Charcoal Crafts, With a Little Wood

I was somehow skeptical about going to fairs and festivals for most of my life. There was a very good reason for it, too; my first boyfriend dumped me in a fair, near the cotton candy guy, in front of about half the class! It was so embarrassing for thirteen-year old me, so I swore of fairs since then.

As with many adults, however, I eventually had to face my fear, if only to help out a friend. One of my former college classmates recently invited me to a fair where she had set up a booth for the first time. She was going to try and earn some extra bucks by trying out a charcoal portrait gimmick. I thought about it, and decided that my fear was largely irrational. Besides, I didn't have a boyfriend at the time, so what could possibly happen, right?

So I decided to go ahead and face that fear. But when I got to the fair, I began to remember that the place was anything but scary. In fact, there were tons upon tons of things to shop for! It's every girl's dream come true. By the time I got to my friend's booth, I already had two bags full of stuff.

So then I sat down for quite some time, not because I was tired from all the shopping, but because I convinced my friend to do a charcoal drawing of me for no cost. And as I sat, an idea struck me: What if I could get into this gimmick? There were a number of crafts in the area, and I bet that my own woodcarved crafts would fit in just nicely.

I suppose I should tell you guys that I've always loved woodcarving. It's a skill that I inherited from my grandfather, or so my mom says. And while I didn't pursue any serious career out of it, I did take a few professional classes for it back in college. It was actually in that class that I met Sandra (my friend that is skilled with charcoal).

I talked about my idea with Sandra, and she was immediately supportive of the notion. We're going to try that on the next booth she'll set up; I'll get to join in, and in exchange, we'll be splitting the rental cost. I'm ready for the day when I'll sell my crafts; I'll tell you how good (or bad) it went.