To market, to market.....

On the drawing board this week has been the tedious task of labelling, packaging and working on product displays for my market stall this weekend.

I really enjoy the process of creating, but the rest of it........ well it's just so time consuming. I sometimes wish that someone else could step in and take over at the point of finishing a new piece, to follow through with the photo shoot, uploading, packaging and promotion. It's quite a commitment when deciding to sell your craft, as your think tank needs to expand beyond the product to encompass so much more.

This is only my second stall ever, so I'm still very new to the whole self promoting artist thing. The last one we did pre x-mas was such a blur of a day. We had stayed up so late the night before finalising things, even though I promised myself I wouldn't, so we were really tired.

It was almost like graduation....years of hard work all coming to a point where you don that robe step up to the podium, accept the recognition for all your hard work, then venture out into the real world, full of hope, talent and trepidation.
For me, it has been years. Years of procrastination.
I studied visual arts, dressmaking, fashion illustration, and adv dip eng tech. jewellery. Each time the schooling finished, there were always excuses..........ummm my drawings are not quite there yet, my products and ideas aren't original enough, nobody will like it!

15 years later, finally, I decided to throw caution to the wind and just take the plunge and get myself out there. Whats the worst that could happen......everybody hates it. Yeah maybe they will, but staying true to yourself in the face of adversity, is an achievement in it self.

Fortunately, my first market day was a great success. I did want to hide in the corner or be a fly on the wall, but I owned my shyness, and planted my feet firmly behind my little table, committed to being proud of my offerings. Knowing full well that I did my best.
It was such a buzz, and I just wanted to hug my first customer and do the happy dance, but I kept it cool......and waited till I got home to celebrate.

Even if we didn't sell a thing, for me it was such an achievement, to have a beginning middle and end to my little story. I have so many beginnings, so many........for once I just needed to follow through 100%. I created, put a price on it, stood behind it and sold with a smile. What a buzzzzz!

This time, now that I don't feel so sick to the stomach with fear, I look forward to meeting other sellers, and just relaxing a lot more. If your in the neighbourhood, don't be a stranger.

It's a fantastic market offering heaps of handmade goodies.Plenty of bags, jewelery, accessories, clothes, and household items. Located in the funky Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, it's close to trains and trams, making it super easy to get to.Surrounded by lots of great places to shop on Sydney rd, like savers, episode, spotlight and full of funky places to eat. This is a fab place to go for the afternoon. (forecast is hot,hot,hot....so bring bathers, to go swimming at the pools across the road, after shopping)

I know that as time goes on my products will change, and Finki may have a market stall that looks quite different to this Saturdays, but that is part of the story too, the chapter where I define my craft, and find my niche. I thought getting it out there was the end of my story, but seems it's just the beginning.