You might think that baby showers are a relatively new occurrence here in the UK, having been a popular event in America for many years. However, baby showers have in fact been around in the UK since Victorian times. During this period an afternoon tea party would take place after the baby was born. During this tea party games would be played, food would be served and gifts would be brought for the baby. The most common gift to be given was an item made of silver. This was most often given by the grandmothers and usually came in the form of a silver spoon or rattle. These baby showers evolved from some of the ancient events that were held in Ancient Rome, where a mother and newly born baby would be anointed and blessed into the family.

Following the second world war, women in the UK started to hold these baby parties before the birth of their child, as the secrecy and taboo surrounding pregnancy and childbirth had lessened. These events soon started to include the fathers and grandfathers of the child and have evolved further into the events that we know and love today.

Baby showers are now much larger and in some cases lavish events that involve planning. They tend to take place between one and two months before the birth of the child and many different activities will take place and the party. These can include games centred around babies as well as the sharing of buffet food and of course the sharing of gifts for both the baby and the mum to be.

Here are some ways that those who work in the craft industry can provide products to enhance any baby shower.

Decorations – all baby showers need decorations. These could be based around the common colours associated with babies or they might be personalised for each expectant mother. They will commonly include banners, bunting and balloons as well as decorations that may be placed on tables throughout the party venue. You can of course sell these online or through craft fayres and stalls. Make sure that you have the right one day craft stall insurance in place to cover you in the event on an accident or incident occurring.

Food – every baby shower needs delicious food and of course a cake or two. There are many expectant mothers who will look for a personalised cake, similar to the types of cakes that you might traditionally see at a wedding. The colours and decorations that are used will often celebrate the babies imminent arrival and in some cases may be coloured to match the gender of the baby if this has been shared. The buffet food that is shared at these types of events will depend on the preference of the mother to be as well as the kind of atmosphere that is being created. For some this might be traditional finger buffet style food and for others it might be something more akin to a sit down meal.

Gifts – of course one of the best ways crafters can support the rising trend in baby showers is to create gifts for mum and baby. These could be pampering gifts that any expectant mother would love to receive and to use in the last few months of their pregnancy. It is important to make sure that you have all the appropriate safety certificates in place as well as one day craft stall insurance cover to allow you to sell the items safely.

When it comes to thinking about gifts to create for the arrival of the baby you can position your products as either those that are functional and will be used by the mother and baby, or celebratory gifts that are designed to be kept as keepsakes. Whichever one you decide to create it is important that you think about the target market that you are attracting as well as looking at ways in which you can sell these. It might be that your quickest way to sell them is through a Facebook shop or an online store such as Etsy or even through your own Shopify site or website. You could also look at local craft stalls. When selling at craft events you should make sure that you have some accessories to make your table look attractive to customers and that you also have one day craft stall insurance in place.

Gifts that are designed to be functional might include mobiles that can be placed above the baby’s crib, bunting that can be placed in the nursery and toys that you might create for the child to use as they grow up. Again it is important that you have all the relevant safety certificates in place to sell these. Mementos and keepsakes might include lockets that can keep a small lock of the babies hair, a kit or a voucher that allows the mum-to-be to take an imprint of the baby’s hands or feet for these to be turned into a small sculpture or even into an item of jewellery, memory boxes or scrapbooks that can be filled in by the parents as their child passes through a number of different milestones. Other larger keepsake items can include handmade chairs and even small rocking horses. These have become particularly popular over the last few years.

Whatever you decide to create to complement the rise in popularity of baby showers, be sure to make the most of any marketing opportunities that arise through the year. There are lots of mother and baby groups where you can advertise what you have to offer as well as taking up a table at any local craft fayres and school fetes as you will find that your target audience will be attending many of these types of events.

As the year begins to turn to spring, the calendar of events and selling opportunities start to really open up for Crafters and a real chance to sell their wares. Clever hacks for Crafty crafters can be found in many ways which means there are plenty of money-saving tips out there for creators to take advantage of. A quick look at the crafting calendar will illustrate that there are many shows going on through the springtime for you to showcase your products in. One thing that you need to make sure of is that you and your stall are covered for insurance. It’s always a good idea to see where the cheapest craft stall insurance UK is available.

So, in what ways do you need to be prepared for this busy time of year?

First of all, you need to be very careful about where you decide to sell your products, all the beautiful new products and designs that you have been spending the quiet winter months of January and February creating. However, it’s not just a case of simply picking out a few venues and booking a stall. You have to be very careful in where you set up. The really difficult part is knowing that the pitch price you are paying is going to be recouped through sales. Well established and popular events are a good bet but because they are so popular you can rest assured that the initial fee to book a place is going to be considerable. The best approach is to do a bit of research. Take some time to go along to the shows a year before you commit to them. You can see how the other stall holders sell and whether your products will fit into what’s already available. For example, if you see a lot of wood turners, and this is your line of work, is there space for you to take part or will you just swamp the market? Are you doing anything different from what the other producers are offering to make you stand out? This can be applied to card makers and knitters alike. Paying for a stall is one of the most expensive outlays that a crafter can have so it’s vital that you get this part right.

Secondly, try to ensure that your stall is of one look or theme. A mish-mash of images and messages about who you are and what you do is very off putting to the potential customer, and confusing too. Make sure that your banner and accompanying material all match up. The same is true for the tablecloth that you choose. Whilst this may seem a little “corporate” for many crafters it should all be remembered that income is a very important part of what we do, along with the love of doing it! Having a unified image and message stays with people and makes you look a lot more professional, it will also attract people to the stall.

Thirdly, a great money saving tip is to bring a selective product range. It’s best to approach this with a “greatest hits” mentality. It’s expensive and time consuming to just bring everything that you have made and then proceed to display it all on the stall table. It also opens up the possibility for accidental damage by yourself and members of the public. It’s why the cheapest craft stall insurance UK should definitely be considered to protect your wares and also the stall itself.

A word should be said about insurance in general at this point. One of the best ways to save money is to have this in place before you really start to take up the art of craft selling via stalls. It can be a long and gruelling circuit and making sure that you are adequately covered for any eventuality will mean that if something untoward and unexpected were to happen, you’ll have the peace of mind that everything is taken care of and you can concentrate on the task of creating and selling over everything else.

Another way that you can look to save a lot of money is to consider the possibilities of bulk buying, it’s something that you really do need to consider. Now is the time to really take advantage of being able to get in a lot of materials for your work. When you buy in bulk it immediately starts to bring the retail price down for you. Position it with suppliers that you should get some discount for taking a large amount of product from them. It also means that you will not need to be constantly replenishing the stock you have.

Spring brings with it plenty of sales opportunities for the crafter. There are many events in place where you can exhibit and produce pieces for. The main event is clearly Easter. There are so many themes that you can explore. When you think about Easter there are fun images of bunnies and eggs but there are also flowers and the religious aspect of the holiday that can be explored depending on your audience. Throughout the Spring there are three patron saints celebrated. St Patrick, St David and St George, and all are possible opportunities to create products for.

Never forget that you are also the best money saving element of your business. You can sell your product better than anyone in craft stalls because you know it inside out. Whilst it’s true that you will need the cheapest craft stall insurance UK to protect you, it’s money well spent to give you the time and space to produce new wares and to sell them to the public. It’s a truly rewarding working career and experience for you to discover.

The chainsaw represents a huge leap in our ability to manage and fell trees, shortening the process considerably and thanks to modifications such as guide bars, it’s much safer these days for those using them. Nevertheless, extreme care is required with this equipment because of it’s sheer speed – or it could result in severe damage to yourself and those around you. (I thought I’d better add that just in case anyone feels inspired by this blog and rushes out to buy a chainsaw).  

Not everyone knows that the chainsaw can be used to create exquisite pieces of art. Whilst it might seem like a purely aggressive, and singular use work tool, a series of artists down through the years have taken the chainsaw and turned it into the paintbrush of carving and sculpture. As we have mentioned before, using a chainsaw is still dangerous without proper care and attention  and for anyone trying to show off their products and work at an event, they’ll need insurance for craft fairs as a given!

The earliest recorded examples of the art of chainsaw sculpture began in the 1950s. The tool was established as part of general forestry care but it soon became clear to artists that its potential as an artistic carving tool was limitless. The precision it could give, and the speed at which it could be delivered, was too hard to resist using. Ray Murphy was the first artist to pioneer using the chainsaw. He started out by simply carving his name into the wood  with his father’s chainsaw. Nine years later, the artist Ken Kaiser really began to explore with the instrument. He proved that the chainsaw could be a tool of great artistic productiveness by carving fifty pieces for a show called the Trees of Mystery.

Inspired by these workers, other carvers began to put aside the more traditional tools of the wood worker and turner. A great slew of artists saw the potential of using the chainsaw to create art works and, due to the speed and ease of their creation they were able to hire or buy trucks and load up their wares. This enabled them to drive around the USA, moving from show to show, exhibiting with ease. Setting up their stall with a simple block of wood, they would set about creating something marvellous. Given the nature of the work I’m guessing that these early chainsaw carvers were prudent enough to have had some kind insurance for craft fairs in place to deal with any kind of accident or incident that could have happened!

It wasn’t until the 1980s that the movement became really serious and quite competitive. The long established Lumberjack World Contest was the place that really embraced the art of chainsaw carving. Along with all the other competitions of tree felling and climbing it seemed only natural that chainsaw carving should be a part of the championship. Due to the fact that the Lumberjack contest was widely televised throughout the USA, chainsaw carving was suddenly brought into the world’s focus. Soon carvers were popping up all over the States and not just in the Northeast and West. Carving proved so popular it broke away from the lumberjacks events and formed its own world championship in 1987.

Carvers would pick up ideas and techniques from each other and adapt them into their own set of skills. This resulted in a surge of creativity, perfect for pushing the work of this growing artistic community to new heights. The most important part of this movement was the creation of the Cascade Chainsaw Sculptors guild. Their newsletter became legendary in how it was able to unite and draw together the new and upcoming chainsaw carvers with the established ones.

Britain was not to be outdone. With an already strong, tightly knit community of wood carvers in place the introduction of the chainsaw was greeted with enthusiasm. Nowadays, the English Open Chainsaw championships brings in huge crowds, and you can bet your bottom dollar that the organisers and competitors have insurance for craft fairs in place!

The UK started to send competitors to the world championships and Duncan Kitson had the honour of the being the first. British artists also hold a few records over their North American counterparts. For example, Matthew Crabb’s statue of the Virgin Mary is the worlds largest chainsaw sculpted wood work, standing at nine metres tall. Other noted British chainsaw wielding artists are the father and son team, Harry and Danny Thomas. Harry is particularly well known and renowned for his work creating bears and Danny is now following in his footsteps. Perhaps the most impressive feat by Harry was his creation of a chainsaw sculpture of the late Queen Elizabeth the Second.

The art of the chainsaw carver has been made considerably easier by the work of the Finns. Finland is known for its vast forests so felling and forestry management is of paramount importance to them. The Finns have developed different blades or “guide bars”  that have smaller ends which enable the artist to create cleaner lines and more details. They are also a lot safer to use than a regular blade guide bar. Such detail with a regular chainsaw would be completely impossible.

This makes the pioneering work of Murphy and Kaiser back in the 1950s, working with a regular chainsaw, even more incredible in the context of what we have today to work with. With major manufacturers like Stihl, Canon to name but a few, its plain to see that this is an art form that only has more and more potential to grow and provide us all with truly inspirational and awe inspiring works of wood and wonder. The future looks to be assured and very bright and creative indeed! 

Jewellery is given and worn around the world to celebrate significant events in life, as a token of love and affection and as such tells part of its wearer’s story. In some cultures jewellery will indicate the number of children or position in society that a person holds. In other cultures rings are exchanged during a wedding ceremony. Little girls are often attracted to glitter and sparkles like bees to a honeypot! Throughout history, specific pieces of jewellery have been tenderly passed down from mother to daughter, carrying with them precious memories and the importance of family ties. This is not to say that men are excluded from the jewellery market; in some countries men rather than women are more richly and colourfully adorned! That being said, in the UK it’s usually excited young men rather than girls who are scouting nervously for engagement rings to place on the fingers of their betrothed! And round about now, with two significant days coming up which celebrate women, it would be savvy to take advantage of this fact in your marketing strategy.

Of course I’m referring to March 8, International Women’s Day and Sunday March 19, Mother’s Day.  Each of these celebrate women and offer ideal opportunities to sell beautiful and unique hand made items to be given as gifts.  Interestingly, they both originate from quite different roots and a cursory glance at these might help you to prepare for them.

International Women’s Day grew out of efforts in the early twentieth century to promote women’s rights, in particular the struggle to form trade unions and to achieve suffrage. There is a story, most probably not true, of a rally of female textile workers being brutally repressed and subsequent rallies commencing to commemorate this. In any case, rallies slowly grew to worldwide status and, in 1975, the United Nations General Assembly decided to designate March 8 as International Women’s Day. It thus has socialist origins, but more recently has taken on a more commercial mantle in countries such as Argentina and China where the increasing focus is on gifts and flowers bought by men for the significant woman in their lives.

The goals of IWD certainly offer an excellent marketing springboard for small hand made jewellery businesses. While some are more political, e.g. calling out and challenging discrimination and inequality around the globe, others are about celebrating women’s achievements and acknowledging their potential to influence change. How could you maximise on this acknowledgement of women’s contributions to our communities, and at the same time bring smiles to a few often unrecognised heroines? Maybe you could promote IWD on your website or at upcoming craft fairs. There are legal requirements for selling handmade jewellery UK so make sure you are up to date with these as you plan ahead. They include regulations around advertising and how you can describe your products, tax implications, rules around online sales, hallmarking goods containing upwards of a specific amount of silver, statutory requirements for customer refunds and of course insurance. As specialists in craft insurance we can ensure you are covered in this area of legal requirements for selling handmade jewellery UK.

Mother’s Day here in the UK comes from a completely different tradition and is a wonderful opportunity to treat much valued mums with a stunning and distinctive piece of hand made jewellery. The celebration of Mother’s Day in the U.K. has merged in the last few decades with its counterpart from the United States, but ours does in fact have a different origin, and indeed this can still be seen in the changeable date of celebration each year. Our Mothering Sunday has its origins in the days when many girls in rural communities went into service at the big houses in nearby towns. They worked long hours and their time off did not always coordinate with other family members who worked on the land. So, on one Sunday a year, girls in service were given the day off to go home to their families. This day always fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent, three weeks before Easter; hence the date change each year. Girls often gathered wild flowers to give to their mothers as they walked home and we see the continuation of this delightful tradition in the giving of flowers and gifts to our mothers each year.

There is a poignancy to Mothering Sunday, or Mother’s Day. It can be painful for some; maybe due to bereavement and the loss of a much loved mum; maybe due to the deep and often unspoken longing for children which have never come; maybe through the many complications of family life such as blended or adoptive families. Family life is messy, and mothers are usually at the centre of it. Yet maybe it’s exactly because of this, not despite it, that we should celebrate motherhood. Through the centuries it’s often been women, and especially mothers, who have held not only their families but also their local communities together in challenging times. Much of their work is unseen and is most definitely unrecognised by both national leaders and often by their own children! However, their daily practical love is invaluable and the impact they have on forming the next generation is inestimable. Mother’s Day, or Mothering Sunday may be the only day in our modern world where mums can be spoilt. And what better way than by gifting a beautiful piece of handcrafted jewellery. Customers will be looking to buy something special, knowing it is  individual and created with care. You can offer your consumers products which will not only be beautiful in themselves and appreciated as such, but which speak of the value to the woman to whom it is given. So, ensure you have the legal requirements for selling handmade jewellery UK in place and head out to snap some sales and bring joy and sparkle into the lives of some hard working mums!

Take a deep breath in through your nose and aaaaaah, oh yes, spring is on its way! As the days become longer, daffodils wave their cheery yellow heads and birds sing heartily while building their nests, we can almost smell the change of season in the air. After the long dreary winter days and the heavy grey skies, these signs that the natural world around us is awakening are more than welcome. If you can make time, why not take a walk in your locality? Even in the midst of a big city, we can see signs of emerging new life. Look up at the trees and note the new buds forming, maybe some fresh green leaves appearing. Look down and between pavement slabs there might be tenacious weeds poking their heads up, determined to take up residence for another year. Look around and see jubilant displays of colourful bulbs, white daisies dancing on patches of green grass and maybe some early blossom preparing to make its blousy entrance. If you can get out into the countryside or a park, pause to take in deep breaths of the spring air, allow the warmth of the sunshine to soak into your bones and take some moments to do some cloud watching.

Spring is full of hope and new life as well as longer and warmer days, and with Easter falling near the beginning of this, we have a wonderful opportunity to go all out on some nature-inspired Easter gifts. Don’t hold back, let your creativity and imagination run wild, it’s time to celebrate the good things in life which are free and reliably gifted to us each year. Whatever our economy may be doing, those tiny green buds will still open up, and however troubled our world may be, the daisies will appear on cue each spring. So, pull out all the stops and create some inspirational designs which will sell like hotcakes this Easter.

One idea you might like to adapt to your craft is the concept of the ever popular Easter basket. These always bring a smile and encapsulate happy memories of childhood Easter egg hunts for many, thus having a nostalgic value of their own. Simply filling a small gift basket with some of your products can add an Easter twist and so add value to the products themselves. Those of you with chocolate businesses may already sell gift baskets as part of your Easter range, but if not, an attractive basket filled with your delicious chocolates is bound to be an eye catcher.

Baskets need not be confined to edible goods. Bath bombs or soap make a luxurious gift pamper basket, and the theme could be continued even further with egg shaped products. For parents wanting to keep a cap on the sugar content for their children, placing small toys in a  basket, nestled amongst a cloud of tissue paper would be a tempting alternative to a commercial egg. In fact, with a little imagination, many craft products can be packaged in a basket and marketed as delightful and unique Easter gifts.

There are a few practical points to consider. When it comes to choosing your basket, the cheapest is not necessarily the most cost effective. First impressions count so it’s worth choosing baskets which will show off your products to their best. Do some research, and maybe even have a range, from budget and pocket money items to indulgent gifts, which will tempt your customers to splash out and celebrate the season.

There are also a few regulations and laws on selling gift baskets. Some of these are only applicable if you are selling other people’s products alongside your own. It’s important to understand statutory rights too, in relation to customers’ rights to refunds. As specialists in craft insurance, we can help you with product and public liability insurance and the laws on selling gift baskets in relation to this.

So how can your gift baskets reflect the season? This is where you can take inspiration from the natural world all around you, which is so abundant at this time of year. It is almost as if nature is shouting out to us to celebrate and take delight and joy in the beauty all around. Take some time to immerse yourself in nature, whether this is a relaxing ramble in a peaceful location or sitting with a mug of tea in an outdoor spot, watching the clouds pass by and simply breathing in the fresh spring air.

As we observe the natural world more closely, we cannot help but be inspired by the intricate design we find and its subsequent beauty. Look closely at a flower; the geometrical shape, the blending of colours, and the smooth, soft surfaces. Look up and take in the sheer size of a tree, and then the intricacy of its buds and leaves. Immerse yourself in the vast spectrum of greens we see all around us. Green is the most restful colour and contrasts perfectly with the blue sky, which in turn contrasts impeccably with the white of the clouds. We’d all be exhausted if the grass was red and the sky was purple!

Many engineers take inspiration from nature for their designs. Did you know that the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical number sequence used by mathematicians and economists is perfectly formed in each sunflower head? The order of nature is calming and pleasing to look at, even if you think in numbers!

So, as Easter approaches and spring is definitely in the air, get outside and soak in some natural inspiration from the world around you, check out the laws on selling gift baskets and design some beautiful Easter creations of your own!