The autumn Spire Market

I've been meaning to recap the Spire Market all week but haven't been too well so it sort of slipped off the list.

We had a few new stall holders this time, and learned a couple of things. Because we're such a small market, we don't want to have too many of any one kind of stall; we want to maximise every stallholder's chance of making sales. But this time there was an accidental emphasis on jewellery (we had a last minute cancellation and accepted someone new who knew another new stallholder...and they both sold jewellery). We had also accepted an application from a candle maker so turned down a few other candle makers (and I didn't bring the candles that I had made)... and then she didn't show up! So we have definitely learned not to tell someone they have a confirmed place until their money is in the bank (I know, I know, a pretty basic lesson, but still).

Because of our missing stallholder, we had a bit more space to set up tables and chairs, with camellia flowers from our garden, so that people could sit have a pleasant Devonshire tea. Mum made scrumptious scones, and the Fairtrade tea and coffee came from Margie's stall, The Honourable Teapot.

Becky and Rachel, our lovely tea ladies

I was worried in the days before market as I hadn't had much time to sew. But when I was going through stock the night before I realised I had quite a lot of stuff that I had packed up after the Glebe market and not unpacked. Win!

I used an Expedit bookshelf that was in the hall to set up my stall, which I liked better than using a table. It meant I could have things on different levels and it looked a bit more shop like. I think my things looked quite lovely, and I made quite a few sales, so it was a good day for me.

My cheerful bags

 Here are some of the other pretty stalls from the day:

Claudia's intriguing coffee pod jewellery

Larissa's delicious necklaces, which I think looked rather edible!

Laura's prints (and there were second hand books on her stall too)

Gin's cards - love the orange/teal colour combo

Mariana's Peruvian rings

Sammi's delightful dolls

Margie's yummy tea

We had more people through the door than the first market, and not just friends and family of the stallholders either! I had tried to put ads everywhere I could think of, which had a mixed result - quite a few people got there way before 10am, seemed to think it was a garage sale and were a bit miffed that it wasn't one. But nowhere in the advertising had we said it was a garage sale...so it just proves that people don't really read the details.

We decided that in the future we'll probably go from 10-3 instead of 10-4. It's a long day, and there weren't many people who turned up in that last hour. But thank you to everyone who popped in throughout the day!

If you want links to any of the stallholders, head to our website. And you can like us on Facebook too. The winter market will be on Saturday 28 June - put it in your diary!