Hello,
Today is such a great day because it's a no-school day so we all got to sleep in. My weekend craft market is finally over and done with and I am so, so glad. Because I can't wait to take a bag-sewing break.
On Saturday I went dressed as a man.
Here it is, my Saturday display. My sales for the weekend was shockingly low. In fact it's the first time since I joined this market, my sales has hit this low. I only made enough to pay the rent and my meals. My sales on Saturday was scary. It's like what happened? Most people bought my low-value items. My sales on Sunday was actually a tiny bit higher than Saturday which isn't saying much because Sunday's sale is usually quite low.
If you were to ask me what went wrong, I could say that there were too many tables selling bags. Out of a total of 12 tables at my area, 4 were dedicated bag sellers while 2 others sold bags and softies. Now that's 6 out of 12. So I had a lot of competition. Usually I'm the queen of bags. Now I'm feeling the heat.
It would have been depressing except on Saturday my girl went with me and also my dear friend Corinna was around. It's always interesting when she's around.
My girl and I got to spend our girly time together. She even let me braid her hair. This was my first attempt. My second attempt was way better and if we are able to wake up early enough, she might just go to school in double braids!
Nothing much interesting happened where we were. Once a combo of a big doll and some other people dressed in seafood costume came by. What is their purpose? I can't really say. They don't drive any traffic to our craft market, that's for sure.
Well, now that the weekend market's over, I shall focus on the next market which is on 27th and 28th July. It's no point dwelling on what's over. I hope to make a more interesting batch of bags for the next round.
Oh I did learn one thing over the weekend. When you give discounts, you attract a different set of customers. And for them, your discounts will never be enough. I spent so much time fending off people asking for more and more discounts. It was ridiculous. One lady was so determined to buy my wristlet for a very low price. It was $25 marked down to $20. She told me I had used VERY ORDINARY fabric for the wristlet and decided it was only worth $12, thereby giving herself a further $8 discount. I declined her offer and so she decided I should custom make one for her. Seriously? I informed her I do not custom make my pouches and she got very offended and upset and stalked off. As I said, there were 5 other tables selling bags and she found someone willing to custom make for her.
And why do I attract the crazies? I had this woman who came to my table and she looked very interested in my bags. Unfortunately when I spoke with her, she told me she had no intention of buying anything because she is unemployed. In the same breath, she showed me a pouch she had in her bag which she said cost $50 but it was very useful because she could store everything in it. So it was worth every cent. Then for 15 minutes, she described to me every skin ailment she had suffered from. Gawd! I thought she was done. Nope. She took it upon herself to give me advice on how to improve my bags. Does she sew? No. Did she work as a bag seller? No. Basically, using her experience as someone who has used bags, she told me the bags I had made weren't practical. She pointed to a few bags and told me the flaws - like too big, or too broad, or too tall, or whatever. She said the best bag had to be of a specific size and she proceeded to use her hands to measure for me how tall and wide the bag had to be. So she described her dream bag to me. Honestly, some people are too familiar with me.
Oh, on Sunday morning, a woman was murdered in my estate. My son said he heard a scream. Sorry. Sprang that on you.
Catch you guys later.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
My next craft market at Vivocity
Hello,
Guess what? I have another craft market at Vivocity, Singapore this weekend. Yes, I know. Hubs was saying, didn't you just write a post-mortem for the one last weekend? So sad. So so sad. I almost feel like I've sold myself to the Vivocity craft market.
This week was a very short week for me. Oh yes. Just a few days to sew new stuff for my market. It was a tough week as well as June school break was over and it was back to school for the kids. And you know what that means. Right, wake up at bloody 6am. Our sleep pattern was totally wacky. I had been sleeping late and waking up late and on Monday I only had 3 hours sleep before waking up. Since it was the first day, I felt like superman and thought I could do it. We even went to see White House Down which is not a bad movie. (Hubs cried a few times.) When I reached home, I crashed badly. Tuesday, I managed to get 4 hours of sleep before 6am came. Sometime in the afternoon, I crashed. If you're wondering what I mean by crash, in layman terms it means nap soundly. Btw, I just woke up from another crash.
In between all these crashes, I told myself maybe I should just forget about making new items for the craft market After all, why kill myself for a craft market. But you know me. I squeezed three items out of myself. Somehow. I know they're not much but at least you can say I tried.
These are the three items I made.
I made the shoulder bag using the newspaper print first.
Same shoulder bag, a teensy bigger but with a different print. Remember the fabric I had for the giveaway? I saved 1 yard's worth for myself.
Absolutely love this print. It has line drawing which is just my thing. I couldn't resist making it into a large wristlet.
I'm really looking forward to next week because I badly need 1 week off sewing. After that I have to sew for my next craft market which is on 27th and 28th July. And finally after that, I'm taking a longer break to work on other projects.
So if you're in Singapore, swing by VivoCity. I'm giving discounts!!! Not for the 3 items I made this week though. I mean, they're fresh off the sewing machine, amirite? But everything else, yes.
So you'll come? Promise?
Guess what? I have another craft market at Vivocity, Singapore this weekend. Yes, I know. Hubs was saying, didn't you just write a post-mortem for the one last weekend? So sad. So so sad. I almost feel like I've sold myself to the Vivocity craft market.
This week was a very short week for me. Oh yes. Just a few days to sew new stuff for my market. It was a tough week as well as June school break was over and it was back to school for the kids. And you know what that means. Right, wake up at bloody 6am. Our sleep pattern was totally wacky. I had been sleeping late and waking up late and on Monday I only had 3 hours sleep before waking up. Since it was the first day, I felt like superman and thought I could do it. We even went to see White House Down which is not a bad movie. (Hubs cried a few times.) When I reached home, I crashed badly. Tuesday, I managed to get 4 hours of sleep before 6am came. Sometime in the afternoon, I crashed. If you're wondering what I mean by crash, in layman terms it means nap soundly. Btw, I just woke up from another crash.
In between all these crashes, I told myself maybe I should just forget about making new items for the craft market After all, why kill myself for a craft market. But you know me. I squeezed three items out of myself. Somehow. I know they're not much but at least you can say I tried.
These are the three items I made.
I made the shoulder bag using the newspaper print first.
Same shoulder bag, a teensy bigger but with a different print. Remember the fabric I had for the giveaway? I saved 1 yard's worth for myself.
Absolutely love this print. It has line drawing which is just my thing. I couldn't resist making it into a large wristlet.
I'm really looking forward to next week because I badly need 1 week off sewing. After that I have to sew for my next craft market which is on 27th and 28th July. And finally after that, I'm taking a longer break to work on other projects.
So if you're in Singapore, swing by VivoCity. I'm giving discounts!!! Not for the 3 items I made this week though. I mean, they're fresh off the sewing machine, amirite? But everything else, yes.
So you'll come? Promise?
Monday, July 1, 2013
VivoCity Craft Market 29th to 30th June 2013 Post-Mortem
Hello.
It's July. My craft market at VivoCity has come and gone. What can I say, what can I say? I'm tired. Truly tired. It's no joke spending hours and hours at a mall. I leave home at 9am and come back at 11pm. That's crazy, rite?
Sales. Yes, the most important thing. If you say it's not, I'm going to blow haze at your face. So, everybody agrees with me? As usual, it was good on Saturday and bad on Sunday. Honestly, I should just open for Saturday and "forget" to show up on Sunday. Of course I must remember to bring my stuff home on Saturday. :)
On Sunday, it took quite a long time to get the first sale. Two old people, I'm guessing from China kept checking out my hair accessories. The old man was terribly terribly interested and kept examining the details of the hair clip. Yes, it has a lot of details. I almost think he's into handmade. They left without buying anything. Finally after making the round of the craft market, they came back and decided to buy the hair clip. While his wife (I assume) was paying, the old guy started bargaining with me. Um, shouldn't you bargain BEFORE you pay? Anyway, I don't price my stuff very high in the first place and seriously for the hair clip, I wasn't even making any profit. So when the old man NAGGED me for a discount, I said,
I'm kidding. I said it all IN MY HEAD. I'm generally very tolerant of old people. Then the old guy NAGGED me again for a discount. I just gave a huge laugh, like HAHAHAHA kind of laugh that says "I'm not even going to insult you with an answer."
This was Saturday's display taken real early. I forgot to take a pic of Sunday's display. Yep. Didn't feel real motivated.
I was seated behind the vendor who uses varnish and some kind of marker pen which requires shaking. Luckily she sat right below the air-con vent and in front of her was the door so the ventilation was good. I only felt like vomiting if I went too close to her so I stayed the hell away. Whenever the smell got bad, I just went for a walk. Anyway, she did tell me she would do the varnishing outdoors and keep the varnished item in a covered container. If you think I'm unlucky to sit behind her, it must be a lot worse for her!
Guess who showed up on Saturday? Yes, a customer from my iLuma days. (btw, iLuma has now changed hands and has become Bugis+ - yes, what a stupid name but it looks like a much better mall) I don't really remember many of my customers but somehow I remember Delphina. Maybe it's her unique name! Oh and how nice of her to bring a friend.
On Sat I went dressed as a blue clown. I have started to buy a lot of Uniqlo clothes and when I saw these striped lounge pants, I fell in love. Upon careful reading of the packaging, I was dismayed to learn these pants are meant to be worn at home. I'm a shorts kind of person when I'm lounging around my home. Then hubs said the magic words. Wear them out! And so I did. They are horribly, horribly comfy. Anyway, no one said to me: what the hell are you wearing? I wish Uniqlo has it in black and white stripes as well.
Recently there was a Hello Kitty 6 plushies promotion by McDonald's and yes, it triggered a Hello Kitty mania. (this isn't the first time it happened) People queued overnight to get the soft toy which you have to pay for on top of a meal. Some travelled around Singapore in search of McDonald outlets which have stock.
These are the 6. I managed to get Little Red Riding Hood easily. Hubs had his heart set on the Singing Bone (the black one) which was unfortunately the last one released. Which meant it would be the hardest to get because the mania would be at its peak. Anyway, you can read his Hello Kitty search here. Needless to say, he did not get his Singing Bone Kitty.
On Saturday when I saw one of the balloon artists at the craft market put up a Singing Bone Hello Kitty balloon for sale, I immediately snatched it up for hubs. The balloon artist heard my sad tale of how hubs failed to get his kitty and was sympathetic. However, she cautioned the joy of the balloon kitty is short lived as you know, balloons don't last forever.
Oh, you know what? On Saturday I went to a nearby flea market held in a club. It was dark, there was loud music and is that a disco light? I really don't know how it's possible to shop in the dark. Most of the shops sell clothes. How do you even try them on? All the vendors were squeezed together. There were a lot of customers. However, some of the vendors were located in smaller rooms. Poor thing. I'm quite aware I'm not the target customer. I felt really out of place and I had to ask many people for help when I tried to leave. I ended up in small rooms and weird tunnels. It was scary but I finally saw sunlight.
I did buy one item. Yep, something shiny caught my eye and I bought the purple case embellished with shiny stuff. The seller gave me a new one which I didn't check because it was all wrapped up. When I opened it upon reaching home, I realised that one of the big crystals had become unglued. Demmit.
So that was my Saturday and Sunday. And how was your weekend?
It's July. My craft market at VivoCity has come and gone. What can I say, what can I say? I'm tired. Truly tired. It's no joke spending hours and hours at a mall. I leave home at 9am and come back at 11pm. That's crazy, rite?
Sales. Yes, the most important thing. If you say it's not, I'm going to blow haze at your face. So, everybody agrees with me? As usual, it was good on Saturday and bad on Sunday. Honestly, I should just open for Saturday and "forget" to show up on Sunday. Of course I must remember to bring my stuff home on Saturday. :)
On Sunday, it took quite a long time to get the first sale. Two old people, I'm guessing from China kept checking out my hair accessories. The old man was terribly terribly interested and kept examining the details of the hair clip. Yes, it has a lot of details. I almost think he's into handmade. They left without buying anything. Finally after making the round of the craft market, they came back and decided to buy the hair clip. While his wife (I assume) was paying, the old guy started bargaining with me. Um, shouldn't you bargain BEFORE you pay? Anyway, I don't price my stuff very high in the first place and seriously for the hair clip, I wasn't even making any profit. So when the old man NAGGED me for a discount, I said,
GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE. IT'S UNDER $10. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? WHY DON'T I JUST GIVE IT TO YOU FOR FREE?
I'm kidding. I said it all IN MY HEAD. I'm generally very tolerant of old people. Then the old guy NAGGED me again for a discount. I just gave a huge laugh, like HAHAHAHA kind of laugh that says "I'm not even going to insult you with an answer."
This was Saturday's display taken real early. I forgot to take a pic of Sunday's display. Yep. Didn't feel real motivated.
I was seated behind the vendor who uses varnish and some kind of marker pen which requires shaking. Luckily she sat right below the air-con vent and in front of her was the door so the ventilation was good. I only felt like vomiting if I went too close to her so I stayed the hell away. Whenever the smell got bad, I just went for a walk. Anyway, she did tell me she would do the varnishing outdoors and keep the varnished item in a covered container. If you think I'm unlucky to sit behind her, it must be a lot worse for her!
Guess who showed up on Saturday? Yes, a customer from my iLuma days. (btw, iLuma has now changed hands and has become Bugis+ - yes, what a stupid name but it looks like a much better mall) I don't really remember many of my customers but somehow I remember Delphina. Maybe it's her unique name! Oh and how nice of her to bring a friend.
On Sat I went dressed as a blue clown. I have started to buy a lot of Uniqlo clothes and when I saw these striped lounge pants, I fell in love. Upon careful reading of the packaging, I was dismayed to learn these pants are meant to be worn at home. I'm a shorts kind of person when I'm lounging around my home. Then hubs said the magic words. Wear them out! And so I did. They are horribly, horribly comfy. Anyway, no one said to me: what the hell are you wearing? I wish Uniqlo has it in black and white stripes as well.
Recently there was a Hello Kitty 6 plushies promotion by McDonald's and yes, it triggered a Hello Kitty mania. (this isn't the first time it happened) People queued overnight to get the soft toy which you have to pay for on top of a meal. Some travelled around Singapore in search of McDonald outlets which have stock.
These are the 6. I managed to get Little Red Riding Hood easily. Hubs had his heart set on the Singing Bone (the black one) which was unfortunately the last one released. Which meant it would be the hardest to get because the mania would be at its peak. Anyway, you can read his Hello Kitty search here. Needless to say, he did not get his Singing Bone Kitty.
On Saturday when I saw one of the balloon artists at the craft market put up a Singing Bone Hello Kitty balloon for sale, I immediately snatched it up for hubs. The balloon artist heard my sad tale of how hubs failed to get his kitty and was sympathetic. However, she cautioned the joy of the balloon kitty is short lived as you know, balloons don't last forever.
Oh, you know what? On Saturday I went to a nearby flea market held in a club. It was dark, there was loud music and is that a disco light? I really don't know how it's possible to shop in the dark. Most of the shops sell clothes. How do you even try them on? All the vendors were squeezed together. There were a lot of customers. However, some of the vendors were located in smaller rooms. Poor thing. I'm quite aware I'm not the target customer. I felt really out of place and I had to ask many people for help when I tried to leave. I ended up in small rooms and weird tunnels. It was scary but I finally saw sunlight.
I did buy one item. Yep, something shiny caught my eye and I bought the purple case embellished with shiny stuff. The seller gave me a new one which I didn't check because it was all wrapped up. When I opened it upon reaching home, I realised that one of the big crystals had become unglued. Demmit.
So that was my Saturday and Sunday. And how was your weekend?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)




















