Creative Moments

(The second part of Claire’s guest blog post)

Come with us on our journey, as we wake up, whilst everybody else is still asleep and embark on our long drive to the venue…… and then like little elves erect our stand ready for you all to enjoy tomorrow.

For us the craft shows don’t just start that morning, they can start up to a year in advance, when we will find out which shows are on and when. It is then important that we book our space with the organisers as soon as we can…but even this is more involved than one might think! The costs per metre of a stand can be very frightening and it can be hard to know just what to book so far in advance. We initially started with a very small stand, but it was just impossible to fit all of our beautiful products in – let alone anybody to view them! So we have gradually grown in size and have recently exhibited in our biggest stand to date. It is much more comfortable than the smaller stands and gives us a chance to demo for you and display lots of inspiration and great products – which is of course what you have all come to see.

A month or so before the show it is time to start getting all the new products in which we want to display, we will also be very busy at this point sending projects to our design team to complete for display and creating our own samples, but the real work – well that’s just about to start!

The day before the show, we will start packing everything we want to take into boxes, as well as till operator, demoing and stock filler, my job for the next few days is also as the resident van driver!!! The night before the show, is always a late one as we are often unable to bring the van to the shop until after 6pm as our shop is located in a town centre.

When we first started packing into the van, we didn’t realise just how technical at times this can be! You have to ensure that everything is pack tightly and well balanced so that nothing gets damaged. As well as the products, we have to ensure we take all the furniture our stand requires including the slating grid wall. Paper trays are our absolute nightmare as they are plastic and we always have one or two that result to shards of nothing by the time we unpack!

I cannot tell you the relief you have when that van door is shut for the final time and there is nothing else to squeeze in! We are terrible as we find it very hard to travel light and want to make sure we have nearly everything you could possibly ask us for! By this time it is probably 10pm or so in the evening, so it’s off home to bed we go to get a good few hours sleep.

Most venues allow us in at about 8am to set up, so we always ensure we are ready at the venue to unload by then, so that we get a good start to the day which can mean some very early starts, depending on how far we are to travel!

Unloading, Unpacking, Building and Displaying fill the next few hours so easily, that when I Iook at my watch, I am always surprised to find it is already 6pm or so! We usually have until 8pm or so to finish our stands off to Perfection. We will often stay right to the end as there is so much to do and only us two! We envy the stalls which have a team of people to erect their stand or those which have special set-ups where they can fly in, erect in about 2 hours and zoom off home again! Maybe one day – we will get to be super duper quick too!!!

We then have a little hunt trying to track down the hotel we have booked to stay in before having a little dinner and off to sleep.

The morning of the show, is always filled with excitement and buzz! We are up again early, usually arriving at the venue 2hours before the show starts to finish little bits off. You soon know when the doors have opened as there is usually a flurry of people all dashing to their favourite stand!

Tip: If you are going to a show and are not sure where to start, most people walk the aisles from Left (usually the ‘A’ aisle) to Right. So to avoid the crowds why not start at aisle B/C onwards to make sure you are one step ahead of the crowds!!!

Our days are usually filled up with demoing, Make & Takes, Answering questions, assisting buyers and operating the till!!! The busiest period is usually from opening until around 12:30ish when people start to go to lunch.

Tip: If you are planning on coming for the whole day, bring some food and drink with you as the queues for refreshments are often very long at peak periods! This will mean you can eat your lunch when you want to, save you valuable time from not having to queue and make the most of the quiet period when everybody else has gone to lunch!

The afternoon is usually slightly quieter as people start to go home – some may have long journeys, others to get children from school etc and some may even be attending workshops at the venue.

Tip: If there is a choice of time to book on a workshop, try to participate as early as possible as the stands are usually busier earlier in the day as most people prefer to participate in the workshops after they’ve had a look around (and a bit of a shop!!!)

Stands are limited to what they can bring to a show – unless they live close to the venue this is usually just whatever they can fit in their van! So if you know you want something specific, do hunt around to find it as early as possible as I’m sure if you are looking for it, then others are too. Once you have found it – buy it!!! We have had so many occasions, where people are so relieved we have something and say ‘ohh – i’m just looking this morning. I know they have it and I’ll pop back after lunch for it’, however when they come back often it’s gone!!!

Tip: The aisles can get very busy with trolleys and people, so always make sure that you protect your paper purchases by bringing along a sturdy 12″ X 12″ paper box as the last thing you want to do, is to get home to find your beautiful paper purchases all crumpled!!!

Around 4pm, the shows usually start to get very quiet and it is a great opportunity for us to take away empty pegs and adjust the layout slightly of the stall to fill gaps. It is then off to find some food and to bed, ready for another busy day tomorrow!

Tip: The two busiest days of a show are usually the first day and the Saturday – so if you are not worried about buying anything specific which could sell out on the first day, the others days are usually a good bet as they will not be as busy.

The last day is I think the hardest of them all, as we have to be very well prepared! After the show has finished, it is all hands on deck to take down all the furniture and pack away all of the stock. There is usually also a race to the van by all the exhibitors to see who can park the closest to the venue doors to help them have an easier load. You have probably guessed, that we never end up winning and are usually parked what feels like miles away!!!

This is then loaded into the van before our long drive home where our discussion is usually filled with the highs, the lows and the excitement of the show.

You think we’re nearly finished?!? Whoa!!! Hold on one sec, we have to drive back to the shop, unload the van, fill it with petrol and then take it back – all before morning!!!!

Phew! I’m exhausted just writing this – What a weekend!

Thank you for letting me guest blog this week here, I’ve had so much fun!!! And remember next time you come to a craft show, come and find us and say “hello”, meeting you all is certainly one of our favourite parts of the show.