Sonny and Coco Autopsy

Yesterday was my second stand at the very new Sonny and Coco in Preston Town Hall.

It was a pity that the market was on a day when a) it was freezing b) the middle of school holidays and c) one of the most popular footy matches was on. So the market was very very quiet. I did about 80% of my sales before lunch and spent after lunch pinning a quilt to the backing fabric. Mum came in to do the lunch shift for me so that I could go around and buy some goodies and chat to other stall owners (thankyou Mum *hugs*).

My wonderfully patient husband who puts up with all my pre-market anxiety crap, painted the two Ikea draws red and black to use on the stall. The draws added a bit of height to the stall and allowed me to do a bit of display work, using the draws to create interest and they were heavy enough to rest things up on. I was pleased with the look, but a few functional improvements need to be made to the next stall layout. I grabbed some of the japanese laquerware bowls that we had to put my hair ties and clips into.

I ended up doing the screen printing that I wanted to do this week onto the American Apparel baby/toddler tops that I bought online (sizes 3-6months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months 18-24 months). I opted for the American Apparel tops as I know that they wash up well and last.

In addition to the baby/todder tops we also had cufflinks and the little notelettes that I made from groovy out of copyright movie posters.

Despite the slowness of the market, it was a good exercise in getting things organised and making more stock to sell. My next market is the very busy Sisters Market in Brunswick Town Hall on the 1st of August. This market lands in the middle of the teaching term, so it is good that I have all my stock made and ready to go.

Will I do Sonny and Coco again? I am not sure. My market calendar is looking very busy from now until Christmas, so I am not sure if I will have the time. It is within my best interests to have stalls at markets where I know I will sell.

Sonny and Coco Next Sunday

What did you say?

"I have nothing planned next Sunday?" .... well! Konstant Kaos will be having a stand at Sonny and Coco at Preston Town Hall next Sunday! The organisers have taken on board feedback from the last market and have re-vamped their stall holders. So come along and support them.

We are very much looking forward to it and have been busily making all sorts of Kaotic things for this craft market. Come along and see what goodies we have! Flip back through my blog for pictures of what I have been making!

As cute as a button

I have busily working away building my product range for the up and coming Sonny and Coco Market at Preston Town Hall on the 5th July.

One of the things that I hate is waste. Making these cute little button hair ties was one way to use up all those scraps that I have been hording. After my last market, I realised that I need more at the $3 - $15 price point. So I have been busy and the tips of my fingers are raw from wrapping fabric around metal bits.

This morning I took delivery of my new MOO business cards, this time they have Konstant*Kaos down the bottom so that I can use them for pendants, hair ties or hair clips. A hole punch here and a hole punch there and voila!

The problem I have now is which ones am I keeping for myself? or Tori?

Sonny and Coco autopsy

When you apply for a stall at a new market, you take your chances. Many of the established markets around the circuit have a specific focus. Vintage, Handmade, Trash and Treasure. Sonny and Coco still have to work out what their focus was. for me the first half of the day was very busy with many out-of-towners coming to visit and buy things as they had seen the editorial in the local paper.

But the afternoon was very quiet and the congestion of too many stalls in one place was starting to get on my nerves. As with most markets, many mums come along with pushers. The layout of the market has to allow for the pushers, wheel chairs and other pushable objects.

I tried a few new things in terms of layout of my table. I borrowed Mum's multi-hanger to hang my bags and baby swaddles on. It worked well as emergency hardware, but I have to get something more professional and sturdy. I have to re-think the shoe layout. I didn't like the box... I need to get more vertical to allow space for other things to be spread out.

Since the market chose one of my pendants as it's picture we made a real push to get as many pendants ready on time.

In addition to the simple pendants I made a few charm pendants from some of our resin experiments, charms and some beads. I thought they looked nice! I'll be popping what's left of those up on etsy shortly.

Not sure if I will do the next Sonny and Coco, depends on where I am financially and what other markets I am doing. At the moment I am just getting a feel for which markets work well with my products. I'd love to do Yarraville or Rose Street to see how they go with my bits and pieces!

Next Market is the Sisters one on 1st August and I am looking foward to the rest before that market!

Sonny & Coco Market

Konstant Kaos are very excited to have a market stall at Sonny & Coco Market at Preston Town Hall this Sunday, 24 May 2009.

Preston Town Hall: 10am - 4pm 284-286 Gower St, Preston,
(Melway Reference: Map 18 G12)

Yes my markets tend to be over the North side of the city, that is probably because I am a Northcote Girl! Come a long and heckle me!

I have some lovely new fabrics and also some new bags for sale!