Busy week ending in a jewellery party

This week's been a busy week, with a mixture of Christmas shopping, stocking up and jewellery party preparation.

It started off with a day out in York. I went to do some Christmas shopping with my Mum. It turned out to be a very wet day and rained most of the day, which put a damper on things, quite literally! We bought a few presents and got a few ideas for various people, but didn't get quite as much as we'd hoped. I don't think we were quite in the mood for Christmassy things with all the rain. We did have a quick stop off at Betty's though, which is favourite place for a treat in my family. We bought a cake to share and I bought one for my husband.

I then spent the next few days doing a mixture of things. I helped out some friends with house sitting and baby sitting. I stocked up on a few items, like my blossom earrings (see photo), and created a few new items. I also made a ring to that someone had ordered.

I spent the rest of the time preparing for my jewellery party on Friday. This was fun and a bit stressful at the same time. I had fun choosing the Christmas music to play, decorating the house and making goody bags for those who attended (see photo). However, I did get a bit stressed making sure I'd got the house tidy, bought enough nibbles and making sure my displays were good. Then finally came the jewellery party! It was a fun time, relaxing with friends with good conversation, Christmas music, and mince pies and sweets to nibble. It was good to catch up, as well as make a few sales.


Are you looking for a party idea? Would you enjoy hosting a jewellery party? Silver Chestnut offers jewellery parties as a service*. When you host a jewellery party, you provide venue, guests, and nibbles. In return for your hosting skills you receive 10% of the takings**. Silver Chestnut provides the displays and handmade jewellery, and will be on hand on the night to answer any questions. If you are interested, please get in touch on the following details or add a comment below:

Phone: 07580633945
Email: jenny@silverchestnut.co.uk


*Currently, I am only able to definitely offer this service in or around Leeds. Other destinations may become possible, dependant on travel times and accommodation, so do not let it put you off contacting me.
**Terms & Conditions Apply

Thoughts on my second craft fair

On Saturday I had my 2nd Christmas craft fair. It was held at Belle Isle URC. I was hoping it was going to be better than the last fair. Read on to find out if it did.

I'd managed to get most of the stuff ready the night before so had a fairly smooth morning. I even remembered to take the stocking filler/pocket money items that I forgot last time.

There were a lot more stalls at this fair with quite a variety of products. There were a lot more people coming through as well. I think it helped that it was in a church that was used by the community. It had a community cafe in the church, which was open during the fair. This encouraged more people to come and have a look at the stalls before or after eating. Some even had a look whilst they waited for food to be made. I had a few friends, family and fans of my jewellery come along too, which added to the numbers.


There was a reasonable amount of interest in my jewellery and I made a few sales. Most of them were the stocking filler/pocket money items, which was understandable because they were cheap and meant to draw children's attention and therefore their parents. However I hope they didn't detract too much from my main items. I did make a few sales of my silver items. I sold a necklace and some earrings, and someone ordered a ring. Quite a few people took business cards so hopefully I'll get a few more sales from them in the future.

Overall I'm reasonably happy with how it went. I would have preferred a few more sales, particularly of my silver items, but I sold enough to cover costs and make some profit too. The problem with craft fairs is they take quite a lot of time and effort in preparation and on the day. It's trying to find the balance between the amount of time and effort it takes and how much I will make from it. However, this isn't as straight forward as how much money I take on the day because craft fairs can often act as advertising. As I said earlier quite a few people took business cards, so I'm hoping that it will raise my profile and I will make sales in the future. Plus I do like meeting customers. It's a lot nicer seeing people look at your work and making positive comments than looking at some stats saying that x many people visited my on-line store.

Have you ever been to a craft fair? What attracts you to certain stalls? Is it the products, the display, the seller? What do you like/not like about craft fairs?

Have you sold anything at a craft fair before? How did you find it and how did you find the balance of time and effort versus items sold?

Christmas Craft Fair No. 2

This week it's time for me to prepare for my 2nd Christmas craft fair for this year. I'm planning on restocking a few items that sold during or since my last fair, and making a few new items. I've already made one new item - a bracelet. I'll try to add a few photos for you of the new items. Watch this space! Any special requests or suggestions for particular types of items?

Luckily I don't have much work to do on the display as I can use my ideas and spacing from the last craft fair. Last time I forgot to take my basket for stocking filler/pocket money items, so hopefully I'll remember it this time and make a few more sales. It may attract some children and bring their parents along to buy the more grown up jewellery.

It looks like the organiser has been doing a lot of advertising in the local area, so hopefully there will be more customers than the last fair. However, the location is not such a central one, so people who aren't in the area are less likely to come. It is closer to where I live, so I am hoping more of my friends and regular customers will be able to attend.

This fair looks like it's going to have more of a Christmassy feel to it than the last one as well. Santa's going to be making a visit, so it should be family friendly. There will be lots of other stalls selling potential Christmas presents, so feel free to come along if you want to do a bit of Christmas shopping. Below is the address.

Belle Isle URC
Nesfield Road
Belle Isle
Leeds
LS10 3L