Tuesday, 13 August 2013

The first craft fair for Ty Siriol at Abergavenny Art & Crafts Fair.

I've wanted to do a craft fair for years but have been putting it off for ages for the fear of not being able to guarantee being well for the day. Unfortunately, I'm not even able to guarantee being well on my wedding day next day and at the moment I'd say it's 50/50. However, I'm not going to get any better so I bit the bullet and went for it any way. 

I choose to start off slowly so I opted for a local craft fair in Abergavenny. It's on a Thursday once a month and has a very relaxed feel to it. I've been to a few of them as a customer and chatted to some of the stall holders who were kind enough to encourage to go for it. So with a great big push from Mr Ty Siriol I signed up.

Thankfully I was aware of how much work is involved behind the scenes after the many car boot sales I've done in the past. Of course, this is not a car boot so presentation was more important. My brother was kind enough to make some props for me to use on the stall. He made me some shelves and a pendant tree. It is useful having a carpenter in the family and all he charged was a few lagers, even better!! So look out for his handy work in the pics. 

I had a practise run in my dining room and set up my stall. I'm glad I did as well as I found a few problems with the set up that were fixed before the day. I have to say a huge thank you to everyone on facebook who gave me some great advice. In particular I have to thank a friend of mine, Cookie, from Cookie & Mo who was invaluable to me. Please help me show her my appreciation by popping by her facebook page and saying hi on her wall. Tell her that I sent you because I'm bossy! 
www.facebook.com/cookieandmo.uk

It's about time I showed you some pics. Here is my practise run. 
Ty Siriol Ceramics
The pendant tree that my brother made for me. Isn't he wonderful!
My mock fair in the dining room. Practise makes perfect, or so I've been told!
Finally the day came. I had lots of help so a big thank you to everyone who helped out, whether it was lugging boxes, smiling at customers, or taking turns to keep L'il Miss Ty Siriol happy as it's school holidays and I didn't have a sitter. 

The stall looked like this. 

Ty Siriol Ceramics craft stall
Me! Standing proudly behind my creations.

Ty Siriol oil paintings
These are a selection on my mum's paintings.

Mr Ty Siriol having a well earned sit down. He lugged all the boxes for me.
 Lots of friends and family turned to to show support which was great. I felt really proud seeing all my work on display and being able to show friends and family what I do. L'il Miss Ty Siriol was very good and wanted to help out. She went shopping with Nanny for a bit and came back with lots of books. In the end it was all too much for her and I found her trying to sleep under the table. Take a look. 
L'il Miss Ty Siriol plum tuckered out.
All in all it was a good day. We had a few sales even though it was a slow day due to the summer holidays. I got through it physically and thankfully it finished at 3pm. In fact I have now signed up for the remaining Art & Craft fairs until the end of the year. Happy all around. 

Here's the link to the Abergavenny Craft fairs.  
http://www.abergavennymarket.co.uk/

Cath x
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics
 


6 comments:

  1. What a talented family you are! Glad you enjoyed the day and hope it all goes well for your future bookings

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    1. Thank you Jane. I think as a family we never out grew playing with paper and glue, or in my case plasticine (as play-doh came later)!!

      I've found you on G+ and added you to my circle. I'm also still learning what to do with it so you're not alone.

      All the best,
      Cath x

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  2. I haven't been able to do any craft fairs because of my work schedule, but that's about to change. Time to start thinking about it.

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    1. Oh Deb, I can so relate. It's been really hard with kiddo off school as well. Nothing is mine at the moment and bless her she wants to help! Roll on Sept so I can get stuck back in again. Good luck with the scheduling. :)
      Cath x

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  3. Your work looks fantastic on show like that. I'm glad you managed to make it through the day. Brilliant pictures and wonderful words as usual

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    1. Thank you Mer. I'm looking forward to the next one now. It can't be as hard as I've only got to sort out new stock and I won't have kiddo in tow. Gotta love school! ;)
      Cath x

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