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“I was thinking about approaching a few of the shop owners to see if they’d like to sell my mosaics in their shop.”
“I love them all.”
I smiled and ruffled her hair. “You’re sweet. You want to come with me?”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yes, really. We can shop while we’re at it.” Maybe I could find some early Christmas presents for Elle, Gray, and Amelia.
Maggie cheered before she thundered down the hall to her room, presumably to get dressed.
For the first time in a while, I felt excited about something, and it wasn’t just coming up with plans to please Maggie. This was something I was doing for myself, and it felt good.
It was scary. Maybe no one would find the mosaics as unique as my family or Sam and Maggie did, but I wouldn’t know if I didn’t try.
I didn’t have a logo for the box, stickers, or even a business card to hand to the shop owners. I needed a website, a way for people to buy from me, and a way to ship orders at a reasonable price to them.
But first, I needed to be sure that there was a market before I invested any more time and money. Eager to get on with our day, we ate cereal, then headed downtown.
Whenever I saw the mountains that surrounded Telluride, I felt protected from the outside world. I loved that feeling, but it was time for me to be a bit more visible. If I wanted to live the life I was meant to, I needed to do things I wouldn’t ordinarily do. Take risks. Do the things that were scary.
Thankfully, I had Maggie with me, who was excited to share my mosaics with others. Maybe her enthusiasm would rub off.
We parked and got out, walking into the first shop, which sold wooden signs, throw pillows with cute sayings, candles, and other knickknacks. There were various décor items that looked handmade. It was a good sign that the owner might be willing to look at my mosaics.
“Can I help you?” a woman asked from the counter.
“Yes, I brought my mosaics to see if you or the owner would be interested in selling them in your store.”
“Let me see what you have.”
Encouraged by her response, I hurried to the counter, Maggie at my side. I opened the box and held my breath. I’d chosen my favorite shapes, the turtles, the starfish, and the crab. “I can also do seasonal items, ghosts and candy corn at Halloween, leaves and apples in the fall, snowmen and ornaments for Christmas, hearts for Valentine’s Day, and four-leaf clovers for St. Patrick’s Day.” I opened my social media gallery on my phone and handed it to her so she could scroll.
“These are amazing. I think the customers would like them. Could you do more wintery themes instead of the ocean items? I think the tourists would prefer snowflakes over sea turtles.”
“Absolutely.”
“Why don’t you create some and bring them by.”
“I can do that. Should I leave a couple for you to test out in the meantime?”
“Do the winter items first, then we’ll talk.” She waved me off to greet another customer who’d just arrived in the store.
I was a little disappointed. I’d need to create more pieces before she’d commit. It didn’t feel right, but maybe that’s how it worked.
“Can we go to the pottery shop and paint?” Maggie asked as we walked outside.
“Let’s go to a few more shops first, okay?”
Maggie nodded, not realizing that the visit wasn’t as successful as I would have liked.
I walked into the next shop, which was a bit more cluttered, featuring jewelry, crystals, wall décor, and handmade pottery. I wasn’t sure my mosaics fit in here, but I was determined to go to three stores today before I was done.
We perused the store, and not finding anything we liked, we stopped at the counter.
“Did you find everything you were looking for?” the younger woman asked.
“I brought my mosaics in to see if you or the owner would be interested in selling these here.”
