Barton under Needwood Craft fair July 23rd 2011

This was a biggish craft fair, lots going on.  There were jewellery stalls, cards, home made pastries, Belgian choc vendor, hog roast, funfair, and something we'd not seen before - a waterball pool... the children are zipped inside a ball and roll round like hamsters in a cage!!! It looks incredibly good fun, and made me wish I small enough have a go!

The best item there, I think, was the Charity sidestall for protection of injured birds of prey... such breathtaking beauty, I left Richard on our stall and made a beeline for this stall... birds with injured wings, missing eyes etc... the man looking after them was so informative.

There were a few people about, but not really a good footfall. Jam was our best seller this time. But the wind... oh boy, was it windy!  We watched folk hanging on to their gazebos as they shook about. We were OK, Richard pegged ours down firmly, but look what happened to the gazebo behind us.......

Totally destroyed. The winds carried it over the next gazebo. No-one was injured, but the gazebo was a write-off. The poles broke in two, the cloth ripped right along its length. We have LEG WEIGHTS to hold our gazebo down, and I reinforce the need for these handy items. OK, they cost around £30 a set of 4, but for peace of mind, and protection of your gazebo and stall, we think they are a MUST.

Richmond Primary School, Hinckley. 9th July 2011.

We LOVED this school !  What a friendly bunch of people... everyone was bustling, but greeted us,  we were shown our spot indoors on LEVEL flooring lol ( see the Arnold Thorpe incident ! )  Right on the stall next to us was Gemma - the Usborne rep who we met a couple of times on previous fairs... great girl ! It's always good to meet a fellow craftsperson you know - someone to chat to !!! 

Not too tightly packed stall today, someone didn't turn up, so we were offered a 2nd stall FREE.We filled it with jewellery!

Fab stalls there... I'm a sucker for jumble stalls - I think I went home with more than I came with !!!!  Well attended, we sold well,  nicely priced refreshments. Well done Kerry for a beautifully organized event !!! Can't wait to come back for the Christmas fair !

Thorpe Arnold. July 3rd 2011

Oh dear...Thorpe Arnold.... what a disaster... our table collapsed.  Our pitch was on a slope, set on the church grounds. With the combined weight of jams, chutneys and crafts - the whole lot collapsed to the ground with a noise reminiscent of a BOMB. Bless all the stall holders there - they ALL came running to help us pick up the crafts. We lost a lot of jam... broken jars everywhere, mugs smashed, jewellery scattered all over the grass.  So disheartening.

The church is just to the right of the photo, but look at how uneven the ground is....

I was disappointed at how we had to set up after the spill... we had to use our tiny table to put the jams on...

All higgledy piggeldy - not our usual PROPER set out...  I was so disappointed... to top it all we didn't have a good day sale-wise... sniff ! Ah well ....some you win...some you don't !

Bitteswell School fair. 2nd July 2011.

We really enjoyed this one - school fairs are always popular.  Plenty of space... we put up the gazebo in no time, it's amazing how quickly you learn the ropes!

 All the gazebos and stalls were well-spaced around the playing field, not tightly packed like some events we have been to. We sold a fair amount here - and at one point we were BOTH serving 2 customers at a time - GREAT STUFF !

                                                                Lots for children to do !

                                                               And the band played on......

Groby Street Fair and Ceilidh 25th June 2011

Showery weather.  A dull start, but thankfully the dark clouds surrended to brilliant sunshine - and people flocked ! It was Groby's first street fair, well organised by a great bunch of people.  We had a very enjoyable day, lots going on, stilt walker, medieval costumed visitors, on stage there were talented singers, bands, etc.

                                             A really dark and dull start...people not arriving yet.....

                                              One or two people beginning to venture out.....