Last craft fair

[Chippygeoff]

I have just had my last craft fair and now I am so looking forward to taking the next three months easy. It’s also nice to unload the craftmobile, put all the seats in and the parcel shelf and have it as a normal car. For 9 months of the year it is loaded with 16 boxes full of scrolled items along with various displays.
It’s at this time of year that I start thinking about new designs and building up stocks of the more popular items. I also have to think of what I can squeeze onto two 6ft tables at the craft fairs. I am never actually in a position to display everything I take with me, which I feel is a good thing, as there is nothing worse than having void spaces on the tables.
I have come up with some unique designs for Christmas tree ornaments that have never been done before so I am looking forward to making those. I was to late for this year. I have also come up with other designs that I feel will go down well and have included a photo of just three of them at the moment. Two key racks and a baby plaque.
During the course of a day at a craft fair I get to meet a lot of people and when I first started doing craft fairs I spent several weeks trying to analyse the type of people that frequent the craft fairs. Many are grand parents and as we all know they love to spoil the grand kids so I make a lot of stuff with babies and toddlers in mind. Also a lot of the people are pet lovers so I make a lot of things with pets. Had one lady the other week who was a cat lover, quite overboard she was, I made her a very large cat and on it I put the names of all her cats. The best sellers of course are still the name signs and I now have seven different designs with the latest designs featuring animals and pets with the name in the middle.

 

[Claymore]

......

 

[nadnerb]

Hi Geoff
They look great! I know what you mean about the car, I have a scenic and I don't think the seats have been in it for the last few months. I had my last craft fair last sunday and I thought that I would stay away from the saw until after the Christmas, but I was back cutting today just for fun, scrolling is definitely additive!!
Enjoy the Christmas break
Regards
Brendan

 

[Chippygeoff]

Brian and Brendan. You brought back memories Brian. I too had a punch up with another at a craft fair last year, he was a so called childrens entertainer and had his set up right the other end of where we were poutside Tesco's, he refused to turn the noise down, everyone was complaining. I coul;d honestly not converse with customers, no one else went to ask so I went and the guy got nasty so I ended up having to defend myself, when the guy woke up he was as good as gold and turned it right down. We had a mother and daughter who had a stall, been coming for years. 2 weeks ago they had a punch up and they they come independently of each other and don't talk. such a shame.

It was a joy to drive to the supermarket earlier, the car felt very light and as you say, I did not have to have the volume up so loud in the Yeti. There is no let up for me Brendan. I really need to build my stock up again and then work on new designs. I am taking Christmas day off and boxing day.

 

[jamiecrawford]

I make most of my stuff out of reclaimed timber, lot of pallet shelves and the like. I normally get women quite interested, while the husband usually stands in the background muttering "it's just a ***ing pallet". I definitely get the fellas peering at how this and that's made, or the obvious joiners tutting at my corners on frames. I'm doing a market on Saturday, selling my new scrolled stuff, catapults, some humorous jigsaws, mirrors, decoupage pieces, mounted cross stitch (yes, I do cross stitch when I'm laid up!), coat racks and a couple of concrete pieces - a bowl and a stool. It's in Brighton, so I'm hoping to catch the late gift buyers with a few quid in their pocket. I made this Batman tea light holder today, I'll knock a few more out and hope it's a seller.

 

[rob39]

Nice work as ever Geoff, Have to agree with Brian, single women and grand parents are the best buyers, also candle makers closely watch each other and within a couple of week they are producing similar candles. As for scrolling not many people taking this to craft fairs around Ayrshire but I've certainly had a few very interested parties asking how its done. I've no doubt in the new years the place will be mobbed with steve good patterns lol.
Liking the Batman Jamie,
Rob

 

[Chippygeoff]

There is a lot of copying going on at the craft fairs. At my regular weekly craft fair a woman was told not to come any more as she went round copying other stall holders ideas. It simply is not on, most of them are struggling to make sales and do not want to see the same items on other peoples stalls. For most of the stall holders I have made signs, which state, "No photos please." As Rob said, there are not many people taking their scroll saw items to the craft fairs. I have no competiton at all, even if there was someone near by who did the same as me they would not be allowed to attend the same craft fairs as I do as the organisers will not have two people doing the same thing.

When it comes to buying I have found over the years that men very rarely buy, it is always the ladies. Many men ask me how I make the things on display, the most common question is how do I get the bits out of the wood (internal cuts) I always say that I train wood peckers. Many of the men come along to copy my ideas.and I have seen many of my designs on Facebook pages. When men get their phones out and ask if they can take a snap the usual question is, can I take a photo to see if the wife likes it.