British Craft Trade Fair 2011

Standing at my section of the stand

I just got back from the British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Design Space, the studio collective I’m a part of this year, paid for us to do the show, so the eighteen of us who are on the program went up to take part in it.

I must admit that I was a bit skeptical about this show: I had spoken to a lot of different people about it, people who knew my jewellery and had been to the BCTF, and some seemed to think it would be a good venue for me, while others were convinced I shouldn’t even bother. I’ve never done a trade fair before, and if it hadn’t been for Design Space, I’m not sure I ever would have thought about doing one. I am so glad I got a chance to do it.

Empty Stalls

We got to the Yorkshire Events Centre on Saturday morning to set up our stand: with eighteen of us showing, our stand was by far the largest of the 300+ stands there!

It took ages to set everything up: we had to assemble all of the stands before putting out our pieces, postcards, price lists, and info.

Finished

Once we had everything out, it was absolutely stunning. It was so amazing to see eighteen completely different kinds of jewellery all on the same stand: there really was something for everyone!

My section

The trade fair opened Sunday morning at 10:00. It was so crazy to think that after months and months of preparation I was finally here and it was finally starting! I really had no idea what to expect, but as soon as buyers and galleries came to the stand and started chatting, it was so easy to get into the flow and enjoy talking about my favourite thing: jewellery!

I spoke to several galleries who are interested in what I’m doing, so I’ll be chatting with them and hopefully getting several new places where my work will be sold very soon: I’ll update you on that as things are finalised.

If you missed the last post and want to see which pieces I exhibited at the BCTF, you can see that here