Tails From Provence

Yes, I’ve been busy.

I’ve been doing tedious stuff like ordering cards, uploading images to Redbubble and then ordering some products from them to stock my market stall. Market stall? Yes!

I’ll be doing three Christmas markets this year, starting with Montfuron on Dec 1st, followed by one in Celony, Aix-en-Provence on Dec 13th and finishing with the local Reillanne Fête de Noël on Dec 20th.

I will also be selling Christmas cards via four local retailers.

I’m struggling with knowing just how much stock I will need. Ten packs of four cards in each shop seems very low, yet twenty in each seems foolishly optimistic. The French don’t have the same tradition of sending Christmas cards that we would have had in Ireland or the UK twenty years ago, so I should expect to sell fewer French cards.  But there will be mostly French people around at this time of year, apart from hardy expats like myself, so I need to be sure I cater to them. The English-speaking world is sending fewer cards than before, but for expats, card-sending is still something that happens, so I need to be sure there is a good stock of English cards everywhere.

Aargh.

The biggest lesson has been this little chap.

I’ve been promoting my Pack of Dogs Christmas Cards on various social media. People like them, a few people said they’d buy a pack or two, and the owner of one of my models ordered 50 cards. Then one lady (who I don’t know) said “I really like your dogs, but I don’t have a dog. Would you have a robin card?”

Well, part of me was going to reply “Ehhh no, I have frickin’ dog cards.” But the more sensible part of my brain won the day. I might as well try a little robin… what did I have to lose?

I told the lady I’d work on it. A week later, I send her the above photo and I also posted him on Facebook and Instagram.

Within hours, I had orders for 200 cards.

I love my Pack of Dogs Christmas Cards. I think they are cute and quirky. But it seems that people don’t want cute and quirky dogs, they want robins holding mistletoe.

Lesson learned. More robins, less quirky, elf-chewing dogs.

More on the Christmas markets as they unfold.

Wish me luck.