Cardiff Christmas Market Days 3-6

What a week and what an experience it's been. On Thursday morning (Day 3) my Uncle dropped by and took some photos of the hut and me in action. If you look closely at the photo below you'll see a reflection of a hi-viz jacket in the frames at the back. This is the one and only Paul from Craftfolk (the organisers) who patrolled the area I was in. I saw a lot of Paul and he would look after stalls if stallholders ever needed the toilet and I just find it hilarious that he's made it into one of these photos 😆😊

You'll notice the table layout, and in the photo below you can see the board I had the rose brooches on, and that they were in their little organza bags:

Well, I didn't sell any on Day 1, and so on Day 2 I took them out of the bags and arranged them on a board you can see at the front corner of the table. I sold a couple on Day 2, the biggest sellers for the whole week being the crochet snowflakes and mum's tatting. My Uncle suggested I move the table so that people wouldn't have to come into the hut, but could see everything at the front. This certainly worked and the silk roses sold very well as a result!

I really had many, many lovely people stop by and chat (and sometimes buy!). It was reassuring and validating that people liked the products and appreciated the work that had gone in it all. Many were empathetic about the cost of renting a hut at the market, especially without any heating.

In the photo above, look closely and you'll spot 2 small plates to the left of the purses. They are the friendship bracelets you may remember I made loads of earlier this year. I decided to bring them along on Weds, none sold while my original table layout was still in place, but as soon as it all moved they were also a good seller ☺️ I made the bracelets because they're enjoyable and addictive; I didn't think anyone would be interested in them, turns out I was wrong! They drew in younger children and teenagers, and even some adults who bought them to use as keyrings or give to their kids. One young man bought one as he had a great collection of bracelets and wristbands and I was so chuffed when he came back later on to buy one for his Dad.

The lady who dropped by on Days 1 & 2 also came back on Day 3 which was extremely kind of her. The "I'll come back" line is popular to say but of course is often a falsehood (which is fine, I do the same) so when someone does come back it means the world.

On Friday my brother came down to help me for a few days so he and my boyfriend took turns in keeping me company. Both of them were also adored by the lovely stallholders along from me haha so they had a grand old time chatting away and looking at the other products people made. On Saturday another Uncle, Aunty and cousin came by to visit and I hadn't seen any of them for years (9 years, in fact). It was fab to see them, and my Aunty was very good at talking to potential buyers "aren't these nice! We just bought one for our tree" which made me laugh a lot when I thought about it afterwards haha. I also had a visit from a friend of nearly 20 years who came all the way from the West Midlands to spend the day in Cardiff and see the stall. He was also great at promoting the products to anyone who was browsing 😊😀

The items mum tatted flew off the shelves. She made 11 in total and 9 of them went. Many people said they'd never seen it before and never heard of tatting. Others said they hadn't seen it for years. It is a dying art and I hope I can learn it, either from my mum (that could be fun 🤔) or from books and YouTube, as I did with crochet. 1 lady said she'd never seen tatting or the fine crochet of the some of the snowflakes and said there was something Dickensian about them 💜❄️

I'd like to give a special shout out to my other Aunty and cousin who translated my signs into Welsh. This made all the difference in several instances I believe, as it prompted conversation even if it was only "ah you're a Welsh speaker too!" "Oh I'm sorry I'm not, but half my family's Welsh and they did the translations for me! My dad's from Carmarthen...." as it made for a good interaction. There was one lady who only buys products made in Wales by Welsh people, and I think she was a bit gutted when I opened my mouth and the accent gave me away as being English haha! However, she ended up buying a rose as it was for herself, as opposed to a gift (in which case she would only shop Wales/Welsh). I felt honoured she'd made the exception for me 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Below is an example of one of the bilingual signs courtesy of AL & BW 🌹💜

Lastly, the week was made extra special by the lovely ladies in the huts along from me:

Julie (I wrongly called her Sophie in my previous post), Midnight Foxes Studio (statement jewellery)

Sylvia, etoeto (upcycled products)

Liz, Porthcawl Candles by the Sea (candles)

Meg, Little Luna (prints and cards)

Do check them out on Instagram, they are under the company names above and also on my following list. They are all extremely good at what they do and have helped me no end with their comments, advice and moral support.

I'll be updating the website and all available products this week so do please bear with me.

Until Sunday for the next blog post,

Lingling xx