Babies about to fly the nest!

My second daughter is about to go to university. This is a good thing as we have the children and it is our job as parents to let them fly!

I will of course miss not having to share my car, endless washing, and general mess around the house! However, the compensation will be such that I can congratulate myself on being a good parent thus far. Of course the odd elbow break, eye infection (for which I administered Bazuka instead of eye cream) and minor cuts and bruises won't affect my track record in perfect parenting! I may decide not to change the bed linen straight away - nothing to do with the fact that I may be able to catch a whiff of their perfume but just because I can afford the luxury of waiting!

I am now about to embark on a period in my life when I will have time on my hands! I will not be the sort of parent who stalks their child on Facebook ( I would rather not see them having fun!) However, I flatly refuse to take up crochet, knitting or macrame. I will opt for a much quieter life and do the odd skydive to relieve the boredom.

The right outfit for the occasion

I recently did the Country Living exhibition and was impressed to see how several of the stallholders blended well with their stands. I know it might seem a bit trivial but I paid so much attention to the look of my stand that my outfits fell short of the occasion.

I remember when I was growing up my Mum would dress up to go shopping in my home city of Nottingham. It must be genetic because I do exactly the same. If I go shopping in Norwich I cannot go wearing jeans, I dress up just like my Mum used to. I was telling a friend that this was my usual regime and she was astonished. I don't think she could quite believe that people like me still existed! I think for me it is important to reflect who you are and how you feel the most comfortable. I think my style is quite safe but I would love to branch out and be more creative. Hats off to the stallholders who incorporate their personal style into their products I love seeing creativity spanning the board.

Spring is in the air

It's the start of a new year and of course Larkrise to Candleford is back on the telly! It is great to see familiar things but also exciting taking on new challenges. At the moment Artisans-uk is busy planning fairs for the forthcoming season, some new ones and others we will be returning to. It is so lovely to be working with spring colours instead of tartan! I really enjoy the Christmas season but you can have too much of a good thing.

Of course Easter is the next big festival and I was delighted to see the adverts for cream eggs on Boxing Day- some things never change. However, Artisans-uk is hoping to do the opposite and offer change all the time and we will be introducing new designers this year to the site.

So it's down with the Christmas Bunting and up with the new spring version!

Christmas in October

This year I did my first Christmas related fair in October. There were trees and mistletoe everywhere. I thought to myself this year I will start buying my presents at the different events I would be attending - good plan! However, as a retailer I know that in order to be one step ahead of the game you have to buy when you see that certain something or you will miss out. The times this year that I have found myself willing Mrs Organised with only two more presents to get to put down my ideal present for Aunt Agnes. Oh no I now want to kill my own potential customers. We are now at the last week of shopping and have I finished my buying? - don't be ridiculous, I have run out of fairs and have to resort to the high street with all the other bad tempered folk in my position. Take a tip from me if you see that ideal gift either on line or at a fair BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!! you will be so happy and as a result be victorious in the present giving stakes.

Happy Christmas from Artisans-uk

Christmas is coming

I have found myself doing several fairs recently and it never ceases to amaze me how early people start their Christmas shopping. I know it is a bit of a cliche but I did my first Christmas related event in September and sold lots of my NOEL Bunting. One lady I heard said that she was just buying her last few bits and her friend replied rather smugly ' I finished all mine last month' which by my reckoning makes that August!! Please tell me is there a secret society where you have to sign a pledge to be full of festive cheer in September. I wonder what these terribly organised soles do until December are they buying next summers wardrobe? The problem I have is that I aspire to be this organised and feel less than adequate year on year when I fail miserably and shop mid December. Please tell me the secret as I am sure it could be patented and sold for a fortune!

The joys of outside trading!

I have done several outside events this summer and they have proved very successful. However, I can honestly say the fair I did recently should have put me off outside trading for life! The event was the Burnham Market annual Street Fair. The preparation for this type of event is extensive as you not only have all the products to make, label, package etc. and the physical aspect of loading your vehicle with a gazebo, stock, tables, chairs- and if there is any space left the odd person!

My daughter and I set our alarms for some ungodly time as the journey was at least an hour and we had to allow at least two hours to set up (this may seem a long time but I can assure you it is not). Upon arrival I realised that our pitch was on a slope so not a great start to the day. Nevertheless we eventually found some level ground (now eating into our allocation of two hours set up). After trying to arrange our stand to accommodate the new layout we just managed to put the last label on, as the first customers started to arrive. I find my heart beats several times quicker until everything is in place, still the gazebo looked fantastic with our new range of bunting and we were all set to trade.

The morning was great with a steady flow of customers and a little drizzle (not a problem with my waterproof gazebo). We then noticed a change in the weather with the wind starting to build, Lottie- my daughter, positioned herself such that she could hold onto the sides of the gazebo to stop them blowing in. All was going well until I think the equivalent of “Hurricane Katrina” arrived which resulted in her hanging off the side of the gazebo to stop it trying to take off! As you can imagine things became a little fraught and after what seemed the longest afternoon ever it was time to dismantle our stand. At this point the heavens opened and we were sent a flash flood! All the stock had to remain under the gazebo or it would have been damaged. There is an art to loading our car and the gazebo HAS to go in first! - Luck was certainly not on our side! After a traumatic time loading the car we eventually set off for home, tired, wet, dirty and you would have thought grumpy. NOT AT ALL! I have to say for all the problems we encountered it was a lovely fair filled with fun and laughter. I would not swap trading outside, it brings you in contact with your customers and we always meet some lovely people and our fellow traders bring camaraderie to all the events. We look forward to doing lots more outside trading again next year but this time with some weights for the gazebo and a huge umbrella for the staff!

Handmade is it worth the money?

As a customer is cost important or would you prefer to have something individual? When I started Artisans-uk I had an idealistic point of view that naturally customers would prefer something unique and handmade as opposed to a mass produced product. However, when you are faced with a barrage of ‘How much’? one can question one's judgement and wonder am I barking up the wrong tree? At the start of my business venture I soon became demoralised and wondered if I was indeed going down the wrong path. The easy option would have been to buy lots of cheap products and instantly set up shop.

I decided to take the other route and make life more challenging for myself, which was to prove more difficult but so much more rewarding. I have met so many talented people over the past year all of whom offer something unique. One person in particular stands out and that is Jane Pennington of Stone-Me.

She is a jewellery designer offering a lovely range of handmade jewellery. Jane is in a particularly difficult market as there appears to be masses of jewellery designers but few offering quality products. She has embraced the art and works with natural stones. It has been so refreshing to find someone else who although the market is tough has stuck with it and is now enjoying success.

The other aspect of my business is the Eco friendly side. This is demonstrated in the fact that by sourcing products made locally this cuts down on the Carbon Footprint, and we also re-cycle all our packaging.

I hope this business model will appeal to more of you than not, as I feel that although there are a few companies who use the Union Jack as a marketing tool, we at Artisans-uk can confidently boast that we can truly offer handmade products and be proud to support our British talent. Yes things may appear slightly more expensive but who said they wanted the same as everyone else - it is time to go for something different and consider it as an investment. Who knows these products may well turn out to be the heirlooms of the future!