount, it represented a good sell for me as Christmas cards have become a difficult sell and I had decided only to take my individual cards which I was selling at £1.95 each or 2 for £3.50. So to sell 4 to one customer was very pleasing. Behind this customer another lady came up to the stall picked up 4 of my Christmas shopper bags, and handed me the money without blinking or conversation. This helped my confidence and I continued to make steady sells with a little burst at the end of the day. 

So what did  not sell:-

Surprisingly I did not sell one of the lovely origami boxes filled  with Quality Street and Roses chocolates inside 

Nor did my Fabric Covered Journals, or the wallet Christmas gift bags, large shopper bags or Very disappointing the Worry Worms. 

What did sell:-

Well, as mentioned before my Christmas cards and I sold a few more after the initial sell. 

My Christmas shopper bags went well, and I sold a few Shoe Bags, and 3 more of the Craft Bags which had been my best seller at the Autumn craft fair I attended. 

All in all I sold reasonably well for a half day fair, and if the dates fall right next year I will attend again. I have already booked the larger fair previously mentioned as I feel this will be a good test of my products.

As you know I. Make these items for the fun of it and sell them for Charity. So the disappointment of not being able to attend the larger Christmas Fair meant I had a much smaller amount to give to the local hospital, however this was boosted with money taken at Pawlett Village Hall Coffee morning in December. The committee kindly offered me a table free of charge, as it was for the local hospital. And in the hour I was there I took £53, which meant I am able to add this to the pot.  I was also asked to have a stall at a coffee morning in a nearby parish who were holding the Coffee morning for SURE. Although this was open for 3 hours I only managed to raise £35 form them. This event suffered from the number of events going on in the vicinity, and was not therefore that well attended. At both coffee mornings I did sell items not previously sold such as the origami boxes and the Worry Worms, so it was good for the soul, and you always learn from attending any events, by chatting to customers and event organisers and others attending. 

Mock-up Table for Christmas Craft fair

By the end of the events I had rallied from  the disappointment of missed opportunities and already planning tables for next year. Selecting items to keep in stock and letting go those that do not work so well. I passed on bags and cards to a friends daughter, who sells to colleagues and friends for a Cancer charity, I do this with my paper products that I make and are surplus to requirements, and Sarah recently emailed me to say her sails this year from items I had given her had raised £200. So I am happy with the amount of money raised over the last year for various Cancer charities and the 2 hospitals where my husband received his treatments. 

Crafting is a great comfort and stress releaser, and I would recommend it to anyone facing difficult times. It has certainly helped me get through this year and feel ready to go into 2024 with a little more hope. 

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY CHRISTMAS and PEACEFUL NEW YEAR

Dee

August Craft Show results

Results from the August Craft stall

 It has taken some time to get back to you on my craft stall at the August Bank holiday.

Here is my table. As you can see it is a bit pushed together, and I realised I needed to look very carefully at the layout of future stalls. 

I did reasonably well. The fair had a good footfall, although not all the people wandering around are looking to purchase as there are many activities outside the hall during the day, and a lot of families come for them with a visit to the crafts hall an extra item for them rather a reason to attend. 

But I held my own and had some successes, plus I learned a lot. There is always plenty to learn when attending any craft fair, and I am not a great sales person so I need all then help I can get. Usually once I get talking to people it results in a sale and several people showed interest in visiting my stall at the Christmas Fair I am attending so that was promising.

Talking to other stall holders I picked up some great marketing tips. I had mentioned I was no salesperson and happily took some suggestions from one of the other stall holders. A younger woman who had an handle on the younger market, and suggested tags for some of my products that would expand their purposes.   

The day started slowly, but I managed to sell a couple of items before midday so that helped keep my spirits up. A few people I knew popped in and by 2pm I had made a few more sales, spoken to a lot more people and was actually feeling good about my new venture. It is a hobby, and I hope to be able to pass some profits on to my local hospital, so I was encouraged when at the end of the day I had sold all my  4 pocket Craft Bags. I had brought 6 with me and they were the most expensive item on the table (although very reasonable at £7.50). In fact too cheap to really make any money, but I wanted to test the market so I thought it useful to set the prices lower at that particular fair. As the bags use over  a metre of fabric and take   1.5hrs to make they will be sold for £9.50 at the Christmas markets. 

The medium Tote bag did not sell and I need to rethink the packaging  and presentation for that bag.

I sold a few shopping bags, once I hung some over the end of the stand so people could see them as they were approaching the table. A shoe bag and several purses and small wallets, as well as Makeup bags and tissue holders etc. 

So what have I learnt from all this and what am I doing differently for my next Craft Fair.

• I am being selective about what products I show. Limiting the amount of items to fit the table size, so that buyers can see the products more easily. 
• Items will be priced individually instead of on a Price List.
• The products will be called a specific name i.e Craft Bag, Pad Bag etc so if buyers are looking for a bag for a specific purpose they can see it more easily. I will be careful not to limit the products use, so wallet shaped bags will be called that with a size, as they are so multi-purpose.
• I am considering the craft fair and people who attend, and as it is a Christmas Craft fair I have adapted some items and made new version for the Christmas theme 
• I have attended the Christmas fair before and the buyers come to purchase Christmas presents and are looking to spend so I have purchased an Electronic payment machine and set it up with my phone, in order to take card payments. (Something I talked to other stall-holders about at the August fair) 
• A friend is coming with me so I hope to be able to engage with more buyers as I will have the time, this really is necessary if the fair is an all-day event.

I am looking forward to the the 2 fairs I am attending in November and will be reporting back after each one with what went well and what did not, and anything I have learnt from them.

In the meantime I am also doing some paper crafting , just for fun and have made half of my `Christmas cards, as well as donating several cards and fabric items to a friend who sells them to colleagues and friends for a cancer charity. I am trying to downsize my paper craft items, and with the extra time I have nowadays enjoy designing items that use up what I already have. 

Happy Crafting

Dee