Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Buckingham Elementary Craft Fair

As it turns out, there was still space at the aforementioned Buckingham Elementary School Dec. 3 craft fair -- which I'd been planning to attend next year -- so I've more or less secured a table! (Once Raccoon brings payment there for me tomorrow morning. :P)

Between working hard on more items for the BIG DAY, I've also made this skirt for my Pullip doll, haha:

The bit of "lettuce" in the cup on top of the jewelry case is her original dress.

It doesn't go with her IW blouse and socks at all, but it poofs very nicely and should look fine after I make a matching top. The pink skirt already softens her look significantly... especially for people who find dolls creepy. ;)

On an unrelated note, isn't this Cath Kidston sewing case the most adorable thing ever?!



I wish I'd gone to London immediately after quitting my last job. I would've blown all of my savings in the Cath Kidston shop right then. "One of each, please!"

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Craft Fair Follow-Up

Here I am (as a visitor, not vendor) at Hycroft, a successful craft fair ;D


Now that it's been a few days, I think I can muster up a positive post about the BCGEU "Christmas" fair! :P

1) For starters, the room was bright, warm, and clean. The tables were neatly arranged even if the rectangle-within-a-rectangle placement meant that the very centre of the room was completely taken up by vendors (and everyone could see into it at every angle, so you couldn't just hide all your boxes and junk under the table).

2) Most people were super friendly since they knew all the vendors and customers from work (lol) and/or previous years' fairs. Only three vendors were stoney-faced if you didn't count my grimacing. :P

3) Proceeds from the 50/50 went to charity, and at least two of the booths -- as mentioned in the previous post -- were charity-related.

4) Finally, the table fee was only an item for the prize draw. This was even waived if you only had half a table.


Now for the self-review!

In retrospect, I should have made more items (I blame my birthday :D), stayed standing the whole time (it was awkward, though, with the vendors on either side spinning lazily in their chairs), and greeted passersby more aggressively (even if it makes me feel like a hard-sell!).

I noticed that many of the shoppers were older gentlemen and ladies who wanted to chit-chat, and I was too embarrassed for banter... Maybe next year? :P

The little hanging decoration in front of my table was made at the last minute, and it showed!

On the plus side, all my items had clearly marked prices. I was nicely dressed in lolita, even if my friend told me to dress more normally sometimes and "not like a princess". :D I hid my junk under the tablecloth very well, but got caught munching on some banana bread when customers showed up a few times. I always smiled, at least, and did a bit of sewing when I was bored -- rather than left the booth unattended like some!

I'm a princess! Haha

All in all, I probably won't return next year unless it'd help my friend in any way... The craft fair at Buckingham Elementary, my old school, looks a lot more attractive.

Until then, I'll be making more items, hopefully writing, and probably looking for a 9-to-5 day job again! Wish me... motivation! :D

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Craft Fair Bust

So the craft fair has come and gone, leaving me one sale in its wake.


The tone of the day was set from the start, when I arrived at a three-storey building shrouded in trees and found the "front entrance" locked. (The real entrance was on the side.)

Combined with the fact that the fair wasn't advertised to the public -- as I found out less than a week before -- because we were meant to sell to the EMPLOYEES IN THE BUILDING (plus some of their friends if they spread the word modestly) WHEN THEY CAME DOWNSTAIRS DURING BREAKS... all the vendors should've had modest expectations at best!

All the vendors except the ones selling kitchenware and coffee, of course!...


While the event was advertised (to employees, and only a few days in advance, due to delays) as a CRAFT fair, fewer than 10 of the 25 or so vendors sold crafts. Even fewer made anything themselves, though at least one was doing it for a charitable cause, so I'll let it slide. :P

The two baked goods sellers also did well. But another seller simply had a mountain of shoe boxes and shoes on his table, so he pretty much cancelled the bakers out!

I was pleasantly surprised to be sitting between two other younger vendors, and was disappointed to find that they were not crafters, but volunteers for some free trade organization. One of them did decide he didn't need extra space, however, so instead of half a table, I actually had a full booth yay!


Never mind that I only made enough items to fill half a table :P

I'm happy with how my table looked, at least! The platform I asked Raccoon to make looked fine and worked well. Most of the vendors used dark-coloured coverings, so I didn't even need to worry about having a boring tablecloth! XD

Still, everyone around me complained about how slow it was, and how they at least had more shoppers last year. The fair was set for 10 am to 4 pm, but everyone except the kitchenware seller and one baker had packed up by 3:30...

It was so slow I made this:

With my hand for size reference

And this:


During the employees' last coffee break, a very nice lady came by and bought my favourite mint chocolate cupcake ring for her daughter. (Thank you! <3)

Otherwise, I got TONS of "Aww!" (seriously), "So cute! So delicate!", and "You made everything yourself?!" remarks, and even two people who named specific items and said they'd return to purchase at lunch, lol, but that was it.


It was an... interesting... experience for sure, and my table was free, so maybe I'm complaining too much.

But to be fair, bus fare (or gas, for people who drive :P) isn't free. And I did spend a LOT of time preparing for the fair, punching flower-shaped holes in my SUPER-THICK Moo mini-cards for price tags, and packing and unpacking everything.

When the event ended for me at 10-to-4 (even the two aforementioned vendors were packing up), I waited for my friend (an employee who didn't buy anything ;P) to get off work, and then we hiked home to save me bus fare, hahaha... It took almost two hours.


On a positive note, I did make/finish almost 20 items for the fair, so I'll be able to add new things to my Etsy shop for days, yay!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Let's Play Plushie Catch-Up

I tweet more frequently than I blog, of course, but I like long photo dumps, too! Both reading and posting them!

So here's the past few weeks made short(er) & sweet for blog readers.


Enjoying my tea & scones

I obviously need a haircut (waist-length hair, even on a sparsely-haired person, gets HEAVY :P) and the dentist says I have 3 pin-sized cavities (not too bad considering how most of my meals are CAKE), but I'm back to my super-healthy self!

Now that the weather's nice and cold, I can start trying new afternoon tea places again and look forward to snowboarding!


This has been a nice, cold Canadian autumn -- my favourite season!
I've been enjoying the many beautiful Vancouver parks with my dear Raccoon... who is not quite as into this kind of weather, haha.


Here he is, holding his belated St. Valentine's gift. It's a giant alligator-crocodile (damned if I can remember the difference), completely designed & hand-stitched by me!

The monkey it's chomping on is not included. ;)


Asides from Crocky, who was VERY time-consuming, I also made a bunch of other plushies!

For example, this very very pink French poodle, who is now available on Etsy:


And this Movember mustached whale, also on Etsy:


And -- this is almost a miracle -- I've FINALLY completed the autumn team-challenge doll:


My miniature Hallowe'en black cat wants you to know that she's thrilled to have found a home!

I made her an even tinier companion/lunch for the journey. She is only 5/8 inch tall, so you can imagine how tiny the mouse is!


Lastly, here's a sneak peek of the teddy bear and felt food I'm working on for the BCGEU craft fair (Nov. 22).
The teddy bear is too "regular-sized" to sell in my Etsy shop, considering how expensive Canadian postage is for anything over 1/2 inch thick, so I really hope someone will take him home from the fair!

Blue bear with his biscuit

Anyway, I've already made a bunch of felt cakes and macarons, and hope to make 10 to 20 more things in this final week.

Wish me luck!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Hallowe'en (Handmade) Costume Recap

I have been insanely busy for the past week, making felt food for the upcoming craft fair and working on Hallowe'en costumes. I only managed to finish sewing my "main" costume on Monday morning:

Shrivelled-tail mermaid at Bear Creek park

It didn't turn out entirely the way I wanted -- the tail shrank in half because I didn't want to do anymore sewing, for one -- but it looks fine and lasted through Hallowe'en.

The entire thing is hand-stitched anyway... Who else would be crazy enough to do that?? So I'm still proud of it!


For Friday and Saturday, I had to put together a "back-up" costume:

Dorothy from Wizard of Oz... at Stanley Park

I sewed the hair-bows out of blue tulle, and pinned some white satin bows to the socks. Everything else is as-is, from the Angelic Pretty jumperskirt to the basket-style handbag.

Some of the little time I had also went towards other people's costumes!

For example, I made the red tie for Raccoon's "Son of Man" costume (left) and the furry white ears on B. (right):

Lining up for Dunbar haunted house

Raccoon made the green apple himself. ;)

All in all it's been a fun weekend! Now it's time for me to get back to working on craft fair items...

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