Market Ramblings

As you know I am based in the gorgeous Costwold town of Tetbury.  It is very pretty with loads of very old stone buildings and antique shops – I heard a rumour it is the Antique centre of the Cotswolds!

Under the town there is a market most days of the week.  Saturday is very popular as are Wednesdays as there is plant man, fruit and veg as well as an assortment of other stalls.  Infact the only day I could get a pitch was a Thursday.  Ordinarily this might be a problem, but Tetbury is the town closest to Highgrove, the official country residence of the Prince of Wales.  Infact there is even a Highgrove shop in Town where you can buy everything from soap to fruit cake all stamped with the Prince’s seal of approval!

So as a town we can get 6 coach loads a day of tourists on their way to Highgrove tours or just to look around our pretty town.  My hope is that as the spring progresses and turns into summer I may attract customers to my stall who are looking for something beautiful and little bit different…

This week Spring was not in evidence at all. The wind blew and the hail fell! It was freezing cold on the market and it took me all night to warm up again! But here are the pics of my first day of the summer session out on the markets:

I share the space with a Jewellery maker and a traditional market stall of hats, gloves and socks!

My lovely ladies look great hung up and ready to be taken home!

All of my lovely ladies sitting proud on the table!

So if you are in the Costwolds on a Thursday please come along and say hello!

Luckington School Gift Show

The gift show was last night.  A very late night.

The venue was great – lovely school hall! There were 20 stall holders selling a variety of different things which was good.

From my poitnt few I am trying to see the evening as a success – I had one custom order and got booked for 2 more sales before xmas, but other than that not much happened!  I do take comfort that I wasn’t the only one who had a slow evening.  About 50% of us did. The women just weren’t buying really.  Having said that, the funkiest diva in the room loved my bags and ordered a custom made one!  So not too bad really!

A few people did stop and look at the bags, but didn’t seem to like the prices… which is something to think about…

So in terms of sales not the huge success I was hoping for, but in terms of experience it was invaluable.  I think I have now worked out my target market which is a big step!

It has given me loads to think about and was interesting watching how other people sell.  So overall a positive experience!

Onto the next sale……

Market Day!

Just come back from the market in Tetbury. I was the only stall and it was cold, windy and wet!

But I braved it out for 3 hours until I concluded that since town was so quiet I would be better off going home and working.

So I am sorry if you came down this afternoon. Will be there next week and hopefully more traders and customers in town.

Still trying to warm up after an hour of being home!

Crazy Wednesday!

Today has been a totally crazy day!

Start off this morning working on the photos taken by Charlotte Bellamy last Friday.  Gemma Dawks my fabulous website design, to sort through the photos and decide which one should for where on thesite and in my MISI and Artfire shops.  Not easy with over 200 pics to choose from! 

We also agreed a collections page which will be full of yummy pics in the next few days!

Then this afternoon I put bags into my MISI shop and started putting them into the Artfire shop too!

I thought I would share pics of my first stall in Tetbury last Thursday.  Almost ready for the stall tomorrow.  Just some last minute sewing to do tonight!

First day!

Some great bags!

More fabulous bags and make-up bags!

I will put more up in the next few days, but the site is nearly ready to be unleashed on the world! 

Hope you enjoy looking at the bags and my Autumn 2009 collection!

Tetbury Market

Positive first day at the market. I didn’t sell anything but I had loads of interest and people taking business cards. Hopefully if I stay visible people will remember me for Christmas presents! Also talked to a local shop about the bags and they showed some interest.
All good – got to start somewhere!
Pics of the stall coming tomorrow as well as having professional photos taken of the pages for the website tomorrow by Charlotte Bellamy. 

So come back  soon to see the pictures of my first collection of bags and purses!