Farmers' Market - Take 1

My first Farmers' Market:

I'm so glad I went because I learned a lot. Talking to people about your product and seeing their reaction to what you're offering is invaluable. I got a lot of comments that people liked my work, but so many of them want pins (broaches), not barrettes. I had a really nice conversation with one lady who said that embroidery is a bit of a lost art - it's one of those things our grandparents knew how to do but we've not passed it on. She knew what she was looking at.

Here's my table set-up. They gave me a 10 foot space and my table is 4 ft wide. It's a perfect table for my stuff, but it looked small in the space. The market is in a gravel parking lot which gets dusty, especially for kids playing. I was lucky to have a really nice day - I can see that I am going to have to figure out a different way to display things because when the wind comes up it catches the cards and everything flies away. Nothing like running around gathering your wares up from the gravel. Also, I was one of the only stalls without a canopy of some sort. I watched everyone else slide back in their camping chairs enjoying the cool shade on a very hot day (ok, hot for here, we're not used to hot in Alberta).

This is how everything packed up to go to the farmers' market. We live about 7 minutes away(walking) and I just couldn't justify taking a vehicle. Half of the stuff is for the kids - toys and snacks. What you don't see is the baby on my back. We must have been quite a sight rolling through the market that morning. The older sister stayed home and slept in with her daddy and joined us after lunch.

Now, I have to tell you, about halfway through I got pretty depressed about the whole thing. Me and my baby were feeling pretty lonely and hot at our table and we hadn't had a single sale yet. I just wanted to make my table money back at that point, and I wasn't sure that was going to happen. Thank goodness things picked up later and the inlaws came to visit and play with the kids in the shade.

I'll certainly do it again, but am working on diversifying my product line - broaches and purses are only 2 of many ideas. You haven't seen the last of me yet, farmers' market!