Monday 20 June 2011

HIB 2011......done

4 days in the beautiful city of Bath and I am now home. Hitting the ground with a little bit of a bump having to go back the day job this morning. Set up and the preview evening was on Thursday and then we have 3 days open to the general public.

Its been quite sometime since I last did a 'retail' or craft fair if you like, infact I think it was getting on close to a year. Other than the fact Handmade in Britain was being held in such a beautfil location and city and that I had already made my own assumptions of what I thought it would be like, I hadn't read or spoken to anyone who had previously shown at this event.


The Assembly Rooms have to be one of the most pretty buildings I have seen inside. The chandaliers were gorgeous and the fair was held in the 'Ballroom'. The detailing on the ceiling was beautiful.



It made for a 'perfect' venue for showcasing British Designer makers..........however. Attendance of the Private View evening was dissapointing, the only Trade customer I spoke to was a shop owner that I already supply and I had sent her a free invite so I'm guessing that doesn't really count. Over the 3 days I did make some sales and there were quite a few people through the doors but not half as many as predicted. Was it just a sign of the economic climate? No one can know for sure. If I were local to Bath and didn't need to pay for accomodation for the 3 nights and petrol to drive there and back then I think it would have been a very different outcome for me. This is just my personal opinion of my experience and if you were thinking about showing at next years show then I would get a collective opinion of other crafters who exhibited this year. But for me it just didn't work.


On the postitive side of things: I did get to visit Bath. I made some lovely new crafty friends. I made a couple of contacts which might lead to other things. C and I got to spend some time together on an evening without me being distracted by sewing, internet surfing or Tweeting :D And all in all I had fun.


I am quite the person where I didn't feel down that it hadn't been a success for me. I've just taken it on the chin and I am moving on. I loved how my stand looked, same set up as BCTF, but with an added perspex shelf for my purses and it was full, full, of bags. I swtitched the bags round a couple of times trying out different layouts and said goodbye to some of my bags.


I did finally meet the very lovely Judith Brown whom I have been chatting away to on Twitter since BCTF, her jewellery is so gorgeous if you have never seen it before check out her website. I also had the pleasure of having a stand next to Maya Wilson who designs hand printed textiles and makes the most gorgeous cushions and lavender cats, very stylish table runners and napkins. Helllooooo to my new friends *waves*.




So whats next on the agenda for me and bagladee??? Well at this exact point I have no idea :/ there is nothing booked in for me until April next year. So I guess I'll follow up some of the contacts and work on my website for a while. And maybe I might just get round to painting the upstairs of the house?? Who knows.....

4 comments:

  1. your stall looks amazing, hopefully something will come of the contacts you made! I have only been to Bath a couple of times but it is a beautiful city.

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  2. i'm glad that you liked bath emma, did you get to go to Bens Cookies? (there cookies are like little drops of heaven) your parcel is all waiting to be posted (it took us a while to locate the box which we packed it up in) i'm doing a post office run this afternoon so it should be with you tomorrow. I wish i was more like you, if we dont sell much i get quite down in the dumps, how do you manage it?

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  3. I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way you wanted, but your stall looks lovely! I wish I could have been there, I really do. I'm glad you enjoyed visiting Bath, at least!

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  4. Oh, I'm sorry it turn out how you hoped, but your stall did look amazing! Not sure if you've seen on my blog but I am offline due to computer probs and missing all my internet buddies like mad! (Yup, I really am addicted!) Hopefully will be fixed soon but just wanted to let you know why I'm being quiet at the mo. Catch up soon
    big hugs
    R xxx

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Hi, thanks for taking the time to read my blog and leave me a comment. I love hearing your thoughts and comments.... Emma xx