The Beehive Bazaar

I had Elise Capener take pictures of the shirts I made when I first decided to open Coco Sailore on Etsy. I knew she would make my clothes look good. And she did! (Check out her fabulous work here.) As we were working together she told me about a local craft fair here in Provo and suggested that I try and get in. Ha! I thought she was just being really nice. These shirts? I was flattered but had to recognize reality--I was just now building a relationship with the needle and thread again. We had decided 15 years ago that it would never really work out between us. (I'm happy to say that our fights are fewer and much more mild. Respect, respect, respect...)

So one day I got up the guts to just throw myself out there. I felt nauseous through the application process. Yeah, there was an application process because they only accepted 50 vendors. In my mind it was a joke. There are many, many talented artists here with years of experience. Like I said earlier, my sewing accessories and I were trying to put a rocky relationship behind us. So I sent in a silly picture of myself, fumbled through a description of my work, and sent in a few pictures of my work.

And waited and waited and waited. I based my expectations on how things were going with Coco Sailore. My garden of success on Etsy needed more watering, weeding, and care than I had anticipated. Needless to say, the money tree seed I had planted was not even poking out of the soil.

Then one day I received an unfamiliar email. And Beehive Bazaar told me that I had gotten in. And that they had posted my information on their website. And that I should come prepared with plenty of stock to the fair.

Have you seen the other stuff that will be available at the fair?! I feel like I can't even compare. What have I done?! I'm thrilled and flattered and terrified and...need to make a run for the bathroom.....

But we learn through our mistakes, right? I just wish they didn't have to be so public. I'm excited to start this new adventure. I'm excited to meet and be inspired by the other artists. I'm excited to have my own business cards! I'm excit..scared...scared...scared....