If you haven’t come across the Super Second Festival before, you are in for a real treat! There are 250 indie makers and artists involved and although you shouldn't need a reason to shop with us, here a list of my favourite reason to support us!
This is my favourite reason. Now more than ever small businesses need your support and a lot of the crafts and skills required really deserve your hard earnt money to keep them going. Ok so we don’t offer prime delivery, but we have much more personality than the big boys.
There will be so many one off creations that either cant be recreated or were a one of mishap as part of the making process. Your Super Seconds purchases will be truly unique and finding items that resonate with you can help you feel more authentic and aligned with your sense of self.
Just because these are seconds, doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t still really high quality. Makers will describe the imperfections in their listings so it wont be a complete surprised when it arrives, but the imperfections are nearly always pretty minor. Quite often there is nothing wrong with them at all but were made as samples. The best bit? You can get these beautiful and unique items for up to 75% off.
Seconds are an unavoidable part of running a creative maker business. Usually, these type of products would be sold for bargain price at in an person market, but the Super Seconds festival gives you a chance to do that virtually from the comfort of your own home over a whole weekend. There is no other sale like it in the UK.
Most of the makers taking part have hung on to these items as they aren’t good enough to sell for full price, but we hate waste. Why throw away things that are perfectly good? Small businesses are already a kinder footprint on the planet, but these items get an extra
Every year I vow to get Christmas shopping done early, and the Super Seconds Festival can really let you get ahead of the game. There is such a wide variety of products on off from homeware and accessories to ceramics and stationary that you are sure to find some great gifts for your loved ones or *cough* yourself.
It takes the same amount of money, time and energy to make products that don’t go 100 percent to plan as it does to make the products we sell all year round. This is one of the reasons you'll be able to get such a good discount on so many items. Having spare products to hand wont help us grow our businesses and with Christmas around the corner, its so helpful for us to give you a bargain for that things that need a loving home.
Maybe this reason should have been first on the list, but I think I’ve saved the best to last. What could be more moot boosting than process of exploring the 250 makers, browsing products and discovering new items? There is a real sense of achievement from finding the items that bring you the most joy and it really is a bit of a novelty experience as you may never find these products again. This is self care at is best. Finding those special items is a great way to give yourself an a rewarding dopamine boost, and its even better when all your goodies arrive!
]]>So what are seconds and why is there a festival? The short version, is that as part of the handmade process, there will always be the occasional item that doesn’t come out perfect and that we aren’t able to sell for full price. Sophie from Ink & Bear came up with the idea for Super Seconds Festival in September 2020 in the middle of lock down after printing a whole pile of t-shirts that went ever so slightly wrong! You can read more about it on the Super Seconds Festival website.
Because this sale is often fastest finger first, I decided to put together a guide on how to find the best deals and make the most of the weekend.
The best place to see all the makers taking part is obviously the home of Super Seconds Festival! Sophie, James and Abby have created the best resources for discovering all 250 makers. You can search by name, category and even create a wish list of your favorites so you don’t forget where you found them. Each maker has a page with photos of the types of products they are selling, the link to their website and information on any extra discounts.
A lot of makers will be offering an exclusive discount to their email subscribers, and if you are anything like me, it’ll help you remember when the sale is live. This one is especially helpful if you want to be kept in the loop on some brilliant small business Christmas gifts as if you sign up to our lists, we can tell you all about them. Social media algorithms don’t always reach everyone but email is a great way for us to be able to keep in touch with you.
This really can be a fastest finger first event (say that three times fast). Like trying to get your hands on Adele tickets, some of the highly sought after items can go very quickly. By their very nature, the items available for sale at Super Seconds Festival are often one-off items at a steal and there may be only one of them. If you do miss out on your favourite item, have a look if there is a discount on the full priced item or even better, just think how much joy it’ll bring you when it arrives and buy the perfect version.
This is actually my favourite tip. If the thought of needing to be on the ball when it comes to adding to your basket and checking out doesn’t sound like your vibe, I have good news for you. There are 250 of us. Most of us have plenty of beautiful things that need a home and it is totally unrealistic that all items across the festival will sell out in the first 5 minutes. The reality is that you have ALL WEEKEND to shop with us and quite a few of us will keep our products live for at least the week after.
One of the best things about the community of makers taking part in the festival is that we all help promote each other, especially when things have started to get a bit quiet. These hashtags will really help you spot some of the pieces that are still available even after the event has finished, and you wont need to look at lots of different website to find them.
My last little tip for you! Lots of us go live with each other which really helps you to get to find out a bit more about us, see some of the products we have to sell and hear a bit more about our creative processes. It's one of my favorite ways to get to know the other makers taking part.
Happy Shopping!
]]>
At the time of writing, it's also around 31 degrees, and the thought of wrapping up in cozy jumpers and lighting candles at home does feel a little silly, but I know it won't be long until I'll be extremely busy in the studio. I'm also feeling a tiny bit apprehensive about unloading several hundred kilos of materials each day in this heat because honestly, who needs that on a hot day?
So why start a blog now, when I'm about to spend every waking hour making candles? In truth, about three years ago, before I launched, I told myself I would definitely start a blog (but didn't 😊). Then, two years ago, I spent HOURS writing a really great post on different types of wax, and after my laptop died, I realised I hadn't saved it. I couldn't face writing it again and told myself to come back to it when I had time. Sadly for my blog, this pretty incredible thing happened where I ended up so busy I never found the perfect time to start.
I have been working so hard in the background to get myself in the best position possible for the busiest time of my year, and the stars seemed to have aligned. So here I am actually blogging, and assuming you are reading this, I've actually published it too! There are so many different things I need to tell you all about in the coming months, and so many things I've covered lots on Instagram stories but never really saved, so there is plenty to come. If there are any topics you want me to cover, I would love to hear from you. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy seeing a slightly different side of my small business.
I have always been a fan of accepting that 'done is better than perfect,' so here we are... First blog post done!
]]>