What a busy time! The craft fair (after a whole lot of preparation) went well, and I also had a couple of unexpected opportunities - the Kent Messenger took my photo while I was mid-crochet on my stall, and on the second day, Father Christmas popped into the craft marquee so I called him over for a photo in front of the stall :-) hoping Chic'n'Cheerful will now be on his 'preferred supplier' list!

I learnt lots of things doing this craft fair (I learn something different every time) and if nothing else, it was worth it to hear the many lovely compliments on all of my things.

Still - after I had unpacked from the craft fair, I managed to sit still for about 10 minutes before I picked up my crochet hook...

Today is going to be a busy day... There is a LOT to do for the craft fair next weekend!

The hardest part is always trying to work out pricing for the beautiful hand made things we sell.

We have a fabulous selection of bunting, jewellery, amigurumi toys, sock monkeys and tree decorations, but we still need more for our double-pitch! (It seemed like a good idea at the time of booking!)

Time to get crafty!

This week was the Environmental Health inspection, and I'm delighted to say Chic'n'Cheerful have been awarded 5 stars (top marks) for our food preparation standards, meaning you can book us in utter confidence for your catering!

One thing we take very seriously about Chic'n'Cheerful catering, is that everything is fresh, handmade by us.

A spare half hour yesterday gave me the chance to try something a little different, so I whipped up some houmous with a big squeeze of lime, and some fresh coriander. I tried to decide if the sandwich needed anything else (lettuce, cucumber) but it has such a fresh, zingy taste, it's beautiful on its own.

Healthy, guilt free, exceptionally tasty.

22 days to go until the Christmas craft fair... which means lots of planning, shopping, stitching, knitting and baking.

This year I am feeling a bit nervous, as I am concentrating heavily on handmade crafts, having sold jewellery in the past.  I do have some jewellery to sell this time, but I am aiming to have a good representation of what Chic'n'Cheerful has to offer.

I have asked Grant to help with creating a free standing frame to hang bunting from, and am excited to see what he comes up with.  

Pinterest has been a good source of inspiration, both for an interesting stall layout, as well as little things to sell.  

My next challenge is to work out a way of processing card payments, without paying for a credit card machine...