Exhibitor Signup

Applications for Exhibiting in 2016 are now OPEN.  The deadline to apply is Friday 4th March

It is with great pleasure to announce that, Made by Hand, in association with The Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey, is joining forces with Cardiff City Council at Made by Hand , City Hall. This major event, funded by Arts Council of Wales, is part of a portfolio of events organised by Sarah James & Nina Fox. Sarah & Nina also organise the highly acclaimed The Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey and founded Made by Hand at Tredegar House.

You don’t have to live in Wales or be Welsh to take part in Made by Hand, though we would like to encourage applications from makers in Wales.

PLEASE CLICK HERE for Made by Hand 2016 application form. The deadline, March 4th.

Made by Hand sets very high standards, representing the finest designer makers and artists from Wales and beyond. Selected by an independent panel of judges, Made by Hand is open to makers & artists resident in Britain & Ireland working to the highest standards in ceramics, glass, textiles, jewellery, metal, wood, stone, plastics, mixed media, leather, recycled material, paper, prints, and sculpture. No musical instruments. Greetings cards may form part of a range but not the sole product. 

Stands costs from £349 and from 2m x  1.5m in size. The cost includes white exhibition boards, 2 spotlights, name board, website listing and catalogue entry.  Electrical sockets, fans, tables and chairs can all be booked at extra cost.

We also offer exhibitors the opportunity to attend Preparing to Sell at Llantarnam Grange, Cwmbran. The day is designed prepare you for all aspects of the show including PR and marketing, how to approach the press and an introduction to the Welsh language. The day costs £25 and includes a light lunch.

PLEASE CLICK HERE for Made by Hand 2016 application form. The deadline, March 4th.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?

Made by Hand is open to designer makers & artists resident in the UK and Ireland working to the highest standard in ceramics, glass, textiles, jewellery, metal, wood, plastics, mixed media, stone, leather, recycled materials, paper, printmaking & sculpture. We do not accept musical instruments, paintings, photography, video or installation art. Greetings cards are accepted as part of range but not the sole product.

The application process involves submission of some details about yourself via a simple online application form plus 6 images of your work. Details of picture requirements are below. There is a fee of £15 to apply.

Please click on the headings below to read some useful FAQs about your exhibiting at the event.

Quality of images is often a reason why good makers don't get selected. Is your image sharp and in focus? Can you clearly see the object? Avoid distracting backgrounds. Make sure the image isn't too dark or too light. Please think about what your selected images say about your work. Don’t be tempted to send in contrasting pictures of different ranges. Selectors prefer to see a coherent body of work. The selection of images you choose will also be used for promotional purposes and all images will need to be good quality and clear. The 72dpi images will be used for presentation to the Selection Panel. All six images will be projected to the selection panel at the same time. The 300dpi images will be used for  promotional purposes.

You wil need to upload Six 72dpi low resolution and Six 300dpi high resolution images for selection, via our online appliaction form. Each image should be labelled with your name For example: Jane Smith 72.jpg and Jane Smith 300.jpg. Please file each group of 6 in separate folders, eg Jane Smith 72, Jane Smith 300. Digital images must be saved as JPEG files and should have the suffix .jpg.   They should be the same images in 72 and 300dpi. Your 72dpi images should be approx 6 x 9cm and 300dpi approx 30 x 40cm max.  If you cannot reduce the dpi, try resizing images to 480 pixels (on the shortest side). This is the size used on our website in is usually a good working size for applications.  Your application must be received by 6pm on Friday 4th March 2016. Late applications will not be accepted.

Most cameras are set up to take images in 300dpi.  Remember you can always reduce the resolution and file size but you will not be able to increase it. You will need Photoshop to change the dpi. If you dont use Photoshop is not essential that you change the dpi but you will need to reduce the file size to less than 600KB in order for our the images to upload.  You can do this in any Mac or Microsoft picture editor programme with either an edit or resize function.   

The dimensions are a guide only.  If you are not happy with the quality in these dimensions by all means make them a little larger. Try not to go much smaller than 6 x 9cm or larger than 30 x 40cm.  The optimum size for use on our website is 480 pixels wide on the shortest side. They may be landscape portrait or square shaped. If you are having problems with the 6 x 9cm guide, please resize them to 480 pixels wide on the shortest side.  This will usually bring them under 600KB and a good working size for our presentation.  

If you really cannot reduce your image size make sure your application arrives well in advance of the deadline so that we have time to work on them. 

Check they have really converted to jpg -   Open in properties and check there are no words or letters after the file extension .jpg  In most cases this can be solved by renaming the image xxxx.jpg

Another application is being uploaded at the same time.  Try again in a few minutes.  This happens alot as we approach the deadline - again we advise getting your application in early to avoid frustration!

We can allocate about 5 or 6 stands at a reduced rate for new businesses that have been trading for less than one year.  The application procedure is the same.  There is a box on the form to tell us when your business started.