Ho Ho Hochanda!

Well this seems to be a regular thing with it being a month again since my last post and what a month it has been!

It has been a month of quite a few new things.......................

The beginning of the month saw my return to the retail shows and what a way to start - 4 totally manic days at the NEC in Birmingham. It was great being part of Team Clarity, working alongside Barbara and Maria and the team of Jayne, Len and Heather keeping everything running smoothly - totally amazing! A big thanks to everyone that stopped by to say hello, have a chat, congratulate me on my new job and watch me getting Groovi! If the empty shelves had anything to go by at the end of each day, you sure do like getting Groovi too! The only pic I can find of me at the NEC was taken by the lovely Maggie Craner - thanks Maggie - not!!! Despite the slapped arse looking face, I really did enjoy myself

Actually, I think I will run a little caption competition, Whoever can me laugh the most, I will send them a little something :-)

Then on Sunday 22nd saw my very first appearance on Hochanda - Home of Craft Hobbies and Art (Sky 663, Freeview 39 & Freesat 817) I had a 3 fantastic shows, my first one with my very good friend Hayley West

I have known Hayley for many years as she used to run a shop in Redditch - she is a very talented and knowledgeable lady with so much craft expertise. Hayley then turned to demonstrating various products on TV and my very first show was Hayleys 3rd or 4th show as a presenter with no training and she was great. 

So you can imagine how upset and angry I was when I read the negative comments about Hayley. Seriously guys, anyone that has ever done live TV shows will know how stressful they can be - there are so many things you need to be aware of as a guest - as for the presenters, well I take my hat off to each and everyone one of them - they have 2 people talking to them through an earpiece, have a conversation with the guest, make sure that they look at the right camera and read the products off of the screen. I have only ever had an earpiece once and it is very difficult not to respond out loud when the producer/director tells you something.

I really wish that I could give the people who complain about presenters the opportunity to be one themselves and then see what they have to say - moan over. 

Yes, I agree that during the first hour we did spend too long going along the counter, which we changed in the 2nd hour so that I could spend more time on demo's - it was a learning curve for us both. 

Hochanda want to do things differently and after appearing on C&C on and off for nearly 1o years, I also need to change the way in which I do things on the TV - change takes time.......

Anyway, the 3 different hours flew by and I had a great time and made to feel so welcome by everyone at Hochanda.

Thank you to everyone that tuned in to watch, buy and sent me messages - it was very kind of you all x

Hochanda December TV Schedule
Barbara Gray - Sunday 6th

Maria Simms - Wednesday 9th

Paul Church - Sunday 13th 

(I can't remember the times - but keep an eye on my Facebook page and the Clarity Facebook page)

Here are some pics of cards I managed to demo and didn't manage

All things Clarity can be found by clicking the pic below where you can pick up some fantastic offers from the "Gray Weekend"

Don't forget to leave a comment below re the picture from the NEC

Happy Crafting

Paul x