Well that's our summer over then, after a great start, weather wise it just didn't seem to live up to our expectations. Just before Livvy's term ended we were at the Chiswick Summer Fair, it was an absolutely glorious day and I really thought, yep that's it, this summer is going to be a cracker, but no, almost as soon school holidays started it seemed to go downhill and it never felt like the good weather really got going. We did have some gorgeous days but nothing over a consistent period, oh well - it does feel as though our summers are starting earlier each year.
As usual, I forgot to take a photo until a couple of hours into the fair but managed to grab a couple of quick shots whilst no one was at the stall.
I was really chuffed that my cushions and bags in particular went down a storm. Although fairs involve a lot of hard work, it's so worth it to be able to interact with my prospective customers.
Like so many other creative people I suspect, I am the kind of person who sometimes finds it daunting to show my things to people, I worry that no-one will like my taste etc, that I've got it all wrong, so it is really heartening when people come to my stall and tell me that they love the things that I made and the items I have chosen to stock and that they really get and appreciate the uniqueness and workmanship involved in handmade goods.
My vintage woodland fabric cushion that I had been concerned about was literally snapped up by the first person to see it and I could have sold many of my cushions several times over had I made multiples of them so I was a very happy bunny that day!
The other great thing about getting out and doing fairs is that people then invite you to take part in other events that you may not ever get to hear about, so if you're sitting there wondering whether you should give that Christmas Fair or similar a go with your own handmade products, then I would say just go for it!
I've put some of my new batch of cushions seen below and patchwork bibs into my online shop.