Pushing My Comfort Zone Boundaries

Selling anything has always been hard for me and usually avoided.  We tell the story of when our daughters had to sell chocolate bars for Girl Guides many years ago.  We wound up with a case in our freezer because none of us were good at asking people to buy something.  Yes, we were behind the door when God gave out the entrepreunurial genes that's for sure. 
My daughter is a crafty person too and has a number of favourite past times...needlepoint, quilting, beading and quilling.  She asked if I would enter a craft fair with her, thinking taking on a new venture would be good for both of us. I agreed and last Saturday found us in a local school gymnasium participating in one of the many Christmas craft fairs that occur at this time of the year.  A first for both of us. 

Here is our table.  I made the circuit around the gym and talked to many of our fellow crafters/sellers.  It is sometimes disappointing at these fairs to see how many commercial ventures also rent a table.  I say disappointing because I prefer to see the hand made items, you know the ladies with their stash of crocheted scarves and dish cloths or the young mother who has discovered  she can sew bibs or crib sheets for selling.  I noticed at this one, a couple of recyclers...one lady turning old bed sheets into rag rugs using crochet and a lady selling rings and bracelets she makes from old silverware. These were actually quite pretty.

A sampling of Daughters' quilled ornaments on display which were much admired. 

 We noticed a lot of the lookers were elderly and many of them stopped for a chat and loved our ornaments but went on to say they no longer had a Christmas tree so didn't need any ornaments.  They were there for a great outing, to meet up with friends and enjoy the lunch the local church ladies were offering.  I just loved seeing so many of them out and about. 

 This was what was a real hit...

Tiny paper quilled snowmen ornaments.  All the children wanted one and would take ages picking which one.  I can only imagine the patience it took to make such fiddly little items but then Daughter is blessed with that plus a sense of perfectionism about what ever she does that I can only admire.  I am definitely more slap dash about my work.
Anyway, we had an enjoyable day together, met a lot of interesting people, and in the process had pushed our personal comfort zones. We agreed at the end that we would definitely do another craft fair, perhaps one in a bigger venue with a more mixed clientele next time.