Christmas stall

Well, that's that out of the way and I seem to have my life back again. I don't usually do stalls, as it's an almost impossible (and expensive) thing to do when you don't drive and live in remote ruralsville. But this one was only a couple of miles away and Brian-next-door helped me get everything over, on a stormy day with gale force winds and driving rain.

Thankfully it was all under cover. This is the annual Christmas Fair held at Concord International College, at Acton Burnell. It was bigger than I expected -  much bigger. My heart quailed, not for the first time, but I got stuck into setting up. I'd been planning this for weeks, so it was just a case of popping everything out.

 

There was a small emergency when I had to get Brian to pick me up again so that I could dash home and print off more price labels (which I thought I had, but patently hadn't). And also borrowed an extra table cloth from Jean, having scrounged some extra table space.

 I even unearthed my old stock of cards, and sold quite a few.

In the end it all went well. My old retail skills kicked back in and I had a pleasant smile glued to my face. There was a large footfall of over 2,000 visitors, not including the college students. My stall was nice and busy and I sold enough gubbins to make it worthwhile. My new Paypal card reader worked and the three hours flew by.

I was inevitably asked about my prices for my own needle felt work. One couple directly asking me why it was priced 'so high'. Once upon a time, I might have shrunk under a stone, but now I've got more confidence. For a start, I answered (keeping my pleasant smile) the smallest thing on my tree took at least four hours to make.  I am a published professional in my field, very well known, with over eight years of full time practise. And my work is collected, especially in America, where they really value good craftmanship. So the prices reflect my time, my skills  and my name.

It's hard not to be British sometimes and undersell yourself.  I now realise that I have to be my own walking, talking CV; there's no point in being overly modest.  What I didn't add was that with the hours of work I put in on each and every piece, I am still working for less than the UK minimum wage which is £6.70 at present. So I am pricing as low as I can afford to, even if it seems 'high'  because this is not my little hobby, but my livelihood.

But here's the thing - although I only sold one piece of my own work, the look of joy when so many  people came up to my stall and admired the displays was immensely rewarding. I put on, as they say, a 'good show'. And sold a lot of kits and supplies on top of that. I have to admit, I treated myself to a celebratory bottle of cheap wine and a pizza on the way home when Brian drove me back. He refused petrol money point blank.

I also had many people asking me if I was holding a local workshop, which is now on the cards and spurred me into setting up a monthly newsletter, which will start in January. It will be solely about needle felting - workshops for next year, tips on working, my own work in progress, new kits - that kind of thing. So there is now a sign up page on my website, here. Of course, your details remain completely confidential.  I've already had quite a few subscribers, so I'd better start planning the January edition...

My first stall

Another week of getting my head down and getting on with things - this seems like a long time ago now, but it was only last Sunday that I was taxie'd off to Witney at an unholy hour, to set up stall at the Teddy Bears of Witney 25th birthday party. The team had been setting up the previous day and there were bears and bear-o-memorabilia stacked high.

My little stall was tucked away in a corner, where I could have my back to the wall. I had a couple of hours to sort myself out. The last three of my animals which were brought by the shop last year were waiting to go on display. Nice to see them again.

I set to work and soon had it feeling more like home.

I rigged up an old notice board with a few sketches, and various gubbins pinned to it, including a rare photo of me when I was four, with some of my old toys.

Me looking rather scruffy in my hand me downs and hair cut by dad. I still have a few of these old timers and they came with me to have a special day out.

My precious teddy, Pooh (falling apart now and moth eaten) and little Rupert bear, a bit battle worn and missing an eye. Maisie, who looks a fright but has always been beautiful to me. They sat in the corner, looking after me as they always have done.

My new card rack - I've never seen all my cards together like this and was so pleased at how well they looked. I didn't have any felt animals for sale but I do have a few 'keepers' to show. I'd also spent a whole day archiving about 150 photo prints which I was still assembling when the doors opened and 400 invited guests streamed into the hall intent on bear buying and bear cuddling.

Also out for display, my Moleskine sketchbook, free cards, some merino samples and my felting gear.

The red Japanese bondage rope I found on eBay was just the thing, and I pegged photos to it with rather gaudy plastic pegs which were all I could find at the last minute. It looked a bit like a village fete stall, but it would do. After that the day went by in a blur - several people came over specially to say hello as they had either bought my animals from the last catalogue, or my cards from the shop. It was a bit odd to be greeted by people who already knew of me, but I had never met - I spend 90% of my life in my studio, yet the popularity of the Teddy Bear catalogue has brought me and my work into homes around the world.

They enjoyed looking through my sketchbook and photos, they bought cards and were kind about my artworks. When I started demonstrating I drew quite a crowd of onlookers. I started work on one of the limited editions which will be in the 2010 catalogue. People were intrigued; needle felting is still a little known craft in the UK and I hope I encouraged a few more to try their hand at it.

For several hours I talked and explained until I was losing my voice and was supplied with cups of tea all afternoon. I met some wonderful, lovely people, including a lady who, after admiring my work, asked me if I'd thought of joining the British Toymakers Guild. I replied that I had, but hadn't got round to it and was a bit worried about the selection process. (You have to send in examples of work to be admitted). I almost choked when she reassured me, saying that she was the Chairman of the Guild and was certain I'd get in. So that's next on my list of *to-do's*. As well as learning to drive, so that I can get to the shows!

My first stall - a bit of a jumble sale, completely exhausting and so many nice people. All in all a day to remember.