If you want something done well, do it yourself. There are increasingly more people who live up to the popular saying, and the do-it-yourself (DIY) craze continues to grow. This past weekend some 23,000 people visited the Handmade Festival, an event that has become established in Barcelona with this 3rd edition of the fair.
For lovers of all types of crafts, this fair is a genuine meeting place to learn about all the latest novelties, but it also a chance to see the faces of regular suppliers, which are mostly online shops.
However, one of the faces that attendees to the Handmade Festival got to see is already quite well known. Singer Beth Rodergas made the most of the festival to show off the best of LittleLia, her brand of handmade products for babies. "When I had my daughter we began making things to sell at a few concerts. People seemed to like it and that encouraged us," she told VIA Empresa. She makes it clear that her products are "all handmade at home; we try to use recycled materials, old-style fabrics and printed materials for grown-ups, so as to avoid the baby classics."
LittleLia is one of the brands that sells its products exclusively on the net. "The way to reach people is online," says Beth, who confirms that most people who come up to the stall "already know us because they've seen us on social networks and the web." This is one of the reasons why, she says, "for the moment we do not intend to open a physical store." The other is that LittleLia "is not our main source of income, as we have other jobs, and this is a hobby that makes us feel good and which gets us out there." Whatever the case, Rodergas points out that "these fairs are good for us because people can get to see and touch the product." It is an opportunity that, apart from the Handmade Festival, they have also found at the REC in Igualada or the Susi Sweet Dress in Barcelona.
Tapes that take paper further
Scrapbook enthusiasts, experts in the art of paper, have long been familiar with the concept of washi tapes: adhesive tapes with colourful slogans used to decorate everything. One of them is Mar Casalderrey, who for another year was at the Handmade Festival with all the products she sells on La Mar de Washi Tapes. "I started with a blog about what I liked about crafts and recycling, until I came to the world of scrapbooking. Here I came across washi tapas and it seemed to me that there was not much variety," she tells VIA Empresa. This gave her the vision of "having some more adapted to our culture, and I still have the ambition to make one about Sant Jordi."
Three years ago, she opened the online store, importing washi tapes "that we did not have here, basically from Korea, Japan and China." Now her imports are mainly Chinese products, and "varieties that are more difficult to find." She has a range of 2,000 models, complete with 20 of her own designs. "It is difficult to compete with good designs that are made in bulk. They have to be very special models," says Casalderrey, who has not given up on her long-term goal of establishing a "brand in collaboration with Catalan designers."
Casalderrey talks devotedly about a product that "is like a kiss, which always comes with a little love." Despite admitting that she should be thinking of opening a physical shop, she says that "the risks associated with it has not convinced me." In the end, losing work due to the crisis was "an opportunity to do something that I wanted to do and that fulfilled me, even though there are difficult moments." With a physical shop, she explains, "I would have to take on employees, increase costs... ."
Fairs like Handmade allow La Mar de Washi Tapes to regularly cover this shortfall. "It is the day I have contact with the client, who gets to see your face and knows that there is a person they can trust behind the screen," says Casalderrey. The downside, however, is that "many people wait for fairs to buy." In any case, showing a contagious optimism, she says it is "an investment that you need to recover later with visits and orders, and not to value it as simply attending the fair itself."
Taking e-commerce at its word
Luis Montes has for two years been selling all types of wooden letters for decoration through Nosololetras.com. He got the idea in the UK, where "they are bigger fans of the letters, and where what sells is what you have to make," he tells VIA Empresa. Montes agrees that it is hard to make a physical shop profitable. "Having an online shop is cheaper and allows you to have your workshop wherever you want. Mine is in my basement at home," he says.
After running the numbers, he points out that this formula saves him some 500 euros a month, with the added advantage that a shop on the Internet "is open 24 hours a day". In his case, he has a shop on eBay; but even so "not everyone can find you". That is why he decided to go to the Handmade Festival for the first time. "If we are lucky we will cover the costs of the fair, but you also make contacts that you can hope to take advantage of," he concludes.
For lovers of all types of crafts, this fair is a genuine meeting place to learn about all the latest novelties, but it also a chance to see the faces of regular suppliers, which are mostly online shops.
However, one of the faces that attendees to the Handmade Festival got to see is already quite well known. Singer Beth Rodergas made the most of the festival to show off the best of LittleLia, her brand of handmade products for babies. "When I had my daughter we began making things to sell at a few concerts. People seemed to like it and that encouraged us," she told VIA Empresa. She makes it clear that her products are "all handmade at home; we try to use recycled materials, old-style fabrics and printed materials for grown-ups, so as to avoid the baby classics."
LittleLia is one of the brands that sells its products exclusively on the net. "The way to reach people is online," says Beth, who confirms that most people who come up to the stall "already know us because they've seen us on social networks and the web." This is one of the reasons why, she says, "for the moment we do not intend to open a physical store." The other is that LittleLia "is not our main source of income, as we have other jobs, and this is a hobby that makes us feel good and which gets us out there." Whatever the case, Rodergas points out that "these fairs are good for us because people can get to see and touch the product." It is an opportunity that, apart from the Handmade Festival, they have also found at the REC in Igualada or the Susi Sweet Dress in Barcelona.
Tapes that take paper further
Scrapbook enthusiasts, experts in the art of paper, have long been familiar with the concept of washi tapes: adhesive tapes with colourful slogans used to decorate everything. One of them is Mar Casalderrey, who for another year was at the Handmade Festival with all the products she sells on La Mar de Washi Tapes. "I started with a blog about what I liked about crafts and recycling, until I came to the world of scrapbooking. Here I came across washi tapas and it seemed to me that there was not much variety," she tells VIA Empresa. This gave her the vision of "having some more adapted to our culture, and I still have the ambition to make one about Sant Jordi."
Three years ago, she opened the online store, importing washi tapes "that we did not have here, basically from Korea, Japan and China." Now her imports are mainly Chinese products, and "varieties that are more difficult to find." She has a range of 2,000 models, complete with 20 of her own designs. "It is difficult to compete with good designs that are made in bulk. They have to be very special models," says Casalderrey, who has not given up on her long-term goal of establishing a "brand in collaboration with Catalan designers."
Casalderrey talks devotedly about a product that "is like a kiss, which always comes with a little love." Despite admitting that she should be thinking of opening a physical shop, she says that "the risks associated with it has not convinced me." In the end, losing work due to the crisis was "an opportunity to do something that I wanted to do and that fulfilled me, even though there are difficult moments." With a physical shop, she explains, "I would have to take on employees, increase costs... ."
 |
| Mar Casalderrey at her stall in the Handmade Festival. PGF |
Fairs like Handmade allow La Mar de Washi Tapes to regularly cover this shortfall. "It is the day I have contact with the client, who gets to see your face and knows that there is a person they can trust behind the screen," says Casalderrey. The downside, however, is that "many people wait for fairs to buy." In any case, showing a contagious optimism, she says it is "an investment that you need to recover later with visits and orders, and not to value it as simply attending the fair itself."
Taking e-commerce at its word
Luis Montes has for two years been selling all types of wooden letters for decoration through Nosololetras.com. He got the idea in the UK, where "they are bigger fans of the letters, and where what sells is what you have to make," he tells VIA Empresa. Montes agrees that it is hard to make a physical shop profitable. "Having an online shop is cheaper and allows you to have your workshop wherever you want. Mine is in my basement at home," he says.
 |
| Luis Montes brought his letters to Handmade for the first time. PGF |
After running the numbers, he points out that this formula saves him some 500 euros a month, with the added advantage that a shop on the Internet "is open 24 hours a day". In his case, he has a shop on eBay; but even so "not everyone can find you". That is why he decided to go to the Handmade Festival for the first time. "If we are lucky we will cover the costs of the fair, but you also make contacts that you can hope to take advantage of," he concludes.
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