The Night Before Christmas – with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore…
‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the flat
Not a creature was stirring, not even a cat
‘It’s so disconcerting’, Lynne Pussycat said
‘They’re being so quiet it fills me with dread…’
‘You’re awfully suspicious!’ said RR to Cat
‘They’re being angelic, let’s leave it at that!’
And so off to bed went the whole family
And left out for Santa a large G&T
A carrot for Rudolph, a plate of mince pies
‘Cos from the North Pole it’s a long way to fly!
But then at some godawful hour in the morn
(Don’t know when exactly, but way before dawn…)
A tremendous commotion broke out in the flat
‘Oh, what the heck’s happened? And where are the cats?’
RR ventured forth, to have a look-see
And discovered the kitties had toppled the tree
Had trashed all the presents and munched the mince pies
And sent Santa’s G&T soaring sky-high
Till it fell to the floor in a broken-glass puddle
Those dastardly cats, what a horrible muddle!
They were charging around as if they were possessed
Leaving in their wake such a terrible mess…
And so Christmas morning, at quarter past three
Was spent re-erecting the darned Christmas tree
Re-wrapping the presents, and calming the cats
Restoring tranquility throughout the flat
And two hours later, both tucked up in bed
Lynne Pusscat and Richard lay down weary heads
And said as they snoozed off and turned out the light
‘Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!’
Three Quilts Sold, Two Holiday Gift Fairs and A Brand New Etsy Store
As you may have gathered from my last post, I have been mad-crazy-busy recently sewing up items for a Christmas Gift Fair. And now it’s all over I finally have time to relax and reflect on the experience.
In the end, I took part in two different Gift Fairs. The first one took place at the International Women’s Club of Lausanne, on a Monday morning between 9 and 12, and the second one was held at La Chatagnière, an international school near Geneva, on a Saturday between 11.30 and 4pm, where I shared a table with my lovely and extremely talented friend Chris of MalleyCat Designs.
To be honest, I didn’t have desperately high hopes of the first gift fair. I mean, a Monday morning in early December?! But as it happens it was jam-packed from start to finish, and I was so busy I didn’t have time to take a proper photo of my table, to look at anyone else’s stall or even to have a cup of tea. In the end, I sold more than I ever dreamed possible, including 3 quilts(!), had some fantastic feedback about my work, and, all in all, had an utterly wonderful time.
Not the best photos, but you get the idea!
As for the second fair, Chris and I were reasonably optimistic of making some sales; there were going to be plenty of vendors and it seemed like a large number of people were planning to attend. But despite us both having had such a successful sale the previous Monday, this one really didn’t go that well. It seemed that most people were coming to socialise and have a drink with friends rather than to make a purchase. As it turned out, I only just broke even on the day. The two fairs couldn’t have been more different!
Our table
Some of my products…
… and some of Chris’ products
A selection of quilts for sale
Well, you live and learn, as they say, and here is what I learnt.
First and foremost, I absolutely loved making everything – I got to try out new patterns and new ideas, and, more importantly, to get re-acquainted with my stash! There have been times over the last couple of months where the floor of my sewing room was nowhere to be seen as it was liberally strewn with fabric I’d pulled out of boxes and cupboards to try and find that perfect match. Lots of old favourites were rediscovered and plenty of scraps and leftover pieces of quilt backing were put to good use.
Secondly, I really enjoyed selling my stuff, and chatting to people. I think I will be tempted to do some more fairs next year, but I also think I will do some more research before committing to any.
And finally, there seemed to be enough interest in what I made for me to take the plunge and open up a little Etsy store to sell my creations. Like these, for example 🙂
My Etsy store is called Pusscat Handmade, and you can find more fabric loveliness at
https://pusscathandmade.etsy.com
Please do go and take a look, and let me know what you think!
