The ongoing education of this Lollymama

It's almost as if mother nature announced "let's give this broad a break for a change" and blew the bad weather out to sea.  I nervously chewed my already stubby nails, anxiously waiting for the weather report to change so the Harvest festival at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens that weekend wouldn't be a soggy, rain soaked disaster.  It poured all day Thursday and into Friday (which of course, was when I had to set up the booth) but the prediction was for two days of brisk, sunny fall magnificence, and it surely was.

I arrived in Stockbridge by three pm Friday, car filled to the brim with all my vendor material and tons of product, and my bad knee throbbing from the two and a half hour car trip.  (Naturally, I said to Lacy while she scurried beside me anxious to find a suitable pee spot).  Luckily the volunteers were very helpful in supplying a big wheelbarrow-like cart for me to lug the stuff to my spot. 

Being it was my first venture into craft fair commerce and completely on my own (what was I thinking???),

I was totally inept, all thumbs with the brain function of a platter of chopped liver.  Can't believe what a non-spatial thinker I am.  If I had my friend Jo with me, (proven to be the ace of solution calculation) it wouldn't have taken me three and a half hours to set up one canopy which was similar in structure to a giant 10x10 square umbrella and supposedly as simple to open. ( on the box of course)   I also purchased separately, three side wall tarps which (I finally surmised at hour #3) had to be rolled up and left open to allow the still billowing winds to pass through without blowing over the whole flimsy structure. 

But all turned out fine by Saturday morning.  My sister Maggy and her friend Jane were there to help me set up the tables and fixtures.  We hung large pictures of the dogs wearing the different styles, put out the product and set up shop, with a spilled box of straight pins the only mishap. (twice.....butterfingers that I am)!

Lacy was the BEST model ever, mostly because she was so tired.  If people were looking down, they spotted her lying regally in her bed, wearing a sweater, saw that pet sweaters were what I was selling and came in to look around.  The second type of customer saw the rack of sweaters and immediately assumed they were for babies, THEN looked down at Lacy and exclaimed "they're for dogs!!!"  Little kids came over to pet her (or the iron dog with the welcome sign beside her)  Mostly though, people loved talking to me about their dogs and I loved hearing about them and how much they were loved.  The crowds also loved the sweaters, though not the price but then,  there were those customers who purchased 2 and 3 items, and money wasn't an issue.  I need more of those!!

Next project, a) figure out how to make the sweaters cheaper and b) start offering sweaters for babies too!!