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Not bad for a shot taken out the window of a moving bus in the middle of a rain shower! I have to admit that I adore windfarms. Sure, maybe not right next to my home, but they look like dancers to me. Magestic and beautiful.
In an overwhelming bout of creativity I spent part of my Sunday afternoon photographing the very lovely (and importantly, photogenic) Tatiana. Here are the results!
I’ve discovered a cure for cold nights (and days) indoors…stitching with buttons!
I’ve taken to making button embellished headbands and selling them on Etsy.com, which is an awesome sight bringing the handicrafts marketplace directly to you via the interweb! Below are some of my wares. Please visit my store ButtonsAndCards!
So, Emmet and I spent the day at12 Newmarket Street, Dublin, otherwise known as the Dublin Food Coop, but on the first Sunday of every month becomes the Crafty Market. It was an interesting experience, one that I found surprisingly stressful, but then, that’s me. What was stressing me out was the fact that I don’t usually spruik my wares quite so publicly, it has always been within the comfort of my own family, friends and acquaintances, but this was about as public as you get. Not only that, but there were a couple of other photographers there too, which meant comparisons would be made…at least that’s what my paranoid little mind was telling me. What concerned me most was that by half way through the day we hadn’t made one sale. I had, however, received a number of genuine compliments, but then compliments don’t pay the market stall rent.
Emmet, of course, was cool, calm and collected and enjoyed engaging the passers by. He made the first sale while I was away from the table taking a break and having a wander around. That made me feel a little better. One buy. I knew we had to sell ten in order to cover the rent of the stall, which at 30 Euros for the day was pretty reasonable. In the end we sold five cards, one at a time, in the final few hours of the day. I walked away with 17.50 Euro, which left me a little out of pocket, but the experience (and Luca’s coffee) was worth the effort.
What was disappointing though, was the lack of turn out. Most of the people there were ether friends and family or passing tourists. There could have been more of the tourists, that’s for sure, and probably a marketing issue – my recommendation would be talking with the bus company that does the tours of the city as they stop just around the corner at St Patrick’s Cathedral, I think they also stop at Christchurch, which is not too far either. Sadly, though, there isn’t much enthusiasm from the general public for markets like these, or, arguably, markets in general. To me this is a bit strange, but then I like nothing better than being able to purchase directly from the producer, be they a grower, a farmer or a knitter. But then, it may all be in the timing. The market is on a Sunday, and as Emmet and I discovered, Dublin city is a virtual desert on a Sunday morning but for the wandering tourists, luggage, camera or unfolded map in hand. Sunday morning in Dublin is, logically, either time for recovery from the night (or nights) before, or time to visit God’s house. Again, though, superb marketing opportunities – offer local churchgoers a flier and entice those with a cloudy head with what I maintain is Dublin’s best coffee from Luca’s Freedom Cafe. Thankfully, Birdy and Brian came out to say hello, which we appreciated. I think seeing some familiar faces brightened us both up after we’d tried so hard to generate interest with text messages, Facebook posts and random poster hangings.
So, the moral of this story is that Dublin’s crafties need you, yes you, not ‘you’ maybe someone else will do it, it’ll be okay I don’t have to go and help or contribute…no, you means you.You can support local industry, local crafts people, who in turn support local suppliers, or try to find supplies at a cheap cost so you don’t have to spend too much helping them out. No kudos for blaming the recession, the recession won’t stop you from buying a pint, so why not put that pint’s worth of Euros into something more tangible, something handmade, homemade, original, one of a kind, something you can take home with you that won’t give you a headache in the morning.
That said, will I go back for another try? Maybe. We shall see. I think the interest is actually building and it would be good to be part of something positive and uplifting in Dublin when much of the atmosphere is quite dreary, because of the recession and also because, and I genuinely believe this, the weather. Maybe next time I will see if I can take a basket of brightly coloured cupcakes, as if one thing is guaranteed to sell at the crafty market, or indeed any market, it’s food!
If anyone is interested in some cards, I will be updating my Facebook group with what I have in stock and probably also put up a blog, but you can email me at stevie@stephaniefargher.com, and also take a look at my website. I can do them for 3.50 Euro or 4.50 AUD each, or five for 15 Euro or 20 AUD (sorry Aussies, but the dollar is worth bugger all over here these days, which sucks cos the buying power back home is awesome comparably!) + postage).
