KATE'S JOURNAL ...from New Zealand

As Christmas creeps nearer, blogger and designer Kate Bruning gets organised for her annual festive studio sale.

small mandalas “Flowers and can easily become garlands.”

Usually by the end of the year my cupboards begin to groan with the weight of pattern samples, practice pieces and small makings that I’ve forgotten about – often toys, brooches and discarded limbs (the crochet kind, of course). Sometimes there’s a build up of projects that I made obsessively for a while, such as mittens or flowers and small mandalas, that need only ten minutes of threading to become a garland. When this happens, I look for a small corner of time towards the end of November in which to hold a studio sale.

I love having a studio sale – it’s my very favourite way to sell my makings and by far the most fun. Some years they’ve been huge, held over the course of three to four days, other times they’ve been tiny, just a morning or an evening. And the best thing is that they only require two to three weeks of planning. OPEN HOUSE I do enjoy occasionally opening my home up to a wider array of people and there’s often a lot of curiosity to see where I work from. However, I also do it as it's much more economical than having a market stall during the festive season which can cost anywhere up to NZD$250, depending on the location and size of the stall. Furthermore, it solves tricky transport worries as fitting boxes of goods, tables, chairs and a tent or marquee (which is now mandatory at many markets), into the back of my hatchback would prove problematic to say the least.

My next sale will focus on the things I've been making this year, including crochet moths, paintings and a new range of cards with photographs taken from my A Day at the Circus! An

Adventure in Crochet pattern book. I often turn my crafty photographs into cards and posters – it’s a really easy way to expand my inventory and they have proven so popular with my family and friends that I’ve never even had the chance to release them online. BARTERING AND GETTING THE WORD OUT My first step goes into creating an announcement for my online accounts (Facebook, Instagram and website) to create a little buzz. I’ll then continue to add photos of sale items throughout the month. Two weeks before the event, I’ll pin up flyers at local schools and shops. One week before, I’ll do a quick letter drop around the neighbourhood. When making your adverts, be sure to clearly indicate whether it’s cash only, plus the dates, time, address and contact details.

I usually ask a friend or two to join me. It more than doubles not only the fun of the November studio sale, but also the amount of ‘stuff’ on offer and it halves the workload (wahoo!). Partnering up works especially well if your partner offers something quite different. I pair up with a friend who is an

“A studio sale is by far the most fun way to sell my makings.”

“I've been making crochet moths.”

artist and jewellery maker and we always end up bartering with each other before the sale even begins!

Early in the lead up I trade with another friend, swapping a plate of baking for an item or voucher to a certain value. One year my boys were selling pinecones and we swapped two bags of them for brownies and biscuits so tea was catered for.

I like to make the sale bit of a party with flowers, baking and hot drinks (or wine). Even though it is a business-y event, I’m still welcoming people into my home and I want them to have such a blast that they’ll come to the next one!

The last thing I do is clearly mark which parts of our home are open during the sale. While people generally respect a closed door, hazardous waste signs are always effective (and with some bedrooms in our house, true).

Now I've my planning down and crochet samples and projects aplenty, I'm really looking forward to 2017's Great Big Greedy for Colour Christmas sale! See what wonders Kate has been working on lately on her blog at www.greedyforcolour.blogspot.co.uk. You can find her on Instagram as @greedyforcolour