Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness . . . . .

Wow! September already! This will be the last 'quiet' month for us before we start an increasingly busy run up to (sh!) Christmas. I am also preparing for 3 specialist Bear Fairs in the last 3 months of the year, which will mean I'm putting my bears in front of a more knowledgeable sector of the public (not that my existing customers aren't knowledgeable, but they're not, on the whole, people who are so bear obsessed that they go to specialist fairs!) So, to impress people who are that immersed in bear 'stuff' I'm going to have to show my best work! Of which, at present, I don't really have enough for one show, let alone 3!

 

The first Bear Fair I'm doing is the Telford Teddy Bear Parade, at the Park Inn, in Telford on October 27th, run by the excellent Mohair Bear Supplies, who have a truly inspiring range of bear making fabrics and components.  I did this fair a few times in Orkid's first incarnation, when it was run by Bears On The Square, in Ironbridge, and it attracted an impressive array of exhibitors and discerning, but not too bonkers, customers! I do hope the same customers come as used to, and maybe some of my Gloucestershire customers will consider a day out and a wild, new experience?! Check out http://www.telfordteddybearanddollparade.co.uk/ for more information ;o) I'm really looking forward to it, though we're going to be exhausted come Monday morning!

 

 This month I only have 2 fairs - Sturminster Newton's Fayre Exchange next Saturday morning, and the Artisan Fair at Sherborne's Digby Memorial Hall on the 7th, but next month I still have The Fayre Exchange on the first Saturday, but there's Telford and the first of 4 fairs booked at Salisbury's Guildhall, on the 19th. This fair is run by Kevin Murphy, and the very first outing for my bears, in 1997, was to this Salisbury fair, so a circle is being closed!  

My 'realistic' bears seem to be being well received, so I shall pursue this further, perhaps in both larger and smaller scales, and I can see I shall have to get some more of the very long pile, dense velvet as soon as I can afford it! It's quite expensive, but obviously you, my lovely customers, like it, so what you want, I must supply ;o) 

I also have some loyal knitting customers, so they're keeping me busy - mittens for the coming cold weather at the moment, but my selection of Aran patterns is with a customer now, for her to decide what she wants, so I'm looking forward to that challenge!

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is coming, with all those rich colours and yummy harvest from the summer to look forward to - how inspiring!