Spring is coming!

I can tell! The trees are beginning to bud, the daffodils are getting going and my mood is lifting. Over the last couple of winters, I have really noticed myself 'switching off' during November-February. Last year I spent the best part of 3 months playing an online game called Toontown rather than do anything with my photography, my online shops or even my stock portfolios. This year, it's been The Dog Whisperer on TV and stupid games on Facebook but we've had 3 days of sun this week and already I'm beginning to feel more awake. Hopefully the longer days and warming temperatures will wake me up a bit more so I can get on with doing stuff.

In the meantime, here's a couple of little cheeky guys who cheer up my lunchbreaks - captured on my new little point & shoot camera which is small enough to keep in my handbag or pocket at all times.

Being a 10mp camera means that not only are the file sizes huge in comparison to my older cameras but I can also crop very hard and still have a good size shot. It only has a 3x zoom so although I was only a few feet away from the squirrels, they were still quite small in the image so 1 hard crop later and it looks like I was much closer :)

Having said that, these little critters are so tame (or brave perhaps) that I'm pretty sure with a bit of patience and some tempting food, I could probably get them to eat out of my hand. That's a project for some warmer, drier days though when I don't have to dash back to the office.

Craft Fairs - I must be mad!

As you can see from my previous post, I was prepping for my 1st craft fair. Well, the day before the fair, I went for a job interview - really good timing with all my stuff everywhere, all the last minute bits running through my head and then having to be 'professional' for an hour. It seems I can multitask because I did get the job and started the next Tuesday after the fair.

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!

Day2Day - this weeks unmissable photos! LOL

Monday - severely lacking inspiration again so delved in my weird things box and found this! Liked the colours. Answers on a postcard please :)

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.

Twitter-ing On ...

So it seems to be the latest fashion over on Etsy to join Twitter - the forums are full of twitter-this and twitter-that threads. They say that apart from being a bit of fun, it's also possible to do a bit of promotion over there so I caved in and joined. I added the widget to my blog too so if you have a peek over there on the right --->, you should see it. If you're on Twitter, drop in say Hi :)

I don't know how long I will last but I'll give it a go and see whether I like it or not. Can't ask for much more than that really can I?

Day2Day - Bit late again!

I've been fairly poorly this week so although I did manage to scrape together enough energy to take a shot or two, I just haven't had the will to actually blog them! So here goes, although it is Sunday and the next lot start tomorrow :)

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!


Thursday - still feeling fairly crap but spotted this chappie stuffing his face so grabbed the camera, swapped lenses and dashed back to catch him (that all sounds fairly energetic but it was more of a slow motion dash, you know?). I needn't have worried, he was still there, intent on clearing the seeds completely so none of the other birds in the neighbourhood could get some too.

Friday - still feeling listless and no inspiration either but I was sooooo bored of daytime TV. Grabbed this shot of some incense cones just to fill the spot really. Bought them a few weeks ago to try some smoke photos but haven't got around to it yet!

I've Been Tagged - part 2

I've been "tagged" – a great way to introduce yourself to other bloggers. Judi tagged my blog, so now it's my turn to tag a few other bloggers.Here are the rules:

Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

Share seven facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.

Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Well, there's a lot of tagging going on at the moment and many of my fav bloggers have already been tagged so if you are reading this and haven't been tagged yet - drop me a comment to let me know you're playing and I'll come be nosy and say Hello :)

1) I love dogs - all shapes, sizes and breeds but hubby is allergic so I have to fuss other peoples' dogs (usually in the street!). (The photo is my bro, me (aged 6-ish) and my dog that we grew up with).

2) I have freckles - lots of them all year and even more in summer.

3) I'm not really a chocoholic - although I do usually choose a choc based dessert - if there's cheesecake on the dessert menu (whatever flavour), the cheesecake will win everytime!

4) If my old English teacher knew I had voluntarily started a blog to write stuff, she would probably die of shock (so don't tell her please - she was quite old 25 years ago)!

5) I talk - a lot! Hubby's best friend once said that until I'd spoken to a stranger, my day wasn't complete and I think he may have been right. I also carry this over to forums and chat rooms - one or two word answers just aren't within my capabilities. LOL

6) I love maths and science - if I hadn't messed up at school between 16-18 - I would have studied toxicology at university.

7) Before I was made redundant, I used to read a book almost every day (or at least every 2 days). Since then, I've probably only read about 20 books but I now have a blog list of over 100 blogs that I read regularly and also the Etsy forums keep me reading for hours sometimes.

Results!

Better late than never, best laid plans and all that - big apologies to all my friends who played in my giveaway - but here are the results.


BIG DRUMROLL!

And who made comment number 5?

Well Done to Handicrafts - also known as JMcGuiness over on Etsy - a fellow member of POE and a very talented photographer too :)

Thank you for playing everyone - I'm sure I'll do another giveaway soon :)