Phew...Holiday Market is Over!

After 7 days of vending here in Eugene at the Holiday Market, all I wanna do is curl up in bed with a cuppa tea and my computer. I talked to enough people in those 7 days to last me all year!! Here's our annual market family portrait...me and Julia are hiding there on the left towards the back, wearing hats. We are tiny!


We didn't lose money at market this year but we made about 1/5th of what we'd hoped. Crafting is risky business, especially with the economy the way it is. We were trying out a lot of new designs for the first time so that was a gamble. People really seemed to like the stuff but not the price tag. We're beginning to wonder if handmade clothing is the right direction for us at all. Watching our neighbors sell $10 sweatshop t-shirts all day is kinda demoralizing.

Our biggest sellers were our flower headscarves and the regular fleece/felt scarves - (Both under $20).

It didn't help that it was snowing and icing for the better part of the market. Here in Oregon we're snow wussies...just a few inches and no one wants to drive or go anywhere.

It was really nice to meet up with a lot of our crafty friends here in Eugene. We miss the sense of community you get at market - everyone choosing a different path together, supporting each other, celebrating successes and trying to figure out how to remedy failures. It actually makes you feel like you're not crazy for trying to follow your dreams!

In other news, I wiped out on the ice while carrying one of my booth's tubs and dislocated my finger. Obviously, I can still type!! Oh, poor fingy - it went sideways at the second knuckle down and I had to go to the ER to get them to put it right again. Hopefully I'll be playing banjo again within a few weeks.

I'm so thankful that it wasn't any worse but all in all, we've been feeling a little unlucky lately. Hopefully things will start lookin' up as we head back to CA. I feel like things have been crazy for a while and I'm looking forward to settling back into a nice comfortable routine in our bus. Mom has been babysitting Luna and taking really good care of her (thanks Mom!!) and I'm excited to get back. Hopefully we'll hear about J's possible job opportunity in Santa Cruz soon, too - then we'll really know what we're doing, when and where. If that doesn't work out....we're thinking roadtrip. Epic roadtrip. =)