Last night I did my third month in a row at our local crafty/rummage/thrift sale/event thingy, called ART and FLEA. As I've mentioned before I am feeling at the cusp of developing my business and just breaking the ice in terms of sales and exposure. Last night was another one of those slow times, I sat at my table, smiled and chatted up everyone who stopped by...I love seeing peoples reactions to my work, their smiles when something catches their eye, and of course the compliments that come along the way! That in itself is so rewarding! Sales continue to be slow, and while I am so incredibly grateful for each customer that spends their hard earned money on one of my creations, I am trying to battle the doubts, and negativity that creeps in. What's missing to turn all of the praise and compliments I am receiving into actual sales? Nothing really...I think it must be a matter of timing, patience, and getting my work seen more and more.
I experienced such a rush of love from my "girls" who came out and brought a few of their friends last night, they were my only sales all night, and the warm fuzzies, and full hearted love I got from them is enough to ride high on for days! I feel so lucky to have these women in my life, that appreciate the work of my hands, who beam with smiles as they toss their hair and show off their new earrings! Seriously people, I'm tearing up just sitting here typing this...Maybe I'm just PMS'ing, but I can feel how much they believe in me and want me to succeed. I can literally feel it in my chest, along with all the hopes and dreams, plans, ideas, and wishes...Today this presence is so physical that it almost hurts, and in this case is causing liquid to express itself from my eyeballs! It fills my chest and weighs on my mind, I can't stop thinking about it! I suppose that all this means that this whole process is so important to my soul that it is affecting me physically, that my thoughts and emotions have to process themselves and find a way to manifest outside my mind so that they can come to life!
One of the best things about setting up at this market is the camaraderie with other vendors, and meeting people I would never know otherwise...Oh, and the people watching is about one of the best spots on the island. I like to sit back and take it all in, making new friends along the way and learning about who my customers are...
I received two of the most wonderful bits of feedback last night, from two very different and stylish a women. About an hour apart from each other, they both remarked that my creations are so different from what they see around the islands, and that they love that it's not so "islandy" with shells and rainbows...This, I told them was the best thing I could hear and at the perfect time! I often feel like nobody here is interested unless it's "Hawaiian" jewelry, and I always get the comments about "oh, you should totally add some shells or feathers to your designs". Sometimes people show up in your life and tell you just what you need to hear at just the right time. Thanks ladies for the vote of confidence...I really really needed it!
OK, that about does it for Friday's brain dump...maybe I just needed a good emotional moment with my cyber-sisterhood!
I have a drill press to put together, with instructions that seem to be barley translated from Chinese...wish me luck, I really need to use it this weekend!