This year, the Winter Wonderland Show was
held at the Table Tennis Centre, 86 Green Terrace, Windsor. It was a 2 days
event on 7-8 June 2014, with over 120 trading tables comprising of Doll and
Bear Artists, Suppliers and Antique dealers. The show started promptly at 9.30
and very soon the event hall was filled with visitors moving around with
excitement on their faces.
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| Wayneston Bears table display. |
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| Esther Lee with her table display. |
It was a pity that we missed the deadline
for the competition this year. We thought that we could submit our bears and
animals on the day of the setup. However, the deadline for submission was 2
hours before the timing of the setup and the judges have already judged the
entries. It was very disappointing as we have made so much effort to complete
the bears and animals specially for the competition.
Nevertheless, we were happy to meet up with
most of the artists whom we met last year namely, Tracey Sully, Lisa Dopking,
Laraine White, Susan Leigh, Valma Bolton, Stephanie Raye, Margaret Burke,
Ann-Marie, Robyn and Alph Gan.
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| Tracey Sully |
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| Laraine White |
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| Margaret Burke |
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| Ann-Marie Cole |
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| Robyn & Alph Gan |
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| Linda Bean |
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| Stephanie Raye |
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| Susan Leigh |
We were also pleased to have made new
artist friends like Linda Bean, Rhonda Lomax and Evonne Carr.
I brought along 28 bears and animals in
total. On the first day, one of my collector who purchased a mouse last year
came back to visit our table. This time, she adopted one of my latest
creations, Fortune the Pony. I was very happy that she has appeared once again
to support the show. I am very thankful for her continuous support and took a
photo with her for remembrance. My best friend Philip brought along his latest
gadget, a portable photo printer and printed a copy of the photo on the spot!
The lady was extremely amazed and delighted to have a picture taken and given
to her on the spot!
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| Fortune and her new mum, Carol |
I managed to sell a few of my mouse patterns
and ruffles made by my mum. The location was spacious and clean, plus the
weather was good. However, the turnout this year wasn’t as good as last year
from my observation. Despite this, all of us remained positive and hopeful that
more people would come next year.
As there were many things to see, I took
the opportunity to slip away on a few occasions to shop for materials and view
the various beautiful dolls and bears made by other talented artists, leaving
my parents and Philip to mind the table!
I adopted a bear from Linda Bean, had a
bear swap with Margaret Burke, and purchased a Dianna Effner porcelain doll
from an antique dealer. I also purchased a few pieces of beautiful mohair from
Teddybits and Gerry’s.
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| Bear Swap with Margaret Burke |
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| We adopted a bear from Linda Bean |
After the first day of the show, a huge
group of us arranged to have dinner together. After all of us gathered, we
squeezed into the available cars and travelled to Eat Street Markets for
dinner. For many of us, this was our first time visiting the place and we were
greeted by a massive amount of people jostling around, trying to get seats. It
was a challenge to manoeuvre around all the food stores that were inside.
Eat Street Markets only opens on Fridays
and Saturdays. There were over 60 shipping containers reconfigured as mini
restaurants, offering a selection of delicious international dishes. We
rewarded ourselves by having a feast after a long day at the show!
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| A group photo at Eat Street Markets |
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| L-R: Me, Shirley, Margaret, Susan and Lisa. |
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| L-R: Helen, Tracey, Evonne Carr, Laraine, Geoff, Esther and Valma |
We would like to take this opportunity to
thank all who came down to support the show. This show is nothing without you
Also, we want to thank Liz Radford for
organising such a wonderful event for artists to showcase their works. Thank
you for having us at the show!
Lastly, I would like to thank my family and
friends for their support and company. I have enjoyed myself tremendously and
this trip wouldn’t be the same without them!
To all friends, we do hope to see you in
Australia soon…… next year!
Hugs, Wayne
