Thursday 21st

[Caroleecrafts]

Morning all

Good chat and coffee yesterday but have a slight sore throat, not sure if all the talking or being out with the public!

Have stitched out the bees wings now onto the bodies.

Have snagged the study so far and the painter needs to go over some areas. Two more walls to go and just wish it was all over. He is now leaving until Monday and agreed can leave the computer and printer in place until the morning of the 4th.

Sold another 6 items yesterday. The lady ordered 3 on Monday and then ordered again yesterday, must have been happy with the first lot. 10 sales so far this month. Talking to Jenny think this could be why I do not have the enthusiasm for the fair this year. Easy to sit at home and sell rather than sort, price, load the car, unload, set up etc. Last year did very well and know will enjoy once I get there.

Saw Jenny yesterday Mo and she is hoping to go to West Horsley Place event as not far from her.

HAGO and BBL x

[MornieG Jewellery]

Morning all.

Dull and damp here with the promise of more rain.

Shop day today but I did feel as if I achieved something yesterday by doing the last three Christmas Pendants which Pete will put together and polish today. Also made 20 more tags just the ribbon to add to them all.

Glad you had a lovely time with Jenny Caroline, would be nice to meet her at West Horsley Place, unfortunately they don't do any free tickets but if she is a RHS member she will get in free so will need to take her membership card. Many congratulations on the sales. On line is nice but we do prefer face to face selling. People like to touch wood as well as liking the look of it. It will be fine when you get there and start interacting with the public.

Got to go, call in later.

Have a good day all.

Mo.XX

[craftdancer2]

Morning all! Still dry, but quite breezy and consequently the warmer temperatures are being cancelled out - can't win!

Yesterday, two lots of lemon curd done. Rest of the day spent trying to sort out card readers - finally got a reply from iZettle but no useful information; there followed a day of emails "have you managed to do this?" "No", "what stage has it got to?" "still stalling", "I can ring you to go through settings" (that will be the settings I've already redone 3 times following instructions on your web site and in the leaflet I got) "this number xxx, before x time", "I rang the number but couldn't get through" - that will be because I waited until 10 minutes after the time I'd given you then rang my friend. Also the Sumup reader arrived (sent by Yodel - aaarrrrggghhhh!!!), and I'm having the same problems - will connect the card reader but won't do a transaction. Have come to the conclusion it's my phone and I probably need something more up to date but have no idea what to look for, especially as I can't afford very much.

Today - off into town to see if I can find anyone to give me some advice on what phone to get that is within my finance range. I have trouble getting people to understand that I don't know about these phones and how they work and neither do I want to download tons of music, games or do social media etc etc - I just want phone calls, texts and card reader. Would like to have something workable for the weekend or I'm facing potential embarassment again if customers want to pay by card. Far too much choice around and far too much unintelligible (to me) information, and lots of conflicting reviews online, so I'm none the wiser.
And after that I've got to get my jars and bottles out, listed and packed ready for Saturday.

Caroline - glad you enjoyed your chat and hope the sore throat clears quickly. On a roll with the sales, and so nice to have repeat customers.
Mo - a busy day for you, but I think the classy bling decorations will be popular
Dave - still busy, anywhere near ready for your event yet?
Shelley - a busy day for you also, hope you made progress with the pictures. Glad that things are settling with regard to the loss of Pepper and you're feeling more connected.

HAGO
Linda

[3dDave]

Afternoon all....

Well, what was just a bit of exhaust blowing turned into an epic....
Went to the local exhaust place, none of them stock or can get a back-box for my car, Ford only. Rang them, with VAT and labour it would be nearly £2000 as the local guys said I’d need to replace the catalytic converter too (£810 plus vat 😳😳, the bespoke guys can save it from being changed.)
I’ve found a company in Shrewsbury that makes bespoke competition exhausts from scratch so they are making me a stainless steel pipe and back box for £596.00....will probably sound a bit rippy-roary....I can suck that up for £1400 less 😁.
All ready for the event....providing the car is done...
Linda...more expensive but maybe the 3g Sumup would be better, no phone or wifi needed, probably cheaper than a new phone and contract or credit per month...
Everyone looking busy enough...

Dave.

[Lilly42]

Afternoon all,

Dry, brightish and a bit warmer today.

I can understand your reluctance to do a fair when you have been doing so well online Caroline, think of it as a networking opportunity and go prepared with plenty of cards and posters etc, pointing people to your online presence. They can then choose to buy later, or buy more and recommend friends. I am sure once you are there you will enjoy it.

Mo you should be pleased with your last 3 baubles, they are stunning. Won't be long now till your last event and then put your feet up for a little while.
Pete we can discuss the Lucet in the new year when you are both not so busy.

Linda hope you sort your card reader, maybe try one that doesn't need a phone or is that too pricey or would it be cheaper than buying a new phone to get the other ones working? Glad the lemon curd went well.

Dave busy getting ready for your week of events? Making more confetti too?
Missed your post, wow that is expensive and its only a Ford. Sheesh what it the world coming to.

Today more things to do in the shop, some stock to order, a parcel to wrap and arrange collection. I need to re-photograph a couple of the cards, yesterday I discovered on zooming in there were a couple of mistakes and 2 cat hairs, thats a no no cos some people react to just one hair. I usually run a lint roller over the finished items before sealing them in the cello bag, but they must have been staticy.

I started this post just after 12pm and after dealing with several customers, receiving parcels, answering the phone etc I have just got to this point One of those days.

Have a good day all and stay warm.

Shelley

[craftdancer2]

Thanks for the thoughts on the card reader - but I have two (different companies) now, the new phone is ordered and should arrive tomorrow. I've gone for a fairly basic phone and at a price I'm prepared/able to pay (can't figure out why the same model is £90 cheaper in Carphone Warehouse than Tesco, but that's life). The operating software is 5 years newer and the internal storage is vastly increased than my current model, so hopefully that will do the trick. I only spend about £10 a year on calls and data for the phone and get triple the amount free for the first month, (costs and usage gone up a bit in the last couple of years - I used to buy £10 every two to three years!), so overall I think this is the best solution. Only enough signal inside the house to receive texts, try and make a call or retrieve voicemail and it drops out.

A fellow crafter has ordered the Sumup no phone card reader - but she does many more, and bigger events than I do, plus her items are much more expensive than mine. She will let me know how she gets on with it.

Sorry to hear about your exhaust costs Dave. Hope the company in Shrewsbury can get you sorted quickly and for reasonable cost.
Another busy day for you Shelley, but all good for the business. Don't wear yourself out.

Have a good evening all.
Linda

[3dDave]

You’d think that wouldn’t you Shelley?....its a Focus ST 2.5....everything Volvo under the bonnet and boot...£’s and £’s but I’ve had it 11 years and repaired it about 5 times, it owes me nothing really, I only do 2k per year..

Hairs, bits and acetate/ ployprop are like a dust magnet. If you ever use ployprop or acetate sheet, run it under a shower first, it discharges the static and makes it inert, just dab dry with toilet paper. I use lots of it.

Dave.

[Caroleecrafts]

We have a Focus Titanium Turbo X Dave. The last one was a Mondeo Ghia V6 2.5 drank petrol. This one is only 998 hence £30 car tax but goes like a rocket. Before the Mondeo had an RS Turbo, beautiful car but a packet to insure.

[3dDave]

I had an XR4 2.9 when the RS turbo’s were around...great car, same problem 😆😆
My ST does around 23mpg..(2.5, 5 cyl, 20 valve Volvo V70R engine)..on a run 😁, my tax is about £350 p/yr, insurance group......75😳🙄.....great car, still same problem, probably worse 😩😂

Dave.

[Caroleecrafts]

Good grief ours is insurance group 15, lol.

[Lilly42]

My poshest car was a Toyota Supra 3 litre coupe. 2 very long doors, need big parking spaces, did 140 mph, no idea what milage it got, group 17 insurance.
This was all in the 90s and it was all so different then, business was booming, it didn't matter what the tax was, not a lot in those days. In fact they were so affordable that we had one each, his was a white turbo, mine was normally aspirated burgundy one.

Boy those were the days

Now I am very happy with my little Ka. £130 insurance, £100 tax because I get 50% discount from my PIP, MOT this year £300. So motoring for £530 for another year, except for petrol. Most expensive, for the last few years less than £100 a year.

Shelley