TODAY I WENT to Margate to give my shelf at ROUGH TRADE a bit of a Christmas makeover.  

While I was waiting for my lift I noticed what a lovely place this area of Margate is.  Known locally as Margate Old Town it is full of beautiful

buildings, charming squares,tiny streets and alleyways.  Situated close to Margate Harbour and the Turner Contemporary every corner hids a new treasure.  And it is here slightly off the 

 beaten track that ROUGH TRADE can be discovered - a collaborative trading area. http://www.roughtrademargate.co.uk/#!

Stalls include  MODS AND ROCKERS (a hairdressers, bespoke silver designs, vintage items, upcycled curios,and various other interesting stalls and items.  A "pop up shop"  way before Mary Portus came to Margate.

 CIGAR BOX BAGS - THREE DIFFERENT DESIGNS, an ALICE BAND with a needle felted flower and some of my LEOPARD PRINT FLUFFY PENS.

 There are a lot of needle felted items here.  SEAHORSES, HEARTS, A BLACK COIN PURSE WITH CHERRIES and my new line of CAT CHARMS. A CAT FOR COMPANY for all of us cat lovers.

A UNION JACK paper mache bag with a London Transport theme, a JAR OF SEAGLASS, SNAIL FRIDGE MAGNETS, and a notebook showing my wonderful cat Bruce sleeping.  

All manner of goodies fridge magnets, Christmas brooches, purses and seahorses.

 A CAT FOR COMPANY currently three designs on sale here at ROUGH TRADE. Marmalade, Perfect Grey and Lucky Black.  There will be more designs to follow.

Just behind the notebook with Bruce is a box of needle felt Christmas brooches. Comets, holly leaves and Christmas Trees.  I keep trying to choose a favourite but haven't managed it yet.  Each brooch is different. 

 AN OVER VIEW OF MY SHELF.  JUST ABOVE IT IS THE ONE SHARED BY MY NIECE AND HER FRIEND.  I think their items are lovely.

LUCKY BLACK CAT

The WHAT'S YOUR POISON BAG has a glittery sheen giving it an unearthly appeal.

The two hearts here were needle felted, then had needle felt flowers and leaves attached to them.  Both have a ribbon loop for hanging. 

One of the Christmas Trees.  This one has bead garlands.  
 

MY SHELF IS NOW A REALITY

SO NOW AFTER A BUSY WEEK MY SHELF IS A REALITY. 

 The second shelf up from the bottom is all mine - filled with handbags, needle felted purses, snail fridge magnets, and decorated jars of sea glass.

The beautiful items on the shelf above make me feel I am in good company and have made the right decision. 

 It took me longer than I thought to get everything labelled and priced.

I must remember this when I do a craft fair, and make sure to leave enough time.

 Once everything was priced and put onto my practise shelf I listed it all so that I wouldn't forget what stock I had taken to ROUGH TRADE.

second shelf from the bottom

my display

TODAY IS THE DAY OFF TO ROUGH TRADE.

THIS IS IT THEN a morning of frantic finishing, one last shelf run through before loading up this afternoon and taking my wares to ROUGH TRADE.  http://www.roughtrademargate.co.uk/#!__rough-traders

I am quite excited about this.  The people who I have met so far are friendly.  And although it is slightly away from the main area of Margate's Old Town it is on the way to the sea and the Turner Contemporary. http://www.turnercontemporary.org/

MY PLACE ON THE SHELF - at a collaborative trading place

After signing up for a shelf in ROUGH TRADE  in Margate Old Town.  http://www.roughtrademargate.co.uk/#!  I have spent a few days writing descriptions for labels for my stock. This has been both more fun and harder work than I had imagined.  I have decided to do largish product labels with smaller removable labels for the prices.

I am using a shelf in the dinning room to get a rough idea of a layout.  This also means I should know if I need anything to display the items I want to sell.   The display has already changed several times but I think I have a prospective layout. Six days before I go to Margate so things could change a lot before then.

I feel that this could be better than a virtual shop because sometimes being able to see items is more enticing, although the audience is smaller.  Hopefully using both methods will get me noticed.

I found some inners from the cigar boxes I have been making into handbags that should work perfectly as display trays.