THE HARDEST THING IN THE WORLD

Hello everyone

I know the old saying 'hard work never killed anyone' but there are times when you do wonder if this is quite correct.  We all know we work very hard at our business, making items to sell, completing all of the necessary administration work, but very often it is the 'hidden' hard work that knocks us down.

I know it doesn't sound very hard, but at the moment my 'hardest thing in the world' is getting a face-painter to take part in my Godalming Bazaar events!  Easy peasy really.  No, it isn't.  I had one for my first two events, and she was really good, but the income generated amounted to about 2% of her fee and if you know what face-painters charge, you will have an idea of how much that income was.  Since then I have been trying to find one who will hire a table/space from me (I have offered this at a reduced price) and all the income will be theirs.  Two face-painters almost bit my hand off to book.......  then it went very quiet and despite advising me they definitely want to book/pay, I think they have been gobbled up by spacemen.  I sent a gentle 'not long before the event' reminder and that appears to be the end of that episode.

I have posted a message on Facebook, Twitter and Streetlife and received lots of recommendations and I have contacted all of them.  Replies?  One, so far - unfortunately, despite her work being fantastic her fee was far too high for me.  Am I wrong in hoping face-painters will come along and make their money at the event without me having to pay to have them there?  Am I wrong expecting them to be like other crafts people/artists who book a stall at the Bazaars?  I see them as a crafts person wanting to sell their 'work' at my events - am I wrong in that view?  I appreciate and respect their amazing skills and really do want a more family-friendly atmosphere at my events, but I am almost thinking they are for more bigger events than I organise.  I know that I need to come up with something else that will attract families to the events - any ideas?

Like everyone, it has been the usual busy, busy week here.  I was going to add pictures of my hot-glue-fixing work this week, but decided that as I have not yet got around to putting them on my website, I would prefer to do that first.  Face-painter search permitting that is.  Apart from a day out at Wisley with three friends it's been work, work, work for most of this past week.  We went on Thursday and it was quieter than I had expected it to be.  We had a stroll around the gardens before lunch, which we had in the restaurant (we decided to splurge the refund we had obtained from TravelZoo on a waitress service lunch rather than the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria).  We worked off lunch with another wander around a different part of the gardens.  It's always surprising to me that, no matter how many times I visit Wisley, there is always something I have missed.  I always like to visit the small gardens, because they are very inspirational and at this time of year checking out the fruit and vegg patches is a must.  They all looked so much healthier than mine although I was pleased to see the odd weed.

That's my week in a large nutshell; next week begins with a meeting tomorrow morning with a Godalming cafe-owner about providing refreshments for my events - fingers crossed they are happy to do it because I have always found having refreshments at these type of events encourages people in.  They may wander around the stalls, then have a cup of tea and a cake and then go off around the stalls again to buy what they have seen first time around.  I have a 25th Wedding Anniversary event to provide invitations, acceptances, maps, menus and place cards for, so it's head down and make some samples based on the suggestions the couple have given me.

Have a great week everyone, enjoy the sunshine and get lots of crafting done - don't forget to call in on the other crafty bloggers taking part in Handmade Monday and if you haven't had a chance to read my Friday Review post, have a look here, you will love Dawn's knitted people.

Jill

A LITTLE BIT OF RAIN WOULD BE NICE, PLEASE

Hello everyone

It has been a good week - a little too hot, but hey, it is nice to have sunshine.  On Monday, I meet up with Lara Beardall of Lovecow to collect the rosettes she had made for me.  These match the lovely bag I also bought from her.  You can see pictures here of the beautiful items that Lara has made for me.

I decided recently that instead of a Friday Guest Blogger spot (although if you are interested in being a guest blogger, please get in touch) I would have a Friday Review post in which I write about a website I have found that I like, a product I use, am keen to use or something I have bought - all handmade related.  Lara is my first Friday Review - don't forget to come back and see who has been blogged about next Friday.

This week has also been spent locating and booking another venue for a Christmas Fair; this one is in Tongham Village Hall.  It is not a large venue, but I am hoping it might be a good place for other events next year.  I have hired a Town Crier to promote the Godalming Bazaar events for the remainder of this year.  This particular venue/event needs a lot more oomph to get it noticed and I can't make up my mind if it is the venue or it has run its natural course.  The Town Crier will spend one hour on the day of each event 'encouraging' people to come in and buy.

I love to try out new techniques and something I had a go at this week is hot crystal fixing - embarrassed to say I have had the gadget for a long, long time and as with so many things, put it away to use another time!  I have some work-in-progress pieces that should be completed by next Sunday's blog post and I will add some photographs of my makes then.  I can imagine just about everything in my home will have crystals on it!  Nothing dares to stand still for too long.

I have been working on my Christmas Pie Crafts website and my events one and although not completely finished, here they are for review:

Christmas Pie Crafts

Surrey Independent Markets 

I am not completely happy with the SIM website as the pictures on the home page are slow to load - not very slow, but I don't like what looks like white blanks when it opens.  Let me know what you think.

I started writing this weekend's blog post yesterday while quietly (as if!) waiting for a delivery I was expecting to arrive between 7.06 am and 9.06 am.  9.06 am came and went, no delivery, no phone call, no email.  I checked the courier's website to find a message saying the delivery company (City Link), City Link, were running late and my package would arrive before 12 noon.  

Like everyone, I hate waiting around for deliveries, the time we waste is gone for ever.  I rang Wilkinson's (my order was for 5 flip-top packing crates) and explained the situation.  They were very sympathetic, checked their records and told me that the delivery driver had marked his records to show that the delivery had been made at 12.15 pm.  I don't know where to because it certainly wasn't to Christmas Pie Crafts.  

Shock, horror!  A 'white-van-man' turned up at 2.50 pm with my parcel!  I asked what had happened but unfortunately, he didn't understand what I was saying and just kept replying 'thank you', 'thank you'.  I rang Wilkinson's to let them know the order had arrived and I have been busily filling the crates since 3.00 pm with more craft materials, stock, etc for my storage unit.  (Sadly, one of the crates is badly damaged, so the saga hasn't quite ended.)  I did a quick check on the City Link website and it said my delivery had been made at 8.06 am yesterday morning and signed for by me!  

No parcels expected this week - thank goodness, I couldn't take the stress!  Decision time - pack more 'stuff' or do some gardening?  As it is a little cooler today, gardening wins.  Have a great week everyone and don't forget to drop into Handmade Monday to see how one has been coping with this 'gorgeous' weather.

See you next week.

Jill

THE FRIDAY REVIEW: LARA BEARDALL OF LOVECOW

Hello everyone

My first Friday Review is about a stallholder I met at one of my Godalming Bazaar events: Lara Beardall, whose business is called Lovecow.  Lara produces beautiful bags and accessories from supermarket and department store carrier bags!  Yes, that's right, the bags that you and I often just throw away are used by Lara to create amazing things.

I had been looking for a summer bag, something a little different, one of those 'I know what I am looking for but just haven't seen it yet' times - and that is exactly what I found on Lara's stall.  I spotted a bag in bright greens and asked her if she could make one for me but with a longer handle - no problem.  Lara actually adapted the one I had seen and here it is:

Isn't it fabulous?  The photograph doesn't do it justice.  Lara also added an inside pocket which is ideal for mobile phone and keys.

I had an idea that it would be great to somehow match sandals to the bag and the thought of rosettes in the same pattern and colours occurred to me.  I spoke to Lara about it and guess what?  Here they are:

These are not the sandals they will be attached to (although they do look pretty good on them) but I wanted to include a photograph of them 'in action' so to speak.

Lara's work is brilliant and I recommend her for being both a great ideas and crafts person to someone who clearly cares about the environment and works hard to cut down on waste.  Lara will be at the next Godalming Bazaar on 6 September so please come along and have a look at her lovely work and of course if you have some plastic bags, particularly unusual ones, bring them along because I know she will turn them into something beautiful.

You can see more of Lara's work on her Facebook page: Laralovecow.

Come back next Friday to see who is under the Friday Review spotlight.

Jill