For those that might be wondering where I am on a sunday these days, it's a bit of a long story... oh, alright then.
In 2011, Cambridge City Council decided that the collection of small artist/makers, retired folk, part timers etc that trade on the sunday market need to be treated the same as weekday traders, ie, pay for their stall even if they are not attending.
Four sundays are allowed off without payment each year for holidays. The problem is, in January, craftspeople have no stock after Christmas. We do not order it from a wholesaler, we make the items we sell. If we do trade, we often make a loss at this time of year with precious little to sell. Most of us decide to come back in February, refreshed after a short break.
So when these new rules came into force last year, it wasn't long before I had used up my four weeks allowance on family events and the occasional weekend trading elsewhere (holiday? what's that?!)
The only choice I had (apart from pay for my vacant pitch for all of January) was to give up the regular pitch that I had occupied on a sunday for nearly five years and go "casual" as they call it, which consists of turning up on the day and being allocated a spare stall. Sounds like a plan.
I was intending to come back in February on this casual basis and trade for approximately 40 sundays in the year. Unfortunately, the Council are dragging their feet closing my old licence down and creating a new one.
There would be a simple solution- pay over £100 to clear my remaining market stall arrears that I have left on my old account. As at this time of the year, £100 is often a week's takings, I can't afford to do that with other bills to pay. I can arrange to pay it in installments but a new account has to be set up just for this. And that is what is holding things up.
Without clearing that amount from my old rent sheet, I am prevented from trading. In effect, I am cutting my trading hours by half. I have tried being patient, I have tried calling and e-mailing. Unfortunately, this has come to nothing.
So you might eventually see me here and there on the sunday market. You also might notice that there are fewer craftspeople and more traders buying in stock trading in the sunday market. I'm afraid that the trend is set to continue in the name of profitability. In the meantime, come and support All Saints market on the saturday. Although bear in mind that the Council also run this one too. Eventually they might start tinkering with the guidelines here too and we'll lose more small artists and makers to "progress".
Friday, 2 March 2012
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Friday, 6 May 2011
An Etsy shop for my amber creations
I'm posting some of my newest Blue Amber and Insect Amber up on my new Etsy shop. Some of these will be Etsy exclusives, and some will be available on my main website and at my stall in Cambridge.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/shazcan
I've been busy!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/shazcan
I've been busy!
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Blue Amber- at last!
Sorry it's taken so long but hopefully they are worth the wait. These little treasures range from £45 to £120 so something for every pocket. They will be up on the website to buy when I get back from Whitby, but please feel free to contact me before then if there's one that catches your eye.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Spring has sprung!
A gorgeous day today- very fitting that I finish my prototype ring today.
It's a viola flower from a pot growing happily on my windowsill that I bought from a seller on Cambridge's sunday market.
It's been dried, sealed and then encased in resin. I'll wear it on saturday and see how I get on with it. The ring base I've contructed as a spiral in sterling silver to make it re-sizable. Most of my rings are like this, as I often find that I have to make several sizes otherwise...and all of them are destined to be wrong when the customer that falls in love with the ring tries them on!
If this style turns out to be wearable and the colours don't fade, then you'll see this design gracing my stall in the near future. In the meantime, feel free to come along to All Saints or the sunday market to have a closer look at this one!
It's a viola flower from a pot growing happily on my windowsill that I bought from a seller on Cambridge's sunday market.
It's been dried, sealed and then encased in resin. I'll wear it on saturday and see how I get on with it. The ring base I've contructed as a spiral in sterling silver to make it re-sizable. Most of my rings are like this, as I often find that I have to make several sizes otherwise...and all of them are destined to be wrong when the customer that falls in love with the ring tries them on!
If this style turns out to be wearable and the colours don't fade, then you'll see this design gracing my stall in the near future. In the meantime, feel free to come along to All Saints or the sunday market to have a closer look at this one!
Monday, 14 March 2011
E-mail gremlins
It's been brought to my attention that some e-mails are bouncing at the moment. Bear with me and hopefully ther problem will be resolved soon. Remember you can always give me a call if it's urgent. I can't guarantee I'll be in, but leave a message and I'll always call back.
Thursday, 24 February 2011
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