IT'S THAT COMPLETELY STARK RAVING BONKERS TIME OF YEAR

Hello everyone

I bet the title of this blog post sums up how many of you are feeling?  I know Christmas only happens once a year and I know it only lasts for a short period of time, but I also know the whole world goes potty at this time of year and shops as if the world is about to end (or the supermarkets are closing down for good).  Trying to keep on top of everything is almost impossible and if one more person asks me if I have finished my Christmas shopping yet, I will not be responsible for my actions!  Despite organising craft & gift events and about to take part in some, I have to admit to not having bought any presents yet.  It gets harder each year to know what to give people that is different from what I gave them last year, finding something they will like and something that doesn't require a second mortgage to buy (or make) it.

I hoisted the Godalming Bazaar banner outside of the Borough Hall for the last event of this year, stood back to check all was okay only to see that the date I had put on said 6 December 2015!  I am taking bookings for next year, but think my banner advertising is a little premature.  

Over the next two weeks I have two events I am organising/managing and three events I am taking part in - one is a two-day fair.  My last event takes place on 14 December and my plan for the following day is to sleep for 24 hours or do I mean days?

I dropped into the Normandy Scouts Christmas Fair this afternoon - very busy and clearly very well supported by mums, dads, sisters, brothers and other relatives.  A wide variety of items for sale: cakes, cards, fruit, vegetables, jewellery, etc.   My cake-making friend was taking part and her cheese scones looked very tempting.

Back to work now, more bags to decorate, more wreaths to make and if time permits, scented candles to make too.  I made the following wreath yesterday and although the ribbon is dark green, it seems to have taken on the blue colour of the butterflies when photographed, and also when viewed in natural light.  Very unusual.

I am joining up with Handmade Monday this week and look forward to seeing how the crafting bloggers are doing with their Christmas work.  I must try to get back into the blogging habit - I do enjoy it, but it does seem to make its way frequently to the bottom of the To-Do's that are in my head.  

Have a good week everyone - if you live in or near to Godalming, it would be lovely to see you at the Bazaar next Saturday and don't forget this is Small Business Saturday, so a great opportunity to support lots of local small businesses.

Jill

FOUR DOWN, FOUR TO GO

Hello everyone

Yet again, another month has disappeared since my last blog post.  Do you find that the days and weeks whizz by at this time of year?  I just feel this autumnal/winter-like weather has come a little too soon for me and I just want the warm weather to return as soon as possible.

In my time 'away' from blogging I have been on holiday (or rather we have been on holiday) to Malta, another of my Godalming Bazaar events took place on 4 October and I took part in a Wedding Fayre at the Frensham Pond Hotel yesterday.  Our holiday was lovely, very hot and humid but also very relaxing - for most of the time.  It did involve work for me as I took my laptop and various other bits and pieces so that I could keep on top of the event organisations side of my business - my latest event took place two days after we got home (not good planning on my part).  Here are a few photographs from our holiday:

The view from our apartment balcony.  The temperature every day was around 30 degrees, sometimes 34.  Humidity was also very high and this often created a misty appearance.

We visited Gozo, which is a small island off the coats of Malta.  Interestingly, it is much greener than Malta.  I was lucky to find some of my favourite animals, cats and these ones were supported by the local animal charity.

Back home and the weather here wasn’t so good and in fact on the day of the last Godalming Bazaar event, it tipped down until about 30 minutes before closing time.  Despite the weather, we had 354 people through the door.  Some may feel this is not brilliant, but the majority of you who are involved on either side of craft events, know that visitor numbers are often disappointing and I know that the venue I am using does not attract a big footfall for similar type events.  

The results of the day were that some stallholders did very well, some didn’t and some did better this time than last time – the life of a crafter at craft events is an interesting one.  There was plenty going on throughout the day: we had You Ukes playing from late morning to the end of the event, two lots of crafty make-and-take workshops and a face-painter.  Plenty to draw people in, and as the weather was poor, our refreshments people did a roaring trade.  

Here are some photographs of the event taken by Dawn Hart of Stonepit Crafts - thank you Dawn:

As the title of my post says, four down, four to go.  I have four more events that I have organised for this year and it's now on to the next one which takes on 1 November at the Tongham Village Hall.   Tongham is a village not far from me, it has a few shops and well supported activities take place in both the village hall and the community centre.  Fingers crossed this event does well for everyone involved.  The next Godalming Bazaar event is on 22 November - a Christmassy themed one I feel.

And finally......  Yesterday I took part in a wedding fayre at the Frensham Pond Hotel.  We had a steady flow of visitors and it was very successful for me.  I have to prepare 8 quotes for stationery ranging from just invitations to a full range of stationery.  I hope they all turn into confirmed orders - lucky for me they are spread throughout 2015 and 2016 so I will have time to work on them.  The most popular design was a simple one with a scroll at the top and a ribbon across the middle.  Here are a few pics from yesterday:

My lovely new pop-up banner.  The company I now use for my banners and flyers produce double-side pop-up banners.  Great if you are placed where visitors are walking by on both sides (back and front) of your stand.  I need to order one for the Christmas Pie Crafts part of my business, so might go for a double-sided one.

The scroll range of stationery.

I decided to go for a heavy weight A6 flyer rather than a business card - I feel it catches the eye of visitors to the stand more than a business card will.

Purple is still very popular.

One last finally...  I have two new foster kittens, both girls - one is tabby and white and I have named her Ruby and the other one is black and white and I have named her Pearl.  They are only 9-weeks old.  Milly has said she will add some photogrpahs of them to her blog post on Wednessday.

I am off to join up with the Handmade Monday bloggers - I have missed them recently and looking forward to seeing what they have been up to since my last visits to their blogs.

I will, hopefully, be back next weekend with some more bloggy news - have a good week everyone.

Jill

MILLY'S DIARY

Good morning

Woo hoo, it's going to be hot and sunny here today!  Summer's back at last.  I have spent too much time inside snoozing recently and that's not much fun for me.

Busy times here again; Jill has her next Godalming Bazaar event on Saturday - I have offered to help with putting the paperwork together, packing things into envelopes, but she has refused my offer of help.  She has told me that a wildlife charity (Harper Asprey) will be taking part in the event - I wonder if that's why she doesn't want me to help out on the day?

We have two new foster kittens: Boris and Barry.  As always, Jill says they are very cute - she so needs new glasses!  There is only so much cuteness in this world and I have all of it!  You can find out more about them on the Woking Cats Protection website and you can also check out Tom Tom's information on there too.

As you know I am a big supporter of the Woking Cats Protection branch and I am happy to blog about them and their wonderful work, however, you can imagine my surprise when I saw on Facebook that they are looking for a home for Ringo!  Come on Woking CP, surely he made enough money from being a celebrity to buy his own home - have things become so tough for him that he needs your help?  Has he hung up his drum kit?  Stopped talking about that tank engine he is so fond of?  I think my readers need to check Ringo's Facebook page out and make up their own minds.  I have to say the years have been a little unkind to him, he is very hairy and ginger now!

Off to catch some more sunshine - see you next week.

Milly

REVIEWING THE PIE

Hello everyone

I get the feeling autumn has arrived a little earlier than expected.  Chilly, sunny, but very windy here today.   Such a shame as we have a family get-together next weekend and really need to be able to be able to spill out into the garden.  Never mind, it might have a to be a cosy get-together inside.

A busy week that ended in the really good news for me that I have found a refreshments provider for my Godalming Bazaar events for the rest of this year: The Pantry Tea Room.  I was beginning panic, but had a recommendation from a Streetlife member, contacted Julia and success, we have lift-off.  If you are not familiar with Streetlife, I really recommend you check it out.  I have been able to find lots of information and businesses on there that I was totally unaware of: I have had stallholders contact me via Streetlife, I have found a gardener, lots of information about things happening in my area and the surrounding areas.  Brilliant!

On Thursday of this week I took part in a pottery workshop my pottery tutor, Jean Tolkovsky, organised.  I and 7 of my fellow pottery students had a great day and our project was to make a figure similar to one
of Jean's models - as you can guess 'similar' had lots of different interpretations and here is mine:

The wire sticking out of his shoulders will be trimmed once the final firing has taken place.  I had a bit of an accident as I was tyring to remove the cocktail stick which had been placed through the body and upper arms prior to putting the wire through, his head fell off!!!  More disaster, his hat fell onto the floor and part of the brim fell off!  I managed to weld his head back on, but didn't have time to tweak the top of his hat, so it's not as smooth as I had planned.  Good fun really, and something I have never done before and I think I will have a go at making another one when our course begins in September.  I still cannot make decent lips and noses.nose -

If you would like to see what my model could have been (I wish) please check out my Friday Review - it is about my pottery tutor, Jean Tolkovsky.  I am sure you will agree her work is amazing.

About two months ago I applied to take part in a Craft Fair fairly local to me and was disappointed that four weeks after I applied they let me know it was full!!!  I had emailed them to find out the current situation because I was interested in another event that took place around the same time and I think that is the only reason they replied responded - I am not sure how much longer it would have taken them to reply.  They apologised for the delay, said it's summer and sorry, we are full.  I find the lack of professionalism in some businesses very disappointing.  Summer it may be, but surely that is no excuse for poor communication in a business?  Will they also blame winter?  Spring?  Autumn?

Another busy week looms: tomorrow I am lurking in a garden centre car park (as you do) to hand out flyers to my stallholders, then I am having lunch with a couple of friends (Lesley and Dawn - looking forward to seeing you both).  Every day this week has a meeting of one sort or another - Friday is a free day, although sadly that will be housework day to get everything ready for my family bash!  Housework is not the way to end a week.

Have a great week everyone - hard to believe next weekend is our last Bank Holiday until Christmas!  Mind you at the moment time seems to be whizzing by and I am not always too sure which week (or month) it is.  Don't forget to drop in on my fellow Handmade Monday bloggers, and I will 'see' you next week.

Jill

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

THE FRIDAY REVIEW: DAWN HART OF STONEPIT CRAFTS

Hi everyone

This week's Friday Review is about someone I met through Twitter and has become a good friend who jumps in at the deep end end, literally, to help out with the Godalming Bazaar events.  However, in 'real life' Dawn is a crafts person and my review is focusing on one aspect of her creativity.  In addition to making beautiful greetings cards, Dawn is also a fantastic knitter producing great items from hat-bands to flower-pot covers and bangles to babies jackets.  Over the last year or so I have watched with keen interest as she has turned her skill and talent into a very successful business.  Her product range is always changing and expanding, so it is a good idea to check out her website regularly.

My Friday Review is about particular favourites of mine: her knitted people, all in uniform.  Apart from making great toys for children, they are also lovely keepsakes for people in the professions Dawn has represented in her creations.

This particular gentleman is a Paramedic - a profession close to Dawn's heart

How about these three?  I love the attention to detail: buttons, tie, helmet badge, the nurses fob watch.  My favourite is the fireman - apart from a man in uniform always being attractive, I love his hat.  

In addition to making items for sale, Dawn also runs several knitting groups in the Godalming area and you can find out more about them on the Knitting Groups Information tab on her website, where you can also see more photographs of her hand-knitted items as well as her cards.

I know that Dawn will have some of her people and possibly more at the next Godalming Bazaar, which is on 6 September in the Godalming Borough Hall.  Come along and have a look at her work and I am sure you will find it very hard not to ask her to make one of Knitted People for you.

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

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

THE GODALMING BAZAAR EVENT 7 JUNE 2014 - A CUSTOMER REVIEW

Hello everyone

I am really pleased to be able to present this guest post from Lesley Beeton who not only took photographs are stallholder's work at the 7 June Godalming Bazaar, but attended the event as a customer.  It certainly contains food for thought for both me and the stallholders who took part and it is a timely reminder for stallholders taking part in any event.  Thank you Lesley for a very interesting guest post.

The Godalming Bazaar – a customer review

Hundreds of people visited the indoor Godalming Bazaar on Saturday 7th June.  The rainy morning kept some shoppers away, but those who braved the damped conditions were greeted with food and crafty delights.  These are some of my favourites.

JoJo from Artyfacial did a great job, keeping children occupied with face-painting, whilst Julia from Glutton and Glee provided a pop-up café for that much-needed cup of coffee and a sit-down.  Stallholders included Melanie Capper from Melanie’s Garden, a natural skincare range, Kevin Gorton, a local artist and musician who hand-paints scenes of Godalming on everyday items, and Dawn Hart of local home-industry knitting enterprise Stone Pit Crafts. Crafts and gifts on sale varied from beautiful oil paintings on canvas by Jan Windle, to delightful glass products by Hot Glass.  There were plenty of hand-sewn items for sale, many to delight younger shoppers, such as customised bags by Made By Lorraine, and the gorgeous tooth-fairy pillows made by Lauren Broughton of Love Sew Sweet. Acorn to Oak provided a little bit of peace and quiet with reiki massage and crystal therapy.  Jewellery, re-incarnated plastic bags and fascinating items by Juraj, the blacksmith, added to the mix.  There were foodie highlights too, in the visual splendour of the macaroons by Pinch of This and the Chai Tea and Perfect Curry kits.

I do however, have some observations (as a customer), which I hope will provide constructive criticism for both the organisers and stall holders. Remember, you want to sell, and I want to buy.

Firstly, although slightly up on last time, a footfall of 50 an hour, or 2 visitors for each stand, seems a bit low. I wondered if a Town Crier out and about in town would be better than someone trying to hand out leaflets.  If you are going to hand out leaflets, what about numbering them and having a ‘Lucky Number’ draw each half hour, with a different stall holder putting up a small prize each time.  The poster boards at the door were not visible.  The banner poster was not effective.  Bunting might make people look twice.

There should be a unique selling point for the market - something that local people will look forward to each time.  Jugglers and knife throwers (or balloon artists and face painters) are too gimmicky for a luxury market. I spent a minimum of £10 at each stall I bought from, most were £12.50 starting point.  That's not cheap (nor should it be) but the market should promote itself as something special.

The first door (opposite Stone Pit Crafts) should have been open. It would have created a better flow of people, and more welcoming on entry.  A large map of who's who would be nice. Stall holders need badges to identify themselves.  Many were not very friendly.  One even had ear phones in!

I really don't like the borough hall as a venue. It was difficult for stall holders to display on one table top, with nowhere to put a banner or hanging items behind them.  This meant that buyers always look down, instead of up and out at eye-level, making eye-contact with sellers.  The noise in the room is unbearable.  There is nowhere for it to go. I had to work really hard to engage the stall holders in conversation, even when I had my purse open and money hanging out.  The exceptions were Melanie’s Garden, Peru Project and the local Godalming hand-painted coaster artist.  They wanted to tell me about their work, and they were interesting to talk to.

I didn't like having the food court stuck away.  More people would have bought a coffee on the way in/out if it had been part of the main event. 

Well, that’s enough feedback.  Good luck with the next market on Saturday 6^th September.  May it be happy and successful, with lots of sales.

Lesley Beeton

Note: I took photos of, and talked to every stallholder. If anyone wants to talk to me directly about ways of improving the marketability of their stall, or get a high res photo, please let Jill Spain know. No charge.

Monster face-painting by JoJo of Artyfacial

Yummy macaroons by a Pinch of This

Kevin Gorton, local artist and musician

Tooth fairy cushions by Love Sew Sweet

Melanie Capper, Melanie's Garden

Dawn Hart, Stone Pit Crafts

Oil paintings on canvas by Jan Windle

Unique blacksmith art by JAJ BBQ and Blacksmith Products

OH BLOG POST, BLOG POST, WHEREFORE ART THOU BLOG POST

Hello everyone

When I began my blog, I promised myself I would blog regularly - at least once a week.  This was a promise I kept for a long, long time and then everything went to pot!  As we all know, life has a bad habit of getting in the way of plans.  I am sorry everyone for not keeping you up-to-date with what I am doing and more important, not keeping up-to-date with what you have been doing.  I will try to return to my regularly blogging ways and hopefully this post will update everyone with what has been happening in Christmas Pie land.

My 'makes' have been in the pottery section - not items for sale, but for fun.  I have been concentrating on my 'hat people'.  You may recall that a long time ago, I made a 'hat man' who now sports a very glossy black hat.  Along the same lines as Hat Man, I now have Hat Woman; she has a large brimmed hat, also shiny black and this has a red flower attached to the hat.  Her lips didn't quite turn out colour-wise as I had hoped and I will be painting them a nice bright shiny red.  The photographs are Hat Man first, followed by Hat Woman:

I am currently working on another Hat Lady - this one has a very wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses. Unfortunately, I have problems making lips (as you can see from these offerings) and a fellow pottery student said Wide-Brimmed Hat Lady looked a lot like Mick Jagger - I may have to re-name her to him.

In addition to pottery, I have been working hard on organising the events now re-named Godalming Bazaar.  So much of what is needed to set up events takes place behind the scenes and of course, as those of you who have organised events or taken part in them knows, there is always so much more that could be and should be done to make them go with a bang.  For the June event, I and most of the stallholders taking part handed out flyers, posted posters and encouraged everyone they knew to come along to the event.

Adverts were placed in local publications (one delivered to 23,000 homes in the Godalming area), online and we had a mention in the What's On section of The Guide to Guildford.  I even had t-shirts printed with the Godalming Bazaar information emblazoned on the front and back - here is a picture of one of our stallholding promoters (Dawn of Stonepit Crafts) wearing her Bazaar outfit.  Dawn and two other t-shirt wearers went out and about into the Saturday shopping crowds to promote the event on the day.  One big disappointment was that despite being advised that delivery of one of the magazines I had advertised in would take place prior to the event to 23,000 homes, I found out last week that it did not take place until after the event.  Such a waste of a lot of money.  A very expensive lesson learned.

The event wasn't as well attended as I had hoped, it wasn't helped by clashing with the Godalming Town Show that took place on the same day.  However, as the procession went past our 'front door' I had hoped we would be able to welcome some passers-by in before they went off to the field for other events.  I had hoped to work with the Town Show organisers, but they wanted a contribution of £150 for the privilege of a couple of shout-outs over the tannoy on the day- cone on, Town Show Organisers, I am a small-business person!  My next event is in September, so plenty of time to come up with a miracle or two - any ideas anyone on how to get more people through the door?

I have booked a different venue for a Christmas event: Fairlands Community Hall.  The event is taking place on Saturday, 13 December and will run from 10.30 am - 4.30 pm.  I am hopeful that this venue will be a successful one, but I know that it takes hard work to get people through the doors and then more hard work from the stallholders to get them to spend.

A visitor to the event, also our 'official photographer' has written a great post from a customer's point of view.  Once I have published it I will add a link on here - it makes very interesting reading and carries lots of valid points both for stallholders and organisers. (me, specifically)

I bought myself a Cricut Explore recently and am looking forward to getting back to card-making and bag decorating - so watch this space for me getting back to 'normal' or trying to.

Have a great week everyone - don't forget to come back for the guest blog post about the Godalming Bazaar event and of course it almost goes without saying, pop over to Handmade Monday to see how everyone is getting on.

Jill