Saturday, January 3, 2009

Twenty-five years and counting . . .

Speaking of beginnings, I was giving some thought to those first few shows that I participated in and it seems like I have just finished packing those show boxes away. In reality, it has been a quarter of a century ago that I attended that first craft show. I was getting my feet wet by plunging in head first. I gave no thought to failure; to the fact that perhaps what I was making no one would want to buy. I spent hours sewing, dreaming, running out to get fabric, taking classes – all with my first child in tow, not even a year old yet. Sometimes he sat on my lap as I sewed. Sometimes he sat under my sewing machine and pushed the foot pedal for me.

I was always told when you have a baby; you need to sleep when they do. If they settle down for a nap, the mother should take herself right off to her own bed and do likewise. I thought that was crazy talk. I mean, if they are napping, that’s when you get busy working, using that uninterrupted time to accomplish something. Whether or not it was the right thing, that’s what I did. My goal was to create an interesting booth where the shoppers would want to come in, look at everything, and maybe take something home. What a wonderful world I had entered. My customers kept returning show after show and many of them became my closest friends.

Just to show you how long ago it was that I embarked on this adventure, here’s a photo of my son at almost a year old at the second show I attended. I was setting up my booth and my mom and dad took him for a stroll among the aisles of vendor setups and supplies. This little boy was married in 2007. I guess it really has been 25 years!

2 comments:

  1. Happy Silver anniversary! Thanks for stopping by, keep up the Blogging, its good to share. Amanda x

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  2. It's great that you started a blog! I remember my first show back in 1982. Seems like a lifetime ago huh! I miss those shows, they were so much fun! I look forward to reading more.

    Kelly

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