Last Saturday, on St Piran’s Day, Ron and I attended our first MBS fair … as stallholders!

A new experience, and one we’ve learned a lot from!

It’s been quite a while since we’ve been able to organise any sort of ‘public appearance’ by The Lazuli Portals. And not having presented at any sort of combined event before, we weren’t really sure what to expect!

As it turned out, it was a very positive and rewarding experience.

We had our stall in one of the smaller, upstairs rooms of the building in which the fair was being held. This is me, waiting for opening, with no clue Ron had me in shot (argh!)

Copy of woolwelbsmfair

and a couple of pics of the rest of the room, with jewellery and woodwork comfortable companions with artwork, crafts, and accessories. (Apologies for the poor image quality).

2016-03-05 11.48.50 2016-03-05 11.49.01

Once people were through the doors, we were really too busy to take pictures!

I’d energetically cleared our space ahead of time, and all our flyers, handouts, bookmarks, crystal display, and books were freshly cleared and infused with lovelight or Reiki, so as to make our little corner as energetically pure, light, and inviting as possible. We knew that people who’d resonate with our energy and what we had on our stall would find us, without us having to be too ‘salesy’.

Clear Quartz image

It was wonderful to see and talk with people interested in Reiki, crystals, healing, angels, and the metaphysical, as it was so easy to communicate and discuss our ideas, our passion for our work and its topics and themes, and being interested in spirituality generally. There’s just an immediate connection between ‘you and them’ that I think transcends other ‘interests’. I think the novels and duobooks that we sold have found good homes, where they’ll be enjoyed and well cared for!

It was also affirming for us both, as authors of visionary fiction, to meet in real life people who get what we’re about, and understand the awakening process and its importance right now.

Several people said that the opalite caught their attention from the far side of the room, so they came over to see more. One lady took a liking to my lapis lazuli crystal chip bracelet and was disappointed it wasn’t for sale!

Ron’s Cornish kilt (how could he not wear it on Cornwall’s national day!) was an icebreaker now and then, too! (Sorry, I never thought to take a photo!)

One stallholder in our room had a lovely display of her jewellery, including a long necklace of pure emerald chips, fashioned with a copper clasp and findings.

2016-03-05 16.25.45

More info: Anne-Marie Cole,  WireWitchJunky (Facebook page)

Knowing we were ‘surrounded’ by people on a similar wavelength, it was inevitable that we’d take some time to browse the stalls in the main hall downstairs. It was packed! Some stallholders offered shiatsu or reiki, others oracle card readings or CDs. As for the crystal displays … I’m still not sure how I didn’t give into temptation – especially as I saw some gorgeous opalite and amethyst specimens. (As you can imagine, the energy in the building was great!)

There were a couple of things which were irresistible, though. I was wandering around the main hall and suddenly stopped in my tracks because I’d seen some art prints which literally left me speechless (apart from a rather unimaginative, “WOW!”)

The light coming from the artwork was incredible. I chatted with the artist, Ian David, about his process, and his artistic journey with photographic alchemy, and found myself unable to leave the fair without buying a few of his prints (they’re more arresting in real life; I can’t really do them justice here):

DSCN9398

DSCN9393

Stone circle on Bodmin Moor – how could I not bring it home with me!!!! It’s like I’m ‘seeing’ the start of The Cordello Quest! 😉

DSCN9397

DSCN9394

Ian’s leaflet says that he ‘’explores the uncharted worlds of ethereal, mystical and spiritual dimensions … my alchemy in action”.

No wonder his work resonated with me – in his art he finds the same magic and awe that I do while writing the Lazuli Portals novels. 😀

If you’re interested in Ian’s art, you can see (and buy) it on his etsy website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/IanDavidArt or visit his Facebook page.

So all in all, a really great day, with loads to celebrate, think about, and consolidate as we move forward. One of the things that really hit home with me is how essential it is that, for our paperback sales, we are present with the books so that we can connect with our potential readers. As authors writing in the metaphysical and visionary fiction genre, and as healers, we need to share our energy and our passion for both our work and for the greater context in which it rests.

Joanna and Ron | The Lazuli Portals

This post has since been linked to Talk of the Town.
To visit posts linked by other bloggers please click here.

Talk of the Town