Markets and Publicity

Well we had two markets this weekend, we had Werribee on Saturday which Simon and I went to, and then we had Flemington on Sunday which Angeline and I did.



Both were great, on Saturday we did our best market sales ever, and then on Sunday we beat Saturdays result, so we were really really pleased! We delivered the photo frogs on Saturday that we had a custom order for, and the customer was so pleased, we have now added this to our etsy shop so feel free to go check it out http://www.almondtreeframes.etsy.com/, or here is the sneak peak

Saturday at Werribee, once again our Marquee got blown over, however this time we were more prepared, and rather than having to display the products on the ground, (which is never a good look!) we had tables and display stands ready so it didn't look too bad, though without the marquee shade, I did get pretty badly sunburnt! I love going to the markets, walking around and seeing all the gorgeous pieces that everyone has, I always seem to buy something, on Satuday it was a great dress for Neivh (Angeline's oldest) that is in Christmas colours, and hopefully looks great, as well as some doggy treats for Coupy (who scoffed them in 2 seconds and didn't even notice how nicely they were presented! And then on Saturday I bought some Strawberries that were direct from the farm, and tasted heavinly and some soap that smells so great! I can see that I will probably do most of my Christmas shopping at these markets!

We found out today that our designs are likely going to be in the next issue of Shop 4 kids, which is due out in February 2009, so between the Herald Sun, Cosmo Preganancy and Shop 4 Kids we should be getting plenty of publicity for baby butterflies - who knows it might even be enough so that I can pack in my day job!!!

So who is Nicole

As you may have seen in the about us section, Almond Tree Frames is a family business owned by a brother and sister - Simon and Angeline and their partners. So far you have had two blogs from Angeline, but I thought this time I, Nicole, would blog. Angeline is my sister in law (or soon to be), Simon my fiance is Angeline's sister.

So while Angeline is the creative one of the two, my role in the business is really to take the internet orders, do the bank rec (hey I'm an accountant!), attend all the markets and other boring odds and sods!

This is my first market free weekend for a little while, and I think it is the last one until Christmas, but I really love doing the markets - you get to be outside all day, which given that I am in my office at my day job all week long is great, you meet so many lovely people, other sellers and buyers alike, and you get great feedback on your product pretty much instantiously. Some of our most popular product lines have come from suggestions that we have had at markets, such as the rabbit design below.

When I am not at markets, you will pretty much find me at home, or at the park with our dog, Coup. Coup would have to be the most spoilt puppy (not that he is a puppy any more at almost 2 years) that I know - he is most definately our surrogate child!

Coup has had a pretty bad run, though thankfully (touch wood) the last few months have been incident free - Coup was born with hip displacia, and that has meant that he has had to have 3 knee reconstructions and a hip replacement, so has spent far more than his fair share of time at the vet hospital in Werribee - which if anyone should ever need to go to, is an absolutely fantastic centre, and so understanding about how traumatic the whole process can be. So I think that is partly why I spoil him so much, though Simon thinks he was just as spoilt before he had all the operations! Here is a picture of my baby

Angeline and I were sent the proofs of the photo's that are going to be used in the Herald Sun article, and they looked really great - I will have to see if we can get a copy so that I can upload them to show you all! We will let you know when the article is going to be in the paper as well.

OK, I better sign off - I have a work ball to go to, and have not yet picked what dress I am suppose to be wearing!!!

Don't forget to check out our website www.almondtreeframes.com.au make sure you look at the monkey page - the cheeky monkies are easily my favourite!