Evolving and improving your craft stall

Good morning all, Happy Easter!

It's a wonderfully sunny day here in Wiltshire, but I thought I'd take time out to revisit a previous post regarding craft stalls.

As a relative novice to craft stalls there are many things I still have to learn.  Looking back at my stalls I've felt that they have evolved, but there are still many areas which I can improve on!

My post 'Top 10 Ideas To Boost Your Stall at Craft Fairs' had some useful tips on it that I collated from several books and websites, recurring themes which seemed to be practical and hopefully easy to implement.

This first image is of my first stall - unfortunately I had a very busy backdrop to contend with, no real branding and struggled with it being a bit busy.  I found it very hard to judge how everything would look as I didn't practice at home with the set-up first.  This is still something I need to learn (as I will attest to later!)

The next two pictures are from a slightly later stall (Lou La Belle 2.0!) - although I've learnt a few lessons - using more height and spacing out the products - which was thankfully easy due to the size and layout of the stall, I still have a lot of progress to make...  You can see my branding (crochet Lou La Belle letters) just above my poor Mumsie, who was very unwell but still came up to help me with the stall.  Love you Mumsie!

The next stall is from a Craft Fair only a couple of weeks later, but this was very difficult as I had limited options for height and much less space (and no Mumsie to help me!)  Despite this I got a lot of positive feedback and a few big sales here.  I also worked on my branding - particularly pushing my personalised crochet and other bunting with a pin board.  However I still felt very amateurish...

My next stall was only last week - with a rethink about height and the help of my fabulous brother, I managed to get some expandable trellis and attach it to the sides of the table, this freed up space on my tabletop for more products.

This is the 'cake stand' my brother made me - in MDF - and it is collapsible into different sections which slot together.  I am absolutely thrilled with it and it really showed off the Japanese-style Origami Bags to their full potential.  

However, I didn't have enough time to set the stall up and left not only my pinboard with all the personalised bunting on it, but also one box of products at home.  So there is still much to learn and when I look back at my previous post on the Top 10 hints for Craft Fairs, I have made some improvements in height, theme, props, labelling and branding, but have to work on the other elements and above all, practice at home so when I set up I feel more confident and in control!

I'd love to see or hear from you any ideas you have used - successfully or not!  I also have a number of inspirational ideas on my Pinterest board.

Happy crafting!


Lou x

French Style Top 5

Apologies all for a lengthy absence, due to illness and then a lovely holiday to recover!

I spent part of my holiday, as the heading may lead you to guess, in La Belle France...  A lovely few days in Dieppe with my parents was just what I needed, not only to be feeling a bit perkier but also to give me another creative jolt.

So I thought I'd start off with a quick top 10 of French style inspirations which I have and will incorporate in crafty projects!

1. La Tricolore 

OK, so the colours are the same as our beloved Union Flag, but it's very simple and stylish.  I use these colours quite a lot - and wear a lot of red and navy.  I've brought this into my craft in several pieces including these elegant cedar bags for protecting your woollens...

2. Art Nouveau

The first exhibition was held in Paris and from there we get the name.  Two of my favourite artists come from this movement - Charles Rennie Mackintosh (he warrants a post all of his own!) and Theophile Steinlen, a Swiss artist famous for his portraits of Paris life and also of animals.  One of his most famous works are the immensely chic Chat Noir series of posters.  Every member of my family has a copy of this somewhere in their houses...

Steinlen had a knack for painting animals, particularly cats, this is one of my favourites - a poster for a veterinary clinic.  Again it is done with such panache.

Being a little cat mad myself, I do use a lot of animals in my pieces and have a lot of fun with them, like these Easter Bunny bags (with added carrot, it helps you to see in the dark!) and these quilted Kitty Cat bags which I think are so sweet.

3. Linen

We found a wonderful little haberdashery in Varengeville-Sur-Mer near Dieppe called Lin et L'Autre - a play on words of l'un et l'autre (one and the other).  What a beautiful shop with some fabulous linens, trimmings and a shelf of delightful locally produced yarn (I had to shield my eyes from this to avoid adding to already massive stash!  They had these lovely decorative linen panels which quite took my fancy!

4. Shells and buttons

Another wonderful addition to Lin et L'Autre were the exquisite mother of pearl buttons and beads which they sold - Mum and I were very tempted to take some back with us, but managed to resist!  This is a close-up of the shell decorations on the above linen panels, so simple but very attractive!

5. Embroidery

As a formerly keen cross-stitcher (which I have little time or tolerance for now I've discovered crochet and knitting!) I have really enjoyed working on linen but I don't often find the British style of embroidery very inspiring. 

I have treated myself to this gorgeous new book - Made in France which may redress the balance - can't wait to get started on it!

Happy crafting!

Lou