Hugglets 2009

We had a wonderful day at Hugglets and thank you to Glenn and Irene who did a fantastic job of organising the event, as usual!

We had a good journey into London, taking a different route than we’ve taken before, with the help of “Suzie” my SatNav!  My hubby was very sceptical of SatNav’s and didn’t know why I wanted one.  But I’m sure that’s a man thing.  You know they always seem to know best, when it comes to finding a route.  My father-in-law is a prime example of this.  If the SatNav says to turn right he says “No, I know a better way than that” and he does the complete opposite!  Anyway I love “Suzie” and my children and I have found our way to places we would never have dreamed of attempting to find before. Anyway, I digress.  It was a good journey and only took an hour and a half.  We found ourselves sitting in a parking bay outside the car park waiting the fifteen minutes until 9 o’clock, so as to avoid having to pay the extra £3 parking fee that’s charged before 9.  When it occurred to us that we were being totally tight and penny pinching.  Suitably embarrassed with ourselves, we made our way into the car park.

We found our way to Stand 133 to find that a movable barrier had been erected up on the stage, since the last fair.  We were told that this was because a short while ago, a  lady took a step backwards and fell off the stage and broke her hip.  Ouch!  The barrier was to be kept about half way between the front of our stand and the edge of the stage.  This proved to be easier said than done as members of the public kept moving the barrier back to get round each other and see what we had on offer.  Several times I saw people hold onto the barrier to help themselves up the stairs and almost fall over as the barrier tipped forward.  Could it be a case of health and safety measures making things more dangerous I wonder!

We were very busy with customers buying lots of bear making supplies and miniature teddies. I have to say a huge thank you to my middle daughter Bethany who came along to help me on the day.  She is amazing at maths, unlike me, and was very efficient at adding up and calculating change.  Much to my relief.  I’ve always said “I’m an artist not a mathematician” to explain away my ineptitude!

It was really lovely to see so many returning customers and making new friends too.  I managed to take ten minutes out, to whiz round and take in the wonders of the bear world laid out on display.  I always like to see what delights other artists are creating and maybe pick up some new fabric or supplies for my bears too.

I’ve been saying to myself for the last three weeks or so that “when the fair is over, I’ll catch up with that” or “I’ll do that job after Hugglets”.  But so far I’m still trying to find time to “catch up”.  I’ve been busy doing a stock take and updating my stock levels on the website ever since Sunday.  Quite time consuming I can tell you, especially as I’m getting to grips with the workings of the new website.  I’m also ordering new fabrics and supplies, which should be available soon and thinking ahead to Christmas, I’ll be hand dying new fabrics in Christmassy colours and adding new products with the festive season in mind. So keep and eye on the website. After all you know Christmas comes earlier and earlier each year and it will be here before we know it!

Hugs

Mandy