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11.29.2011
11.28.2011
Christkindlmarkt 2011: Day 7
It was a great day to cap off the second week of the event. I had a steady flow of customers and the weather was beautiful so the tent was warm all day.
Dad was nice and warm over in his hut as well but fell short of his days sales goals by $3... In all I am very happy with his sales for the weekend and I am very proud of the hard work he has been putting in.
My sales fell short of last year's, but I have the two strongest weeks of sales coming up so I think I will catch up and do just fine.
Today I am thankful for my best friend and her husband. C locked himself out of the house and her husband came to the rescue with the spare key. It saved up a lot of grief, either with an emergency lock smith or breaking a window (which probably would be cheaper to fix than calling a locksmith). After the show we met for dinner and got to blow off some steam and compare notes and most importantly have fun and laugh a lot.
She is afraid for me. She is afraid that taking part in both craft events this winter will anger the ArtsQuest gods and I will be blackballed from their events next year. I have more faith in them than that. Yes there are rumors that this has happened to other artisans, but I don't think that any situation is that easy to explain, and I don't think that listening to rumors and hearsay is the way to make business decisions.
I made a business decision based on what I thought would be best for my business and my family. I looked at my financial needs, the crumbling economy, and my options. Being that we only travel 60 miles from the house for craft shows, there are only so many I can choose from to participate in. Yes, that means some weekends dad and I will be at competing shows, but that can't be avoided. And I am like the mayor of Bethlehem, I think both of these events compliment each other and having them both is an amazing opportunity for the city itself.
I believe that ArtsQuest will continue to support the local artisan and I will continue to support it and have faith in them as long as it does just that.
Dad was nice and warm over in his hut as well but fell short of his days sales goals by $3... In all I am very happy with his sales for the weekend and I am very proud of the hard work he has been putting in.
My sales fell short of last year's, but I have the two strongest weeks of sales coming up so I think I will catch up and do just fine.
Today I am thankful for my best friend and her husband. C locked himself out of the house and her husband came to the rescue with the spare key. It saved up a lot of grief, either with an emergency lock smith or breaking a window (which probably would be cheaper to fix than calling a locksmith). After the show we met for dinner and got to blow off some steam and compare notes and most importantly have fun and laugh a lot.
She is afraid for me. She is afraid that taking part in both craft events this winter will anger the ArtsQuest gods and I will be blackballed from their events next year. I have more faith in them than that. Yes there are rumors that this has happened to other artisans, but I don't think that any situation is that easy to explain, and I don't think that listening to rumors and hearsay is the way to make business decisions.
I made a business decision based on what I thought would be best for my business and my family. I looked at my financial needs, the crumbling economy, and my options. Being that we only travel 60 miles from the house for craft shows, there are only so many I can choose from to participate in. Yes, that means some weekends dad and I will be at competing shows, but that can't be avoided. And I am like the mayor of Bethlehem, I think both of these events compliment each other and having them both is an amazing opportunity for the city itself.
I believe that ArtsQuest will continue to support the local artisan and I will continue to support it and have faith in them as long as it does just that.
11.27.2011
Christkindlmarkt 2011: Day 6
So today was a good day. I won the Hedge vs Dad sales battles for the day. We promised from now on we wouldn't be in a contest about it, but it is hard not to do for the first few days and is kinda fun to compare.
But as I promised I wanted to think of good things, be thankful for things, and project that attitude out into the world. I think I did pretty good. I started out dressing up nice, it was a warm do so I could wear a skirt without getting too cold.
So here are the things I am thankful for:
1) I am thankful for my neighbors. Barry and Sandy G (and Cindy) make the best neighbors. They check on me and take care of me when I need it, and are friendly, but understand when customers are there who comes first, and don't complain about things all day. They are my favorite neighbors.
2) The aisles are wider this year. When it gets busy there is much more room for people to maneuver around. Especially the wheelchairs and strollers. There is actually enough room to keep a stroller in the aisle without blocking it while mom or dad shop.
3) Parking is much better, both for patrons and for artisans. It is so nice not to have to get there early and squish my car in someplace just to have it blocked in when I go to leave.
4) Having Sandy come stay with us. My artisan friend comes and stays with us each weekend. I love having this time with her each week and I look forward to having someone to talk to who understands the uniqueness of our jobs.
5) Seeing faces I recognize. I love catching up with artisans I only see once a year and seeing how our lives have been going. I love hearing all the stories of the past twelve months of shows and life. I also love seeing customers that I know. It is amazing how many over the years I have started to recognize as repeat customers. I have always been bad with names, but I know the faces and remember odd details, like their favorite soaps or their husbands birthday. I sometimes surprise them by remembering these things, and I always hope they don't think I'm creepy, it's just the way my brain works.
OK, so those are five things I thought of yesterday while in between customers, I plan on thinking of more today and I want to make a gratitude list each day, even if it is only one thing. I need to keep my head up, my attitude positive, and pt out into the world h energy I want to get back from it.
But as I promised I wanted to think of good things, be thankful for things, and project that attitude out into the world. I think I did pretty good. I started out dressing up nice, it was a warm do so I could wear a skirt without getting too cold.
So here are the things I am thankful for:
1) I am thankful for my neighbors. Barry and Sandy G (and Cindy) make the best neighbors. They check on me and take care of me when I need it, and are friendly, but understand when customers are there who comes first, and don't complain about things all day. They are my favorite neighbors.
2) The aisles are wider this year. When it gets busy there is much more room for people to maneuver around. Especially the wheelchairs and strollers. There is actually enough room to keep a stroller in the aisle without blocking it while mom or dad shop.
3) Parking is much better, both for patrons and for artisans. It is so nice not to have to get there early and squish my car in someplace just to have it blocked in when I go to leave.
4) Having Sandy come stay with us. My artisan friend comes and stays with us each weekend. I love having this time with her each week and I look forward to having someone to talk to who understands the uniqueness of our jobs.
5) Seeing faces I recognize. I love catching up with artisans I only see once a year and seeing how our lives have been going. I love hearing all the stories of the past twelve months of shows and life. I also love seeing customers that I know. It is amazing how many over the years I have started to recognize as repeat customers. I have always been bad with names, but I know the faces and remember odd details, like their favorite soaps or their husbands birthday. I sometimes surprise them by remembering these things, and I always hope they don't think I'm creepy, it's just the way my brain works.
OK, so those are five things I thought of yesterday while in between customers, I plan on thinking of more today and I want to make a gratitude list each day, even if it is only one thing. I need to keep my head up, my attitude positive, and pt out into the world h energy I want to get back from it.
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