Our Local area had 3 Walking Markets last year. I wasn't aware of the first 2.
The third in December I walked around following the map and went to streets I hadn't been to before.
They were asking people to sign up to it and a friend had suggested I should do it last time. I have major confidence issues which only seem to get worse as I get older so I really didn't know if I could do it. 2 weeks ago I took the plunge and signed up...... GULP
The idea is you have a table at the end of your drive and it was from 10am to 2pm so not too long.
I had a lot of cards I had already made but they had no inserts, needed labels, bags and header cards so there was a lot of work that had to be done to get them ready for sale. There was lots of printing with leaflets for the table, smaller ones to go inside each card and then I did a leaflet drop on our street the night before.
The weather was glorious (sunburnt with factor 30 on!) and the footfall wasn't particularly good. Might have been to do with it being a Sunday, rather good weather and the last day before kids went back to school. However it was a great experience for me as I was able to gauge the interest, see if my prices were okay, what sizes sell best that sort of thing.
Very importantly my contact details are out there for potential commissions. I added this to the Facebook page for the event and of course on all the leaflets. People were ver complimentary about my cards and how my display looked, professional packaging so I achieved what I set out to do.
The absolute best thing though is my little sister, who I have not seen since January 2020 came to visit me as a complete surprise. She lives 1.5 hours drive away and as lockdowns and UK travel restrictions have not allowed us to go out of our local area we have been unable to see one another. She works at a care home and has had to be very careful.
There I was chatting to a good neighbour and showing her my cards and up rocks my sister and brother in law. I cried like an absolute baby, I was literally a blubbering wreck. We are not supposed to hug people but there was absolutely no way that wasn't going to happen (she's had both jabs due to her job and has to test every shift and I have had my first so I consider that to have been a good assessment of risk)
I am the one in the colourful top and she was taking the mickey out of me as I am so much shorter than her and with grey hair..... This was about 5 minutes after she got there and I was still crying. She had seen my post on Facebook and came to buy a card. Honestly the best surprise ever. I knew I missed her but it wasn't until I saw her I realised just how much. The rest of the time passed in a blur!
The lady who has organised it said she wants to do one in September and another early December. After my experience this time I definitely would take part again. I met some lovely people and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.
Oh Mandy, what a wonderful day you had! I was so touched reading about your reunion with your sister. She was there to lend her moral support, she knew you were nervous. Awwww! So glad you had a good first time with the selling too, and your risk was worth it! XOX
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