Little Autobiographies
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Along those lines, here's a site I found the other day that I keep going back to, to see the newest postings.
Here's one I've posted about before. I thank Gretchen for it because it was due to her recommendation that we visited the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore last year. There was an exhibit of Post Secret postcards trailing throughout the museum. Some brought tears to my eyes.
I love, love, love biographies and especially autobiographies. Even as a kid, that's the first section I headed to every time we went to the library. That's why I love blogs so much - seeing how other people live their lives.
Along those lines, here's a site I found the other day that I keep going back to, to see the newest postings.
Here's one I've posted about before. I thank Gretchen for it because it was due to her recommendation that we visited the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore last year. There was an exhibit of Post Secret postcards trailing throughout the museum. Some brought tears to my eyes.~ ~ ~
I'm not sure I told you the conclusion to the Steve/Stefani tiff. I texted Steve Sunday from the show and asked if he wanted to be reinstated on Team Pine Tree Design. He said yes, he had been about to text me to see if I wanted his help packing up after the show. Things were still a little chilly but we talked later that night and I felt like we were both heard. That's all humans want, to be heard.
Over the weekend I had become a bit panicked about the next show, my first outdoor show - in Syracuse, about 90 minutes from here. I had not bought my tent yet and wasn't sure I'd have time to practice putting it up, etc. I had been thinking I had 2 full weekends between shows but it's only 1. I'd still like to make more stuff too. I have enough but I'd like to have more than enough.
So I emailed the co-ordinator to see if my space could be switched from an outdoor space to an indoor space. I figured it was a long shot - and it was. The indoor spaces go like hotcakes. So once I knew Steve would be going with me to help with the tent, I decided to suck it up and get moving.
I bought my tent yesterday. Depending on the weather, Simon is going to help me set it up the first time today or tomorrow after work. I want to have set it up and taken it down 3 times before the show. I need to figure out the weights for it too.
I ordered a canvas sign to hang outside the tent.
I made our reservation at a hotel. We'll drive to the venue late Friday afternoon, set up the tent, stay over and get a fresh start in the morning - I'll set up the inside. Steve can stay behind in the hotel and work on his laptop or read. It happens to be a pet friendly hotel so I wish we could take Reggi. To my knowledge, hotels that accept pets don't allow the pet to be in the room unattended, which is kind of a drag. We've only taken her with us to a hotel one time and we loved it, as did she.
The unexpected thing is - now I'm really excited about this show. I had been feeling all along that I really wanted to get my first outdoor show behind me because the first of anything is always the scariest. I'm happy I had so much experience working for MJ at her outdoor shows. But she and her husband always put the tent up and took it down. I was just there for the busiest part of the show hours. So I guess the tent part is the only thing I'm a little anxious about. But I know it will be fine. Like I said, I'm excited!
Over the weekend I had become a bit panicked about the next show, my first outdoor show - in Syracuse, about 90 minutes from here. I had not bought my tent yet and wasn't sure I'd have time to practice putting it up, etc. I had been thinking I had 2 full weekends between shows but it's only 1. I'd still like to make more stuff too. I have enough but I'd like to have more than enough.
So I emailed the co-ordinator to see if my space could be switched from an outdoor space to an indoor space. I figured it was a long shot - and it was. The indoor spaces go like hotcakes. So once I knew Steve would be going with me to help with the tent, I decided to suck it up and get moving.
I bought my tent yesterday. Depending on the weather, Simon is going to help me set it up the first time today or tomorrow after work. I want to have set it up and taken it down 3 times before the show. I need to figure out the weights for it too.
I ordered a canvas sign to hang outside the tent.
I made our reservation at a hotel. We'll drive to the venue late Friday afternoon, set up the tent, stay over and get a fresh start in the morning - I'll set up the inside. Steve can stay behind in the hotel and work on his laptop or read. It happens to be a pet friendly hotel so I wish we could take Reggi. To my knowledge, hotels that accept pets don't allow the pet to be in the room unattended, which is kind of a drag. We've only taken her with us to a hotel one time and we loved it, as did she.
The unexpected thing is - now I'm really excited about this show. I had been feeling all along that I really wanted to get my first outdoor show behind me because the first of anything is always the scariest. I'm happy I had so much experience working for MJ at her outdoor shows. But she and her husband always put the tent up and took it down. I was just there for the busiest part of the show hours. So I guess the tent part is the only thing I'm a little anxious about. But I know it will be fine. Like I said, I'm excited!
~ ~ ~
I mentioned being interested in the Pennsylvania National Quilt Show, so I emailed them to get on their mailing list. They emailed me an application yesterday, for the 2009 show. My show schedule is already set for the year so I was thinking 2010.
However, I did up a little spreadsheet on how much a big show like that might cost me, including fee, gas, hotel, meals, etc. My quick estimate was over $1500. Do you know how many little stinkin' notepads I'd have to sell to make it a profitable show?? It's 4 full days so I'd have to have a truckload of product available! I'm not ready for a big show like that. I think I was getting a little too big for my britches. Got a little heady with success, I did.
But I also took the opportunity to review my costs and decided I'm happy with my profit margins. A couple of people at last weekend's show told me I was charging too little. I do get that sometimes. Sometimes I'll joke and say, "For you, then, $7.00!" This time I said, "I try hard to keep my prices reasonable. I am making a profit. It's all about finding the right balance." It's almost like when I say that, they understand I do take it seriously, have done the research and "run the numbers" and I'm not just making prices up off the top of my head.
Anyway. Enough rambling out of me.
.
However, I did up a little spreadsheet on how much a big show like that might cost me, including fee, gas, hotel, meals, etc. My quick estimate was over $1500. Do you know how many little stinkin' notepads I'd have to sell to make it a profitable show?? It's 4 full days so I'd have to have a truckload of product available! I'm not ready for a big show like that. I think I was getting a little too big for my britches. Got a little heady with success, I did.
But I also took the opportunity to review my costs and decided I'm happy with my profit margins. A couple of people at last weekend's show told me I was charging too little. I do get that sometimes. Sometimes I'll joke and say, "For you, then, $7.00!" This time I said, "I try hard to keep my prices reasonable. I am making a profit. It's all about finding the right balance." It's almost like when I say that, they understand I do take it seriously, have done the research and "run the numbers" and I'm not just making prices up off the top of my head.
Anyway. Enough rambling out of me.
Saturday, June 20, 10:00-5:00
Unity's 8th Annual Arts & Crafts Festival
300 West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY 13207
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Labels: Craft Business, Fun Stuff I Found Online
posted by Stefani at 5:38 AM
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4 Comments:
Tent Weights: I use 20# bottles of kitty litter, tied with a rope to each corner of my tent. Not too pretty, but they are VERY practical. If I need to refill the real litter supply, I use one and refill it with water to use for the tent. And I can lift them, unlike some of those cement PVC jobbies. Maybe you or your Mom could fashion pretty covers for the kitty litter weights. If you do, I might buy 4 of them from you. ;-)
And I hear you about the $1500 cost for some of these shows. I'd need to sell an awful lot of $4 cards to break even, which is why I do not do those more pricey shows. Must be local + under $100 table fee for me! I did a 3-day show that was $225 and an hour away, and it was just not worth the time for what I netted.
I tried to check out that "i am neurotic" blog but got this message: "iamneurotic.com has been reported as an attack site and has been blocked based on your security preferences. Attack sites try to install programs that steal private information, use your computer to attack others, or damage your system.
Some attack sites intentionally distribute harmful software, but many are compromised without the knowledge or permission of their owners." ???
Stephanie - I got that same message when I tried it just now. Weird because I was on itjust last night, went there directly from my blog link.
We lived in a pet-friendly hotel (chain) in Connecticut for 6-8 weeks while waiting for our house. Cat stayed with us. We left her unattended when we had to work or run various errands, etc.
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