I survived!!

Yes, my anxiety had me a little neurotic this last month or so waiting for my first craft fair.  I started making my unique jewelry designs less than 4 months ago and even though I have not sold much it has been a whirlwind.  I started a website, a shop on Etsy and I'm trying to master the world of on-line sales (much more complicated than I could have ever imagined).  I was able to get my jewelry displayed in a store and I am involved with the group that is working on establishing a community market in the small town I live.  Then I was in a craft fair for the first time.

The fair was in a gorgeous new building in down town Madison WI.  The parking was very limited and apparently the organizers did very little advertising.  The only advertising anyone knew about was ads in the student newspapers.  We all know that college students are not known for having a lot of money.  So, the turnout was very low.  I have some mixed feelings about this.  If it had been really busy I would have been really anxious and may have felt really overwhelmed and unprepared.  BUT, as it turned out I just barely sold enough to cover my booth fee and I did not cover the cost of transportation and food for the day.

I was able to meet a lot of the other vendors and enjoyed getting to know some really remarkable artists.  I still have to go through the business cards I collected and I will make sure to give a shout out to them.

I am fairly happy with my display and got a few positive comments.  I few people really liked the business cards, tags and banners my amazing husband designed for me.

Overall, I loved the set up, the other vendors and how my display turned out but I definitely would have liked a better turn out.  I'm signed up for another fair in March for a fundraiser craft fair and fashion show.  So, we will see how that goes.  I'm still debating whether or not I want to apply for any more for this year.  If I do I also need to make sure the times are shorter.  Seven hours in a chair I am not used to is too hard for my Fibromyalgia.  I am still very sore today so I probably shouldn't put my body through that again.