It’s 14th January, 2024 already! Wow, time flies by so quickly… as the song kinda goes.
I thought it was a good time to look back over the very busy Christmas Craft Events period and chat about how Mooniiplaits Crochet got on in the lead up to Christmas and the end of the craft season.
This is an image of my display the Artisan Winter Market at Tretower Court put on by Artisan Events Wales . I was in the first room up the stairs. Now, anyone who has taken their display up those stairs will know why I went along the day before and set up the tables and dollhouse.
Here is how I left the display that afternoon, ready to add my Tiny Bags to. I love the peach and silver against the old stone walls of Tretower Court. Follow the link to a tiny video I put on my Mooniiplaits Crochet Facebook page, which shows a snippet of the beautiful setting.
I was feeling pretty happy the following morning as I set off. It was a bit misty, so I put Google Maps on and had Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours as company, as I headed back down the road. A route I’ve done quite a few times now, so when Mrs Google unexpectedly said ‘take the next turning on your right’ I was completely caught off-guard and with a car right behind me I quickly complied. I knew immediately that was not my usual route and there followed a panic-ridden conversation with myself: Is there a problem on the usual route? Where is this taking me? How much longer will I be on the road? No, this can’t be right! OMG! Of course I had to stop and check the map properly, which wasted more time, but confirmed Google Maps was being stroppy and although taking me to Tretower Court, it hadn’t picked up on my usual route. Anyway, arrive I did, just a tad hot and bothered.
As always it was a great two day event, well supported by both the public and the staff at Tretower Castle and Court were wonderful.
Following hot-on-the-heels of that event, there was another two day event this time at St Mary’s Hall in Abergavenny. My first adventure into Abergavenny it was lovely to share it with my sister – we stayed overnight in an Air-B&B and made a weekend of it. My cousin and her family also came along, so it was quite a family event. So well supported by the customers. I benefited by these screens behind me which I was able to use to display dad’s prints on.
The very next weekend I had a table at Clarance Hall in Crickhowel an event run by Mischievous Cow Events. Most of the traders around me had done all of their craft markets and the pressure to a certain extent was off. I took the opportunity to look around early in the day and bought a few missing gifts. So it was amazing, that the public turned up and made a fun day a great day for me.
The last date, for me, was the Brecon Craft Market. I was a little low in stock as so many of my Tiny Bags had found homes, so I spent every day beforehand crocheting – something I’ve never had to do before! This is a regular monthly market for me, so it was lovely to chat to and wish the other traders a Happy Christmas. I also picked up some yarn to get me started in the new year. Then with a brief Christmas song, the bell was rung and we were all packing away and heading off home.
These events can be extremely tiring, but also very enjoyable. Although I do them on my own I still feel very much part of the artisan and craft community, which absolutely makes all the difference in the world. Added to this are the customers, who have been so supportive of my work and given me such wonderful feedback. While I have worked hard at my craftwork, I feel very grateful for this past year. Thank you, I enjoyed it.
As a footnote to this post (and mostly a note for myself) I did a stocktake in October, prior to the Christmas events and I recently did an end of year stocktake. I sold 72% of my October stock, plus the extra few pieces I made inbetween events. So, for this year I intend to increase my popular Tiny Bags from multiples of three to at least multiples of six.
Mooniiplaits Crochet 