Anyway, so, how did the fair go? Pretty well I think, for a 1st attempt. I managed to find Debsmuddles' house to pick her up en route which was just as well because she knew the area and got us to the Community Centre on time. We went in and found the lovely Trish from Re:form, one of the organisers of the event and a fellow Etsy seller. Set up didn't take too long because I'd done the sensible thing and had a practise at home the day before. 
Then the doors opened and I pasted a smile on my face and prepared to meet my first ever face to face customers. There was a fairly constant flow and after a while, I relaxed and just chatted to anyone who stopped long enough to look. I sold about 30 cards over the course of the day which covered my table fee, fuel and snacks but it was fun so that was OK. One thing I did discover - people didn't seem to want to rummage or flick through the prints in the basket or the cards in the card stand. But that was OK - I also worked out that neither the basket or the card stand was going to fit in my suitcase for the next craft fair in London anyway!
Photo of me at Handmade, Leigh-on-Sea, courtesy of Reform ©
So I started a new job and had to print a few more cards to replace the sold ones, ready for my next outing to We Make. This time, Debsmuddle came to me and we caught the train together. My case was fine for wheeling around but I hadn't taken into account all the stairs on the Underground and we hadn't checked on maintenance problems. It worked out OK though because the train terminated at Stratford which also has the Central Line tube station - just the one we needed - straight through to Tottenham Court Road. Ten minutes walking later, we found a Starbucks next to the American Church where the fair was being held. Grabbed a coffee and went to set-up.
We Make was organised by a lovely group of ladies who happen to be fellow Etsy sellers so it was with lots of squealing and many air kisses later that we got going. Debs was at the far end of the room from me so I just quietly got on with it. No basket or card stand meant that I had to rethink my display - luckily I had asked for a wall behind me so I blu-tacked a few of my larger prints up there and leant one very large print against the wall from the table. My magnet displays fitted in between and I laid all my cards out on the table.
The carol singing started and the doors opened and we were ready to face the public. I stayed by my stall for a fairly long while before wandering round to see/meet the other sellers. I was really strict with myself and didn't splurge on anything even though I could probably have maxed out my credit card quite easily with all the lovely stuff on sale. I'd also borrowed hubbys' little camera so dashed round to get a few shots - I can't believe I didn't take a shot of my own stall though - I'm hoping someone else may have. so here they are - just a few of the lovely ladies selling at We Make - I haven't put them all here but there are more on my flickr stream if you would like to have a look :)
All in all, a fun day out, meeting lots of lovely Etsy sellers but very tiring and boy, do I know how heavy that suitcase was - here I am two days later and I can still barely lift the kettle, my muscles are aching so bad!
Tuesday - nature provided the inspiration today - the sun caught the few remaining leaves on this tree and made them glow. Not sure I've caught the glow but I like it.
Wednesday - Paper bags for my first foray into the world of craft fairs. Minimum order was 1000 for the 2 smaller sizes and 500 for the big pink bags so 2500 bags for 2 craft fairs - gosh, I hope I sell something!
Thursday - I thought I'd been seeing a little wren at the bottom of the garden but it turns out to be this little brown bird instead - a dunnock or hedge sparrow. Not very sharp - long lens through glass at 7.30am but you get the idea :)
Friday - borrowed a small-ish table top display easel from an artist friend of mine. It will form part of my craft fair table display. I really like how my framed print looks on an easel - may have to splash out and get a couple more if I continue this craft fair lark.
Monday - put my back out late yesterday so curled up with painkillers and the tv today.
Tuesday - made it to the back door today! Looked up and saw this lovely leaf stuck to the roof of my verandah and snapped it. End of energy!
Wednesday - woke up with a sore throat, aches and a bit of a cough which was closely followed by a runny nose and complete lack of any energy or brainpower! I even forgot to reset the white balance for this one and just couldn't be bothered to re take it!
And who made comment number 5?
Some of the houses along the river side, near the quay - long lens shot from my bit of sea wall.
Looking the other way and to the left, you can see the new houses in the distance and the old tyres and traffic cones stuck in the mud in the foreground.
I don't know what this fiery red plant is but it was lighting up the wasteground in bright autumnal patches.
This teasel was beautifully backlit against the strong sunlight - you can even see the little cobwebs in amongst the spikes.
Monday - grey all day but then the sun came out long enough to do this.
Tuesday - very grey again and this weird cloud formation.
Wednesday - More rain for most of the day but the evening had some lovely white fluffy clouds and the starlings were flying high as usual. I also shot some textures today so had a play by overlaying a dark edged texture over this and playing with blending modes in photoshop. I think this was a colour burn mode in the end.
Thursday - I got my car back from the garage yesterday so I planned on taking my camera to work but the weather forecast was horrible so I didn't. This is a camera phone shot of the bit of estuary near my office. I just made it back before the skies opened once again.
Friday - I did take my camera with me but even though I went back down to the river estuary, the heavens opened whilst I was there so I made a run for it. Standing getting my breath back and chatting to a colleague, I spotted this angle on the arches so grabbed my camera phone again for an insurance shot! I didn't like any of the shots from my brief excursion in the rain but I did like this one - especially after I played with it a bit. Converted to mono, added a slight sepia tone then overlaid with the same texture as the blue sky shot on Wednesday. Hidden in the shadows are a couple of cars and a few bits of building site so definitely needed to do something in Photoshop! :)
Wednesday - the weather started to improve so I took a lunchtime walk up the road a bit - this crane is near the little quayside within a few minutes of the office.
Thursday - not quite such a nice day but the tide was out and this is the mud flats of the river estuary - not the prettiest place in the world but definitely different and interesting :)
Monday - I set my light tent up to shoot some stock and this is one of my favs.
Wednesday - tea at Mum's and she pulled this out of the oven as we arrived! Mmmmmmm :)
Thursday - a little bit of traditional British street furniture - not so common these days unfortunately.
So we had to eat all our tea before Mum would let us tuck in - it was still warm so very crumbly but with a dollop of creme fraiche - mmmmmmm :) Are you drooling yet? Well, here's the recipe - I snaffooed it out from under her nose! LOL
