YES!
As an artist and designer it can be a very daunting task to find new and different ways to reach customers. I participated in a local festival this month- the Geranium Festival in McDonough, GA. It was SO MUCH work! I had my friends, family, and even friends of friends involved in pulling it off! (side note: Thanks to all of those included in this diatribe!) Setting up at 12 midnight the night before and staying there until 3am prepping and primping my creations was trying to say the least. The 6am wake up the next morning was worst than the night before. And as the sun rose and its hot heat created a blanket of steam, the flood of people roared through the tent alleys. People came and people went. Women gushed over my girly frocks. Children pulled at the pretty dangling jewels that hung from anything between electric chandeliers to my cheery lime colored table cloths. My business cards seem to be flying away they were snatched up so fast! My feet hurt, my back was burnt from the sun, and my stomach was aching in anger for not eating since the day before. I don't know that I've ever talked so much in one day in my life!
Alas, the day was done. It was time to close up shop and pack away all that was left behind. The entire day was a haze. My brain could barely function and all my body wanted to do was collapse. As my family helped me pack-up I looked around, counted my earnings, and appreciated the fact that it took this ONE day of work to accomplish so much. Not only did I make a profit while at the show, but I somehow managed to get almost 300 business cards out there into the world.
I owe my family and friends so much gratitude for the amount of love, support, and encouragement that they have given me in the last two years trying to build this weird little business of mine into a true career. It is really happening and I could not do it without them.
It was a hard day. And there will be many of those to come. I may not know where to go from here, but I think that I am definitely moving in the right direction. Making a little extra money, getting my name out there, and gaining numerous new contacts and clients was not the only thing I can take away from this day, but I also gained a renewed sense of worth. People love my lamps. I'm obviously doing something right.
So I will press on and continue doing what makes me happy...
Please visit my Etsy shop at: www.shabulouscreations.etsy.com
