Monday 14 December 2009

saturday's fair

so,saturday just gone,was the cruelty-free xmas fair,held in kings heath,birmingham.wolverhampton (where i'm from) isn't too far from birmingham,so i travelled back on the friday as i managed to get half a day off from work.then on saturday morning my twin brother picked me up from my moms to take me to the fair!

it had been a real struggle carrying everything back on friday,it felt like my arms were going to break off!but i have to say,my 99p bag pulled it off again.it's a huge plastic lilac polka dotted shopping bag,which you would think could not hold anything.wrong.it holds around 30+ diaries,a ton of hair accessories and jewellery,and lots of leaflets.to be precise.the only downside is that it's freaking heavy,and the handles chafe my hands.but for 99p,i'm more than impressed!

so,after my brother dropped me off at the church (it was in a church hall...which explains a lot) and i had finally found out it was in the hall next to it (after i'd wandered into the church itself a couple of times),i found my table and set up.now,i think this is why i don't find it too nerve wracking doing these fairs on my own.i'm way too busy to feel shy and awkward,there's too much to do!you'd be surprised how long it can take just to put your items out on the table!i was inbetween a stall selling natural remedies and toiletries,and the animals asia stall (mainly campaigning about the awful cruelties that are happening in china to the moon bears,and dogs and cats).

i had a feeling that this event wouldn't be as busy as the wolverhampton festival,just because wolverhampton is a city,and kings heath is a small town.also because it was in a church hall,and that kinda spells out that it will be a little quieter!i made sure i didn't expect to sell out like i did last time.i'm a pessimist really anyway,but not in a negative way if that makes sense?like i never expect the best simply to avoid disappointment,but also because it's always a bonus if things turn out better than you'd hoped!

it turned out to be a nice day,most people are so friendly and chatty,it's really a pleasure to meet new people at these types of events!my vegan buddy heidi turned up,which was awesome.i only know her from adding her on facebook just before the wolverhampton event.she turned up for that one too,and brought me a vegan cupcake,which was so delicious and so sweet of her!she's really lovely though,and she'd even made a few things to sell.she had made some owls and some robots,which were so awesome.she sold most of what she made too,she was so pleased at that!i had to buy an owl for myself,they were so cute!oh,and she brought me a cupcake again,bless her!

although it was a super fun day,we unfortunately didn't make anything for the charity i had chosen,which was the Animal Rights Prisoner Support group.but i did get
to meet one of the members,a lovely lady called lidia.i'm not sure what her accent was,but it was beautiful,and she seemed so lovely!she gave me some ARPS literature for the stall and a collection tin,which got them about £12 at least!but the day was slow with sales,and i only made enough to cover my £44 train fare.i told heidi to keep her money,seen as i needed to for my train fare,and it wouldn't be fair for her to donate and not me.it was a real disappointment and i hated having to tell lidia that we had no donation to give (except the collection tub),but i plan to raise money for them at the next big event,so all is not lost.

we packed up around 3pm and headed back to the centre of birmingham where heidi was meeting her friend,and i was catching the train back to wolves where my dad was picking me up.my bag was still so heavy (which was one of the main reasons i was so gutted we hadn't sold much,i had to carry it all back again!)so on the way to birmingham new street station,i found a market stall selling suitcases with wheels,which is totally what i needed!so after a quick changeover i finally headed to the train and went back to wolves.i did feel a little deflated seen as i had worked super hard to get things ready for the fair,and also because the fair before had been so brilliant.but i did get to sell a few things,meet some familiar (and new) faces,and get to hang out with heidi again,so i didn't feel too sorry for myself!

saturday evening,my dad,joan and i went for a drink as we usually do,then brought food afterwards.and sunday i saw my brother and jasmine,which was awesome,she is growing up too fast!my mom picked me up later on and we drove out to kinver,where there was a little bric-a-brac fair.i didn't expect it to be much good,but to my delight i found a set of russian dolls,that were,if not the same,similar to a set i had seen in a hair salon near where my dad lives,and had wanted for ages!they're like a pine material and colour with gold glitter in places...i will post a photo later on!i also found a couple of vintage items,a creepy 'doll mask' and a tin cup (meant for using over a campfire)that i got for mikee,as he loves the outdoors and things like that!

after having a very short nap back at my moms,i was then taken to wolves train station to catch my train back to cardiff.the weekend had gone way too fast and i felt like i'd hardly seen my family,but it was all worth it.and besides,i'll be back for christmas in just over a week!

i hope you all had a fab weekend xxxxx

4 comments:

  1. all in all sounds like you had a pretty good weekend! i spent my friday and saturday night watching the lord of the rings trilogy and cleaning my room. also put up my christmas tree, and the lights, went to a workout class that kicked my ass and went christmas shopping! good weekends all around.

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  2. I'm sorry you didn't sell much, hope you do the next time, but I'm happy you had a nice weekend.

    Sometimes things don't work as we plan, but we just have to sum up courage and start all over again.

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  3. Sounds like you had a good weekend, yes sales could have been better but there's always the next time...I know the Kinver fayre, I go there a lot...Have a good week...

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  4. love hearing about everyone elses weekend:D
    and miss gingey...you go to kinver?whoa,small world!x

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