Snow and the Valentines Craft Market.

After weeks of preparation for the Art & Craft Market, snow was not something I wanted at all this weekend. You might think that makes me a grouch but I know I was not alone. The first Sunday of February means the first Art & Crafts market of 2012 which is held bi-monthly. Naturally it is regarded as the Valentine’s craft market so hearts featured among our cards and other handmade goodies. This was also the market when I would be introducing my new knitted charms along with my cards so I was looking forward to see how they would go. The damper on my anticipation started on Friday with forecasts of heavy snow and weather warnings. The tweets and status updates of friends and family in London made me more and more unhappy.

I so wanted the weather forecast to be wrong. As long as the ground remained clear I kept hoping. From mid afternoon I kept peeping out the window. Everyone who mentioned the coming fluffy cold stuff on Twitter and Facebook appeared to be so excited, impatient for it's arrival and looking forward to being in touch with their inner child. Some were hoping that it would fall so heavily that it would mean they wouldn't be able to travel to work on Monday.

Normally I would feel the same but of course we don’t have stalls for fun alone - we want to make some money. I even wondered if there would be any market at all. However any thought that maybe the market would be cancelled was put in no doubt by an email from Ms Cat the organiser.

Snow or no snow the market is still on, she confirmed.

Once the snow arrived, light at first, it was steady and grew heavier over quite a few hours. In fact it was still falling when I went to bed. I posted this pic via Twitter with the hastag #uksnow so it would be added to the UK snow map which records in real time snow fall or lack of it around the country via tweets. This was in the early hours and the snow was quite heavy by this time.


In the morning the snow was deep and beautiful. Well beautiful for the children who were out even before 9 am, throwing snow balls at each other or buiilding a giant body with shouts and squeals of joy.

It was not easy but I took my time manhandling my wheely case as I trudged through deep and slippy white stuff. I was the last to arrive which made a change for me. One of the booked stall holders didn’t make it. Ms Cat was quite disappointed by that.

Soon after setting up I sold a few of my knitted charms which raised my hopes for a good day in spite of the weather and worth the effort to get there.

Throughout the day there were a few parents with young children and a few couples and other visitors which made the snow trek worth our while but numbers were really down on previous markets.

One of the most popular stalls was a new idea of Ms Cat - a workshop stall where you could make a small fun item using upcycled materials for a small cost. The children loved it and so did their parents. It should be noted though that the workshop is open to both adults and children. A really cool idea that will be a regular feature of the market.

There was some disappointment in the number of visitors but we expected it really. In between the odd sale we used the time to get to know new stall holders and reconnect with regulars. I think we were all glad we made it through the snow and started looking forward to the next market in April.

On the way home I saw evidence of much earlier fun with giant snow people lining the pavement but don’t expect to see any photos of that. Stopping to get out the camera was the last thing on my mind as I looked forward to a warm evening on the sofa. To see more photos of the February Arts & Crafts Market click that link and visit the collection on Flickr.

I'd be interested to know if you have any strategies to cope with craft markets in bad weather. One thing I wished I'd brought with me was a hot water bottle. At least we were indoors.