Mayfair Festival of the Arts

Overall, all I can say is UGH! But lets start with the good first...

1) I have THE BEST customers on the planet. Their loyalty constantly brightened my day. Even when they didn't make a purchase, I was showered with smiles and laughs from people who are now old friends (and some new ones too!)Many stop by with their kids who I just love to watch grow up, and some seem to stay forever young as well:) This show does not have the rude, uncouthness of some other shows I do. I truly enjoyed every encounter.

2) We missed the worst rain. One night we left just as it started, at 9 pm and got home and could ride out the rain in the safety of our home. We also experienced no damage that night (a few others did) and no mud or poor drainage in the booth. The other night they claimed a bad storm so we left early. The storm blew over, but a few lost sales was better than the possibility of dealing with rain and hail in a tent:)

3) Sales were not all that bad. Not great, but they certainly could have been worse. About a 25% decrease from last year. This seems about average so far for me at shows. But my orders are up and that is filling the gaps...

and now the bad...

1) Upon arrival, the check in booth was not set up as indicated on the paperwork mailed earlier in the month. Another crafter had to explain to me how to get my booth assignment. It would be better if this information is just mailed to me, like every other show I do...

2) The booth numbers were screwy. Mine was 57, next to me was 68, and 58 was a dozen booths down on the other side of the street.

3) There are maybe 100 vendors, but somehow, me, another soapmaker, and the potpourri guy, all were in the same 50 feet. This means our scents conflict and we can't take advantage of one of our strengths- our fragrance and people smelling it as they walk by and being enticed in the booth.

4) Attendance was certainly down. Usually it is a challenge to get out of my booth at night and to my car because there are so many people. This year, it was empty...Low attendance equals low sales for everyone...

So that is it.. my critique for this year. I will probably be back next year if the lower the price some, but I am not sure if I will if it remains at it's current entry fee. I really thought this show had reached it's low and was on the way back up, but this year I am not so sure now...

Just Do It...

I had a doctor of mine the other day relate to me how she tried to learn how to knit when she was pregnant and just couldn't do it. I mean, she is a doctor, she completed medical school, and she can't learn to knit??? Everyone learns different, she tried by a book. But if you are trying to learn and are having trouble try a book, try a class, try videos on Youtube, or try a combination of them all. And if you don't like your class or instructor, try another! Sometimes the way people teach just doesn't work and we just need to try another way.

BTW: this is not my artwork, and I can't find the designer to credit them, so if you know, let me know, so I can do the right thing:)

Beacuse it is a cow....

Yesterday was the Chestnut Hill Home and Garden Show. It was supposed to be two weeks ago but the rain delayed it until yesterday. It was a shell of the usual show, but still not that bad. Typically the streets are lined with really good crafters, some local stores displaying merchandise, and some local businesses drumming up business (think window replacement and gutter dohickies)...

But yesterday the crafters were scarce. I figure that between the rain delay, and the not wonderful weather yesterday, may crafters decided to stay home or do another show. So the spaces that were empty were filled by the local stores with their merchandise (nice stores by the way..) so the street wasn't as much of a crfat fair as a street fair kind of atmosphere.

But even with the questionable economy, and the rain delay, I still did pretty well. I sold two shaving mugs which is exciting and they got a lot of attention as well. I also got a lead on a possible new show which is great news too.

So someplace was giving out balloons to the kids. I kept seeing these white balloons go by with what I thought were the shapes of continents on them. So I turn to K an say "I think those earth balloons are cool, but they would look better if they were blue rather than white"..to which she replies.. "That is because they are cows"...after a better look, there were no distinguishable continent shapes at all..