“It’s your foot in the door.”

My oldest son Colten enjoying the festival last October

When I decided a few months ago that I would sign up to participate in my first ever craft fair it seemed like a good idea. As the date gets closer, I’m not so sure! We’ve all been there, hearing about something that gets you excited and gets your blood pumping. You start looking for more information, find it and decide, “yep let’s do this!” So you fill out the required information and start to dream about just how wonderful it will be.

This is where my dreams usually depart from others! I’m a big dreamer, and tend to “over” dream. In my dream I have the most wonderful booth set up. Filled to over flowing with product. All tastefully displayed in a way that everyone is drawn into my booth and can’t help buying something. All of my quilts and wall hangings are done at the top-level my skills would allow. I sell out of everything and am rolling in the dough!

Reality often falls VERY short of these dreams. Now I find myself in the panic stages of event planning. Am I going to be able to pull this off? Will I be able to make enough product to even remotely fill a 10×10 booth? Will these items be what draws customers in? These things are bouncing around in my head. Sometimes they get so loud I have to take a break from sewing and find an outlet. During these times my house gets very, very clean! My family loves it, as often times I beat them to doing their chores just to get rid of the jitters.

I still have a week and a half until the Ripson Bridge Festival arrives, and I plan on working until I drop to make this as much of a success as I can. My loving husband, I think, said it best. “If you don’t do this sweetheart then you’ll never know. You won’t fail, but if you don’t do as well as you hoped, you’ll be better prepared for next year. It’s your foot in the door.” I have the best husband in the whole world! His words of encouragement will carry me through this and help me to succeed.

If you’re interested in seeing first hand if I’ve succeeded, please stop by my booth at the Ripson Bridge Festival, located near Sorento, IL in Bond County. I’ll be at the end of the tear drop shape next to a wonderful friend who sells candles!