BUSINESS: We Make London Christmas Popup Shopping Experience - A Recipe for Success!
This year, We Make London's Christmas Fair (or popup shopping experience) graced the Battersea Arts Centre on Lavender Hill SW11 5TN for the first time and UK Handmade were, of course, in attendance.
The venue itself is a magnificent building, with a stunning mosaic floor and domed glass roof and beautiful period features throughout; a perfect backdrop for the work of some of the UK's most exciting designer-makers!
We Make London's events are deservedly becoming THE biggest and best handmade events in London, featuring a who's who of designer-makers showcasing and selling their work in inspired venues, garnering impressive press coverage from the UK press. This is unsurprising given the fact that, each year, the We Make London team go that little bit further in terms of quality, customer service for buyers and stall holders as well as exciting interactive elements for visitors.
No doubt the hard work and dedication of the We Make London team, headed up by the tireless Mary Mcdermott, is one of the main ingredients in this recipe for success. This combined with the fact that, as designer-makers themselves, the team have a unique understanding of the need to educate about the value of handmade products and the importance of getting folk who understand and appreciate handmade products through the door, means that We Make London events go from strength to strength.
As well as the opportunity to shop directly from some of the most exciting and innovative designer-makers in the UK, visitors to the event were also treated to a myriad of features including:
- fun workshops run by The Create Place and Mr Wingate where participants could learn screen-printing, how to make recycled rosettes and how to make gift bags using newspaper;
- FREE gift-wrapping service to make Christmas gift-giving that little bit easier hosted by Gift Wrap HQ and complete with special wrapping paper designed by artist Heidi Burton courtesy of main sponsor Etsy.com;
- a personal shopping guide with details of each designer-maker, a full layout of the venue along with easy colour coding and some gift suggestions;
- an interactive sticker collection trail with the first 50 successful participants winning a goodie bag full of handmade treats...essentially a magnificent handmade orienteering activity!;
- a prize draw of handmade goodies worth over £500;
Main Monkey Designs
- a special Christmas stage area filled with decorations, cakes, preserves; everything you need for that perfect handmade Christmas;
- delicious festive food and mulled wine along with entertainment from the Jubilee Singers Choir; and
- an inspired central credit card facility allowing customers to take little invoices from each stall holder to a central checkout point and pay by card in one fell swoop!
UK Handmade were pleased to catch up with so many wonderful designer-makers under one roof and put faces to the products we love: Caroline Cowen Jewellery, Cecily Vessey, Hope and Eden, Mary Kilvert, Sasha & Ellisabeth, Zosienka & Rosie, Tobyboo, BlueberryPark, Becky Fairclough, Anna Wiscombe, A Alicia, Forgotten Stitches, Lok Ming Fung, Zeena Shah, London Clay Birds, The Quiet Revolution, Suzy Taylor and One of a Kind Boutique, to name but a few of the 80+ designer-makers in attendance!
Of course it wasn't all work for us, the UK Handmade team managed to squeeze in a wee bit of Christmas shopping as well! We spotted so many absolutely gorgeous products for sale that it was hard to choose what to buy! All testament to the sheer quality of the work for sale at We Make London events.
Here are some of the gorgeous products we saw which are definitely on our dream Christmas wish list!
Finch Print by The Quiet Revolution
Bird Boxes and Bee Hotels by London Clay Birds
Ceramic Boxes by Lok Ming Fung
"A Friend Is" Folk Art Papercuts by Suzy Taylor
Limited Edition Lambswool blanket by Zeena Shah
Homewares and make kits by One of a Kind Boutique
Cat Bowls by Hope and Eden
Lampwork necklace by Becky Fairclough
The UK Handmade team would like to say a huge congratulations to our friends at We Make London for a job truly well done, we look forward to the next amazing event!
If you're a designer-maker and would like to know more about We Make London events sign upto their mailing list over on the We Make London blog: http://wemakelondon.blogspot.com/
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