A couple of weeks ago a neighbor told me she was going to have an estate sale and that another neighbor was going to put some of his items with hers. This got me to thinking that I would try having an Artisan Tag Sale. So we put our heads together and we each put an ad in our favorite source, covering several areas at one time. I then had to get to work putting my tag sale together. I had several knitted farmers market bags and washcloths in stock but decided to make a few more just in case they were a hit. I then got to work making the journals and note pads that are so much fun to put together. With this done I now had to dig into my craft closet to see what I could part with. After clearing out supplies three years ago for a move, I was surprised to see I had an overabundance of things I would probably not use in my lifetime. After sorting, packaging and pricing I had a good selection of knitting materials, craft and scrap booking supplies. I threw in a few household items that had been bound for the consignment store and I was ready for the big weekend.
We opened bright and early Friday morning and people were already there waiting to see what we had. As we live across the street from each other, it made it quite easy for them to catch both sales at the same time. I have to tell you it was the most enjoyable sale of this type I have ever had. I met some of the most interesting people, that had wonderful stories to tell about their knitting, crocheting or crafting projects. I got tips on what type of yarn to use, where to buy the best knitting needles, websites to check out and invitations to craft parties at one woman's house. Most were senior crafters but they were tuned into the newest techniques and styles. I learned so much from these women that love what they do.
I also learned that there were many different responses to my greeting of "Good Morning/Afternoon. How are you today"? Here are a few of their replies: Wonderful........It's a beautiful day to be out and about.....Glad to be alive and breathing......I have a sore foot. I injured it last night......I have bad ankles, will probably need surgery. And my favorite.....It's another dismal day in an otherwise miserable existence. This man made me laugh so hard when he said this and I don't know why. I think it was because it was such a beautiful day that I just couldn't imagine this type of reply. When I told him it couldn't be that bad he said, no I guess it isn't.
The KU T-shirt I was wearing also prompted many a conversation about the game that night and living in Kansas. I found that our area is filled with not only KU fans but people that came from Kansas and the Johnson County area. In fact, in my neighborhood alone there are several that either graduated from KU or were raised in the Johnson County area. One of my neighbors that I see almost every day walking his dog, graduated from KU in 1971 and lived in Olathe most of his life. I always say that you are attracted to people or a place that mirror your feelings and attitude. It's no wonder I have always felt comfortable living in this area of Arizona.
Saturday we opened bright and early again. The traffic was a little slower to get started that morning, but what I found were more couples and younger people that day. The older couples interested me the most. The men, of course, weren't interested in what I had to sell, but they would encourage their wife's to look and even to buy if they found something they wanted. They were patient and respectful of their spouses. In fact, several couples would split up as they exited their cars and if the man came to my place first most of them would send their wife over to see my merchandise. They seemed like such happy couples and it warmed my heart to see that there was still this old fashion type of love in the world. My favorite couple was the two that didn't buy a thing but told me joke after joke and had me laughing so hard. They even came back two more times to tell me one more "clean joke". I loved them.
Now I didn't spend all my time making notes about people, their comments or personalities and I did sell a lot of my items.
I will close by saying that I am going to do some research on tag sales to see how I can improve for the next one. You should try it sometime......being an artisan you would probably have fun. And yes, we are all artisans in one way or another. Find your talent and have fun with it.
PS. I do have some stock left over it you are interested. I have posted pictures and prices in the Stitches and Scraps section of my blog.
