I just woke up from a very needed nap.  After going to bed around 2:00 AM last night and then getting up at 6:00 AM this morning we headed up to Cashiers for our first day at the Cashiers Valley Spring Fling.  We did forget a couple of minor things (tablecloths) and our booth didn't look quite as fancy as some of the more experienced vendors, but overall I think we did pretty good throwing everything together at the last minute.  The weather was perfect today, warm and sunny but with a cool breeze blowing.  The park holding the show is a beautiful place with lush green grass and little paths that weave around.  They had lots of large trees that provided shade from the hot sun.  People and dogs of all sorts were walking around, mingling and browsing, or having a nice picnic in the shade.  Bella had a wonderful time.  She was our official greeter and thought that everyone was coming just to see her.  She did do a good job getting peoples' attention and drawing them into our booth.  She just sat there and looked at them with her adorable little face until they came in to pet her.  I think we are going to hire her permanently.

We had a lot of interest in our work today.  We sold enough to cover the entrance fee for having a booth in the show but for the most part it was a pretty slow day.  There were lots of lookers but few buyers... and not just at our booth but in general.  We saw very few people all day carrying around bags or purchased items.  Aubrey and I tried to help our our fellow vendors by buying a few things for ourselves.  We saw some very cool stuff for sale.  I bought some beautiful pottery from Cooncats Pottery out of Leicester, NC.  Aubrey purchased a Wood Duck call from Kritter Getters.  There was also beautiful hand made jewelry, knitted and crouched purses, scarves and shaws, very cute puppies for adoption from the Highlands Humane Society, paintings, signs and so much more.  We met some very nice people, including the vendors in the tent next to ours: Joy Beads, Wire & Nature.  Joy makes very pretty jewelry using beads, metal, wire, silver and more.  We got lucky getting set up beside them.  They shared their knowledge as veteran vendors with us, giving us info on future shows and tips through out the day.  We definately learned a lot and got a lot of new ideas for the future!  I enjoyed our first day as a vendor, exhausting as it was, and hope tomorrow is an even better day than today!


POST CASHIERS VALLEY SPRING FLING
Check out our pictures from the show.

Tomorrow and Sunday (June 13 & 14) we will have a tent at the Cashiers Valley Spring Fling!  We are very excited but also very nervous since we have never been to a craft show as a vendor before.  We are both at a little of a loss as to what we can expect, what we will need, how things will work and so on.  Hopefully all will go smoothly and we will see a big turn out with lots of sales and orders!  Be sure to come by and see us!  Ok, now I am off to do all of the stuff we put off to until last minute, which is just about everything!  I can already tell that this is going to be an exhausting weekend... but I'm sure it will be an experience.  Hope to see you in Cashiers!