Illustration Friday 'Train'

Here's my entry for this week's Illustration Friday topic which is 'Train'. 

I used the opportunity this week to have a play with some new techniques in Illustrator that I've not tried before. I was going for an aged/printed sort of feel to the image. I'm not sure how successful it is though, what do you think? I did try lots of different colour combinations but this is the one I've gone with for now. I think it still needs work but for now I'm calling it done. I get the feeling I may revisit this at some point!

Second craft fair.

I've just completed my second Pocket Wren craft fair. Sales were up on the last one but I won't be ready to retire just yet! 

I feel like I'm currently on quite a steep learning curve and I'm picking up tips and skills and changing/adapting my approach all the time. I've also been trying out a few new products such as hand painted mugs and coasters to see how things go.

My goal for my next fair is to try and overcome my shyness a bit and get out there and talk to more of the other stall holders. The advice I have had from the few stall holders/crafters I've actually managed to talk to has been very helpful, they are a friendly bunch.

Here's a photo of my stall from this weekend's fair at the Last Drop Village, Bolton.

Now I've just got to decide what my next move will be...decisions, decisions!

Draw a bird day.

I've just found out it's Draw a bird day. So here's my contribution, a cheery Robin!

Running my first craft stall.

So that's it my first craft fair as Pocket Wren is done! After a couple of manic weeks of preparation I think I just about pulled it off on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Bolton. 

Overall I think it went quite well for my first one. It was a relatively small fair so it felt like a good place to dip my toe in the water. It was really good to get some lovely feedback from strangers rather than the usual family and friends. I even managed to make a few sales, so that to me counts as a success!

I'm already signed up for my next one!

So what have I learned from my first fair? I thought I'd share a couple of things with you that worked well for me in preparing for the big day. 

• Research. I spent lots of time on the internet looking at other peoples tips and photos of stalls. There are some really helpful articles and blogs out there!
• Practise setting up your stall. I set mine up on the dining room table the night before. It took a couple of goes to get it how I wanted it. I then took a photo for reference to use the next day. It definitely saved me a lot of time on the day, here's a picture of how it turned out.

• Try to create different levels on your stall. I found this really helpful for propping up my art so it wasn't all displayed laid flat.

• If you think you might need it pack it, if you think you don't need it pack it anyway! Scissors, tape, pins, pegs, bags, string...I thought I'd packed more than enough bits and bobs but there were still things I left out that I could have used on the day.
• I saved a bit of money on fabric by using an old sheet to cover my table and I just used a scrap of material I had around the house to add a colour accent.
• Keep your pricing simple. I kept my prices to whole pounds so I didn't have to worry about keeping too much change in my float.

These are just a few things I found helpful. I still have a lot more to learn but I feel like getting the first one under my belt is definitely a big step in the right direction. I better start preparing for the next one now!