Imagine, if you will, a perfect winter morning; cold, crisp air, clear blue skies, a slight hoar frost giving a satisfying crunch to each step and the delicate silhouettes of leafless trees. A morning like this beckons us outdoors, inviting us to adventure and inspiring us to take on new challenges. However, now let your mind wander back to many winter mornings which greet us here in the UK. Depending on where we live, we may walk out to a grey world, often with a slight drizzle and accompanying wet slushy puddles. Opening the curtains to a day like this makes curling up with a good book, a mug of tea and a sweet treat very appealing. However, here in our green-pastured nation, we have faced the variables of the British climate for centuries, often with resilience and good humour making the most of each day as it comes.

As crafters, the winter months offer good opportunities for selling at craft fairs and markets, so whatever the weather, we encourage you to head out and make the most of these days. If you are new to selling at fairs, your first task is to find a few which are local to you and book yourself a place. Do some research beforehand; what customer group will this event attract? It could be families with children, in which case you might like to consider taking some pocket money items, or it could be an evening event with more time to browse, and thus budgets might be higher. Organisers will ask if you have public liability insurance UK for craft fairs which covers you for those completely unforeseen events when an accident happens and a member of the public makes a claim against you. Even if it is not your fault, this insurance will cover you. Insurance, especially if you are new to selling your crafts, can seem a bit daunting. However, as a family-run business who have been working in this area for several decades, we can guide you through the process and ensure you get the best cover for your unique business needs. So, pick up the phone or drop us a line and either Sam or Naomi will talk you through Public Liability Insurance UK for craft fairs.

For those of you who are craft fair veterans, you will probably have a well-rehearsed pre-fair routine of what you need to pack, what you need to arrange and the best order in which to do all this. You may not need many extra suggestions, but we would like to offer one additional tip which you may not have included on your “to-do” list; take care of yourself. These days can be tiring in themselves and usually come after a hectic period of stock production. Unless you are very organised they may also necessitate a late night the day before. So, think about what you will eat and drink while there; try to ensure you have a good breakfast and take a nutritious packed lunch with you, as well as a refillable water bottle. Maybe treat yourself to a warm drink and a tasty snack during the day. If it is likely to be cold, remember to take some extra warm layers, possibly a woollen shawl which is both comfortable and looks stylish. You may not be a make-up wearer, but some lipstick can add to your confidence levels while a small pot of lip balm and some hand cream will moisturise your skin. All these are little things in themselves, but together they speak quiet words that you matter, that you are worth looking after. This added confidence will then spill over into your conversations with customers!

If you are new to the wonderful world of craft fairs, here are a few suggestions of practical items you can consider adding to your “Craft Fair Inventory”. Firstly you will need to get your stock from your vehicle to your display table. Check out parking restrictions at the venue; many crafters find a set of wheels helpful in transferring stock even if parking is readily available.

Next, think through your display. Find out the size of your table and look for a cloth which will not only cover it but will also reach down the front and hide boxes and other items you might want to store. This will give your stall an uncluttered look, drawing customers’ eyes to your beautiful products rather than to a pile of cardboard boxes! Investing in a table covering is an important foundation for your display, so think through colour and texture. It may also be advisable to bring a few “crocodile clips” to discretely secure the cloth to the table; you don’t want a curious child pulling at it and inadvertently causing your whole display to come crashing to the ground! Lastly, consider how you will display your items, how to add height and light and whether you will have any display boards to compliment the products themselves.

As you come to sales, you will need a cash box and float, and a means of card or other payment. Remember to take your sales and order books and a couple of spare pens. Once you have made a sale, how will you wrap your product? Many crafters use paper bags, but you may also consider tissue paper, especially if it ties in with the colour of your brand. It can also be a good idea to pop a business card into each package, so remember to bring a good supply with you.

The days are long and busy, but in between customers, you may be able to work on your craft, thus adding further interest to your stall.

Craft fairs involve some hard work and planning, but are generally very worthwhile, not only in terms of sales but also in the connections you make, the conversations you have and inspiration you imbibe. Remember to get your public liability insurance UK for craft fairs and get out and about in the craft fair circuit!

As autumn slowly meanders its way towards winter, our thoughts will be turning towards Christmas and the many marketing opportunities this brings for individually made and uniquely crafted products. While selling online will increase at this time of year, it is also an ideal time to step out and look for venues where you can sell in person. While Christmas can be a springboard for this search, you may well wish to continue selling in this way throughout the following year.

There are many advantages of selling locally and in person. Not all of us can boast of being a whizz with tech, so it might be a relief that selling face-to-face doesn’t require too much growth in that area! It will, however, be a fantastic outlet for those interpersonal and communication skills, giving you the space to get to know your customers. If you can engage with them, sharing the story of your business and introducing them to your products will begin to raise your profile locally. It may be that you also run workshops or experience days, for which you can have some attractive leaflets printed giving details of these to distribute or details on your Facebook page.

Meeting your customers and speaking with them provides invaluable insights into what they appreciate about your products and may spark some ideas for new lines. It’s a great opportunity to ask some open questions and enjoy doing a spot of market research. A good reputation locally will be built not only on the quality of your products but also through good customer relationships. Use in-person selling to build a rapport with your buyers, maybe offering a discount if they recommend you to a friend. Word of mouth is a very powerful marketing tool in a community.

In addition to the traditional craft fairs and markets, there are many more local avenues you can explore to sell your product. If you are fairly small or just starting out, why not look out for some local fundraising events. These could be for any number of organisations from scouts and guides through to primary schools and churches. You will be asked to pay for a table and most probably required to have craft fair public liability insurance but one advantage of these events is that the table cost is usually quite reasonable so you are likely to easily clear it and come away with a profit. In addition, it can often be a good way to network with other crafters in your area.

Another suggestion is to check for any Arts Weeks or similar in your area. The idea of these is for local artists and crafters to exhibit their products, maybe in studios or galleries but sometimes in their homes. The organisers produce a map of the different venues and their opening times and the public comes to visit. This can lead to sales but is also a good way to raise your profile and market your workshops.

Farmers markets and farm shops will often have openings for locally produced, unique, good-quality craft products alongside their own locally produced food and drink. This can be a win all around and a great shopping experience for customers. They could, for example, purchase locally reared meat and organically grown vegetables plus hand-crafted soap and bar shampoo and in addition come away with a gift of a candle for a friend, all within one easy-to-access shop.

You might also like to explore options for selling your products in local craft shops or independent stores. If you live in a tourist area, there may be gift shops which will like to promote locally made crafts, especially if they reflect the area in some way. It could be worth checking out National Trust properties or other similar venues near you as they will often host popular craft fairs and local food markets with good footfall.

Moving away from local marketing, it could be worth searching for craft-specific fairs and festivals around the country. These might be more suited to established businesses as the stall price will probably be greater than a local market, but if the footfall is good, it could be worth the investment. These will also be wonderful networking opportunities and you will come away buzzing with new ideas and brimming with refreshed creativity.

With Christmas fast approaching there will be a plentiful supply of Christmas markets and fairs, from large, well-established events in our cities to smaller town hall affairs in our local communities. As you consider booking for these, remember to do some research beforehand to find out the customer base you are most likely to be serving. For example, a daytime fair based in a school or a small town outdoor Christmas fun afternoon is more likely to have customers looking for gifts in a lower price range than a Christmas craft evening in a stately home where a glass of wine is offered with admission.

Alongside your booking fee, you will also need to consider craft fair public liability insurance as most organisers will ask that you have it. Insurance might sound a daunting prospect, but as a family business that has been working with crafters for several decades, we are committed to ensuring each of our customers get the best package for their unique business. So, pick up the phone or drop us a line and either Sam or Naomi will be here to walk you through craft fair public liability insurance. We look forward to hearing all about your business.

We hope this has provided you with some practical suggestions for the array of venues at which you could sell your crafts. Let us know of others you come across. As well as creating high-quality, unique products, you also have a completely unique and fascinating story to your business. Selling face-to-face is a great way to share this. So, be bold and confident in what you are doing and get yourself and your products out there!

Your website is your online shop and there are many ways you can recreate online the methods you would use to sell your craft offline. In this article, we are going to look at how you can make your online shop more of a hub of communication and a place customers want to return to!

One aspect of selling arts and crafts is that it is personal, and getting out and about to fairs and shows brings with it the pleasure of meeting lots of lovely people who appreciate and want to purchase your beautiful handmade items. But how can you replicate this personal aspect of your trade online?

Well, there are various methods you can use that enable you to open up that communication with your audience and one of the best is via email. Creating a list of addresses of the people who have shown an interest in your products is a great idea as it will be yours to keep. Your website can help you to nurture and grow your email list so that you can continue to have conversations with your customers, long after they have left your online shop. This means that they are much more likely to come back to you and consider buying from you again.

Think about it, if you had a shop in the high street, then bumped into your customers regularly and chatted about how business was going, how they were doing and the latest news, they would be most likely to come to you if they wanted to buy a special gift or a handmade item. That’s how an email list works. You can have those conversations regularly with the people who have already visited your website.

But how do you obtain the email address of someone who has simply visited your website?

Well, the answer is that you have to give them something of value to obtain an email address. On arrival at the home page of your website, your visitors will be pleased to find that you are giving something away for free that might help them, and they certainly won’t mind giving you their email address to receive it. That’s how the conversation starts.

So the first thing to do to build your list is to:

Create an attractive lead magnet on your website

A lead magnet is something you offer in return for contact information. It could be a “how to”, a pattern, a cheatsheet, a discount code or even an ebook. The visitor then gains access to your free resource by giving their email address. You send them the resource automatically and they are added to your email list. When they receive the free resource, trust between you starts to build which allows you to begin a relationship with your subscribers.

It’s a good idea to position the free resource on your homepage or one of your high-traffic website pages in the form of a pop-up. You can time the pop-up so that it doesn’t appear immediately – it’s up to you to set the number of seconds before it appears. In the same way that you would not leap on a customer and start talking to them the moment of entering a shop in the real world, most people don’t want a pop-up appearing before they have had a chance to look at the website page. In a real shop, you’d want to give them a few moments to have a good look around at your well-crafted items before politely asking whether you could help or if was there something specific that they were looking for..? Pop-ups too can be polite and less obtrusive!

Now you have your lead magnet on your website housed on a high-traffic page (often the home page) in an attractively designed pop-up. Your customers are starting to leave their email addresses because they all want to know ‘How to…….”

So let the conversations begin!!

It’s entirely up to you how you choose to engage with your email list. Many people create a newsletter to give people regular value related to their products. Depending on how busy you are, you could send out an email weekly, fortnightly or monthly with insights, updates, stories or discounts around the times of year when people are most likely to be looking to spend with you.

Then once you have shared a bit about yourself, let your audience have their say!

Host an online webinar!

Webinars are the go-to learning platforms today and offer an excellent opportunity to build your email list. As an expert in your field, you can host a free webinar on your area of expertise. Imagine being able to show a demonstration live online, as you would at a craft fair, of the wonderful time-proven process you follow to produce your amazing crafts.

People love to be let into the secrets behind what goes into creating a thing of beauty (you don’t have to reveal all your secrets of course if your process is part of your USP!) Furthermore, these days you can even buy webinar software that allows you to host live events with attendees, and it will all run seamlessly without a hitch.

Not only this, your participants can comment in the live chat, giving you invaluable insights and the opportunity to answer and engage with them in a way that you would not otherwise have had.

The best part about hosting a webinar is that people don’t mind signing up for them since they’re free and require little to no investment (except of course of their time, but this is time well spent, learning).

As long as you provide enough value in your webinar, people will have no issues giving you their email address in return. 

• Plan the details of your webinar—topic, platform, date, time, and duration.
• Create a landing page mentioning all the details for the webinar with a sign-up form. Make sure to include a short form with fewer fields—best to have the name and email address only.

When you have done all of the above you can promote the webinar via social media and spread the word in your network. Then, as you now have the email addresses of the participants, you can set up an automated email series to send them your event link, a reminder on the day of the event, a thank you email to the participant for joining, and then another email to say thank you once the event is over.

Finally, once you have created all of this new business, don’t forget to make sure that you have your insurance for artists and crafters in place! If you are new to selling arts and crafts online, why not give us a call and Naomi or Sam will talk you through the insurance for artists and crafters that we offer. Craft Insurance have been providing insurance for artists and crafters for decades, so please do get in touch and we’ll help you to find you the correct insurance tailored to your unique requirements.

Five Inspiring Ideas to Boost Your Creativity!

September often brings a sense of renewal. Children go back to school, the days begin to shorten, and the air gets cooler. For artists and crafters, this shift can be an invitation to reconnect with your creativity and breathe new life into your projects. The joy of creating something beautiful is, in itself, deeply rewarding. But let’s be real: for many of us, it also needs to pay the bills! Whether you’re a full-time artist or crafting to supplement your income, merging creativity with a sustainable business model can be both challenging and incredibly fulfilling.

Your handmade art holds a unique power—it provides people with items that are not only beautiful but deeply personal. In a world where mass-produced goods are the norm, your craftsmanship fills the void for those searching for something special. Each piece you create carries a personal touch, a story, and a sense of individuality that simply can’t be replicated. This is your unique selling proposition (USP) and it sets you apart. No one else can do what you do, the way you do it.

However, creativity can ebb and flow. Sometimes it’s a burst of inspiration, and other times, ideas take time to form, like seeds needing to germinate. If you’ve been feeling a little stuck or just want to expand your creative horizons, here are five strategies to help boost your creativity this September!

1. Learn and experiment with something new

One of the best ways to ignite your creativity is by learning something new. The more you know, the more your brain can draw on when coming up with fresh ideas. Learning a new skill—whether it’s painting, photography, pottery, or even something unrelated to your craft like cooking or coding—can open up new ways of thinking. These new perspectives can be integrated into your work, giving you fresh creative energy.

For example, if you’re a ceramicist, learning the basics of painting could inspire you to create more intricate designs on your pottery. Or, if you’re a jewellery maker, exploring the world of textile design might inspire you to incorporate fabrics into your pieces. The possibilities are endless. Expanding your knowledge base often leads to new combinations of ideas, making it easier to innovate and stay ahead of trends.

Besides, new tech tools can also be a game-changer. While they can’t replace human creativity, tools like digital sketching apps or software that helps you simulate designs can speed up the process and give you more time to create. By staying up-to-date with the latest tech, you can find more efficient ways to work without losing your creative touch.

2. Collaborate with others

Creativity thrives on collaboration. Joining or forming a group with other artists or crafters allows you to share ideas, receive feedback, and exchange techniques. The energy of working alongside others, whether in person or virtually, can stimulate new ways of thinking. Plus, you get the bonus of expanding your network and meeting like-minded creatives who can inspire and support you. Most crafters would agree that attending craft fairs is an inspiration, as seeing other people’s creative ideas on display is so refreshing.

If you have children, spending time with them can also be a powerful creative boost. Children have a fresh, unfiltered perspective of the world and aren’t bound by the rules and “shoulds” that often limit adult thinking. You’ll be surprised by the unexpected ideas they come up with—ideas that could inspire your next masterpiece! Their natural sense of wonder can remind you to stay curious and keep your mind open to all possibilities.

Don’t limit yourself to just other artists, either. Collaborating with people outside your field, like musicians, writers or chefs can bring new perspectives that you wouldn’t have thought of on your own.

3. Listen to uplifting music

Music is a powerful tool for creativity. According to Time Magazine, certain kinds of music, especially upbeat or classical tunes, have been shown to activate areas of the brain responsible for divergent thinking, which is the key to coming up with innovative solutions. A study in PLOS ONE, stated that listening to “happy” music—typically defined as uplifting classical music—can help you think outside the box, make unexpected connections, and generate new ideas.

4. Change Your Environment

Sometimes, your surroundings can limit your creativity. Sitting in the same space day after day can lead to a creative rut, so try shaking things up by changing your environment. You don’t need to go on the holiday of a lifetime to feel inspired—small changes can make a huge difference.

Start by rearranging your workspace, adding new artwork to the walls, or simply bringing in some fresh plants. Even moving to a different room or working outdoors for a day can help break the monotony and give you a fresh perspective.

A change of scenery can stimulate new ideas. When your surroundings shift, your brain starts making new connections between things that were previously unrelated. This can lead to creative breakthroughs and help you see your work in a whole new light.

5. Set Limits on Your Work

Sometimes, creativity thrives when you impose constraints on yourself. While it may seem counterintuitive, setting limits can push you to think in new and innovative ways. For example, you could challenge yourself to create something using only two or three colours, or to complete a project within a short deadline. These kinds of self-imposed constraints force you to think more creatively within the boundaries you’ve set.

Brooklyn based artist, Damian Correll explained in the Behance Blog that constraints often lead him to think in ways he wouldn’t naturally consider. He limits his colour palette and prefers shorter deadlines to prevent overthinking and second-guessing himself. By relying on his gut instincts, he finds that the pressure to make decisions quickly actually helps him produce more creative work. Similarly, you can impose your limits to see how they fuel your creativity.

Make September Your Most Creative Month Yet

September is the perfect time to reset, recharge, and reinvigorate your creative spirit as well as attending the excellent craft fairs that take place at this time of year. Finding fresh ways to express yourself and increase productivity will see you breezing off to these events with your sails full! And while you are doing all this, if you need help to find one off event public liability insurance tailored to your unique requirements please do get in touch! You will not be lost in a queue of clients; whether you contact us by phone or email either Sam or Naomi will be here to answer your query and find the correct one off event public liability insurance. We look forward to hearing what works for you to get you into that creative space!

So, whether you’re creating for the joy of it or selling your work to support your household, with your one off event liability insurance in place, we hope that this September is a month to remember!

Happy creating!