Gentle reader,
This weekend past I was fortunate enough to attend the Loch Village Quilt and Craft Festival. The committee that organizes it had seen my interview in the Sunday Age and invited me to attend as a “featured artist”. My dear friend Judith and her husband Charlie and I went down on the Saturday and stayed at the Royal Hotel in Loch before setting up a table at the festival on the Sunday.
Loch is a beautiful little spot to the south-east of Melbourne. It’s surrounded by picturesque hills and quaint little buildings. Sybil, the lady who saw my article and invited me was so sweet and generous, and went to so much trouble to make me feel welcome. I sold a few things, gave out some cards and got to chat to some really lovely people like Megan from Can Do Books, the ladies from Sunspun yarn store and Kay from Kay’s Artycles.
Unfortunately, this wonderful weekend was preceded by our house being broken into earlier in the week, and they stole my camera! So, I couldn’t take any pics, but luckily Judith snapped some for me.
Lessons Learns From Having A Market Table/Being A “Featured Artist”
- Being on display or being made the center of attention is nerve-wracking and awkward and makes me really anxious. This seems completely stupid since I used to act and sing on stage. Oy. But, I kinda knew this.
- Peeps are surprised to see a guy crocheting (but, surprised pleasantly most of the time). I kinda already knew this too.
- No one laughed at my prices. This is reassuring! And I got some great compliments!
- As a result of the nerves and anxiety of the first point, I start saying weird things that I’ve never ever said before, like answering questions in the affirmative with “Yeah, yep!”. Who says that!? I do apparently. Eugh.
- If I keep selling things, it will defs be an online affair. Etsy? I’ma do it!
It was such a great experience, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity and it was definitely worth it. Though, it did really reinforce for me why this malarky is called “The Shy Lion”. I’m much more at home doing business at a desk. I should work on that though. There are so many great peeps out there and I wanna meet ’em and craft with ’em!
As for the break-in, well, I don’t want this to become a place to vent some drama, but it was pretty upsetting! It’s the second time; we were broken into before Christmas too. At the end of the day, it’s just stuff, though not having a decent camera will make blogging a bit difficult. But, these things were sent to try us, and we must rise above!
How was your weekend? Have you set up a table at the markets before? How’d it go?
– R
theshylion.wordpress.com 