Victor Show - Day 2

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I was dead wrong about today, Day 2 of the Victor craft show. It wasn't very busy, unfortunately. We had some nice flurries of activity but not what we expected. We think it was because we had gorgeous weather - and people either went to Rochester's Lilac Festival which opened today or they worked in their yards. Memorial Day is our peak planting weekend in upstate New York, so any weekend prior to that, which allows gardeners to get an early start, is taken advantage of. And as I stated yesterday, parking for this show is a problem. Otherwise, it's a fascinating old house on a well-traveled street, so it should have been good. We're not sure how to resolve the parking since there's no parking on the street and the homeowner doesn't want people parking on his lawn, which I half understand.

Mom and Dad stopped by, as did Gretchen. I have a very supportive family, but you already knew that. Mom and Dad: Bill (the homeowner) said to say hello to you, he says you're "good people". Dad: MJ said you remind her of her dad, who is deceased - and she started to tear up when telling me that. Isn't that sweet?

I ended up liking Bill a lot. He comes off a little obnoxious at first but even then I could tell he's someone that grows on you and I was probably going to end up liking him. He's very sociable, remembers people's names, is very funny. He's terminally grouchy but it's all bark and no bite. I kept calling him "a character", complete with air quotes each time. I think he might be about my age actually. His wife and kids are great too. And they have an overweight beagle!

One advantage to slow periods, is that I had more opportunity to get to know other vendors too, which is always fun. Remember how I said Kathy, our hostess, is charming, funny and just enough eccentric, in a really good way? She's also absolutely fascinating. She was a high school art teacher for many years, then a principal in a couple of different elementary schools for many years. She told us about a couple of gorgeously dramatic quilts she made - wish I could see those. She told us about a huge piece of fabric she wove, then made it into a couch. This tea party business is her post-retirement career. A bunch of us ate lunch together and she was telling us what she wants her next career to be. She's the happiest, most cheerful easy-going person I've ever met. I'm sure she gets in bad moods but I sure can't picture it. I really like her very much. That alone, getting to know her a bit better, was worth the price of admission.

Overall, I think I did well enough to consider it successful, but not what I'd hoped. The bright side to these situations is always, "Oh well, at least I have less inventory to replace." I did take a number of orders so I need to go through my notes and get organized on that front.

I just used half of my black screen because of space limitations but I didn't mind because I didn't have that many framed pieces available. I'd sold 4 by the time I took this picture so it looks more empty than usual. See how nicely that sideboard/buffet/dresser in the corner worked out? I was happy to be able to spread out a bit and showcase the notepad/pen sets . It's made me think I might need to expand my flat surface into a L-shape for future shows. Maybe buy another 6' table. Or maybe 5'. Need to think on that.

That free drawing for the Ladybug Set (Sticky Notes, pin, greeting card) proved to be pretty popular. We haven't unpacked the vehicle yet so I haven't counted the number of entries, so I don't know how many people provided info for the mailing list too, but I'd guess at least 20.

Those 60 cent gift tags proved to be quite popular. I need to check on my envelope template order - because I think I ordered a tiny envelope template, just because I thought it was cute and inexpensive. Wouldn't that be a cool coinkydink? I think the tags would sell even better with matching envelopes.

I sold 2 of the notepad/pen sets and took orders for 2. I still maintain, with more traffic, I would have sold more. People seemed impressed by them. I know, I know, impressed doesn't pay the bills.

I thought I'd show you what my studio primary work surface ends up looking like prior to a show. I do clean it periodically and certainly between projects - but sometimes it just becomes this Incredible Shrinking Workspace. Kinda claustrophobic, huh? I've said before that I love cleaning my studio because everything has a place, it's just a matter of returning it to it's rightful place. Never takes as long as it looks like it will.

The thing about these craft shows where there's one cashier for the whole show - I won't get my check for about a week. At least when I take my own money, I know that evening how much I made.

Oddly, I'm not nearly as tired as I thought I'd be. I was beat last night - hobbled to bed around 9:00. After falling asleep on the couch around 8:30, that is. Slept good too. We hot tubbed this morning, soothing out any remaining achy breaky muscles.

I've been looking forward to Sunday as a day off, of total rest and recharging. At this moment, I don't feel like I need recharging, but I'll likely take it off anyway. I plan on working a lot of hours at my day job this coming week since I haven't been able to put in any extra hours these past two weeks.

Enough babbling out of me. Time to veg on the couch with my laptop.

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