Interview with mother

A year of new beginnings. I will align myself fully to my creative power and welcome abundance within my life. 

What will be 2020 for you?

Picture: lavender bags. The lavender comes from my mother garden, she handsew the bags using some cotton strips that was gifted to her from Korogo residents in ivory Coast. They pick spin and weave cotton. As she sew she meditates on colonisation, nature and progress. So much in a mixed ish items. She then had a leather string and a wooden bead. 

Week 1 - 7 Update
What Happened this week

• I sold two headphone, a art case and a top
• I hared my blogpost with everyone I know
• Kajal is more than happy to collaborate with me
• I have relisted some items
• close some cases as well
• I have asked on waste not want not if anyone got some plastic bags or envelops for packaging. Kajal responded to me letting me know that she may have what I am looking for.Great news.
• I have learnt about parcel2go because of a nice customers who happened to buy quite a lot of items through my shops
• I also ask for people for a lot of different items for my packaging and there are happy to give it to me for free.

What do I need to do

• I really need to actually to get the suitcase from M. car

Week 25-31 March Update

What happened this week?

• I have packed all my items and made some card to go with it.
• I finished my thesis. I am not ready to bring it all in.
• I sold quite a lot of items: a suit, skirt, saree, the washing machine bolt, the bodysuit, the pair of jeans, a t-shirt, my linen dress, a saree, the art case
• I took all the pictures of the items I want to sell on one day only
• I started to fill eBay up
• I have decided for the fabric to do a bundle and get people to come to my house to check the fabric out and make their pick instead of taking pics for each one of them. only the nicest pick have its own post. 
• I also bundled up the clothes that need upcycling
• I receive a bid for my sister shoes.
• I added a commission tool onto my phone.
• I am thinking that for my update I keep on one topic only. One significant thing that happened. Then maybe run the rest through my twitter to create traffic onto my blog.
• I sold for £23
• I went to Market Harborough with Jill from Megan Makes Good

What do I need to do?

• It means that I can put everything online as quick as possible.
• Then I will be ready to look for a job hehe
• at the moment I am doing things incrementally but I could and I can if I want to share the words further with people. I am thinking to do so.

People I talked to

• I had my cousin on the phone she gave me a lot of advice in relation to my shop. she advised me to do some dropshipping and possibly get to publicised items from other people and if I get an order to let them know so I can get a commission on selling the item. she said that I could do it with friends a well as family. people like my mum. it was very good advice for her., she also said that I should not hold back but actually share as much as I can. I think it is a good idea,
• I told Kajal about my shop and that I was happy to sell her cd if she wanted to through my eBay shop
• I received a call from sue about doing a presentation at the Quaker house this is exciting. I could feedback onto Bazarheureux
• Jill advised me to improve my write up 

To be a successful ethical entrepreneur, you need a Genuine Love for People

MeganMakesGood Hens & Parrots

''To be a successful ethical entrepreneur, you need a Genuine Love for People'' Laura Santamaria from Sublime Magazine

What happened this week?

This week, I went to the Artisans of Market Harborough Fair in the Old Grammar School with Jill from Megan Makes Good. The day was absolutely gorgeous, the sun was high, the sky was blue, and the city was buzzing with activity. We arrived at the fair and Jill set up with another nine people in the room while inviting me to have a walk around town.

When I came back, beautiful items made up by the different artists filled the room. As the day went on, there were different energies on display in the room. Some people were more disappointed than others on how well the event went and pondered who is the primary beneficiary of the fair (i.e., the organiser or the trader).

On my side, the day was absolutely fabulous. I met wonderful people in and outside of the fair. There is a church next to the Old Grammar School. I went in and could feel what it is to be a community. Those people were so welcoming and loving.

On the same day, I posted on my Instagram a question asking the Instagram community what does it take to become a successful entrepreneur. The experiences of the various entrepreneurs at the artisan market inspired the question.

Laura Santamaria who is running Sublime Magazine replied to my question. She said that To be a successful ethical entrepreneur, it takes Genuine Love for people.

I believe this to be TRUE because it is hard work to get people to follow your work and buy from you, it is hard work to get people to support you in making your business a success, it is hard work to be liked if no one knows you. The item can be beautiful. The connection is more important.

Lavender bags by MeganMakesGood

After the event, I wondered who in the room developed connections in Market Harborough before the event and benefitted from those connections to share all their gifts.

The primary beneficiary for the event success is the TRADER. By ripping the most benefits, they are simultaneously the ones with the most responsibilities because they take the most financial risks. For those reasons, they have to put the work in to create the social connections that may yield an ROI. They have to Genuinely love people to get out of your way and let them know that it is because they care that they are coming in their town to share their gift. If this has not been done, they may as well consider themselves LATE to the fair regardless of how early they left their home.

From my experience from the fair, I can say that I will take some time before considering going to a fair. At the moment, my eBay sales are going well; I have a new collaborator ready to list some items with Bazar Heureux. I also received excellent advice from Jill, Viki which I am going to apply. I need to improve the descriptions on my articles and share with more people what I am up to and see where the wind blows. New collaborators and contributors to the Bazar Heureux may appear.

Let see what next week bring for my vision to be complete.

Exciting!

Some of the people who were present at the artisan market
Khulelo
@thepapercreative
@sadie_and_sid
@louisecrookendenjohnson
@sarahkingarts
@simply.shaker

Always Expect the Unexpected - Purge Update

Message of the week

Always Expect the Unexpected

What happens this week with the Purge?

1. I sold a lip butter set, a suit and a skirt.
2. I received a bid on a T-shirt, a trouser and a dress.
3. I received a warm message from Jill, owner of MeganMakesGood about the shop. She found my blog through my FB. It warmed my heart. First, because it is nice to receive some feedback from you do, Two, I did not know anyone would read about what I do on FB.
4. I packed my good and made on more cyclop card for it and went to the shop.
5. I spoke with my friend designer Zosia about developing the visual design of the shop
6. I received a message about purchasing one of my dress and send it to Mauritius - Oulala I smiled, can you imagine me selling a £1 dress and send it to Mauritius...
7. Total sale this week: £19
8. Number of Visits on Blog: (I Don't Know) The total page view of the blog is 12,747

What am I going to Improve on?

• How can I organise my packaging better?
• Create a space in the office for packaging
• Cut off plastic bags for reuse
• How can I promote the shop better and be more confident about it?
• Share the message with other about the shop. I am still a bit shy to actually share it to people around me. 
• Write up a script to let people know about the shop so I can feel more comfortable
• First fill up the different platforms with your goodies and then start talking about it with people once you are ready
• Reconvert Ms.Cyclop to be the shop?!?
• What can I share with people that are valuable?
• I was thinking to write a book and sell it. I came across the owner of Electric Kitty who wrote a beautiful children book about child bereavement. It is such an important message to share.
• The other thing I was thinking was to share plants. I can easily grow them...I can easily share them. 
• When do you start taking a beautiful pic of you and your stuff
• M and I we have been discussing taking nice pictures of the item I want to share with people. He is a great photographer and I would like to look like Beyonce... 
• Who would you like to collaborate with and what would it look like?
• I really want to. I was thinking to create a small community of people who help each other with swapping 1 hour a week of time to promote each other shop... Let's see who I could talk to.
• What do you want to do about creating the visual of your shop
• I am still thinking. I am thinking though to maybe start first with filling all platform with the good I want to share and then if I have more money coming in, I can start talking with Z about making my shop better. 
• What do you want to do about the blog?
• I am still figuring it out. At the moment, it is just for me to keep a track record of what happens week to week. Eventually, it will be nice to write proper articles about sharing and caring about one another and everything that there is around us. 
• I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Maybe once I have filled all the different platform with the things I want to share. I can go back to the blog and figure out what exactly I want to write about.
• Something unexpected is going to come and I will figure exactly what I want to write about on this blog.

What are you grateful for?
The gift and surprises I receive everyday.


For you, reader!
Check MeganMakesGood Shop if you want ssome handmade Goodies
Check Zosia if you interested in graphic design
Check Eletric Kitty book in the Stars
Do you want pictures taken for Wedding, My husband is a photographer... Get in touch for more info
For Beyonce... well you know....
Do you want to feature? Let me know
If you want to give me any suggestions on how to move forward with some of the questions I am asking myself, please do not hesitate to let me know

Little by Little, the bird learn to fly - Purge Update

The message of the Week

• Petit a Petit, L'Oiseau apprend a voler
• Little by Little, the bird learn to fly

What went well this week?

• I sold 9 items.
• I relisted 124 items which are for grab NOW
• I reorganised my inventory at home so everything I am currently selling is in a wardrobe, ready to grab.
• I also brought together the items I am planning to photograph and sell next month.
• I tried to put a card in all my parcels.

What are you thinking to improve?

• I am thinking to improve the message on the card
• At the moment, it is just ''Thank you for your order it is greatly appreciated'' 
• Now I am thinking to write, ''Thank you for your order this week, it caused me to realise how much I love selling on eBay, packing the item and sending it knowing that someone somewhere is going to make use of it. As a result, I am going to post even more items in my shop. Keep on watching my evolution! Thanks again.''
• For the drawing, I make little cyclops. 
• I am wondering if I could make a little stencil of the Cyclops with written Bazar Heureux. The cyclops could be part of the logo.
• Eventually, it will be good to have an address to this blog onto the card. I am not at this stage just yet though. Until I have found an item to sell that people want
• For the packaging, at the moment, I am using plastic bags that I have at home. 
• I was thinking to maybe talk with Stacey to see if where she buys her bag and maybe get some in bulk with her. I will probably do that once I do not have any more bags. The other option is to grab materials from the hackspace, or maybe try to find on freecycle and waste not want not people who are giving them for free.
• For the listing, I will add items next months onto my listing
• I have been talking to my mum about getting some stuff from her. She is at the moment slightly reluctant so I am not going to force it.
• Eventually, I want to get an item that I can sell over and over again that people want. I am not sure what it is yet. It will be great if it is something which produces minimal waste. Something that is valuable enough that people want to retain it for a long period of time. Something that makes them happy.  Something I can sell in high volume with the effort of packing them up. Small enough that I can have to pack them from home. 
• I could sell an item with some cyclops branding on it in the future 
• I also thought that maybe Zosia could make me some skirts and tops with the fabric I have got left but we could sell it all from Sandrine Nyota page.
• For packing and posting, I am not sure yet how to proceed. 
• I am thinking that from the moment I receive a bid on the item, I will pack the item straight away.
• Then once I receive the payment, I can write the address on the item straight away.
• Otherwise, it will be good eventually to print the slip order.
• I need to get some tape from the hackspace or see if I can get some from free from somewhere
• For Pinterest, I completely deleted by mistake or not all the items I had on it. I am not sure how to proceed.
• I will probably leave it for now. I will see next month what is the best way to proceed. it seems anyway I receive more visitors from twitter so maybe I should focus on that for now.

What are you grateful for?

• I am very grateful for all the people who have visited my shop and made a purchase.
• I am grateful for investing time and energy into making bazar heureux reality.

The Purge Continue - From Mariella Burani to Peep Eyewear

The first phase of Bazar Heureux is on the way. 

It is the PURGE where I let go of things so I can give place to something NEW and this new thing is YOU.

For this first week, one item got sold on my eBay shop.

It was an unexpected item. My Mother in  Law used Mariella Burani Sunglasses Case. 

The Mariella Burani brand does not exist anymore, so I figure that the buyer may be upcycling this item into something new or it may have value in some market I do not know exist. I am kind of looking forward to see what they may come up with. I put a note in the package letting them know that if they transform the item, I want to see what they come up with.

I have seen different ideas on Pinterest for upcycling items - Thebuyer may be inspired by some of those ideas. I know that I personally am. hehe Click on the image for more info

I do not have any sunglasses to put in this box, so I thought best to give it to someone else. In the future, I want some Peep eyewear - they upcycle vintage frame with new lenses. This is quite an idea isn't https://www.peepeyewear.co.uk/

Until then, the purge continues

There is a wild bunny in each one of us - Shoes Tattoo with WildBunny Arts

Time to waking it up by getting our feet to fly!

I have those adidas trainers on sale on my ebay shop. They need some love.
I have been thinking if I do not manage to sell them to someone who needs them straight up!
I will ask Wild Bunny Arts to give them a new look and offer them to someone I know who is a size 8 hehe.

Have you came  across Wild Bunny Arts before?

It is a British a one-stop shop for personalised shoes and apparel managed by Rei since 2015. She noticed that while it was possible to buy colour custom Converse and Vans, it was not possible to buy shoes, jackets and snap-backs with truly unique patterns and artwork on them. This is where she steps in.

Her work is absolutely FABoLous.
Worth having a look

Who would I like to encounter through my ebay selling experience?

I have to trust in God that anything is pushing me to do right now is the right pathway for me.

In January, I started to sell more seriously on eBay

I enjoy posting items on eBay. 

I have approximately 147 items currently listed.

I sold 27 items in total

I feel particularly good when knowing that someone is going to make use of the items I do not need. 

I enjoy making my packets, going to the post office and knowing that it is gone in the universe.

The person on the other side will open the parcel and a new story will begin for the item.

I could easily flog all the items at a charity shop.

Yet I feel it is so impersonal.

I came to learn that a large proportion of the sale of items in charity shops tend to help with the running of the shop itself as opposed to the people.

I am not really sure where all this is going to lead me to.

Like my friend says to me, it is not about where you end up, it is about the people you encounter along the way.

Who would I like to encounter through all my selling experiences:

I want to encounter artists who will be upcycling some of the items to give it to people they care about.

I want to encounter people living where I live.

I want to encounter tinkerers and repairers

I want to encounter collectors.

I will be more specific as time passes by.

In regard to my sales, not accounting for the shipping fees etc.

January: £108

February: £80.14

For my store : here

I am grateful for it all.

First Phase: The PURGE - Welcome to Bazar Heureux

Thank you very much for visiting Bazar Heureux Blog.
I really appreciate you taking the time to learn about me and the project.

I have a vision for Bazar Heureux which is to create a platform for artists, upcyclers, fixers and makers to share their crafts and support their clients to explore emotions through their interactions with the object of creation.

I am entering the first phase of development of this venture and it is called the PURGE.

The purge is the opportunity for me to let go of all the things that are no longer required in my life before opening the space for the NEW.

Chichi London Dress currently on Sale

The NEW is YOU

I have items in my shop that need a new lease of life and I want YOU to get them, upcycle them, fix them and to let me know. So we can feature your work with your pictures

For more information, Contact me.

Selling or Giving?

I feel a certain temptation to remain in the money economy or to strive fully in the giving/sharing economy. It has been something that has been fluctuating in my mind.

Every time I feel negative about my financial stability, I want to sell my stuff.
When the outlook are quite good, I want to give and/or share my stuff.

I am signed up on freecycle, I gave plenty of my old marketing books.
I signed up on Streetbank and even organised a meeting to expand its reach.

Unfortunately, when I became a student again, a fear factor blossomed in my mind.

I am going to struggle financially 

Off I was again on ebay and before i knew it,
Nothing got sold and ebay charged me £2.