Petunia Magpie: The shop.

#CY365 Prompt: For Sale

Let me first say: A big thank you to all the friends and family and strangers who have supported my artistic endeavors for the past several years both in-person and online. I couldn't keep going were it not for y'all. The compliments and suggestions are always most appreciated. It's a humbling experience to see the joy on a child's face when they listen to a toy's story and hug a crochet elephant for the first time. [Y'all know all animals I sell tell a story. It's part of their charm.] I am especially grateful to those who have directly encouraged my painting. Thank you all for your kindness.

Putting items online for the first time is a daunting task. There's all those pictures to take/edit/upload, descriptions to write, measurements to note (height, width, weight), shipping costs to assign.

With me there's always the added "Man, I wanna keep this - it really turned out nice." conversation going on in the back of my mind. As a matter of fact, there are two gourds with what I call a "crazy quilt" design that have become part of my private collection. Well.... perhaps only one will be mine.

Some of these gourds took days to paint and selling them for about $20 each is heartbreaking, but a must. Like a long lost friend (Kim) would say "Christmas is coming. Mama needs a new pair of shoes."

With that said, the majority of the birdhouse gourds have been listed in my Etsy shop. Am reviewing inventory and putting the products I pulled from the shop to go to Festivals and Markets back in the shop.

Y'all will be happy to know that after a road trip to Amish country this summer, I DRASTICALLY REDUCED the price of the quilts to the price others in the area are selling comparable products for.

IN THE WORKS: gourd ornaments.... Stay tuned for more info.

Bradford Farmer's Market.

It was a rather pleasant day at the Farmer's Market this morning. Gray clouds threatened overhead, but the crowd didn't seem deterred. Lots of folks were out and about looking at all the lovely fresh produce and baked goods. The sun finally made an appearance right around noon and traffic picked up a bit.

Truly a great selection and competitive prices too! (I can't resist Mary's baked goods. mmmm... chocolate and peanut butter. Pistachio bread too!)

Most of the vendors are local. They make and sell things as a hobby or to earn a few extra dollars that our grandma's would have called "pin money".  Many have been there for years, although this is it's first year in the present location. I'm told that in years past the Bradford Farmer's Market was downtown in the historic district. Nice location, but not much room for growth.

This week I met a couple new vendors with great ideas.