5 Things I learnt about selling face to face

1. It's very hard. You really put yourself out there for people to criticise and be rude. You need to have a thick skin and be confident enough in your product to know they are actually just rude.


How do you do this? Well start small, don't throw yourself at the mercy of a craft fair 1st time out. Take you stuff in to you work colleagues, church group, toddler group, where ever you have people who are your side. You still will get people who are a bit of hand but most people will find something positive to say. Take these comments and use them.


2. Know your market. I sell a wide range of bag sizes and I have discovered different bags for different people. Before the craft fair I thought how much do I usually spend as my max in a single purchase at a fair and with this in mind I made more of my 6inch bags. This was by far the most popular size and outsold the others hands down.


3. Find a natural born seller and befriend them. If you are quite shy about selling yourself, get someone else to do it for you, until you can see that people are interested. It is much easier for someone else to say how fab your stuff is. My person is Max, she is a true drama queen in every sense of the word, but only has my best interests at heart (btw I didn't befriend her just to sell my product). However be warned don't hard sell you customers, they will just walk away. I do.


4. Have lots of product. We all like to look and we will stop to look at someones work if there are plenty of things to look at. Have a good variety of price range, everybody has a price range and your need to cater to all.


5. Make your customer feel special. Go that extra sticker, it will pay off in the long run. No-one wants to get a lovely handmade item, or anything for that matter, shoved in a plain white plastic bag. Wrap it, stick it with some printed stickers, bag it in paper or wrap it.

Georgie has arrived, Yipee

I ordered a Georgie the Gingerbread man as part of my mum's xmas box (she doesn't read this) and he arrived today, that's what I call cutting it close. I only ordered him because he is so darned cute and even nicer reality.

He is a cubby wee man, but absolutely lovely. Don't you think? I have to admit I actually ordered 2, one for me as well, I just couldn't resist.

He was a little at risk as he wasn't dispatched until very late last week and only after some... erm... shall we say "firm" emails. In fact I had come to the conclusion he wasn't going to make it but he has.

the postie brings little parcels of joy

Some fabric has arrived, well a lot really, but I was only actually able to contain my self to photo this before ripping open the parcels. I am very impatient.

This is just the tip of the iceburg, I have a pile about a foot high (no joke) sitting waiting to be put away.

Oh and by the way for those who check-in from time to time, you are not going mad they did appear at the same time, publishing problems.

I must get back to some wrapping and tidying.

last custom order before christmas

phew! Last custom order finished for christmas. Thank goodness. I really appreciate the business but I really could have done with more time before christmas. I have that sneaking feeling I have forgotten to do something.....

Tomorrow morning I have the joy of an early morning christmas food shopping trip with my mum to marks and spencers. As we live an hour apart we will meet somewhere in the middle. My poor hubby is being ditched at work at 7.10am instead of 8am to accomodate. Why do I love christmas????

Fabric Purchases

I went on a bit of a fabric splurge today.... and bought loads. Which looking at the current state of my kitchen I clearly don't need, but anyway, now I just have to wait and see if it arrives before christmas. Fingers crossed. Back to custom orders, boy am I tired.

Craft Fair

I did get them all framed and I survived the craft fair, as well, but only with a little help from some friends. It was the most fantastic 2 days, we had great craic, drunk lots of coffee and indulged in a little cake.


It was a very early start on the Saturday morning, about 6am, after a very late finish, about 2am. We got all packed up said goodbye to the dog and set off. We arrived at St Georges Market at about 7.30am and went and located our stall. We had a good spot, a little of the main path through the market. We set up.....



and waited...

After I had made my first sale I felt much better. The thought of going, putting all that effort in and selling nothing was very stressful.

After the 1st sale was the next and next. In total we sold about 50 bags on the first day, I went home very happy, but a little worried as I had only brought 92 bags with me, so I made some more that night. I was quite lucky I had some bags that were 1/2 made so just needed finished, while others had to be started from scratch. In total I was able to make and finish over 20 more. It's amazing what you can do when you backs up against it.

Sunday was not quite as busy but brisk enough. We sold another 40 bags, including all of the ones I had made on Saturday night.

So all in all it was definitely worth it. On Sunday my husband & I were able to chill out for the first time in weeks. I was asleep by 9pm.

Will I ever be ready

Will I get these all framed in time for the craft fair?

Will I ever get my house back from the fabric and bag warehouse it has turned into???

So true

Craft Demo, why oh why?

Why did I agree to do a craft demo? I feel very under prepared, I still have bags to frame and so much to organise and it is on Wednesday night!!!! I still feel under the weather and seriously under slept. I am at the stage when I can't see the wood for the trees.

Grrrrh......oh and my sewing machine has picked today to be "difficult". Woe is me.

I must think positive and write a list, I am a list person and that has to help. So make a list of things to do and go to bed, it all has to be better in the morning. Ta for listening, it was therapeutic just to vent a bit of stress.

Busy Busy Busy

I have been flat out lately, between work, Christmas shopping and sewing. I finally found out that I definitely have a stall at St Georges Christmas Craft Fair in Belfast, 6th & 7th December. I have been working on the theory that I was getting it and have been working on getting a decent inventory ready. As a consequence, my house looks like a fabric shop and my second bedroom has become a storage facility. I haven't been counting as I go along, but bravely checked last night and there is 100+ bags and still 2 weeks to go. Woo Hoo.


There are so many lovely bags and some new ideas I have been working on, so I am quite excited and scared all at the same time.


I have also come to the conclusion that I really need to factor in more sleeping time. I reached this decision due to the fact that I have acquired a stinking cold. When you are running a business being sick really sucks, even just from the point of view that you need some down time to get better, and during this down time all I can think about is I have so much to do. However tomorrow is another day and I'm hoping that when I wake up I will be feeling much better, as at the mo I am very motivated.

Presents and Cake

A little while ago it was my other half's birthday, after much thought and a few panic purchases I had sorted out his gift (or should I say gifts). When I went to wrap them the night before his birthday I discovered our normal healthy stash of wrapping paper was in a bad way, to the point there wasn't enough unless I went into the pink options - which isn't really his colour. So I improvised.

I wrapped them in brown paper and put a strip of patterned paper over it. I was really pleased with the outcome and plan to wrap my Christmas presents in a similar way. I really fancy using this patterned paper

This paper is hand printed by Rifferaff and designed by Black Pearl Press. I have already indulged in some Christmas gingerbread paper so I think this will fit right in.

After all of my husbands pressies were ripped open at 12.05am we decided it was time for cake.

Which was just delicious in the early hours of the morning

I'm still here

I have not forgotten about, you my loyal readers, things have been very busy as I prepare for a craft demo and possibly a christmas fair, but I will be posting more later tonight. Oh and by the way check out my shop for a super christmas postage offer for everyone.

Fabric Friday

I love fabric, it's what got me into this business in the first place. I have a huge stash of material, my collection is eclectic and I love every scrap. The large amount of fabric I already own does not stop me from buying more and Etsy is a great venue to buy fab fabric. So this morning the last of my recent fabric purchases popped through the letter box.

This parcel was from FabricWorm. I even managed to contain myself from ripping it open and photographed it first.

I just love these Toadstools by Alexander Henry, and think they will make lovely bags and linings.

This batch of fabric came from fabricsupplies, I have had my eye on this Amy Butler fabric for a while and just couldn't resist buying it.

These two Michael Millar disco dots also came from fabricsupplies. I have ordered the black dot before, but have been looking for the red dot for a while.

I have taken a real liking for Japanese fabric and ordered these from Cottonblue, I spotted and bought these teacups in gray and wanted them in some other colors. My mum is a tea addict as well and I really want to make her a fun glasses case in this fabric.

The last fabric is this quirky fun lingerie fabric, it came from ThisandThatfromJapan

I have already made this into a bag.

Most of these fabrics are for a craft fair I am hoping to do in December, I'll post more of the bags from these fabrics as they are made.

Tea is good for the soul

In Northern Ireland few things are as important as a cup of tea.

Tea solves everything. You're a bit cold? Tea. Your boyfriend has just left you? Tea. You've just been told some bad news? Tea. There is nothing worse than visiting a dry house - one were you aren't offered a cup of tea within 20 minutes. Now don't get me wrong I'm not a caffeine freak (I give up that bad stuff 6 years ago and there is some great decaff out there) but I wouldn't, or maybe couldn't, get through the day without several cups of tea.



This need for tea has driven to search for the perfect teapot! To some a teapot is a teapot, but a good teapot makes a great cup of tea. So yesterday I went in search of a very special pot. I did own a teapot once, but it was cheap and made poor tea.



On the way, to find the perfect teapot, I shredded a car tyre in the middle of nowhere, battled with the complex business of releasing a spare wheel, while the the snowy wind cut through my coat, got the spare wheel on to find it was quite flat, spent an hour in a garage sorting the whole mess out before I got the teapot.



It is perfect, and makes a fab cup of tea, so all in all it was worth it.

And C.S Lewis said "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."

A bag for a bag-lady

People often think because I make bags I must have a lot of my own bags. Now while I do have a lot of bags, very few of them have been made by me. I often get the rejects, that don't quite pass quality control.

On Friday evening I was attending a formal and I decided late (and I do mean late) on Thursday night, that I fancied a new bag. Normally I would just pop out and buy one, however time was going to be tight on Friday, so at about 10.30 I decided to make a bag. I was wearing a cream embroidered corset top and a black ballgown length formal skirt.

So I settled for a cream silk with black embroidery and I lined it with bright pink fabric. Here is what I ended up with.

It was just perfect and I was really pleased with it. It got plenty of admiring glances and a few people were hoping I might make one for them.

Oh Christmas Tree

Last week when I was cutting out some christmas trees, I got a little bored and cut a new design. Here's what I come up with.

I really like the long skinny design, now all I ned to do is create more hours in the day to sew and to be honest a few more days in this month would be great.

I finally got a gingerbread boy finished and tagged so here he is.

I've popped him in my Etsy shop, so more people can get to see him.

Christmas is coming part 2

As well as the lovely Gingerbread Men & Ladies, I also make these. Hanging trees. I personally hang them from places like door handles, but there is one or two on my "Colonial" themed tree. In a few weeks I have been invited to attend a meeting to show of my bags, explain the processes involved and sell my craft, and these little lovelies are coming as well.


The dilemma is to tag or not. I usually don't, however, I normally only give these items away as gifts. The further dilemma is the tag. My usual tags look like this.


Which don't really fit in with the whole handmade Christmas decoration vibe, so I have come up with these.

This is what it looks like from a distance. I just really don't want the tag to take away from the overall look of the little tree.Ginger is also being tagged and this is the alternative I have come up with, although I think the tree tag may work equally as well.

I had promised to show some Gingerbread Boys, but they aren't baked yet so those will have to wait a little while longer, by which time I will have made up my mind regarding the tags.

A Weekend of Sewing

This is what my work room looks like after a weekend of sewing. Little scraps and debris lying everywhere.

The floor under my sewing machine

A used tube of glue buried under some scraps

A discarded empty spool

When I am making my bags and I am doing the corners, I am left with these little squares. They remind me of little beaks, with a mixture of colours and textures. I usually keep a few sitting on the shelf above my sewing machine, for inspiration and because they make me smile.So after a major weekend of sewing what was the outcome?

16 pretty new bags, all waiting to be framed, some made with new fabrics, which have not yet hit my shop, including some lovely new Japanese fabrics. These bags are destined for a different venue, but more of that later.

I've been blogged

The fab Ana from TheCreativeARK contacted me this morning about featuring me as her first artist review. I said yes, I'd be honoured and so it is, check out here to read all about it.

That little grey and moss purse is so eyecatching first a front page and then a blog.

I am still working on the little ginger bread boys and christmas trees, watch this space.

Front page

wow 2 front pages on Etsy in a week. This one this morning






And this one on last Friday. Yeh

Christmas is Coming Part 1

I just love Christmas, it's not really the presents , it's all the other things. I love the meaning behind it and the general feeling of goodwill. I adore the colours and the lights, I like to wander around with coats and scarves on and feel the cold air on my face. Most of all I like the endless opportunity to make things.

Ribbon in Proper Christmas Colours

I like to make little decorations, not really just for trees, but for anywhere you can hang them. Here are two of my little Gingerbread Girls.

Almost there, just waiting for the all important bow and buttons.

Here is a finished girl, she just needs to get a little hanging ribbon.

Just in case you think I have a girl only production factory, I do make little Gingerbread Boys, but none are currently cut out. I will post one soon. Traditionally I only give them away, to good homes of course, this year I am toying with the idea of selling them at my Etsy store.

While I was digging around in my felt box I discovered these little stockings.
I started to make these the first Christmas my husband I were married with the intent of stringing them together and making a garland, with the J & K in the centre. It appears I never got around to finishing them, so on my to do list for before Christmas this year is to finish the garland.