Positives

- Great room – lots of light

- Wide isles (for prams)

- I handed out around 200 of my postcards

- I talked to and met a lot of people who have seen my facebook page (and ‘liked’ it)

- Stall holders were allowed free tea and coffee and Tash handed out cake too

- Great company – my friend Narelle helped me for the day and I was next to Jacquie from Empire of Delight

- The location was so close to my home, I loved that it took us under 10 mins to get there.

Negatives

- Possibly not enough signage to the event (although Tash’s signs didn’t arrive in time)

- I didn’t make one sale

- Some of the similar stalls were next to or close to each other

- I would prefer that the market was open to Mums who sell not just people who sell to ages 0-10

- More activities for kids would be fantastic – places to buy popcorn, fairy floss or even giving away balloons would be great.

Will I do another Handmade Children’s Market? I think I would if I was able to sell my jewellery and beads.  I think that any market (not just this one) doesn’t suit my cupcake toppers.

Not selling anything when the people who are coming for the day are your specific target market is a bit hard to understand. I also didn’t make back my stall fee and as a family who has to watch the pennies it was a bit of an ask to apply (the fee was a good price though and Tash very kindly went out of her way to provide us with insurance). If I could sell say, Christmas decorations then I might reconsider closer to Christmas as I really did enjoy the day.

In all it was a good morning and I’m really hoping that some of you who took one of my postcards will come and chat sometime soon about some cupcake toppers or cake toppers. Here’s some photos of the day:

Take a look at the images on this post to see what I currently have available.

Keep in mind that I am able to make ‘almost’ anything within reason so don’t be shy in asking. There is no obligation to order anything after inquiring.

I am also happy to negotiate a price for orders of 15 and more cupcake toppers. Most toppers start at $3.00 (Australian, currency converter here) and can go up to around $20 for the most complicated (the larger robot shown below or anything similar).

One suggestion is to order a specialty cupcake topper for the birthday girl or boy (or adult) and something smaller and lower priced to match for each child who comes along.

Please note that these are not edible, they are meant as keepsakes.

Each cupcake topper has a long wooden cocktail stick attached to poke into your cake to fix it in place. These are made to be removable and replaceable so you don’t have to reuse a cocktail stick with food residue on it.

As you may know, these sticks are very pointy and should not be left for small children to play with but removed before the cake is eaten. I would recommend cupcake toppers with sticks attached for children over 6 years old. I am able to make toppers with no sticks which you will need to push into the icing to help them sit in the right position.

Another suggestion is to order a larger cake topper for the birthday cake and smaller cupcake toppers to match. For example, the castle cake topper and matching pink crowns for the cupcakes. The combinations are endless!

I look forward to discussing a combination to suit your party or special occasion. Orders will take 1-2 weeks to complete so be sure to order  with plenty of time before your event.

Contact me on polyclarific[at]oddsocks[dot]net. I hope to hear from you soon!

Amanda.

The details for the market are:

Handmade Children’s Market

Saturday 4th September 2010 at

Melville Civic Centre Main Hall, Booragoon WA
9:00am – 1:00pm
FREE Entry

Here’s what I’ll be showing (and hopefully more samples will be made before then);

If you promote this competition on your blog, twitter or facebook I will happily give you an extra entry per promo. Every time you promote, please leave a comment and a link in the comments on the following post (the one below this one);

http://polyclarific.com/2010/07/design-competition/

The cards were made using a gocco printer .

You can find all these designs in my Etsy store KeLu which is here.

I have a few designs so far but would love to hear your suggestions for your favourite design (which you would like to see made into a card or card set). I’ll be adding a blog competition to choose the next design and the winner will receive a card of their choice and 30% off anything in KeLu (excluding shipping). Look out for that blog post later today!

Thanks!

Amanda

From July 20 – August 17 everything in Polyclarific except items in the 1950s section are on sale for 25% off. Prices have not been adjusted so please wait to pay after an adjusted invoice has been sent! Happy Shopping. Does not include shipping.

In other news, the second Polyclarific newsletter will be coming out tonight, sign up on the right hand sidebar if you would like to recieve it. It will include discounts for subscribers and information on other products.

Polyclarific’s new venture is into the world of cake topper making. You can see from the photos I have started to build up a range of available cake toppers.

Children’s Birthday Cake Toppers
I am happy to custom make any topper for you. Maybe your little girl likes rocket ships but would prefer it to be in purple or pink, no problem! Perhaps your son loves trains, I’d be happy to make one for you. If you were after a more masculine castle I can adjust the style for you. I am able to make any number you need in any colour and can colour match if you wanted to send me a swatch of fabric. I am able to add their name to the topper also.

Special Occassion Cake Toppers
I will be putting together a sample range of toppers for special birthdays (21st, 40th etc..) as well as themes more suited to adults such as a handbag, golf set and more. If you have a theme you are after please feel free to ask.
I am also happy to make cake toppers for the celebration of Christmas and Retirement and am able to put names on the topper too.

Cupcake Toppers
I will soon be putting together a range of cupcake toppers for children’s birthday parties. These will be attached to a toothpick (which will be removable so the topper can be reused) and can be custom made with your son or daughter’s name embossed into the clay or even in a basic theme (eg; rainbows, numbers, stars, flowers).

The range of toppers will be priced between $4ea (for the most basic cupcake toppers) up to $120ea (Noah’s ark, castle and anything that takes up to 5 hours to create).  Feel free to contact me at polyclarific[at]oddsocks.net or through my Etsy store to discuss a custom order. The toppers shown are samples and are not for sale.

This week I created my first custom cake topper. A friend is having an unbirthday this year with an Alice In Wonderland theme so this is perfect for her cake. This stands 9cm tall and is balanced to stand up on its own. I can always add a base to cake toppers if they won’t stay up due to weight. I am launching into a new venture by collaborating with a wonderful fellow Western Australian Etsy seller called Lillybuds. Liza of Lillybuds makes beautiful wedding bouquets, buttonholes, hair accessories, corsages and fans. She will be offering the option of having a matching cake topper for brides which will be made by yours truely. You can visit her website here: Lillybuds (I am on the front page if you scroll down).

I will also be offering custom cake toppers through my Etsy store. Prices will start at $35 Australian dollars and up, depending on the size and intricacy of the design. If you are interested in a particular design please contact me on polyclarific[at]oddsocks[dot]net. I would prefer to stick to themes rather than designs by other artists from now on (eg: cowboy, space, princess etc).

Here’s a few more angles of the above cake topper;

I am hoping to add to this collection with some other woodland themes starting with some very sweet deer also shown below. These would be gorgeous as cake toppers also or just for little friends to watch you from your shelf. : )

If there are any left they will be available at the Made On The Left markets in July.