10 September 2010

for the love & support of handmade & markets . . .

Greetings all,
Luckily, for we who like to make money via one of the slowest means possible - handmade - it's now combined with great public demand & the fact market is no longer a four letter word!!  Canberra's Handmade Market & spin off Shop Handmade are massive success stories & i feel quite clever to have believed in both from their inceptions. 
I have, after 10 years in crafty business, sought out speedier ways to make handmade products efficiently & provide a steady income for my family.  These large fabric brooches are simple, fun, colourful, inexpensive yet all add up to a neat bundle of sales.  I think these will be quite fun on my new stand at Saturday's Handmade Market for Spring & Floriade (Canberra's famous flower festival)!!
Now i'm always trying to merchandise my stall effectively & that doesn't have to mean expensive!!  Take this bassinette - for the next market i want to fill this with baby blankets & patchwork quilts.  Cost me $10, imagine finding a lovelier basket or another way to display such products any better??  The cradle (balancing precariously on top of the bassinette in my garage) comes with a stand which won't hog precious table space at a market & i'm filling it with baby clothes!!  Cradle = baby, fill it with baby products, done!!  Cost me $15 & is in such great condition, even the mattress was still in plastic.
Other cool things at Handmade Market include a new range of Riley & Friends badges i made for Tania McCartney's adventure series of books, she's also taking orders for the Handmade Living. book which will be out in December.  Go & say hello to Tania, have a bit of a girl crush on her!!  She'll be the one resisting the helium from the balloons i have surprised her with!!  Let's just say after a long successful market, we can get a little silly at pack up/ exhaustion, i can see a whole lot of laughter come 4p.m.
I've got a cool pile of Yardage Design dessert menu style screen prints to play with.  Look at the gorgeous articoke printed tote bag Nic sent me as a gift, oh, too sweet again, thanks honey!!
So all the lovely things Handmade has brought into my life . . . i've met the most wonderful friends & customers in the world who completely understand a handmade concept!!  I'm so grateful, love it, embrace it & above all, enjoy it!! 
Have lovely weekends, hope you're doing something you love, i'm serving the people!!  Hmmm, that sounds a little saintly, technically i'm just doing 2 big markets this weekend & hope to bring in some cash.  Love Posie

8 comments:

Shay said...

Aren't those menu fabrics the greatest! I've just made one into wall art for my dining room.

I wish I lived closer so I could wander over some time to see all your gorgeous things in person ( I suspect my purse would be a lot lighter by the time I left! )

Miss Prudence said...

hmmmm, market goodness! I think the the stall is going to look good to walk past! Lovely

Thea said...

Clever girl. I love seeing cool ways of displaying products. Will look forward to seeing the pictures. Good luck - not that you need it with all the loveliness you will be selling! x

Heidi said...

Posie you need to make a quilt thats in Garnet Hill its all circles check it out!!

Jennie said...

I can't believe those baskets/bassinets you got! They'll be brilliant for the baby things and gorgeous quilts. I hope the markets go well, its so great to have others that make it even more fun!x

Unknown said...

All the very best with the markets ! I'll let you rest and email you next week , I hope you do really , really well !

Ruby Star said...

What a score with the baby gear. Will certainly look perfect filled with baby delights. You are making me want to move to Canberra everytime i read your blog. Have fun this weekend. x

Anonymous said...

Sweet website, I hadn't come across posiepatchworkblog.blogspot.com before during my searches!
Keep up the fantastic work!