FAQs: 7 Tips for Outdoor Craft Fair Survival (Winter edition)

Craft fairs, markets and shopping events are a great way of promoting your brand on a budget, getting feedback from your customers and, of course, selling your product face to face.  But outdoor markets and fairs bring their own challenges - some you might not even think of before the event.  Here's my seven top tips for getting to the end of the day without a drama or frost bite:

Acrylic cardigan, pegged down products and cling-filmed pitch sides are just a few of my Winter market survival tips

♥ Wear wool not cotton, and layer up
This goes for socks, hats, scarves and your cardigan. It's going to be cold, and cotton keeps you cool, so make sure your knitwear is either wool or acrylic. Even if it looks thickly knit, cotton won't keep you warm when the temperatures plummet!

♥ Take your door mat
Yeah, you heard right. A scrap of carpet to stand on will help to keep your feet warmer behind your pitch!

♥ Get a money belt
The outdoor market I sell at is in Leeds City Centre on a busy shopping street where shoppers have access behind the pitches.  Don't leave a cash tin unattended, get yourself a money belt that constantly strapped to you.

♥ Bring a big Thermos flask
I just upgraded from 0.5l to a full litre. I'm a tea fiend anyway but hot drinks will help keep you warm and satisfied.  Buying lots of coffee from the shops adds up.

♥ Get some battery operated lights
It's starts falling dark shortly after 3pm now.  I am the envy of the market traders with my rechargable LED bar lights from Clas Olsen.  You saw them here first...

♥ Build a den with cling film
Don't forget if you have a metal frame pitch to take some cling film to wrap around the sides to create a wind and rain break.

♥ ...then pin or peg stuff down
Even when the wides of your pitch has been wrapped up wind might still take off your lighter things! I use pins to hold things down, and something tie elastic to my table then use clothes pegs to hold them.  To stop your table cloth taking off, get some of these super strong spring clamps.

♥ Bring as much stock as you can manage
Keep surplus stock under your table.  Certainly at the city centre you go through lots, so keep topping up your display as you sell.

So there's 7 tips for winter fair survival - let me know how it goes!


xoxo

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That was October...

Apologies for the prolonged leave of absence! I've been up to all sorts - this was October:

♥ I kicked off the month with a photo shoot with Leeds Roller Dolls to promote our new collaboration. See the full set!

♥ One of my customers wore her name necklace on the local news - here is Lizzie promoting her underwater exhibition. Her necklace says 'Lawless'. You can buy your own in the online shop - they make great Christmas gifts!

♥ I found out I was accepted to sell at BUST London Craftacular on 16th December at York Hall in Bethnal Green. It's freakin awesome and the hippest craft fair that exisits in the actual world, so you should come along if you can make it.

♥ I took part in Leeds Digital Fashion Week by writing a few blog posts: read a post about me by Hebe writer Stacey.

♥ I spent three days in Edinburgh for my best pal's hen weekend. My vintage dress went down a real treat!

♥ I visited Amsterdam for a weekend - it's a beautiful city. We went to a huge flea market then realised we had no cash, so sadly I couldn't buy these lovely dolls!

♥ I went for a delicious burger at Brooklyn bar in Leeds - including several cocktails! Also a delicious Persian kebab and ordered far too much food!

♥ We launched the Leeds Roller Dolls collaborative collection, and I also had a stall at their last home bout of the season.

♥ I saw my favourite band live, Everything Everything. They were awesome, you can watch their latest video here.



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New collection: Sugary Skullduggery

sug·ar·y : adj: Excessively or cloyingly sweet
skull·dug·ger·y : n. pl. : Crafty deception or trickery

Sugary Skullduggery Friendship Bracelets £8

Sugary Skullduggery Mini Pin Badges £8

Sugary Skullduggery Necklace £15

And this just wouldn't be a Kitschen Sink 2012 blog without a mention of a certain Mr Russell Kane now, would it? Here he is sporting his Skullduggery pin

Hope you love!

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Look what I picked up from my postie!

A divine handbag from Love From Hetty and Dave!

It also came with a very lovely handmade R brooch! Bonus!

Have a look at Love From Hetty and Dave

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What's in a name? Custom name necklaces now available!

I've been beavering away for weeks, but I am pleased to announce that personalised name necklaces are here, loud and proud!

If you are fans of me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter on Instagram, you'll already know about the custom cut name necklace and how they are selling like hot cakes!

How to order:

1) Email me (hello@kitschensink.com) with the following info:
✔ your choice of word/ name/ nickname/ roller derby name/ burlesque name etc
✔ your choice of colour for writing and outline:

Black and white £19 
If you wish to include red, orange, yellow, green, blue or pink  £21
If you want to include gold sparkle  £23 

✔ please don’t make an order unless you intend to pay :) if you’re thinking about ordering in the future, please wait and order when you’re ready.
       
2) I will send you a proof of the design, confirmation of the date of cutting and a Paypal email so you can pay. If you order within 10 days of the cutting date you will be sent a Paypal instruction for the full amount.  If you are ordering ahead, you need only pay 50% until the necklace is ready to post.

✔ payment must be made to confirm your order - no payment, no cutting, no necklace!
✔ your order will be posted to the address on your Paypal account - make sure it’s up to date!
✔ you don’t need a Paypal account to pay - just a debit or credit card. Follow the instructions in the email.
✔ if you paid a 50% deposit you will be reminded to pay the balance before it is posted out.

3) Your super necklace will be on its way in a jiffy - with a free surprise too!


Got questions? Email me! hello@kitschensink.com 


xoxo

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A double Kitschen Sink TV appearance as Britain Unzipped trends worldwide!

Kitschen Sink made a double appearance last night on the last episode in the series of Britain Unzipped!

During the main part of the show, Russell wore his Kitschen Sink Love Lego ring in red.

In the VT he was wearing the classic Kitschen Sink skull mini-pin - from the brand new collection!

And best of all - Britain Unzipped was trending worldwide by the end of the show. Awesome and deserved!

Good work team! #britainunzipped 'trending worldwide'. Not that that actually means anything. I once saw #bieberhasnoballs trending...

— Greg James (@gregjames) June 5, 2012

Roll on Live at the Electric!

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Hey, Russell, can I get a RT?

So me and my adventure-homie Andrew just went to a book signing by Russell Kane.  If you didn't already know, Russell has been rocking his POW pin on all the TV shows.  Graham Norton Christmas Special, Georgie Shore and Britain Unzipped, to mention a few.

Russell gave a talk on the book (it's not an auto-biography, it's a novel) and answered questions. Ooh he is a funny lad!!  Then he signed all the books and had a quick chat.  As a thank you for giving the POW some love, I know Russell loves a curry, so I gave him a jar of Aagrah sauce. I deliberated of Achari and Hydrabadi - I should have got both but I was playing it cool... so I went for Achari as it seemed like a hotter choice? Hmm.

Anyway he was very pleased (not that you'd tell from the photo...) and he totes loved the jewelz.  And I got a retweet!

Don't think I've ever talked as much guff as I just did at @russell_kane giving him a curry. Yes, I gave him Bradford curry.

— Rowan | KitschenSink (@KitschenSink) May 16, 2012

POW!

P.S the shop is shut for a few days whilst I jet off somewhere cool (but warm, hopefully). In a bit!

xoxo

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