2022 Round-Up
Phew!!! What another crazy year that was.
After all the craziness of the pandemic years, we have started getting ourselves back to some kind of norm. It's definitely different from before when I was trading in Camden Market. I think I have officially left there now, which seems crazy to me. I thought I would always be a Camden Market trader and die in some back ally of Camden Market, still hammering rings at 106 years old. Camden was and still is such a part of my soul, but I have left Camden for now.
This year has been another year with a steep learning curve. I started the year by converting my little white van into a cute little camper. I had never done anything like that before. I spent many hours in the winter trying to figure out how to insulate and cover the inside of the tiny, curvy van walls. After many attempts and a lot of tears, the result was well worth it. I now have a van that will take my jewellery stall to any field for a festival at any time of the year, and I can spend the night in comfort without having to pitch a tent in the rain. I love spending time in the van (I put so much work into it) and try to get out in it for fun whenever I can. #Vanlife
Workwise, I started the year with a website, an Etsy page and a long list of fairs, festivals and shows to attend.
The shows were really successful, and it quickly became apparent that I would not be able to cope running all three. So first, I closed my Etsy page, and then I promptly had to close my website, as there was no way I would be able to keep up with orders. Despite closing my website, I kept getting loads of requests through email (some were so lovely). So, I set aside a week every few months when I could open my online shop and accept orders and have time to make them. This really worked for me, and I intend to keep this up in 2023; hopefully, I will be a bit more intentionally organised in 2023.
I did do quite a bit of travel with my business in 2022, and I got to go on several hikes in the Lake District and Peak District, get some beach time in Southport, and found an amazing secret beach in Anglesey. Because I got so busy, there was often not enough time to really enjoy many of the places where I found myself. So, next year I plan on making more time for personal travel in between shows. It will definitely make traveling and living out of a van even more worth it.
In the autumn, I spent a lot of time behind my workbench making rings for Christmas. I really got into the making groove and managed to stock up on all the best sellers, and I still had time to make loads of new ring designs. You should see some of these appear on my website sometime over the next year,
It is now the end of 2022, and I am in the last few days of my Christmas stall in Weston Favell, Northampton. Christmas is not going well; it's the complete opposite of summer. I would have really liked to have done a proper Christmas market, but in the craziness of the summer of 22, I did not apply for the Christmas markets, so I took the lazy option. My stall is more suited to the high-energy environments of festivals and shows and not too small local shopping malls. You live and learn.
I'll write a whole new post about my plans for 2023, and I have so many plans. Some of these are set in stone, and some are just wishes I'll have to work on making come true.
It's my customers that make my work life so great, so thank you all.