Time does literally seem to have flown by lately!
We have been busy in the making shed, busy in the selling shed and busy setting up a craft fair. Also been busy writing press releases to local and national press. One of the things that has struck me lately is the amount of absolutely incredible crafters we are getting to meet just because we opened the purple shed! So sales are not worthy of note just yet, but we are getting some wonderful comments and people saying 'ooh Aunt Sarah would like that, must pop back later' however the frustration in little brain is saying nooo buy it now please!!! However, that is unfair on our shoppers who have all been very pleased with all the shiny things we have on offer. And the networking and meeting up has more than made up for a slightly quiet till.
Marketing, ahh the bain of the small brain at the moment! It has been quite tricky to shift from a seller to a buyer brain to try and second guess what people might like, and how they might prefer to see it displayed. I really must call up my girlfriends (those of the Norman persuasion!) who are wonderfully critical in a supportive way. I sense a complete overhaul of the shop space if the two I have in mind pop down, but their opinion is also incredibly useful and done without malice or agenda so cannot be ignored. Well, I could ignore it but seeing as we have too much dirt on each other it will no doubt backfire at some point!
What else have we been up to? We have a craft fair set up - venue booked, all the stall holders are locked in and now the advertising campaign starts. Prepare to see bunting and Hippos all around the area. But again, we have had the most amazing response from some superb crafters that we just want the day to come around so we can see them all together. And the best accidental find was a scrapbook group who are going to make us a memento of the day from scraps gathered from all the stall holders. Have to confess my absolute ignorance of what scrapbooking is all about but so glad I went to see them - it's stunning! Can't wait to see what they create for us.
If you are in the area, pop along to the purple shed and if you are a crafter yourself then please bring some work to show us. That is proving to be the best part of being open, and the ability to be able to say 'oh, you ought to talk to xxx as they could help you with that bit' because they've come to visit us too is just so lovely. As someone said to me the other day we are linking the crafters together one Hippo at a time, we kind of like that idea too!
