The Town Hall, built in 1893, has stunning architecture and beautiful decor making it the perfect setting for us to sell our wares. The Hall is in a very central location, just about 50 metres from the main shopping area (map). Sue, who takes the bookings, has been very helpful (and patient) – giving me suggestions about places to advertise as well as an idea of a floor plan for 60 tables.
Having booked the space we realised the enormity of the task in front of us – would we be able to find 60 people to take stalls? Would we be able to get a decent mix of crafts? The answer in both cases is yes.
This week I took the booking for the last remaining table... an enormous relief. We advertised for sellers anywhere that was free. Forums, chat rooms, and as many postings on websites as we could manage! Many of these will remain until the event itself and will serve to direct visitors too.
As for the mix. Its amazing. We have a great variety of jewellery; classic, chunky, retro, funky; as well as bags (both fabric and leather) and toys, scarves and clothing... Stained and fused glass, a stonemason as well as a potter and several painters – not to mention handmade chocolates and delicious looking cupcakes and cookies!
We had an unprecedented response to our request for promotional items – I believe that we're well on our way to 2000 items with more arriving every day. These will be popped into bags and handed out, gratis, to visitors on the day helping them to choose to buy handmade this Christmas.
And so, with just 6 weeks until the "handm@de" Craft Fair takes place, the next step is advertising! A massive undertaking in itself with the objective of getting as many feet through the door as we possibly can. Flyers arrived today, posters have been ordered - and one of those 'Golf Sale' type signs is also on the books...
I just hope the fair is as much of a success as it truly deserves to be.
Check out the handm@made blog for more details and to see some of the fabulous artists/designers/crafters that will be there! http://handmadeoxford.
Article by momentsbymartha
Snow Leopard Eye Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip
For Sale here (thecyclingartist)
What materials do you use to create your ACEOs ?
All of my paintings are acrylic and for my ACEOs I work on commercial canvas board that I cut down to size. I sell original works so my ACEOs are all one-of-a-kind paintings too!
Why did you decide to make ACEOs?
I resisted ACEOs for quite a while but then did some as an experiment with the ACEO and 'painting a day' movements on eBay. While they weren't big sellers I decided I really enjoyed making them in order to explore colour combinations. So for me personally, they've actually become quite an integral part of my studio practice - they are small studies done in the process of preparing for my larger gallery work.
Favorite ACEO that you have made?
My very favourite ACEO has always been this one, with very dark wispy waves against a pale pink sky.
2) Grooveycrafts makes great ACEOs that use embellishments to make the cards 3D. Grooveycrafts shows that not all ACEOs need to be flat! :D And she has a great tip for people just starting to make ACEOs.
For Sale here (Grooveycrafts)
What materials do you use to create your ACEOs ?
I have started off with some of my ACEOs using poker cards as I like the rounded edge but I also have some pre-cut card in a variety of colours so it's always quite a task deciding which colour I want to use. I then select which image I'm going to use and work around that... so it could be buttons, ribbons, distress ink, rubber stamps, brads, paper etc.... so as you can see I use a variety of material. It all depends on the image and what inspiration I get from it.
Favourite ACEO that you have made?
That is quite hard to choose but I'm choosing this one to show you since it fit in well with Autumn coming up :).
Any advice to people wanting to start working small?
If you're just testing the water to see if ACEOs are for you I wouldn't recommend going out and buying all the supplies you feel you need as I can tell you it is so easy to do as you feel you need everything and everything looks great.
I would recommended buying a pack of playing cards, they only cost about 50p a pack and are the right size for ACEOs. In places like Tescos, Morrisons etc... they have packs of small cut paper at about A6 size with 5 or 6 varieties of colours, designs etc..., you should get quite a few ACEOs using those papers. The other thing you can use is newspapers and magazines for the writing but be careful as some let ink off.
Then, onto Embellishment, its now time to go through your wardrobe... yes I sound crazy I know! See what you really don't want anymore, what your partner doesn't need or your kids have grown out of and cut the buttons, ribbons, flowers etc off and work with those. For images you can get some very nice ones off Etsy from people who will e-mail you them. I haven't bought from anyone yet to be able to recommended any one.
Now you're ready to start creating. For sticking down items I use double sided tape, pritt stick (pritt stick and uhu glue sticks are the best for sticking) and glue dots. If you decide that ACEOs are for you then you can splash out on supplies but if you decide they aren't for you, you won't have spent more then £10 so you don't need to worry.
What materials do yo use to create your ACEOs and books?
I like to use silver pearlescent card as the front and back cover for the album, and grey, black or white (or all together) as the body of the book... this is so that the book acts like a blank wall as if you were in a gallery, and the ACEO's are like the paintings! The book is bound with satin ribbon and the front cover has a custom title. I name mine 'The Little Book of Art'. I have my ACEOs professionally printed onto archival paper so they last many many years and then I mount them onto pearlescent card to make them nice and sturdy!
Why did you decide to make ACEOs and your albums?
I loved the concept when I first found out about it and as I was already in the Art/Design/Fashion field, I had a lot of my own illustrations that I wanted to turn into mini pieces of art... and for people to hopefully buy them, which they do, so yay! Not only did I make ACEOs, but I bought them too, like crazy. I like to have empty walls and I get bored very quickly, so keeping them in albums makes them fresh to my eyes each time I look at them... so I made my own to store them in as I didn't like the typical 3x3 plastic slots you get to put in folders as it looked too cluttered.
Favorite ACEO that you have made?
My favourite fashion illustration that I turned into an ACEO is 'Twilight IV'. It's one of my most favourite drawings which I have turned into my own little mascot and actually, the original is in my fashion portfolio and every time I go on fashion job interviews, that one always gets the 'Oohs'.
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So great advice. I encourage everyone to try doing a few ACEOs of their own, but be aware that they can become addicting to make. Of course you could just buy from the lovely people here and support the artists. Lots of different types of cards being made and all at different prices.
Here we go with our very first (how exciting!) meet the team feature :)
is definitely on my own wishlist – perfect for that note you’ve been meaning to send forever but keep forgetting… you know the one I mean! Yes, email is all well and good, but a note from a friend in the post is one of life’s simplest pleasures – and what better motivation to send one than to show off your beautiful new stationery!
That spark. The one that allowed us to take a pile of random materials or ideas and turn them into something new. These nascent sketches, collages, glueings and shiny bits of tin foil were hung proudly on the refrigerator door, spurring us on to what we could do NEXT time. How much better we could make them. How much neater. How much shinier.
The unique thing about the UK Street Team is that we ARE the people who manage to sweep a small, clear space in the cluttered kitchen floor of our lives to sit down and indulge in our imaginative impulses. To make that next idea better. Neater. Shinier. We are a colourful rag bag of creators, designers, artists and makers who have banded together to make the craft scene in the
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