If you go to a lot of local fairs or sell at a lot of them, you tend to see a lot of the same sellers over and over again. While this can be comforting, it’s good to try something new once in awhile. I received a message on Etsy asking me if I’d like to sell at the St. Berchmans Fall Festival and Craft Fair. While I was raised Catholic, I’ve been agnostic longer, so I admit I was a bit skeptical in taking part. I firmly believe it’s your right to have faith in whatever you choose, but I don’t have to agree with it. The Catholic church I went to through high school preached that practicing homosexuals were going to hell. A large part of the reason I left the church was when one of my best friends came out to me and I wrestled with the thought: “Why is it okay for me to pursue a partner and not okay for my friend to pursue hers?” I decided not to let my experience with one church dictate my opinion of all Catholic churches, so I ended up doing the craft fair.
When I arrived to set up, I received offers from total strangers also selling if I’d like help carrying my stuff in. It was a welcome change from the usual big fairs I do where everyone’s eyes are on the prize and it’s rare that you are asked if you need help. I knew no one else selling at the fair, which is a rarity, but Lauren, currently of Swell Goods (and Cutie Cooties), happened to come in since it was in her neighborhood. Another friend stopped in and hung out for awhile. The fair was a little slow and few sold anything for the first three hours of the four hour long fair, but the last hour picked up and I ending up making a profit. In the mean time, I met some very nice fellow sellers and customers and had good conversations with them. I had one customer buy four toddler tees for her grandchildren without batting an eyelash. I believe that’s a new record for me on number of clothing items sold to one buyer. Below are some of my favorite sellers from the fair. One seller, K’s Kreations by Krystle Ansay, was selling beautiful ceramics, but does not have a website. There was also one woman there; Shannon Rohde, selling books from Usborne Books & More, which are all really unique and beautifully illustrated children’s books. A lot of the books had fun interactive parts for stimulating kid’s brains (think Pat the Bunny). I ended up buying one as a Christmas present for one of my friend’s children. I hope he likes it!
Light as a feather:
http://www.jakimac.com
Help kids GROW up:
http://www.growbook.org
It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s something cute!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/jdey
