Latest Show

On Saturday (25th June), your intrepid hero ventured into the outskirts of London to attend his latest show. Also there, was his good twitter friend Lemonade and Lamingtons, whom he met in person for the first time ever. I think that we both thought that, as it was a private school, we would be able to sell loads of stuff and depart with obscene amounts of cash. Alas, despite the fact that there were many little ones running around in Dolce and Gabbana t shirts, that they hadn't got for £1 off a stall holder in Greece, the lure of various versions of bouncy castles meant that we had very few customers.
Add this disappointment to the fact that I managed to get my head burned on a cloudy day, the wind blew my cloth table covering all over the place (so much so that I actually removed it in the end) and England cricket were humiliated by the Sri Lankans, and all in all it wasn't my most auspicious day. However, at least I didn't get lost on the way home, which I did on the way there. |To be honest, I think I did better than many. At least I nearly covered my stall costs (sorry to rub it in Lisa).
However, I may be chastened but not broken. There is always tomorrow

Craft Shows

The decision was taken to attend some Craft Fairs to try and publicize our products. You must remember that we were Craft virgins and had no idea what to expect. Our first one gave us £70 in the kitty, which we were frankly disappointed with (if only we realized just how disappointing these events could really get). However, it was a miserable day so we thought that may have accounted for the apparently poor return. The next one was a weekend seafront Fair! If the first one was poor, this one made it seem like Cash In The Attic. It was that cold and wet that no one actually walked along the seafront unless they had to. Over sat and sun, we amassed a total of £40. However, it wasn't all bad news. At least I wasn't doing it. That pleasure belonged to one of my colleagues!
Foolishly believing that things couldn't get any worse (and as we know, they not only can, they invariably do), we went to a psychic fair. The thought process was that hippy, earth people may appreciate our products more. If you happen to be a White Witch/Pagan/Earth Mother etc, you my wish to look away now as this may prove to be offensive. Ok you were warned. Even before the start, there was a collection of people on a stage who all had to recite a prayer to various goddesses to bring luck onto all of us (it didn't work). Fair enough, not my cup a tea, but each to his own. However, at various times I was privy to watching someone have their life-force measured by someone wielding a (what they claimed) Eagles feather (it could have been a seagulls for all I knew), a lady who told me that in a previous life ( I never heard the rest, people are always Cleopatra etc and are never someone who was laying in a pool of gin in London), someone taking photographic auras of people (I was stood behind the photographer, they were all the same). I have no urge to dis others beliefs, but some there definitely needed help. The fact that I took £5 all day didn't help much. It was very funny to someone like me, so at least there was that to keep me going through the austerity.
After this, what can only be called a nadir in our fortunes, we had a regroup, came up with some new ideas and have done a few more successful shows since. In fact, they seem to be going better. The product is still hardly flying off the shelves, but gradually the fairs are showcasing the products, enabling us to highlight the fact that once they have been purchased, that's the end of it and that they glow all through the night, and to introduce us as a company of individuals to the world (not altogether the best plan we have ever come up with).

Our wonderful products

A couple of years ago, we launched a new Glow-in-the-dark range of products, called Glowbiles. Here I shall endeavour to recount various trials and tribulations that we have encountered on our course to national mediocrity. The spark was ignited when a colleague mentioned that his son was scared of the dark and he had to have his hall light on. After much head scratching and research, a compound that could be moulded into plastic and would glow for 8 hours with a minimum charge, was discovered.
What to use it for? Ideas were not in short supply, but money was, so we came up with the idea of a child's Glow-In-The-Dark hanging mobile, which was affordable to any parents, Grandparents, siblings, relatives etc. Great we had a product. We had no money, just something that those who knew about it said they liked it. However, as you are all probably aware, saying something is a good idea and buying it are miles apart. It also looked a bit plain during the hours of daylight, so the idea of having some beads and a birthstone was developed. Then it had to be tested to make sure that it was safe to be sold to children (which turned out to be cheaper than we expected, but took about 2 months longer ).
Having got a product, the real fun then started. How on earth do we get the world know that we may have something that they want. Next time I shall recount some of the "problems" we have/are encountering as we wend our way toward millionairedom (or obscurity, you decide)