Epic Fair or Epic Fail?

 

I was really excited about the spring fair; the Christmas fair was very successful. I made quite a few sales and had a lot of interest. On Saturday we arrived at the hall for the Spring Fair I noticed the size had decreased. In November the fair took up the main hall and both smaller side rooms. This time everyone was cramped into the main hall. The organizer told me there were more vendors which is unbelievable. In the winter we were placed by one of the entrances so we got a lot of foot traffic. This time we were in the corner between the Baptist Church stall and the hand-woven woolen items. You’d think that since both those stalls were heaving with people we’d still get a lot of traffic, but no. Funny enough everyone walked by looking up to the ceiling as they passed our stall.

I’d hoped that some of the happy customers from Christmas would come back looking for more treasure. The only recognizable face was our neighbor, who did mention that she loves her ‘Jacqueline Frosts’ and she still wears them.

As posted on FB and Twitter, I had a lucky dip on the day. Prizes included not only earrings but chocolate and stationary. The Lucky Dip did bring a bit of interest, especially from the older gentleman who luckily drew a bar of Cadbury’s chocolate. A few youngsters took a dip to get earrings for their moms for Mother’s Day which is in the end of March here in the UK. But no one made any purchases.

Needless to say Saturday afternoon I was crushed. I guess I shouldn’t have been though. I should explain that Wraysbury is a small hateful town which masquerades as a lovely quaint village. I would say racist but they weren’t particularly nice to Neil’s mother when she moved here 60 years ago because she was from Germany (and Jewish). There aren’t many minorities here, and the town is run by a few self-absorbed, close-minded, bossy people. If I had my way I wouldn’t live here; I hate it! And when I get to leave I’m going to post a seething rant on the “village” fb page to tell these people how I really feel.

I shouldn’t be upset that they weren’t interested in my earrings, although I am. What upsets me more is that they didn’t bother to look at the product because of who was sitting at the table. Unfortunately my circumstances will not let me travel to other places to do fairs and shows. So I’ll have to stick with the blog and social media for product exposure. And I’d really appreciate it if my loyal followers would share posts with their friends to expand my reach. Don’t share this one though, I don’t want people to think this is what it’s always like!

MacMillan Spring Fair and Coffee Morning

 

This Saturday is another MacMillan Fair and Coffee Morning in Wraysbury and once again we will be there selling our earrings. The morning really is a lot of fun! Local vendors, made up of local small businesses and non-profits, will be selling new and used merchandise. There will also be delicious cakes (biscuits, cupcakes, fruit cake and chocolate cake in December, both were yummy!) as well as coffee and tea.

The set-up is nice; there are tables and chairs set up so you can grab a cake and coffee and sit and chat with friends. In December the vendors' stalls lined the room and the tables were in the center. I didn’t go around personally and look at all the vendors but I could see another jewelry vendor, ladies accessories, plants,  stationary, baked goods, nutritional supplements and hand knit woolen items. There is also a raffle, the winners are announced at the end.

Like last time I’ll have some surprises on the day. Plus our prices are lower at the stall (no shipping!), so if you are local and have seen anything you like come along and check out our stock. I’ve also made a few pieces especially for the fair; they haven’t been featured on the blog.

 

 

First is this pair in Onyx, they are the same as the Garnet Queen which was released in February, in addition to onyx beads they feature a crystal chambala bead. Next there is this lovely wooden pair. These Retro earrings feature an oblong and a round wooden bead with bronze colored bead spacers.

 

 

 



I made this pair with the remaining crystal hearts from Love Hearts. Each earring has only one heart.

 

Finally this is the first pair I've made that feature Jasper and hematite beads. I will be using jasper beads in the future but I wanted to have something to show at the fair. Jasper is a very earthy stone, not necessarily beautiful like garnet or sapphire but it has it's own charm. I love trinkets made of this type of stone. My mother has a lovely box made of this stone.

 

 

 

 

MacMillan Fairs and Coffee Mornings really are a great way to spend the morning. And all the proceeds go to MacMillan Cancer Support. So please come down and support us on Saturday between 10am and noon.

 

Wraysbury Village Halls The Green, Staines-upon-Thames, Wraysbury, Staines TW19 5NA

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/''/wraysbury+village+hall/@51.4582091,-0.6256265,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x4876709a5765227d:0x8fed39e7851187cc!2m2!1d-0.555587!2d51.45823

 

The Journey's First Stop

What can I say?!

Saturday was the Wraysbury Indoor Car Boot Sale. We’d seen an ad for it a few weeks back and both of us got very excited. There are stalls or tables for rent at church fairs and things but they are always SO expensive. My church fair runs £25 for a table – I know it’s for my church but considering how much you’ll probably make it doesn’t seem worth it. So when we saw this one for £5 we jumped at it. All I needed to do was sell one pair and the stall would have paid for itself.

 

Neil decided to get rid of some “brick a brack”, he brought along a collection of pottery he’d collected, some cool shot glasses I think I sister would love and even a cool glass fish that looks like it belonged in my Aunt Pearl’s crystal collection. Then Neil decided to make some marmalade, he’s done a lot of stalls at fairs and such and he said it’s always a draw. It is yummy!

 

So we went to the indoor car boot sale. There were over 20 vendors there. Some selling old rubbish, some selling cool vintage tools and stuff, some selling DIY essentials, some selling DVDs. The lady next to us was selling natural household products that I think my friend Pam would appreciate like laundry detergent, deodorant, smoothie and drink mixes. None of the vendors sold too much. In the end one of the vendors started giving things away to the other vendors. The man next to us yelled out he’d take any offer on his cool vintage tools and stuff. I really wanted the set of optics he had for sale but Neil wouldn’t let me get it; he said “I can’t afford to stock it”.

 

I’d never been to a car boot sale before. The day before Neil started having reservations about it. Part of me wish we’d pulled out then. People go to car boot sales to buy old tat and rubbish. They don’t go looking for new things. I wanted so badly to start talking to everyone who walked up. I did talk to a few people, which made them walk away before they got a good look. Neil said English people do not like a hard sell. I don’t know what’s hard about being friendly and courteous. The clientele in Wraysbury probably aren’t interested in repurposed or upcycled jewelry anyway. I had several ladies stop and look, a couple even asked questions. One said to me "They are very nice but I wear the same jewelry every day" and "I don’t like to stand out anymore". And when I watched the ladies walking around the sale I noticed a lot of them didn’t even have pierced ears. 

So, what can I say? I took it as a huge blow. I’m trying to decide if I should even carry on doing it. But maybe it’s like Neil said; this was just the wrong market and the wrong audience. The Car Boot sale was heavily publicized on Facebook but that’s all. They didn’t even put up signs in the village or send out fliers. Also as the lady with the natural products said the village is very cliquey, which I have experienced myself and Neil has had to deal with his whole life. I think that played a big part in it too. She said I would do better at the Christmas market so I may give it another try; especially since I just invested in my Christmas designs for this year.

So we shall see how the journey moves on from here.

*** As a side note I just want to thank my dear friend Pam for being an inspiration to me. I hope your next journey is as successful as your previous one. Go with your heart! Thank you for sharing your beauty with us.