After all the excitement of the launch party, we've had to get down to the business of selling the singles.

We've been taking every opportunity, and the photos here were taken at a CHSW coffee morning and a TG coffee morning when a few of the fairies made a personal appearance and sold CDs. We've persuaded shops in Bath and Bristol to take some records to sell, Claire

has got the single on to the jukebox at her local club, and the Combe Grove Manor Country Club has taken a box of singles too. So we're hoping people will spot them and buy.

Mum and I are going to Radio Bristol on Tuesday to talk about the record, and I'm still pursuing the Western Daily Press and Points West. We're doing all we can to get the news out there and persuade people to buy. The money is coming in nicely, but it will never be enough, so we'll keep at it!

We had a fantastic launch party on Saturday. Some of the photos are on the website, but not this one, which is of Tess our brilliant video producer and website organiser. She thought because she is now in charge of the website that she could leave out her photograph, but she forgot that this is my blog! She worked really hard on the video , the website and everything, and took lots of photos on Saturday, so I think she deserves to be included. I don't know how we could have done all this without her.
We also couldn't have done anything at all without Pete Young, who wrote the song, and he is on the website hding behind a big white beard and a keyboard. Thanks Pete! And the cheeky elf is one of the record producers, Alan Maskell, who did a great job both on the record and with some live music for the party. the fairies, you see, are so shy they can't perform in public!
They weren't so shy with the Mayor though, as you can see from the photos if you check them out on the website. I don't think the Mayor knew quite what to make of it all but he was a really great sport and made the evening quite special.

So now the record is out there, and we have to work hard to sell lots of copies, so that we can raise money for the Children's Hospice. We're off to a good start after Saturday though.

Xmas Factor Viral on You Tube

So, just a few days to go until the launch party. The record is done, and the CDs should arrive any day. The video is done, and will be on You Tube for the launch. An X-factor style trailer should be on You Tube tomorrow.

I've sent out press releases to the local papers, radio and TV. I've managed to get a local shop to agree to stock the record and put a poster in their window. The Children's Hospice people are also putting out press releases.

So now we can look forward to partying!

Here is the second cover image - well done Josie! This one will appear on Amazon and i-tunes for the download generation. At last the single is finished - there was a last minute panic but now it's done and , considering we aren't all singers , Alan and Andy have worked miracles and it sounds great - not slick like the WI but sounds as though we're having a lot more fun! Tess has also finished the video , with some great special effects, and put the two together, and it's really fantastic. Now we juts need to cultivate lots of fans and buyers!

This is my first attempt at the CD cover. I think the stars will eventually be a bit paler, so that the lettering stands out, ( and Christmas will have a capital C!) but I suppose people aren't really going to worry about what it looks like, as long as it shows what it is. I was hoping to get all the fairies on it but it just didn't work, and was getting rather complex. We will have a different, more modern , cover to show on the download sites, and my niece Josie has been working on that. She brought me a folder full of fantastic spray paint designs today, really clever, based on a stencil of our fairy logo. It's hard to decide which one to use. It's tempting to use just one design for both, but I think the CD needs to have information on it, whereas her designs for the download sites will have accompanying information so can stand on their own. And maybe our market for the physical CD is a bit more traditional. Just as long as there is a market!

80 days to go!

80 days until we launch the single! Can't believe how the time is flying. It's been a bit of a lull while Tess is editing the video and Alan and Andy editing the record, so I'd not really taken note of how the time is going by. ( Also Santa and I have been just a little distracted by finding a new house and putting ours on the market. But we've found somewhere with a fantastic parking place for the sleigh so really have to take the opportunity to snap it up!)
I've seen the very first video shot with special effects from Tess today and it looks great. On Friday I'm going over to see the first cut of the whole thing - can't wait!
We've set up a Friends group - Treetoppers Friends of the Children's Hospice South West, and a bank account, ready for when the money starts pouring in - we hope!
My fairies don't seem to need the winter weather to get up to mischief - I caught a couple having a sneaky glass of wine in the garden last week when they should have been sorting a pile of teeth - the children seem to have far too many toffees in the school holidays and the tooth fairy needs a lot of help.
A fairy's lot is not an easy one!

Santa and I are making plans! Well, it's now only 95 days to launch . I missed the 100 days - hadn't realised how fast the time was flying. Still waiting for the record and the video be be finished, and it's been a bit of a quiet time, but having missed the 100 day mark I realised I ought to start planning for our big publicity blitz, so am making a list ( Santa's good at that so he's helping!), and thinking about ways to make our publicity stand out.

And the knitting fairy has turned to sewing for a change, to make a lovely doll to be our 12th fairy. and we will invite people to pay to guess her name, with the winner getting our Dyson vacuum cleaner - brand new and unused except for some invisible fairy dust! The name, and the winner, will be announced at our launch party.

Here we are - the TG Treetoppers in all our glory, on an A1 poster that's going up at Green Park Station in Bath for the whole of August. It might have been better to have the poster spot a bit later in the year, but still, it will tell people we're coming!

We're in the Townswoman today, so I thought I'd put up a picture of our business fairy reading our own TG Times. It's one of the photos we had taken in the garden recently. I've been sending them off with various press releases, as everyone says it's never too early to start telling people what we're doing, especially as the WI are starting to get publicity for their million pound record deal. Huh! Who needs that!

We wouldn't say no, I suppose, but never mind, we're Townswomen doing it for themselves!

Our photo shoot went well. although having it on one of the hottest days of the year wasn't exactly brilliant! We got some really great shots, albeit not very Christmassy, and despite the fairies getting up to their usual mischief . As you can see here I had to drag the flower fairy out of the flower bed on more than one occassion, and a certain fairy had her nose in her newspaper the whole time. The end results were pretty good though, and I did manage a snuggle up to Santa too, although the poor chap was a bit hot in his lovely red suit. I think he'll be very glad to get back to sleep until the autumn!

Fairy lights up Bath! Well, one little part of it anyway. Here's a small preview, with some of the fairy lights, some of the cast and our lovely Santa. It was a bit flat the next couple of days after filming, not to mention a bit weird with all the lights and decorations that took a few days to sort out. But now we're looking forward and planning marketing , ready for a big launch later in the year.

It's a wrap! Filming day is over. Can't really believe it, after all these months of preparation. All over and done with so quickly. It was a great day though, we had a lot of fun, and everything went very well, with no problems. This is a shot of the crew, taking a very well-earned break from fairyland. The house has been decorated and lit with fairylights for five days now, we're getting to like it and will miss them when they finally go. I haven't the energy to take them down tonight!

It's a great feeling though.

Here are our trusty sound guys, Alan and Andy. They've been very patient and encouraging, and recorded all of us. The second session was tonight. Now they have the tricky job of putting it all together and making us sound brilliant!

What's this, a Christmas tree in the house in June? Yes, the decorations are going up for the video filming on Tuesday. We actually have to start tonight filming a few shots of Betty as she can't make it on Tuesday. So Christmas will be here for a few days yet!

Dress rehearsal ( almost) today, lots of laughing , a bit of dancing and some singing, a very amused and confused press photographer and a flock of fabulous funky feminine fairies. ( It's a pity pink doesn't begin with F because we are very, very pink!)

Here's the first public sighting of the terrific TG Treetoppers.

How many fairies does it take to change a lightbulb? Just one, if she heeds the elf warning!

That's one of the jokes that didn't make the final cut for the video. Some of those let in are actually funny! It's a relief to have finished it though, and therefore finalise the enormous list of props to be found and made, and it's only ten days to go, and I'm away for three of those. Ho Hum! Or is that Santa's line?

What's this? Fairy lights of course! The house is filling up with them ready for the filming of the video. I've been working like mad on the storyboard, and have finally finished, I think. Just have to do lots of copies now so that everyone knows what they're doing. We have three volunteers to help with the filming, so hopefully we can be quite organised . Ha!

Next I must turn my attention to the props. No-one seems to be able to come up with a pink plate, so it looks like a trawl round the charity shops is called for next week. The vacuum cleaner arrived to day from Dyson, so thanks to them. What are we going to do with it? Wait and see!

Santa has a new suit! Up until now we've been concentrating on the fairies, but Santa also needed an outfit for filming, and we got it today. He was a little disconcerted that there is no need for padding or a pillow underneath the jacket, but at least the trousers are reassuringly big on him, so they slip down and require braces. He looks really great and cuddly, and we fairies can't wait for filming!

great news! The James Dyson Foundation have kindly agreed to give us a vacuum cleaner to use in our video then raffle. How are we going to us it? That would be telling! But we have great plans for it, and then some lucky person will be able to have it for a very reasonable raffle ticket price. We'll have to work out how and when we do that, perhaps at a launch party in the autumn.

First recording session went really well, and the music people - Andy and Alan - seem to be well pleased. Half of us have recorded our dulcet tones so far, with five more to go at the end of the month. We dressed up for the recording session, to get in the mood, and it was great fun. The costumes are coming on really well.

Here is a sneak preview of Bossy hiding behind a blue wig that doesn't show of her Dame Edna specs very well, so I think she's going to force meto spend some more money on her!

Costume time

Had a really good rehearsal and costume planning session yesterday, some really great sights and some not bad sounds! It's going to be great fun when we get together in our costumes to start recording the songs on Saturday. Each fairy is developing her own character which is helping the planning of the video, and we're having fun.

Fairy shoes! Well, not really, but shoes for this fairy anyway. I've been hoping to find some sparkly shoes, wanted a heel for authority - I am the Bossy fairy after all - but didn't want to spend very much money. These silver shoes were just the sort of thing, and I managed to get them in a charity shop so they didn't cost much and the money will go to a good cause. What more can I ask for!

This weekend I plan get down to working out which fairy is going to do what in the video so they can rehearse. It's a bit complicated , with two fairies not able to make the main filming day so they'll need to do bits afterwards, one who might not be able to stay the whole day, one who can't stand for long and one whose health can vary so has to be careful , so it's all going to need careful planning to make best use of those who can do most. It all sounded so simple when we started!

Two of us and the director of our video did the "Granny Trek" today in aid of the Children's Hospice SouthWest, around Charlcombe Farm, where the Bristol Children's Hospice is. ( There are actually three under the Children's Hospice SouthWest umbrella: this one, one at Barnstaple and one being built at st Austell) It was a lovely day, and great fun, and lots of other friendly people were walking. The position of the Hospice is so wonderful it gives a hint of what it means to families, and it made us more determined to do what we can to raise money for this incredible organisation. The hospice buildings are in the background behind us here.

Want to help?

volunteers ad on bristol media website

We are looking for Volunteers.

-Camera man or woman (and someone who would be able to advise us on the best equipment for the job)

-‘Making of’ video director/camera/edit (with own equipment, who can get on unnoticed and make a record of the day) We hope to have this as a viral on you tube.

-Runner (someone with on set experience who can help out where necessary)

We are also looking for sponsorship from a company for camera and equipment hire for the day, and possibly another day soon after if needed. There will be filmed credits at the end of the video. It will be available to buy on itunes and for sale at local stores on CD.

This is a ‘no budget’ film, but we will do our best to provide food and transport for the day. Filming will be at one location in Bath.

If you are interested please email Tessa and Shirley
tgtreetoppers@googlemail.com
Please send us any links to previous work/Showreel.
Thank you!

Please tell your friends about us.

The pile of fairy "stuff" on the spare bed is really growing!

Had a great day storyboarding for the video to go with the charity single. We want it to be funny, with lots of jokes all the way through like Wallace and Grommit, so it's been a lot of fun thinking of visual jokes and puns and little things to put in the backgrounds as well as the actual action of the video. Filming begins in June, but there's lots of work to do before then, and a huge list of props to write next!

Just realised that we haven't put our logo up here yet. This is a sneak preview of "Bossy" - apparently my mother knew that it was me straight away which I'm not sure I'm too happy about, but she says it's because of the tree. (?)

Went to a Children's Hospice SouthWest coffee morning this morning, and several of the other fairies from the TG Treetoppers were there. They are sorting out their "characters" ready for filming, and unfortunately we seemed to have two knitting fairies, but all is well as one of them is turning to flowers instead. I am getting very much into character as " the bossy fairy", a character trait I am beginning to suspect comes all too naturally. It is lovely that everyone is getting very enthusiastic about this project, and offers of help are coming in from all sides.
there is a script meeting on Thursday, and I'm looking forward to that, Received a fat envelope full of very funny ideas from one fairy this morning that had me laughing out loud.

Well, I said back at the beginning that I was going to credit the writer of our charity song once I could remember his name, sorry Pete, had to ask my brother in the end, but thanks very much to Pete Young for writing It's A New World Now It's Christmas and letting us record it in aid of the Children's Hospice SouthWest

It was our Guild meeting today, and the excitement is rising - the feather boas have arrived! Putting together the costumes is fun, and I know we're all going to have a great time dressing up as fairies to sing and to make the video. Just hope that people will enjoy it with us and buy the record for Christmas, so that the Children's Hospice SouthWest will really benefit.

Lots of lovely people are offering us help with aspects of making/selling our charity single. It's wonderful to know that despite our difficult times people still have hearts of gold! We need all the help we can get though!

Hope you like our photo - of course, that is us looking relatively normal, except for the wings, and we've got a lot more planned in the way of costume before we get much further! We might as well have some fun while we try to raise money for the Children's Hospice South West.

First photo...

TG Treetoppers? Well. we're members of the Townswomen's Guilds, and we're going to make a charity Christmas single that we want to be this year's top Christmas record. We've got the song - It's a New World Now It's Christmas - written by a friend who'll get his credit when I can remember his surname. We've had one rehearsal, and we're trying to get everyone together for a recording date with the two friends who are dealing with that side of things. We're going to make a video to go with it, so we're working on our costumes at the moment - a treat still to come!

All the profits from our record will go to The Children's Hospice South West, so we're hoping for lots of support.

Watch this space!