Subscribe or ‘follow’ Epheriell Designs during July 09 and go in the draw to win a $40 gift voucher to use in my shop – Epheriell. Details here.
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Wow! Now, grab a cuppa, sit back and let me take you on a crafty journey..
What a fantastic space! I’ve never seen so much crafty goodness in one place!
The first thing I did was mosey over to the Peppermint stand. The night before the show I responded to a tweet from Peppermint, snatching myself the last giveaway goodie bag! I met the wonderful Ben, who gave me my goodies…
And then, the lovely Kelley…
Peppermint is an eco-conscious fashion and lifestyle magazine based in Brisbane, and Issue 2 is selling out fast! I’m looking forward to getting Issue 3 in my mailbox!
Next, as much as I wanted to keep browsing, it was time for a free Studio presentation by the inspirational Bianca from Ink & Spindle. For those just starting out, it was filled with great tips on photography, marketing, why blogging is so important, and – perhaps most crucially for me at least – pricing.
Bianca gave us the following formula that she and the I&S team use for their pricing, which I’m sure she won’t mind me sharing here.
Product Cost + Labour Cost = Cost Price
Cost Price + 100% = Wholesale Price
Wholesale Price + 100% = Retail Price
I found this really useful, as my pricing so far has been a bit of an esoteric process! I’m hoping to spend some time sitting down and working on this over the next few weeks. One more point on this – she mentioned that she’d gotten advice once that you should charge what the market will pay – so if your formula gives you a price that’s way below what the market will accept – increase it!
It was a great talk, so thank you for sharing, Bianca!
Here’s what the Ink & Spindle stall looked like…
Sigh. Fabrics like that make me want to learn to sew! I did have a little attempt at one of the ‘Craft Bars’ – free spaces where you could sit down and make a little project (you can see one in the second photo in this post).
I decided to try sewing, and made a little birdie… (the button eye was my crazy addition – everyone else was embroidering eyes… I was being non-conformist!)
Stop laughing! Yes, I’m talking to you. This is why I don’t sew!
My favourite place at the show so far was the ‘Incubator’ stalls – where I found my crafty peeps from BrisStyle!
Firstly, I met Christine, from Little Diva – who recognised me from this blog!! That was a freaky moment – in a good way 🙂 Christine designs and makes gorgeous toys, clothes and accessories for littlies – her stall was adorable!
Next, I wandered up to Ruby2Go Go – and met Helen, one of our wonderful BrisStyle Committee members – she coordinates our Markets, the next one of which is in July… and I’m hoping to attend with a stall… wait and see!
Helen makes cute jewellery and accessories from up-cycled buttons and more.. here’s the cute pair of earrings I bought from her  stall!
Finally, I met Bec from BeckyBean, who was helping out at the DearFii stall.
It was an absolute joy to meet some of the BrisStyle team, and check out all their crafty goodness in person!
Finally, I also met Justine from MixTape – a zine about craft, eco-cool and pop-culture kitsch! We had a great chat, and I bought myself the latest Mixtape, which has some awesome articles. The one that intruiged me the most was the story of RollerDerby here in Aus… sounds like the kind of sport I’d like to get into!
Phew! What a day! I also bought a few other bits and pieces, including this fab earring stand…
So, there you have it! An awesome day at the Stitches & Craft Show Brissie! A big thank-you to all of those who (reluctantly) let me take their photos for this feature – I hope you all had a wonderful show!
I know I did :)d
Looks like you had a lot of fun.
Can’t wait for the next Sydney one.
Wow! What a busy day-sounds like a lot of fun 🙂
It was great! Definitely on the calendar as a regular event for me!
great post … thanks for sharing !! looks like it was a great gig
What a great feature and such a cute birdie.
Denise, you’re too kind, really! lol.
Great post. I just popped over after seeing your link in brisstyle google groups. Looks like I missed an amazing event!
Wow, what a great wrap up of the show. I probably just missed meeting you at the MixTape stand, oh well, I’m sure we’ll meet at a BrisStyle get together 🙂
Thanks Rebecca! It was great 🙂 I’m planning on being at the July market – hopefully we can meet then 🙂
I love ink and spindle – I wonder if they’re coming to sydney?
sounds like you had a great day.
The photos are great. Wish I could have been there. Great description of the day.
Great post Jessica – the incubator stands were the best weren’t they?! Can’t wait til our July market now!
Hi Jess, it was great to meet you! Thanks so much for stopping to say hi. And I’ve loved reading this post and checking out all the great pics. It really was a great event wasn’t it. So tired now though. SO tired!!!!
Make sure you have a good sleep and rest today, Bec! It looked like it would have taken a lot out of anyone to do that for five days!
Ali, yes! I loved those stands! They were the real handmade, small operators… not supplies. They were awesome.
What great pics you took. I loved those stands, pity they were such small spaces because they were the highlight! I did see you in Bianca’s talk, I remember the spiral earings and thinking that maybe that was you
I had a great time visiting the Stitches and Craft show. Thanks for bringing back all the fun by sharing your experiences, your photos capture the moment perfectly.
I wish I took more time taking photos – I was too busy salivating over all the crafty goodies 😉
Looks like you spent up big like me. I think that theincubator stalls were te best part of the show. Although i wish i’d been more organised and attended one of the tutorials
Hi 🙂
Hope you don’t mind me borrowing one of your images for the S&C BrisStyle blog wrap up, just the one of Little Diva’s stall.
Sorry, but I did actually laugh, even before I read your plea for me to stop. Ummm, good first effort. Except for the eye. The embroidery is nice.