Another Episode in My Craft Show Sagas

I started writing this post this morning while sitting in front of my SO's new wood burning stove. It was a cold morning and so nice to sit and watch the flames and let my thoughts drift while I sipped my Sunday morning coffee. Guess that was the problem, my thoughts were drifting and I never got around to actually writing. So now, we're back at my house and I'm on the pc in my basement with fewer distractions.

It's the day after a craft show and I'm tired and not wanting to do much in the way of physical activity. Setting up and breaking down a craft show take a lot out of me anymore. Gridwall gets heavier with age. My age, not the gridwall's. The show we did was a large one and one that has been around for 28 years. We haven't done it since their 25th and with the economy, etc. wasn't sure how it would go. The show is spread out in three buildings; a junior high school, elementary school and church basement. We were in a classroom in the elementary school at the end of a hallway, so I was also concerned about traffic. Would people come all the way to the end of the hall? The classroom set up was great though. Because it was just Steve and me assigned to the room, we could set it up as we saw fit. No 10 x 10 box to fit into. So I tried to arrange the space kind of like a gift shop and it worked very well. People were able to look in all three areas, florals, jewelry and photography without bumping into each other. Even when people stopped to visit in the middle, there was still ample room to move around them. Think we will look into this kind of arrangement again for next year. As it turned out, the show went well. We had good traffic and I exceeded my projected sales for the day. Steve sold quite a bit too and got some custom orders so I quess we'd have to rate the day a success.

It was not a day without mishaps however, but I guess that's what keeps things "interesting". With all that room you wouldn't think there would be a problem with people knocking things over, right? Wrong. Not once, but twice I had to rescue items from the floor. The first time was purely accident. A lady brushed against a shelving unit with a heavy bag and knocked over my bracelet display. She was so embarrassed, but ironically was heading to the checkout table to purchase a bracelet when the accident occurred. The second time was a bratty toddler who ran into the room and immediately made a beeline to hide behind my gridwall with my jewelry hung on it. When her mother told her to come out she started to pull a tantrum and I was afraid she was going to push the gridwall over. I rushed to hold on to the gridwall while her mother tried to pry her little fingers off it and in getting her out from behind the grid, she managed to knock down another shelving unit with earrings. I love children, but at craft shows they should not be allowed to run rampant. The mother did not even bother to apologize for the mess!

Then there were those people who you would like to give a piece of your mind but can't because, after all, the customer is always right. One woman "complimented" my work by saying that my prices were almost as good as Walmart's. And of course so many people can tell you how you could have designed something better or want you to tell them how you designed something so they can go home and do it themselves. Or they'd buy that particular item from you if only you had made it up with this color or such and such stone. But the one that really got me yesterday was a lady who was viewing my fall antler wreaths. These wreaths are very much one of a kind with deer shed antlers, pheasant or turkey feathers, silk leaves and flowers, berries, pinecones, etc. This woman informed her friend that she could make one just as well. All she had to do was go to Hobby Lobby, buy a grapevine wreath and slap some leaves on it. LOL There's always an expert in the crowd.