Today got off to a fairly inauspicious start. I got off the bus at the wrong stop (forgetting that Crystal Palace Parade is not the same thing as Crystal Palace HILL) and then my glasses fell off and disappeared under the bus. I walked fifteen minutes in the wrong direction down a massive hill. Finally figured out I was going in the wrong direction at the BOTTOM of the hill, then walked for a further 45 minutes to get to the pub. Arrived massively sweaty, out of breath and with a headache from squinting.
I was not in a terribly good mood but I calmed down while I set up and once I got everything laid out on my picnic table I felt a lot better.
You may notice something missing from the table. As a confidence boosting exercise Alex suggested I do this market aloooone, as in sans Lego, just to see what would happen. I tend to be somewhat over-critical of my own work. I don’t always believe it’s good enough to sell. I think the fact that it doesn’t sell terribly well online so far doesn’t help. Markets are different. People like to be able to see the fabric in person, touch it, get a feel for it. So Alex poked and prodded me into going it alone.
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- Picnic, any one?
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- Dribble catchers
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- Bright and breezy purses
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- Bags of bags
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- Bibbitty bobbitty boo
About ten or fifteen minutes after I arrived I made my first sale. The big blue messenger bag I made ages ago sold to a lovely couple with a very sweet baby, looking for a nice big bag they could carry all their baby bits in.
Lovely suit lining style cotton interior with big roomy pockets.
Soft blue corduroy outside
It’s the first of the messenger bags that’s sold and it really set me up for the rest of the day.
Sold a few of everything on the stall, had a lot of fun chatting with various market-goers, had a chat with an artist, ate lots of cheesy easter bunny biscuits from this stall who were right behind me:
Deeee-lishus!
Some of the other stalls:
Juliette's gorgeous baby clothes
Rebecca's stall with cute wee owls. Lovely artwork next to her.
Art work in progress
I sold at least one of everything on the stall apart from the baby blankets which were tucked away underneath the mass of bibs.
So after a generally unfavourable beginning, the day turned out to be one of the more successful markets I’ve done. And I didn’t get rained on or crapped on by a pigeon. Huzzah.
Thanks Crystal Palace, you’ve given me back my crafting confidence.
Sarah
