Pimms ,tennis and great shopping!

June is when Wimbledon kicks off and so as an homage we'll be serving PIMMS at our next craft market on Saturday 27th. From 11 am onwards.
As well as free cocktails,tea and coffee there will be a few great offers to help you celebrate...after all it is a hand made summer and we've got tons of beautacious hand made gifts!
Bo Bangles, jeweller extraordinaire, will be offering a 15% discount on selected pieces and more on other special items, Munano will offer a 15% discount if you mention the secret code word " midnight herring" on all forest creatures and Ellen Mair,the talented Welsh jeweller will also have a few selected items on sale. With her gorgeous hand wrapped silver jewellery and semi precious stone accessories I'm sure you will be tempted! A ittle birdie has mentioned something about raffling off free Brownies. OK that might sound a bit,HUM, but I assure you once you've tried these brownies you'll never eat any others! Draws for these lush edible prizes to take place at :noon, 2:30 pm and 5 pm.
More offers to be confirmed on the day.
Hope to see you all soon.

Monthly Craft Guerrilla markets...

Don't forget that this Saturday the 30th of MAY we'll be kicking off our 2009 monthly market season!
Free cocktails after 11 am...well as they say "as long as it's cocktail time somewhere in the world!"
Free entry.
From 10 am to 5.30 pm

Where?
Beautiful Interiors garden
34 Orford Rd.
Walthamstow Village E17 9NJ
T: 020 85090039

Lots of gorgeous hand made loveliness from the talented Craft Guerrilla guys and gals.
Help support British Craft by buying direct from the designer makers!

Stoke Newington International Craft Fair

One of our lovely friends took up a stall at this new up and coming craft fair in Stoke Newington.They go by the name of STOKE NEWINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
We'll be reviewing old and new weekly/monthly craft fairs so you the designer makers know exactly what you get and you the event organiser gets a feel of what is working and what isn't from the designers point of view!
As part of our service to our members we thought that a review was in order and so asked L.S. to be our first Lois Lane.
We hope you find it informative. It's not our intention to point the finger or pass judgment. We hope that by shinning a light on the negatives as well as the positive aspects that the organisers/people responsible take in account the opinions of the designer makers and take positive action.
Here's what she had to say about it...

"To start there were only 9/10 stalls (not enough to make a fair proper) and to be honest no room for anymore as the bulk of the space was set up for the cafe area with loads of sofa's etc... Which incidentally was very expensive, £1.20 for a tea... Nearly £2 for a coffee... and £2 for a small slice of cake...I don't expect to pay Costa coffee prices in a back street gallery space!

Admittedly the weather probably didn't help things, but during the whole of the day (well up to 4pm when my two neighbours and myself finally gave up and left) there was probably 2 people an hour coming through the door, at best and I suspect they were just friends of the organisers... None of us sold anything... In fact I only know of one lady who did, and that was to some one who specifically came to meet her...

When I quizzed one of the guys about how they had advertised the event, I was told they'd sent it out to their mailing list and to their friends on facebook, I'm a friend and I didn't receive anything! I did find an event on there, which had been set up by one of the stall holder... not the organisers! I should have known when I saw 12 stalls advertised on the invite... I had hoped it was a typing error!"


STAR RATING:
Publicity/ visibility ONE STAR
General helpfulness/ approachability (related to the organizers) TWO STARS
Venue ONE STAR
Value for money (IE stall rental) THREE STARS
Longevity/potential (will this craft event be one that people will come back to!) TWO STARS


"The guys running the show were pleasant amiable people, but alas with little or no organisational skills when it comes to craft fairs..."



OVER ALL STAR RATING: TWO STARS
We don't want to be harsh but you need to get the designer makers onside if you plan to make these craft fairs an ongoing event! The venue looks promising with a shabby chic feel to it and honestly I think that with the right sort of publicity, marketing and management it could be quite a big player in the art and music scene in years to come.

Please note:
This review was submitted by an genuine designer maker that partook in the above event. These are personal opinions and are subjected to individual views and expectations. If you have been mentioned in this post and feel misrepresented please contact us and we'll post your side of the story.

Reviews...

As part of our ethos we encourage our craft guerrilla boys and girls to take up stalls with other organizations and craft groups.It's all about taking opportunities and making it work for each individual!
We have been asked to post information up on our blog about up and coming craft markets and we're happy to do so. Because of the huge numbers we receive we thought we'd review these markets so people can make an informed choice weather to take up a stall ...or not as the case may be.
I hope that the reviews will prove helpful and remain factual as we do not want to hurt any one's feeling but we will let you know if it's good or a complete waste of time!
As we very well know no matter how well you publicize,organize etc. if shoppers do not come then that's just the nature of the beast! There are many factors that have to be taken into account like weather,economy etc.
Craft markets are very unpredictable and the fact that they are busy people wise doesn't mean that the designer makers are making any money... but what is essentially is that the organizers are helpful, sincere and that their events are not about just making money (even filling quotas in some cases) or to cover their costs or line their pockets.
What we will be taking into account are these five categories:
Publicity/ visibility
General helpfulness/ approachability (related to the organizers)
Venue
Value for money (IE stall rental)
Longevity/potential (will this craft event be one that people will come back to!)
We will be using a star system and award categories and the event with an over all mark with either:
ONE STAR = bad
TWO STARS = moderate/average
THREE STARS = good
FOUR STARS = great
FIVE STARS = fantastic

Stay tuned as the first review will come soon!

Sneaky peek! Who's at the Christmas craft market?!

Lovely reclaimed and beautified! Furniture by Carol

The date is almost upon us and the Craft Guerrilla guys and gals have been busy making,designing and readying themselves for the good people of Wanstead!
We've lots of gorgeous offerings from talented designer makers.
Featured is Furniture by Carol. A talented lady for an eye for everything quirky! We love her furniture and I'm sure you will too!

Join us and keep checking the blog as more designers and their items will be added...

Spring/Summer Monthly Events

On offer is the unique chance to hold monthly craft markets in the shop garden of "Beautiful Interiors", a highly successful, well established independent retailer in the heart of the vibrant and eclectic Walthamstow Village .
Penny Fielding, herself an artist, is a proud sponsor of new artists and crafts people and her little treasure trove of a shop stocks lots of quality art and craft amongst a rich mix of vintage furniture, home wares, collectables, gifts and more.
We're honoured to have been given the opportunity to set up the Craft Market and Co-host the events in association with "Penny Fielding Beautiful Interiors".
It's all dependent on weather but we're hoping to start it all up in April.
This monthly market will be held on a Saturday (yet to be confirmed) then that same Saturday each month through out the Craft Market season.
Also on the cards we're looking to set up an event in town...yes in BIG London! It's all to be confirmed but we'll keep you posted.
For updates and dates please e mail us and sign up to the mailing list.