DO Try This At Home...

I was attending the opening day of one of my local flea markets, strictly as a potential customer, and my favourite Tarot card reader/organic dry dog food maker was there..yes, it is an interesting combination of careers, but her little bags of doggie treats are proving quite popular...and I know, from personal experience, that she's a good card reader, too..
We were talking about local Farmer's Markets (she reads cards at mine) and selling venues, etc., when she mentioned something that I just had to share. Don't know if you all are aware of this, or if it's done in your area/State/Province/County/Country or not, but until today I was totally unaware.
I live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, as many of you know..it's the central part of the Island, called Cowichan, where I live, and sell in-online, of course, and the location of my weekly Duncan Farmer's Market.
My friend is sending me to the Cowichan Tourist Bureau, because they like to promote local businesses, especially colourful ones that tourists would enjoy, and the promos are FREE!!! Free..that is a biggie..they go to trade shows and give out your cards to those attending from the cruise industry, bus tours, travel agents, etc. etc. And my friend is sending tiny little doggie bag samples..
Pretty hard for me to afford that, but figured I could give them a couple of hats to display..also, they have a roll of 500 free stickers to use on your goods that say "Cowichan Made"..too cool!
This kind of literally International publicity would be impossible for me to afford in real life..but who needs reality when the Tourist Bureau is able and willing?
So, think about this for your own businesses - even online businesses that are locally owned and operated, are of great interest to most Tourism agencies..I think it's a fabulous idea, and hope some of you out there can benefit from it, too.

Autumn and a Return...

Yesterday marks the first day of real rain all summer - and the lack of singing birds at 4 in the morning, or the hint of chill for my morning view on the balcony, looking out at a fog-tinted sea...The screaming yet oddly welcome blue jay who always appears in early September..the cooler nights and shorter days...
Can the trees, slowly dropping their leaves with infinite seductiveness, be far behind?
It's time for me to gather up all my hats and neckwarmers, and head out to, or should I say back to, the Farmer's Market once again..
Crafting as a business venture has it's own set of weird realities, almost as if the act of creation is in direct opposition to the act of selling..or bartering, as sometimes happens...
I am rather affable with the public, enjoy being outdoors, discussing my creations, and rarely get the kind of nasty critiquing so common with paintings at an exhibit..the competitiveness is confined to a certain extent, so the aspects of trying to earn your way are not so onerous as, say, a factory job, when you are the factory..but it is difficult to keep changing 'hats' (pardon me, please) from creator to salesperson and try and maintain an emotional distance from my work.
I do have 'favourites', and others that I sell with relief, because they make me uncomfortable for whatever reason...I meant them to turn out differently, or the colours weren't quite right..my issues, of course, the hats sell as well as any others..as I always tell reluctant women who say they "look terrible" in hats- you just haven't found 'your' hat yet...
And I will never find mine, thankfully..perfection is an ideal, and not strictly a possibility, and since all my hats are one of a kind, I can never get bored, or obsessed with just one.
As summer turns inevitably to Autumn, I wish you all happy creating, and for those of you that sell your work, a good season...