by Nancy
This morning I went to the Handmade Market hosted by my town’s Art Center. I had never heard of it before, but it was advertised in the paper along with quite a few other Christmas craft shows. This one said it was focused on local artists and hand-made items, so it sounded promising. I was interested both in a little Christmas shopping and a chance to check it out as a possible place for Nancy’s Quilts for Kids to try again to sell some of its items. I have done very little with NQfK for quite some time after my two very disappointing craft shows, but I have been thinking about trying again, particularly as the boys are getting older and more independent and I have more time to dedicate to it. I’ve been working on getting up my courage (and my portfolio of my work) to approach the owner of an upscale children’s boutique located on the courthouse square about selling some of my things there. And pondering what other items smaller than a quilt (placemats, bibs, etc) might sell well. And my new-found interest in crochet has opened up some other possibilities for small children’s toys that might work.
I was very pleased with what I found at the Handmade Market. Lots of friendly, low-key, local people with pretty good stuff. There was much less “junk” than I’ve experienced at other craft shows. There were several knitters, a place selling soap, several places selling hand-made cards, etc. And there was quite a crowd shopping. So, I spoke to the woman in charge about participating in next year’s Market, and she took my email address to receive information about the next Market. Apparently they are thinking of doing one in June, and then they will do another one before Christmas. I think it might be a good place for me to have some success selling things, and I’m quite excited about it! (And I also got cool stocking stuffers for my kids and nephew!)
I agree that this sounds very promising, Nancy! Also, I think your new line of crocheted edibles would be likely to sell well. Good luck!