The greatest reward

One of the joys of doing craft shows and Farmers' Markets is watching customers admire your work. It's great to receive praise from family and friends, and often that's the only thing that keeps you motivated on days when you just aren't "feeling it." But when a complete stranger compliments you on a piece you know you put some sweat into, you feel a small surge of pride that somehow your work is passing a test.

One of those moments came last week when I got an email through the website from a woman looking for a cutting board for a shower gift. Turns out that she received one of my boards as a shower gift herself. She said, and I quote, "We must have got six or seven cutting boards. But yours is our 'go to' board. We love it!"

Wow. I can't tell you how good this made me feel. To find out that not only does someone love something I made, but wanted to buy something else because of that, is simply amazing.

It's these happy occurrences that make up for all the late nights, early days, crappy show turnouts, tedious sanding chores, slivers and folks who think that charging $25 for something that took you fives hours to make is "just way too much money."

So thank you my loyal customers. You are why I do what I do.