The NEC Bears and dolls fair this weekend

[Jenny]

If anyone is planning to visit the Bears and Dolls at the NEC..please stop by and say 'hi'...I am on stand G9 and Melanie, Bear Treasures is there too...I have such a short memory I can't remember which stand number she is..C something I think.

I think there may be a few others on this list with stands there..too.

Fingers crossed for a great show!!!!:)

[Chowlea Bears]

Sadly not able to travel and attend.

Good luck to you though.

Please say Hi to Melanie for me.

[Melanie Jayne]

Jenny you are so lovely:) I am at stand F9 at the NEC and I will most definitely come to say hi to you. Actually I am really looking forward to the show on Sunday and I hope to visit some of the other artists at the show to say hello too as I am less nervous this time and more excited about the event.

[Vicky Allum]

Good Luck Jenny and Melanie.

I'm sure you'll both have a great day:)

[All Bear]

Wshing you all a great show!

I used to love going up to the NEC because it's always such a friendly show, but the drive home was horrible, so I decided to knock it on the head. Shame really, because now I'm envious of you all getting together up there without me!!

[Jenny]

I know what you mean Paula..we did the Leeds one and vowed never again..up at 4am , drive there..put the stand up..had a really dreadful show as it was dead as a do-do, took the stand down and then had a horrible drive home. Fortunately for me the NEC is 15 minutes down the road from where I live.
I hope it's a great show for everyone..!!

See you on Sunday Melanie!!!

[davistedds]

I hope you all have a great show too, take a few pics for us if you can...... :p

[shelly]

I would love to make it to the show , but transport is a bit of a problem this weekend ( hubby training karate ) ! Good luck to everyone if I don't manage it.
Shelly:cool:

[Melanie Jayne]

When we did Hugglets this September it took us about 4 ½ maybe 5 hours to get there and I felt like I was in a complete daze for the whole of the day, I could not concentrate and I found it so very hard to focus on what was going on around me. It’s a shame really as I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but I missed out on saying hello to some of the artists I really wanted to meet and being extremely exhausted dumb nuts here never give it a thought. The NEC should be a much shorter journey of around 2 ½ hours so that’s not too bad so that’s a bonus for me, plus I should be feeling a little more relaxed too so I hope to meet a few people too.

[Geralye]

Ooh, I'm planning to visit the NEC, but I'll have to take a print of this thread with me, otherwise I won't remember who to look out for!

The Hobbycraft show and Art Materials Live are also on at the NEC on Sunday, and I intend visiting them too - so guess who will be exhausted and broke!

cheers,
G

[Jenny]

Yes I am hoping to nip out to those shows..I bought lots of things last year!!!

[Jenny]

Just a note to say it was nice to say hello to everyone who was at the NEC.

It was a great day..very busy and we had a real sell out day, only two bears came home and I think they both have homes to go to.

I was very bad at taking pictures but here is my stand.
It was lovely to finally meet Melanie, who I always imagined would be tall but I was glad to see is just like me..there aren't enough short people in the world!!

I can't load the photos....sorry guys..the thing won't have any of it...tried everything...

Anyway..we had a great day!!

[All Bear]

Shame the photo upload isn't behaving ... but am pleased to say I spotted pics of your stand elsewhere and thought it looked lovely and festive! (Gorgeous bunny by the way!) Great news that the NEC show pulled in some good bear buying collectors. I definitely think the major shows are on the up turn, don't you?

I've missed having a pre-Christmas show this year ... I love turning up with my little tree, twinkly lights and fairy sprinkles! Ah well, maybe next year! After seeing Christie Bears festive logo, I've just uploaded a Christmas stand pic to the TBF exhibitors directory too, just to get that festive feel underway!! :p

I reckon we could do with some Santa smilies now ... d'you think I'm pushing my luck?:D :6034: ;)

[Melanie Jayne]

I hope you do not mind, but here is a photo of Jenny's stand. I did not want anyone to miss her beautiful bears.
http://www.teddy-talk.com/upload2/stand.jpg

And here is a photo of my stand too
http://www.teddy-talk.com/upload2/Picture.jpg

I just want to say that I had a great day and I loved every minute at the NEC and I will be booking again for next year. It was great meeting everyone and chatting to both artists and collectors. Oh and I met Judi and Chris Russell, both are lovely people and where happy to answer any questions about their stock, I even saw Judi doing a few demonstrations too

here are some more photos of my stand
http://www.teddy-talk.com/upload2/onehalf.jpg http://www.teddy-talk.com/upload2/twohalf.jpg

[Chowlea Bears]

Oh BOY - do I appreciate the pics.

CONGRATULATIONS to you both - AWESOME WORK.

Melanie - am I seeing double or did you do two of everything?:eek:

[Vicky Allum]

Ooooooh - lovely pics:6084: (and bears!) Both of your stands look wonderful. I'm glad it was a good day!

[All Bear]

It's really nice to have a place to share pics ... thanks ladies! Your stands look stunning!! :)

[Melanie Jayne]

Thanks guys............ Sandra I did more or less do two of everything, I always make one bear as an OOAK and always wished I could make two, so I did but I must admit that some of them where dressed differently so they where not actually a limited edition of two

[shelly]

Both the stands look lovely . I wish I could have made it:( . Maybe next time:)
Shelly

[Geralye]

Ladies, I must apologise - I left the list of those of you with stalls at the NEC at home - and on arrival discovered I had lost my purse, so was in a complete tiz and promptly forgot everything! :eek:

Fortunately my purse had fallen out of my bag in the car, so all was not lost - except my memory! :rolleyes:

I'm glad you all had a good day - I spent the morning in the Hobbycrafts and Art Materials show, and headed for the bears in the afternoon. :D

As I managed to forget half the stuff on my shopping list I now have an excuse to go to the fair at Derby next week - hopefully I will see some of you there!

cheers,
G

[Judi Russell]

:) it was good to see so many of our customers at the NEC and even better to hear that most of you had a good day. The stands as always looked great, Jenny how do you do it? Melanie was across the way from us so I had a great view of her bears all day, nice to see something so different, but they should not have kept winking at me all the time;)

It was quite cold when we arrived but once the doors were closed it soon warmed up, just wish the lights had been a bit brighter. We were busy all day and we were lucky that Ade our son in law came to help and later on Becca our daughter arrived. I seemed to do quite a lot of demonstrations of the copic system of airbrushing, people are always surprised that it is in fact quite easy. The difficult thing is knowing when to stop! Ches at HM Bears always makes it look so simple, his bears are just fantastic.

No doubt there will be a lot of people making the trek down to Hove in December, but for us it is a bit of a break until Kensington next Feb. Plenty of time to build up my muscles for carrying everything down to the basement.:6013:

[Jenny]

Me too Judi..I swore I'd never do Hove again after the last time..so I have a nice break till February.

[All Bear]

I wondered if Hove had improved any last December ... I swore I wouldn't do it again after the previous year's show. Such a pity as that show used to be my absolute favourite. I used to love the festive atmosphere and it used to be great for pre-Christmas sales (and mince pies if you knew where to look!;)

[Jenny]

Paula my husband used to love it because of the lovely pastries they sold in the snack bar...not that I had any of course!!!!

[davistedds]

It's such a shame the shows seem to be dying out little by little. I don't have the chance to do shows :( and actually I'm incredibly shy and if I did have a stand would probably spend the whole time hiding!! :rolleyes: I do love to visit the shows, but will there still be shows to go to soon...... I hope so!! :6022:

I'm glad you all had a good day yesterday, your stands look incredible!! :D

[Judi Russell]

Has everyone recovered from the show, don't know about you lot but it takes me longer and longer to get back to normal. Must be an age thing:confused: We still haven't put everything away, I think that bump on the head from a roll of Alpaca has affected my memory.:6091: I just cant remember where things live, they all fitted in perfectly before I packed for the show.

[All Bear]

It's such a shame the shows seem to be dying out little by little. I don't have the chance to do shows :( and actually I'm incredibly shy and if I did have a stand would probably spend the whole time hiding!! :rolleyes: I do love to visit the shows, but will there still be shows to go to soon...... I hope so!! :6022:

I'm glad you all had a good day yesterday, your stands look incredible!! :D

Clare, I used to spend most of the day hiding in the ladies loo when I did my first shows! I was a bag of nerves, to the point that I felt ill. So, my advice is don't let shyness put you off. I bet you are a reasonably confident person with the people you are comfortable with? Well, get a few shows under your belt and you'll soon begin to feel at ease with the situation because the people are always so friendly. It really is a sociable thing to do and you meet lovely people. I have friends I catch up with at shows from all across the country and abroad these days and yet I wouldn't have said boo to a goose at the start!

Come and join us one day soon ... you'll love it!!:)

[Melanie Jayne]

I agree with Paula too Clare, I was also a bag of nerves at Hugglets and I had to have an almighty push to go. If I am honest I felt like I was around loads of famous bear artists who where ready to take me to the slaughter :D :D BUT it was not like that at all and everyone was really nice so I am glad that I did it. At the NEC the atmosphere was relaxed and I felt more confident this time and it is really nice to see your work exhibited for people to look at and when people come to chat you won't think twice of being shy.

I have got to say that I love the shows and hopefully I will get to do more.

Love
Melanie Jayne