MONDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2007

A warm welcome from Ibstock on a cold brisk morning

The first show of 2007 brought us to Ibstock’s recently refurbished Palace Community Centre. Credit to the team at Ibstock for doing an outstanding job of the restoration and allowing us to bring Arts & Crafts in the Village for the first time to my home village of Ibstock.

It was a chilly -5 degrees morning as the sun was rising, a pleasurable drive across country to the Ibstock Palace, welcomed by friendly Wendy.

All set ready to go with 12 returning exhibitors and 5 new exhibitors to the Arts & Crafts in the Village Team, a couple of who had struggled with their car not starting and Sarah even found the venue and made it on time – the directions must be getting better!

Attracting over 220 visitors from the village and from afar...even as far as France! (ok they didn’t travel all that way just for the show...but you have to admit it did sound good). Photographers arived from two local newspapers to get some snaps of the happy and friendly exhibitors so watch out in the Coalville/Ashby Times and Coalville Trader!

Visitors were also very keen to give us feedback...check out the guest book to see how they rated the show, surely that many people cannot be wrong...

posted by Louise

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 08, 2006

Loughborough Town Hall

Yep, the winter is nearly here. Although it was a very bright and sunny November weekend...it was cold. But then again, we were all pretty warm inside the venue! This was by far the biggest show we have hosted so far and visitors were pleased to see the return of good quality Arts & Crafts to the Town Hall. With 32 stalls in the Victoria room at the town hall, there was great variety of crafts and artists to see and the standard of all the exhibitors work was very high.

In terms of visitors, there was a good flow over the 2 day event, although Sunday morning took a while to get going. Over the weekend we had over 850 through the doors. Quite a few people on top of that came back to visit the show on Sunday having had a look around on the Saturday. We recognised a good number of people who are returning customers from other shows we have done so far. Thank you to everyone who supported the show. If you would like to leave any comments about show please sign our guest book as we would really like to hear from you.

We would like to make the Town Hall a venue for us again in the future, but we will try to book the main hall, to make the show more accessible and prevent exhibitors and visitors having to use the stairs and lift. We were very impressed with The Town Hall as a venue and an organisation, with very helpful and friendly staff - Debbie, Nigel, Hannah and Sam.

So, next to Woodhouse Eaves for the first of our two Christmas Shows. There will be a good range of crafts, perfect for Christmas presents. Please see the Exhibitor Information for a list of those that will be with us on November 26th.

posted by Rick

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 08, 2006

Rothley and Hathern

It's been a busy time since the Rothley show, so the blog is due for an update...

Rothley

Overall this show went well, with just over 250 visitors on the day, which was a good turn out considering the weather. There was a heavy downpour of rain for about 2 hours. Maybe we should get a stall selling umbrellas and waterproof jackets, they would have gone down a storm!

We had visitors from as far away as Australia...OK, so they didn't come especially for the show but we'll not mention that!

This is the smallest venue of the year in terms of exhibitors, but had a cosey and welcoming atmosphere. The village seems to have a good community spirit and we are looking forward to bringing the show back to Rothley.

Hathern

Our home village. There were several new exhibitors with us at this show, which was good to see. This was another cosey venue where space was premium. The walkways were a little tighter than expected but venue was busy most of the day. We had just over 200 people through the doors. The hand made chocolate was very popular...for obvious reasons...and I can vouch for that as well!

Thank you to those people who loaned us tables for the day, it was very much appreciated.

posted by Rick

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006

Woodhouse Eaves Show - 17th September

The show got off to a flying start, with a good rush of people through the door. It was a nice warm day and plenty of people dropped in on their way past, probably to and from pub! We had a good venue here at Woodhouse Eaves, the hall is a good size and has excellent facilities.

Thank you to all the visitors that came to have a look around, we appreciate your visit and hope you will join us at one of our shows later in the year.

There was a good welcoming atmosphere in the hall, not surprising with the great people exhibiting and this helped make the day run smoothly.

We had a good variety of exhibitors, with something for everyone. Details of the each exhibitor can be found on the Exhibitor Information page and includes soaps and natural products, cards, photographs, art, knitted handbags, jewellery and much more.

A selection of work from artist and illustrator, Thomas Humby

With cold weather approaching, scarves can be essential!

Seasonal pictures and cards

Glass designs and jewellery

The standard of arts and crafts on show was once again very high, with very positive feedback from visitors with intentions to return to future shows!

If you did visit us at Woodhouse Eaves and would like to leave any comments or feedback, be sure to sign our guest book.

Bookings are coming in thick and fast for the Christmas shows in Loughborough and Newtown Linford, so be sure to reserve your place soon if interested or put the dates into your diary if you fancy visiting us and picking up some gifts for Christmas or other occasions.

posted by Rick

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 02, 2006

Breaking News

Arts and Crafts in the Village are proud to present their latest addition to the show calendar. Loughborough Town Hall has been confirmed for the weekend of November 4th and 5th and we expect the show to go off with a bang....sorry, it had to be said.

This show will be perfect for those exhibitors with Christmas crafts and for visitors to buy a special and unique gift.

The show will be located in the grand Victoria Room, which can be found on the 1st floor. Visit the Loughborough Show page for further details and booking.

posted by Rick

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 01, 2006

Woodhouse Preparations

Well, preparations are almost complete for the next show in Woodhouse Eaves on September 17th. The show is almost fully booked, so make sure you book soon if you would like to exhibit here.

Woodhouse Eaves is a picturesque village edged by Swithland wood, a popular area for walkers and runners. We have done a lot of runs around woodhouse, so know it well! The hall is conveniently located in the centre of the village, close to the local shop, Pear Tree and The old Bulls Head pubs, which both do excellent food. Both pubs have good size car parks so are good places to go for sunday lunch before or after visiting the show.

We look forward to welcoming you to the show.

The Arts and Crafts in the Village team.

posted by Rick

SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2006

Quorn - 29th to 30th July

Day 1

First day, first craft show for Arts and Crafts in the Village...an early start. Today started at 5 am, reluctantly getting up to put all the direction signs up around Quorn and surrounding villages. This done, we headed home to stock up and then to the hall to set up. We were quickly joined by the team of exhibitors. It was looking to be a promising show and the weather was excellent, warm but not too hot.

There was a steady steam of people as soon as the doors were opened at 10 am. Catering was looked after by Lynda and the girls, providing waitress service to the tables set up on the stage. This proved to be popular with both visitors and exhibitors...the home made carrot cake went pretty quickly!

There is a good range of products on show this weekend, which seemed to go down well with the public. The morning went well, but slowed down a little over lunch. Things picked up again in the afternoon attracting a good amount of passing trade. We even some visitors from Germany..not just for our show, but hey maybe one day!

The presentation of the stands was of a veryhigh standard, in line with the high quality products that Arts and Crafts in the Village is here to promote.

So, day 1 over and we got a lot of positive feedback from today. We enjoyed it but were all ready for a rest in the evening. Thank you to all the visitors we had today and we hope you'll come back again. Please see our shows page for details of forthcoming shows.

Day 2

Good...a lie in! A more sensible time to start the day today. Another busy time setting up today, reacting to some feedback from visitors and exhibitors the show was better advertised and more visible today. Some people took advantage of the good weather and had their refreshments at the outside tables.

The show was a little slow to stat, but again got a good throuput of people during the day and at many points was pretty busy.

The catering team again did a great job and seemed to be having fun. Overall the show was a great success and today, for most, brought better sales. Over the 2 days, there were well over 250 visitors to the show. This is reflected in the number of repeat bookings with about 60% of exhibitors having already booked at least one future with us. Several of the exhibitors had requests for commisions after visitors were impressed the standard of work. Looking forward. We have learnt a lot of lessons this weekend and had some good feedback for improvement and will be looking to make the next event even more successful than this weekend.

So, where next. Well the next Arts and Crafts in the Village event is scheduled for September 17th at the Woodhouse Eaves Village Hall, Leicestershire. To book an exhibitor stand at the craft fare complete the booking form.

Exhibitors - Please remember to add an Arts and Crafts in the Village link on your website and let your cistomers know which shows you will be at.

Once again, thank you to every one for making this weekend so successful.

'til next time...

posted by Rick