Another cold and early start for us on Saturday morning. They never get easier but after loading the car with all of our stock and getting petrol, we were on our way.
The Makers and Merchants Market runs monthly at the Lanark Agricultural Centre. The building itself it huge and is usually home to cattle auctions but the room we were in was large, had great lighting and was very well laid out with around 60 tables. Once I was all set up, took me just over an hour, I had a walk around the other stalls. There was venison, colourful macarons, jewellery and more craft and food stalls to take in all setting up.
For a lot of traders this was the first event of the year, it was my third, but that didn't mean I knew what I was doing. It still took me over an hour to set up one table and I still forgot something. At my first event of the year I forgot a suitcase full of stock, at my second event I brought the wrong suitcase and at this 3rd event, I forgot my price stickers. I'll maybe have a clue by my next event.
Once the doors opened and customers started to flood in I started to relax and after a few nods and good mornings I had my first sale. At farmers markets and craft events I can usually spot my customers a mile away, they look like me. I can also see their eyes widen as they spot the colourful and alternative stall amongst the rest. I love to talk and when someone approaches that looks like they might like a glow in the dark ghost or will appreciate the work that went into making my jumpers, I talk. Genuinely, I always feel like I'm talking to a friend.
And that's the other thing I live about trading at events. I'm usually surrounded by trader friends. We get to catch up with white they have been, any new items on their table and the day usually ends with hugs, goodbyes or see you next weeks.
So, in summary, trading on Saturday was exhausting but so rewarding. On the way home the frost had gone, the sun had come up and we had the joy of driving on a road we hadn't been on a 1000 times, we also saw alpacas. Trading with Makers & Merchants was great, setting up and packing down was a breeze, the other traders were friendly and chatty which is a bonus and hopefully we'll be back trading with them.
For today I think I'll be resting. I'm now not trading until March 7/8th at Power Con in Glasgow but I'll definitely be busy until then making stock and maybe some new products. I'm also getting fitted with a heart monitor tomorrow, but that's a story for another time. 😊🖤