As I mentioned in the last post, two days before the set up for the fair, I realised that the stand I had designed a couple of months before, was not going to be possible.
So, after a couple of tears and perhaps a swear word or two, I decided to work with what we had and started stripping the house.
Once I realised that the sideboard from our sittingroom would fit along the back wall of the stand I was more than happy to go with plan b and take various pieces of furniture, including my bedroom chest of drawers, the shelves from my studio, the hall mirror, a kitchen chair and anything else that wasn't nailed down (and a few things that were).
As soon as we started to set up I was so pleased that I'd had to change plans because the new stand was much more 'me' and I felt much more at home with it. Mainly because it was actually half my home!
The fair itself was a lot more manageable than I expected, although at five days long, it's pretty exhausting, especially when I did most of it by myself. But I was lucky enough to be surrounded by some very funny, friendly designers, who got the whole 'we're in this together' thing, rather than acting like competitors.
The show wasn't quite as busy I had hoped, but considering the recession, the Lord Mayors procession, Remembrance Sunday and the only Tube line you can get to the show closing for the entire weekend, it was still pretty jam packed. And a couple of times it felt pretty overwhelming (especially when I had two customers 'discussing' which one was going to buy a particular bunny!).
There weren't too many things I would do differently. I was extremely grateful that I had sorted out credit card facilities and would have lost a lot of sales if I hadn't. And I'm pleased that I had postcards to give out rather than business cards, as lots of people used them to write info about Treefall on and they wouldn't have been able to do that on business cards.
But I do wish I'd had time to make more stock and I think next time I would make some more practical items too, as a lot of people felt they couldn't justify as many luxury items this year (something I feel too).
I would definitely do it again and am really pleased that I took the gamble, because it paid off, but there were definitely times when it felt like pulling teeth and I know that some of the other exhibitors didn't think it was a successful show. Next year I'll definitely book a bigger stand, in a more central spot ( I was right at the back this year and most visitors had lost the will to live by the time they reached me), and I'll take 3 times the amount of stock.
But overall, it was fun and exciting and just lovely to be out of the studio, for five days, surrounded by other designers and exhibitors. And if you were wondering about visiting the show next year, then you absolutely should! It's quite amazing!
