A Day in the Life: 14/08/11

This is the second in a series of A Day in the Life posts where crafters who blog link up with others. The result is you (& me of course) get to see what everyone got up to in the same day.

It was my turn to pick a date and although a Sunday might seem strange I had a stall at a fair & maybe misguidedly I thought you might be interested to know how my day went.

Don’t think you want to hear about my early routine, I’ll leave that to your imagination 🙂 However I can tell you that I rarely pack my bags the day before a fair. The reason is simple, I’d just have to unpack them before I’d left to ensure I’d packed everything!

10:30 – waiting at the bus stop with lots of white hair women going to church and young folk dressed in black going to work in shops. I feel quite bright in my orange, blues & black. I’ve put done make up in my bag but know I’ll forget to put it on.

11:10 – in Sloans and setting up. I’m beside Skull & Crossbones whose mini bunting & packaging is so cute. Also in the room are Lucy Jackson Designs, a silversmith and two friends who make paintings, cards and cute paper gift boxes. Sorry, I never caught their names.

After setting up I nip downstairs to Greggs (naughty but convenient) to buy my lunch and tweet a final reminder the market is on today. Bumped into one of my aunts & we have a quick chat then it’s back to work.

12:00 – open for business and people are already coming through the door. Fingers crossed.

12:20 – my first sale; one of my dads pressed flower cards.

The fair isn’t my best sales wise. I’m at a loss to understand how I can get such wonderful comments from the public but so few sales. I’ve just got to chalk it down to experience but it hurts. At times today I’ve felt so low, confused & discouraged.

The lovely words from customers keeps me going and I keep smiling. It works as someone I know from another fair pops in and shares an idea they have with me.

15:50 – I receive an email from @riotraffle which I’ll blog about later today however please have a look at their link and see if you can donate.

16:50 – one of my brothers & his wife pop in to say hello. Lots of chat about their mini holiday next week, a peek at the lovely outfit Lorna’s bought for a friend’s wedding and a commission for a hair corsage. A good end to the fair.

17:10 – packing up & a wee chat with Lucy from Lucy Jackson Designs. It’s not been the best day for either of us but I know we’ll do it all over again as deep down we enjoy it.

18:25 – home. I’m probably mad but for all the anguish of the day I’m actually upbeat again. As much as I want to sell my handmade items I also treat it as a way of talking to people to find out what they like or don’t like, the items they pick up and of course the colours they like.

Time for a quick cat nap.

20:00 – it’s a lovely evening so time for a wee walk which turned out a long walk as I pottered rather than rushed about. Well, when you’ve the delightful Nuala Ashe shop to look at why wouldn’t you?

Also Nice to see a shop that has been empty for years now in use.

Hadn’t realised how late it was getting until I noticed the lights going on – oops – but it was such a lovely evening.

21:30 – a couple of interesting emails including a possible meet up with a craftivist from London who’s up in Glasgow for the week…watch this space.

22:40 – think it’s about time to call it a night. It’s always strange after a fair, I’m tired & resisting the temptation to pick up my needle & thread. Now watching Graffiti Wars which is interesting & inspiring in a strange way…must get off the sofa & get to bed!

Well that was my Sunday. Busy, emotional & energising. How was yours?

I’ll collate all the entries later in the week so if you’ve taken part please either leave a comment on this entry or HERE and I’ll get to work.