Off to the Market - A New Year

I appologize for the picture quality.  It's a Google Earth shot.  Kind of cool though, this newfangled stuff.

It is that time of year again.  After what seemed like an eternal Winter the last few weeks have been a whirl wind of activity around here.  Well, at least a breeze.  Neither DH nor I "whirl" any more.  Just too darn old for whirling.  We did manage to muster up enough energy to help clean, paint and decorate our building at the market.  It's the one hiding behind the pole in the picture.  Doesn't look like much here, but those three buildings you see have enough space for 40 vendors.  On marked days the parking lot is full and there is a bustle of activity. Check us out on the Cross Roads web page.

So, this morning I face a new retail season, perhaps not as excited as I was when we first opened here 4 years ago, but still hopeful.  The economy seems a tad bit better.  When the Summer season gets into full swing maybe the Chautauqua folks will wander on up our way.  Maybe THIS year will see a profit.  A girl can dream, right?

We more than doubled our cookie cutter section over the Winter.  When we opened at Cross Roads we had never given any thought to selling cookie cutters.  A retiring vendor offered us their stock dirt cheap so we took what they had left.  To our surprise, they sold so well we found ourselves reordering within a few weeks.  It snowballed from one small rack to over 250 designs!  Some days I swear if it were not for the cutters we would not have a sale.

I added chainmaille jewelry to my repertoire over the long Winter months.  It's a far cry from my usual frilly things, but hopefully it will attract a few new customers.  I'll show you a few pieces I took "up the hill" for the market, then I have to get going.  Click on the pictures if you would like more information.

Rainbow Bracelet in Aluminum

Black & Pink Aluminum Necklace with Swarovski Drop

(Not listed online)

20" Brass Necklace

Copper Jens Pind Bracelet

Bye.... Wish me luck!!!