The two day Handmade Markets in Canberra are finished, and it is a public holiday here in Canberra, so I am lounging around with my chicks, ignoring the mess and chaos in the sewing studio (and in fact the rest of the house) and enjoying reflecting on a great weekend.

I will be re-stocking the shop over the next few days with new items, new photos of items, and some new descriptions, so stand by for a bit more flash and colour!   I am also thinking about a sale by the end of the week, so will be back with news of that soon.

A quick recap of the markets is required, after all the build up.  For those who aren’t familiar with these markets, they are held 4 times a year, and coordinated by the lovely women who run the Handmade Shop here in Canberra.  They provide wonderful opportunities to showcase high end Australian made designs, food, accessories, etc.  This was my first time applying to appear at the markets, as I knew that I had to be ready – have the right style of stock, the right display, and the right approach.  However I have always loved being a customer at the markets, so knew what to expect in terms of great atmosphere!

I had a great time – I love chatting to customers, stall holders etc.  There are so many interesting people who attend markets, it is never a boring experience!  It also gave me a chance to tweak my display set up.  On Sunday I took a few extra props in with me, and my two eldest chicks, and they helped me to rearrange my display before customers arrived.  We all agreed that it was much more effective!  I have assured them that they are my official display design helpers from now on.

Day 1

 Day 2 (with gorgeous helpers)

It also gave me a great chance to learn what customers are interested in.  After all my protests that bibs were outside my ‘scope’ they were, of course, my biggest seller!  Always learning.

The next steps here, once the chicks are back at school tomorrow, is to clean up the piles of fabric, unpack the stock that I still have, and load it onto my Etsy shop, and start on the custom orders that I took over the last two days.  In between I will be playing with some new ideas that I have had for new designs…… always fun!

I hope that your weekend has been fun too!