Dorset Team Christmas Fair - Sellers Spotlight

With less than 1 week to go until our big Dorset Team Christmas Fair, we thought it would be a great idea to place some of the attending sellers in the spotlight!  A real way to get to know both the designer/creator and to also see some of their work.

Our first seller is Sarah Ricketts from Delicious Bits - In her own words;

Type of Items sold

Bright, original jewellery, cards and prints

How and why did you get started. What are your inspirations?

I have always been creative and love to spend my spare time crafting although jewellery making became a passion around 5 years ago. I did the odd craft fair but didn’t really imagine taking my jewellery making more seriously until I discovered I could sell online with Etsy. I had a good read through the set up guide and it didnt look too tricky so decided to set up my shop a couple of Christmases ago and have never looked back. 

Top 3 reasons to start an Etsy shop

1. Simple and cost effective. 
2. Great opportunities to work with other like-minded crafters
3. The fantastic community I have met since joining

Top 3 tips for new sellers

1. Take great clear photos in focus
2. Make sure you write up detailed descriptions of your items
3. Check your postage costs cover sending your items abroad

Description of shop:

A combination of original, bright, chunky jewellery and modern cards and prints

Sarah's social media links;

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest

Our second seller is Danielle Janes from Chibi Chi Designs - In her own words;

Type of Items sold

 Predominantly paper cuts, but we also sell prints, cards, jewellery and gift bags too!

How and why did you get started?

It started with a hand made anniversary gift for a family member.  It was a family tree paper cut that when shared on facebook started a flurry of requests.  Before I knew it I was getting messages from people asking me to create them presents, gift bags and even cards, I quickly needed an official business.  Thus Chibi Chi Designs was born.

What are your inspirations?

My main inspirations are cult classic books and movies.  Myself and Mr Chibi Chi are quite geeky, this is why you will find such a variety of items in our shop; from Alien inspired cards, right through to Alice in Wonderland paper cuts.

Top 3 reasons to start an Etsy shop

It's one of the simplest ways to have your very own online selling platform.

You are connected with buyers from all other the world (The majority of our orders are to the US)

There is a real sense of community with the other sellers and I am fortunate enough to have made some great local friends!

Top 3 tips for new sellers

Make sure your pictures look professional, take multiple shots of your item from all angles and ensure they are on a clear, clutter free background.

Although it can seem daunting, get to grips with keywords and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as it is this and your photographs that will help your items be found and hopefully sell.

Be patient!  Rather than sitting on your laurels waiting for the orders to come in, use the time to create and list new items, hone your photography skills and tweak those descriptions, it will pay off I promise.

Description of shop:

If you need a personalised gift that really shows how much someone means to you, Chibi Chi Designs is the shop for you.  We have been fortunate enough to make bespoke Anniversary paper cuts, Wedding gifts and even pregnancy presents too.

Danielle's Social Media Links;

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Highlight your business cards

Christmas fair inspiration tip

Highlight your business cards on your stall

We've prattled on about how important business cards are, so after going to the trouble of coming up with a design and getting a load printed, you owe it to yourself to ensure people pick them up.

While you can obviously pop them in bags along with any purchase, why not make a display of them?

In this example, a very simple structure means that the cards are clearly displayed and the personal sign encourages people to pick one up.

Something like this wouldn't take long to put together and you might already have a display prop that could have your cards attached to it.

To see the original pin, and get other display ideas, visit here.

Get clever with props

Christmas fair countdown inspiration

Get clever with props

We've mentioned how you can make display props if you can't find what you want in the shops, and to prove how simple idea can be incredibly effective, we have the following example…

The wooden suitcases can be found in discount stores, usually with acrylics or watercolours in them. By painting the outside and using chalkboard paint, the clever inventor has created a great display that can be adapted for multiple uses.

The dividers is a nice touch and can either be achieved with small piece of plywood or you could even use strong cardboard. Once painted, people will be none the wiser.

To see this idea, along with more, head over to here.

Dorset Christmas Fair - ETSY tote bag GIVEAWAY

8 days to go.....!

A rather large exciting box of goodies arrived at my door all the way from America from the Etsy HQ in New York. Etsy are sponsoring our Dorset Team Christmas Fair and have kindly provided us with lots of goodies for the event!

We will be giving out goodies and information on the day on our Etsy information stand and also doing some giveaways leading up to the event. Please keep your eyes peeled on our social media pages for announcements!

The first of our giveaways is for this beautiful Etsy tote bag (thank you Etsy.com!)

There are several ways in which you can enter the competition. Please fill in your details into Rafflecopter and the entries will be revealed. If you do more than one task you have a greater chance of winning. The winner will be picked at random and contacted via email.

Good luck to everyone and thank you so much for all the support for our fair. We hope to see you on Saturday 6th December at the Wimborne Allendale Centre for the Dorset Team Christmas Fair. Please see our Facebook event page for more information https://www.facebook.com/events/1433547900231175/




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please note the competition is open to U.K participants only.

Inspiration for customising display props

Christmas fair countdown inspiration

Customising display props

Now all of the organising is hopefully out of the way, we're going to have a look at some examples of some of the suggestions made. Pinterest is teaming with boards and we have one with all of our featured examples, plus more, from here.

Today's inspiration highlights how you can have fun with colour. The smallholder has used baskets of different colours, but because they are the same style and size, they still work together.

These baskets look as though they may have been bought like this, but it would be easy enough to paint plain baskets using emulsion. Either go for different colours as in the example, or visit B&Q or Homebase, pick a colour swatch from the mix your own section and get a tester pot of each colour on the swatch. That way you know all the colours will work together and you can get a lovely ombre effect!

The big practise

Christmas fair countdown tip

The big practise

Now is the time to practise a layout for your stall. You should have enough products (or enough of an idea of what products will be made) to organise a rough layout. And it is worth doing now because you can address any obvious issues.

Start by getting a surface roughly the size of the fair (in our case, 6ft x 2ft). If you haven't got anything the exact size, have a measure and either mark where the table will end (if your surface is bigger) or just be aware how much extra you will have to play with (if the surface is smaller).

Put your tablecloth on and whatever name sign you have. Set up any display props and then add your items. Put smaller products at the front and then work back in height and size.

Now add your price labels. How do they work best and can they easily be seen?

Stand at the front of the stall and pretend you are a customer. Reach over to try and pick up a product. Are there any obstacles? Can everything be seen?

Now scoot around the back. If someone bought a product, is there room for them to hand it to you and for you to hand it back?

When you think you have it sorted, walk away and do something different for a while. Then go back. Chances are something you hadn't even noticed before will jump out at you. Fix it, walk away again and repeat until you are happy.

As soon as you are happy, take a photo of the display. Either do this on your phone, or print it out for reference. This way you avoid that sinking feeling at the show where your mind goes blank as to what you did!

If you don't need the items again, pack them away in whatever you will be transporting them to the fair in. That way you cut down on last-minute packing!

And don't worry if you are still wrangling with the finessing. Over the next few posts we will show examples of lovely displays to give you plenty of ideas.

Keep records of stock

Christmas fair countdown tip 

Keep a record of stock and sales

Now you are well into your fair-making frenzy, create a stock list of what you have and how much you are taking. Also note how much it costs.

Then, when you are at the fair and make a sale, simply tick it off the list.

This serves three purposes. Firstly, it enables you to check that everything adds up at the end of the show, both in terms of what stock is left and how much was made.

Secondly, it clearly shows, in black and white, which products and price points were the most popular. If you do this over a number of shows and it's the same pattern every time, you have a good business model to make your next show super-successful.

And thirdly, it's just fun ticking off when you sell an item.

Organise your money

Christmas fair countdown tip

Organise your money

Yes, a craft fair is about meeting people and building connections and getting feedback, but it is also about making the moolah. So it pays to consider how to handle money – it's one of those things that you take for granted until you get to the fair and realise you've got in a right pickle!

Having a money tin is a neat solution but it does mean you are leaving all of your takings, plus your float, in one portable place. You can't always keep your eye on it when dealing with customers, so it's best to keep your money on you.

A money belt (or apron with pockets) is a good solution. But be aware that if you end up with lots of change, it can start dragging down, so make sure your skirt or trousers are on tight!

A better alternative is a small bag. You can buy special money bags, but you only need a cheap over-the-shoulder job. If it has lots of pockets, organise your different notes or coins into these. Otherwise you can use bank bags or even a wallet.

Now is also a good time to sort out your float. To avoid jangling like a slot machine, look at your prices to determine what kind of change you need. Pound coins, 50ps and 10ps are probably all you need for change, but also ensure you have £5 and £10 notes. You can make a good guess of how people will pay (and therefore what change you will need) by looking at your prices. Just ensure that you have a record of how much you put in for the float!