Sunday 11 March 2012

Catwel Vintage Fair ~ New House Hotel, Cardiff

The flyer advertising the Fair

Hey everyone! Today I went along to the Catwel Vintage Fair which was held at the New House Hotel in Cardiff. There were many stalls selling a wide variety of items, from authentic vintage furniture, tea sets, clothing and jewellery, to the kind of items that are of a vintage~style with a modern twist like bunting and cushions made from re-worked fabric. There was even the opportunity to have a vintage style make over, which unfortunately I didn't feel brave enough to partake in :-( But if this is something that you would be interested in, the book that the make-up artist was using as a reference was Style Me Vintage: Make Up: Easy Step-by-step Techniques for Creating Classic Looks by Katie Reynolds




I had my eye on a little vintage camera, but sadly I missed out. It was in my hands, and because I took too long to decide if I really needed it, it got snapped up by someone else the moment I placed it (albeit temporarily) back in its spot on the shelf. So, I have sorely learnt my lesson today, and my advice to anyone attending a fair like this in the future would be to buy the item that catches your eye while you have the chance!





I did pick up a little bargain, but it is not that exciting really. I purchased a vintage fabric bundle consisting of a large piece of white floral fabric, and two medium sized lace tablecloths for the bargain price of £5.00. These will form the basic covering of my craft stall in the upcoming weeks.

The only criticism I have about the fair was the sheer lack of space. A larger room was really needed as the stalls were quite close together and the room was absolutely packed with people, but maybe this is something that they will consider in the future as a result of how many people showed up today. And, normally I'm not one to be an absolute stickler for the rules, but Health & Safety would have had a field day with the amount of people struggling to balance their cups of boiling hot tea whilst battling through the crowd to the seating area outside. Point to note: The refreshment stand would have been better placed by the door!!!

But that aside,  all in all it was a really good Sunday afternoon out, made that much better because the sun has finally started to shine! :-)

2 comments:

  1. Hi Beau
    As one of the ladies who organised the fair, thank you for your comments. We are glad that you enjoyed the fair, we were totally amazed at the number of people who turned up. We realise we need to have a bigger room next time as we have more people who would like stalls.
    The cups and saucers were laid out for us by the hotel, as it was near the kitchen to replenish supplies etc. we didn't have much choice there. We also didn't bargain for the glorious weather as we had set out tables inside for people to drink tea and eat cake.
    As it was our first attempt we are pleased with the way it went but have also learned what we could do better next time.
    Thanks
    Liz

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  2. Thank you for your comments, and for taking the time to read my blog :-) I attended the fair with my sister and cousin, and we all had a really great day. I have been to similar fairs in the past, but none as popular as this!! I can completely understand why the refreshments were placed where they were, it was just so difficult to manouvre through because there were so many people - though obviously this only reflects positively on yourselves by the sheer amount of people that attended. I would love to be kept updated as to when the next fair is, as I would definately attend, and I am sure that my sister and cousin would too. I hope that my comments havent been taken offensively by yourself, as I think that you all did a really great job. Hopefully you will have more space next time - and it would be fantastic if you had more stalls too!! Beau x

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