Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience

Christmas Craft Shopping Experience 2012

December 03, 2012 Charlotte No comments

The Warwickshire Exhibition Centre near Leamington held it’s fourth successful annual Christmas Craft Shopping Experience yesterday. I have exhibited at this event since it’s first opening in 2009 and have enjoyed seeing it grow each year. This year the show was complimented with some festive singing by a burlesque style lady which got the visitors (and myself!) into the festive spirit.

What I love about this event is that every single stall (there are over 100) is full of products that are handmade by the stall holder.

I had a great day and yet again met some lovely people, as well as seeing some happy familiar faces. I always enjoy chatting to customers about how my work is made and how some of the different effects are achieved – people are often amazed at how many different processes each piece goes through and how long they take to make, which I think makes my work more valued and appreciated.

I also like to ask customers if the pieces they are buying are for gifts or not, and was quite surprised at the majority of people who said they were impulse buying for themselves rather than for Christmas presents.

Aside from selling pieces of my work, getting my name out there and meeting lots of nice people, one of the other highlights of my day was the amazing hot chocolate with marshmallows that was available in the cafe area. Delicious!

I’ll be looking forward to exhibiting at this event again next year. For more information on the whole show visit the website here, and like the facebook page for regular updates, images and news.

Giveaway Tickets for Christmas Craft Shopping Experience

November 13, 2012 Charlotte No comments

How would you like to win a ticket for two for FREE entry into this years popular Christmas Craft Shopping Experience event at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre on Sunday 2nd December 2012?

I have four tickets to give away, remember each ticket entitles free entry for two people so you could bring a friend or family member along too.

I have been an exhibitor at the Christmas Craft Shopping Experience for the past 3 years since it first started, and I always look forward to it as my favourite event of the year. With over 100 stalls full of top quality handmade items, this is a Christmas shopping event not to be missed!

For your chance of winning a ticket for two, all you need to do is ‘like’ both Facebook pages Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics and Christmas Craft Shopping Experience. Then leave a comment on my page saying that you have done so, and also what you like about buying from handmade fairs. What does it mean to you to be buying handmade rather than from High Street shops? What type of products do you plan to buy or look out for at craft fairs and who do you buy for?

Any or all of the above questions can be answered… Four lucky winners names will be drawn from a hat at random and the winners will be announced on 21st November.

Don’t forget to click ‘like’ on both Facebook pages so that we can identify the names to be entered into the hat and to be able to contact you for your address if you are a winner.

Please help to spread the word about this fantastic event, and good luck!

Posted in: christmas gifts, christmas shopping, christmas shopping venue, contemporary craft shopping experience, craft fair, Events/Craft Fairs, Giveaways/Competitions, warwickshire exhibition centre Tags: christmas craft shopping experience

I won Best Dressed Stall!

December 05, 2011 Charlotte 1 Comment

Another fantastic day at this annual Christmas fair yesterday, the Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience was a huge success for me and it was a very enjoyable day. With plenty of customers coming through the doors all day and the smell of mulled wine coming from the cafe area, there was plenty of festive cheer in the air!

I took these photos of my stall before the show opened. There was a bit of extra room to the right of my tables so I created a little alcove space that people could walk into, and it seemed to attract them in. I had lots of lovely comments about my work which always motivates me, especially when lots of it sells!! I was sooo happy to have sold one of my large sculptural vessels as well as lots of vases and plenty of other bits and pieces.

And if that wasn’t enough to put a smile on my face, I also won this hamper prize for best dressed stall, wow! This definitely finished off the day nicely, and I’ve still got a big grin on my face today.

As always it was lovely to see and chat to some friendly faces of other stall holders, and great to meet some new people too. Looking forward to this event next Christmas!

Posted in: christmas exhibition, christmas gifts, contemporary craft shopping experience, Events/Craft Fairs Tags: best dressed stall

A date for your diary

November 22, 2011 Charlotte No comments

On Sunday 4th December 2011 I will be exhibiting at the Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience, at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre near Leamington. Now in it’s third year, this popular show is always one of my favourites and I can’t wait for all of the festive fun on the day!

Hope to see you there

Posted in: contemporary craft shopping experience, Events/Craft Fairs

Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience 2010

December 05, 2010 Charlotte 3 Comments

It was a great day at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre – The popular Christmas craft fair from last year was back today with a hall packed full of exhibitors and customers.

~My display~

This sign that I had up seemed to work well! People were buying items straight away instead of coming back later. It was so busy to guarantee items would still be there when they returned.

I was worried the snow might put people off coming today, but luckily it all melted just in time and it seems to have got a little milder now.

I took this snap of part of the hall just as the show had opened:

Here are a few images of sections of my stall:

My new ceramic plant markers have been selling really well since I launched them online last week. I sold quite a few today too, not many left now! I’ll have to make plenty more, especially because I’m thinking about approaching garden centres and flower shops with them.

My coasters were very popular as always! I have some new designs and I’ll be uploading these to my website this week.

I love the new shiny brown buttons in this basket:

All in all it was a very good day, the car was definitely lighter on the way home! It was lovely to put faces to names of some other exhibitors that I know via Folksy and the Crafts Forum.

A big thank you to my mum for coming and helping me today. Check out this lunch we got delivered to my stall, all for just £5! I think it was supposed to be £5 each but they only charged for one lot!

Posted in: contemporary craft shopping experience, Events/Craft Fairs, Exhibitions, warwickshire exhibition centre

Wanted – Stall Holders for Craft Event

July 16, 2010 Charlotte 3 Comments

Last year I was one of the exhibitors at a craft fair organised by Claire of Lady Luck Jewellery, at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre. You might remember me mentioning it, it is called the

Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience.

Designers above: Sparrow Primitives, Pennydog, Blue Butterfly Glass, Petal Textiles

It was definitely one of my best events of the year, and was extremely well organised by Claire. I am delighted to be exhibiting at the fair again this year on 5th December 2010. With the date being so close to Christmas, we are bound to have plenty of customers doing some shopping for Christmas gifts. The event showcases high quality independent artists and designers who will be selling unique hand crafted wares – a perfect opportunity for meeting the designers and buying products that you won’t find on the High Street.

Fingerprint KNR Jewellery, Brackencraft, Pinnikity, Hodge Podge Arts

The event holds just over 100 different handmade stalls and there are currently some spaces left, although spaces are now fully booked for jewellery and cards. If you are interested in exhibiting your work at this fantastic venue, please e-mail Claire for a booking form: mail(at)ladyluckjewellery.co.uk (replacing the (at) with @).

For more information, please visit the Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience website here, where a current exhibitors list is also available.

Raw Elements, Cards & Candles for all occasions, Helen Billingsley Ceramics, Minimal Marzipan

The images shown are all work from just some of the talented artists and designers that will be at this event.

Let me know if you decide to come along as a visitor or stall holder, or if you are already booked in. Hope to see you there!

Posted in: christmas gifts, christmas shopping venue, contemporary craft shopping experience, warwickshire exhibition centre

November 23, 2009 Charlotte No comments

I had a fantastic day at this event yesterday, it was one of the most successful craft fairs I have ever done! I was very impressed, especially because it was the first year the event was being held. The flow of customers coming in the door was pretty constant all day, it got very busy at lunch time and my stall got swamped at one point! I had customers queuing up to pay for items, I was buzzing!! I got to the venue nice and early so enjoyed setting up my stall with plenty of time.

The Warwickshire Exhibition Centre venue where the event was held was bigger than expected, there were around 100 lovely handmade stalls to explore. There were 2 very cute Alpacas in a pen near to the entrance, I can’t believe how soft their fur is! There was also a Santa’s Grotto, plus free craft workshops for children to make their own Christmas crackers.

A huge thank you to Claire at Lady Luck Jewellery for organising and promoting this craft fair. She worked her socks off!

As always, I got to have a walk round in the afternoon when it got a bit quieter, thanks to Dave who looks after my stall for me (and also carries all my boxes, loads and un-loads the car, etc!). I managed to talk to some of the other stall holders and admire their stunning work. These are just a few of my favourites;

1. Orange & Cinnamon Soap Slices by Just Soaps.
2. Fingerprint Jewellery by Kirstie Darnell.
3. Three handmade ceramic heart buttons by HodgePodgeArts.
4. Beautifully felted items by Creative Bumble Bee.

Posted in: contemporary craft shopping experience, Events/Craft Fairs, featured designers, warwiskshire exhibition centre

Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience

August 11, 2009 Charlotte No comments

I’m really looking forward to this!

My last craft fair of 2009 will finish this year off nicely at the Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience, being held at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre near Leamington Spa on Sunday 22nd November.

There will be approx 200 stalls and all items for sale will be handmade only. This is an ideal opportunity to explore stacks of talent and purchase unique handmade gifts for every occasion, that you won’t find on the high street. What a great place to come and do your Christmas shopping! Visit the website using the link above to view a list of exhibitors who will be selling their work on the day.

There are still spaces available, if you would like to be an exhibitor at this event please contact Claire who is co-organising this event at mail@ladyluckjewellery.co.uk