Decisions
I’m meditating on something so I thought I’d throw together an entry about it. It often helps me to write stuff down. The act of organizing my thoughts brings clarity sometimes.
MJ, one of the vendors at Celebration Gifts, called me today. She told me about a home show (art sale in someone’s home) she learned of today and she thought it might be a good venue for my cards. The thing is, it’s the day after tomorrow! It’s Friday, Saturday and Sunday at a woman’s home in Victor.
This woman paints detailed scenery on slate and wood and sells them at quite a high price, MJ says, so presumably the customers on her established mailing list must be accustomed to artsy prices, if you catch my drift. She has stuff at The Wine Trek, so whether or not I do this show, I’ll check out her stuff there.
There’s a $50 entrance fee but MJ inquired if that was negotiable because that would require a whole lot of cards for me to sell just to break even. The woman said she’d consider taking a percentage of my sales, which sounds fair. I would work that percentage out with her directly – so maybe that’s a factor. I’m sure it would be reasonable though.
I’d have to work a few hours of the weekend. Not a problem. My only obligation this weekend is to clear my stuff out of Celebration Gifts at 5:00, Saturday (if that time is convenient with the storeowner; I’ve emailed her to arrange it).
The show starts at noon Friday – when would I be able to get my stuff out there and set up? There are only a total of 4 vendors (not sure if that includes the organizer) – and they’ll probably set up Friday morning, but I have to work. I could arrange to leave work for a short time – as an early lunch hour and use some comp time I’ve put in this week.
Do I have enough cards to display and sell? Maybe. I’d like to have more but it might be okay as is. Damn, I really wish the sale was a week away – this wouldn’t be such a conundrum.
Display? How will I display them? I’m not really set up to do this.
Hmmmm.
When I heard MJ’s voice mail when I came home from work tonight, my first instinct, was no way. As I ate my dinner, I kept thinking of the new rubber stamp I ordered this week.
Leap and the net will appear.
Don’t you love that? It’s obviously reminiscent of one of my very favorite sayings in the whole wide world, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” That’s such a true statement!
I can make an equal case for:
Just do it.
or
Take some time in the near future to fully prepare, should another opportunity like this show up. Have plenty of inventory. Have display pieces ready to go.
No, wait. I can’t make an equal case for both.
I really, really, hate doing things unprepared and half-assed. But this is the perfect lesson – like I said above, I shall take time to prepare for another opportunity. I know more opportunities will show up. I’ll be ready and I’ll feel good about it.
Meanwhile, I want to focus on my two known priorities - The Wine Trek and the Pine Tree Designs website.
Yep, that’s it. I have my answer. I'll call the organizer in the morning and decline the offer but ask to be considered in the future. Then I'll mail her a thank you card so she can see my work.
MJ, one of the vendors at Celebration Gifts, called me today. She told me about a home show (art sale in someone’s home) she learned of today and she thought it might be a good venue for my cards. The thing is, it’s the day after tomorrow! It’s Friday, Saturday and Sunday at a woman’s home in Victor.
This woman paints detailed scenery on slate and wood and sells them at quite a high price, MJ says, so presumably the customers on her established mailing list must be accustomed to artsy prices, if you catch my drift. She has stuff at The Wine Trek, so whether or not I do this show, I’ll check out her stuff there.
There’s a $50 entrance fee but MJ inquired if that was negotiable because that would require a whole lot of cards for me to sell just to break even. The woman said she’d consider taking a percentage of my sales, which sounds fair. I would work that percentage out with her directly – so maybe that’s a factor. I’m sure it would be reasonable though.
I’d have to work a few hours of the weekend. Not a problem. My only obligation this weekend is to clear my stuff out of Celebration Gifts at 5:00, Saturday (if that time is convenient with the storeowner; I’ve emailed her to arrange it).
The show starts at noon Friday – when would I be able to get my stuff out there and set up? There are only a total of 4 vendors (not sure if that includes the organizer) – and they’ll probably set up Friday morning, but I have to work. I could arrange to leave work for a short time – as an early lunch hour and use some comp time I’ve put in this week.
Do I have enough cards to display and sell? Maybe. I’d like to have more but it might be okay as is. Damn, I really wish the sale was a week away – this wouldn’t be such a conundrum.
Display? How will I display them? I’m not really set up to do this.
Hmmmm.
When I heard MJ’s voice mail when I came home from work tonight, my first instinct, was no way. As I ate my dinner, I kept thinking of the new rubber stamp I ordered this week.
Leap and the net will appear.
Don’t you love that? It’s obviously reminiscent of one of my very favorite sayings in the whole wide world, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” That’s such a true statement!
I can make an equal case for:
Just do it.
or
Take some time in the near future to fully prepare, should another opportunity like this show up. Have plenty of inventory. Have display pieces ready to go.
No, wait. I can’t make an equal case for both.
I really, really, hate doing things unprepared and half-assed. But this is the perfect lesson – like I said above, I shall take time to prepare for another opportunity. I know more opportunities will show up. I’ll be ready and I’ll feel good about it.
Meanwhile, I want to focus on my two known priorities - The Wine Trek and the Pine Tree Designs website.
Yep, that’s it. I have my answer. I'll call the organizer in the morning and decline the offer but ask to be considered in the future. Then I'll mail her a thank you card so she can see my work.
Background done by using scrunched up plastic wrap as a stamp with two different ink pads.
posted by Stefani at 9:23 PM
5 Comments:
Oh man. I told two friends at work about this opportunity and they think I should definitely do the show! They made some valid points. I guess it's like having a baby, getting married, buying a house - there's no perfect time - just do it.
Leap and the net will appear.
I felt the same way after reading Stef- just go for it! Keep us updated! Hugs!
Re: display
See if you'll have any table space available at the party. If not, get your hands on a small table and a nice tablecloth.
Pick up some cute, inexpensive photo easels at a craft shop. I found some great metal ones at Michaels.
You can put cards "on display" in the easels and then have backstock sitting in boxes or stacks somewhere. It's a good idea to get some height in your display so things aren't all laid out flat.
If you have some sort of simple silk flower arrangement or a nice plant, you might consider bringing that along as well. Even if you end up not using it, it might be nice to have in case your table or area needs some sprucing up.
Hope this helps!
-Christine
Well boy I stand alone again. Life is too short to be rush rush rush. :-)
Bonnie, you don't stand alone.
Stefani, I was all prepared to tell you that I thought you made the right decision. Given just a few more days, you might feel better about being able to pull this off with complete confidence. Feeling rushed can be rattling.
I will be interested in knowing about your final decision.
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