Reflecting On The Holiday Market December 29, 2008

 

 

 

Well, its only been one week since the end of the craft show, but in certain ways it seems like a month. I never did share my total experience over the four weekends at the show, so I thought I would post a few pictures that Bernie took on the last day.

I love this craft show, because we are set up for a month, we become a little community. Everyone bonds with different people, forging new friendships. Some of the people you will never see again, or at least not until next year at the same show, and others you will become close friends with. Last year I was lucky enough to meet Christie, and I did get to know her a little bit through a couple of shows last year, but we didn’t have the chance to be super close. I had the insight to keep in touch with her over the summer, sending her updates of our adventure in the Aleutian islands. This fall and winter I have become close with her and her daughter Jessica. They are a very sweet family, and I am happy I got the chance to meet them through these shows.

This year I was across the isle from Christie, so I got to visit with them the whole time. And then I got to know the lady across another isle from me, Connie. Her husband and her make wooden puzzle books. She was another very enjoyable person to get to talk with. We had some nice in depth spiritual conversations about health. She was diagnosed with MS 20 years ago, and has made some key changes in her life. She is doing well, and she is looking for other ways to improve her point of view in life. So I suggested a couple of books that have helped for me.

I have a wonderful time being around like minded people. And its great to see how all these people are expressing their souls through their creativity.

A Snow Angel December 21, 2008

 

A couple of evenings ago Bernie and I went out for another snowy frolic in the back field. We tackled a different hill this time, and took turns being pulled down the hill (it wasn’t quite as speedy as we thought it would be on its own, so we implemented the pulling system). Angel joined us on the journey, and enjoyed chasing us down the hill.

After a bit mom wandered out to the field and she tried out the sledding thing. She quite liked it, and did it a few times. And then eventually dad even showed up, he just couldn’t resist. He was sliding down the hill head first. We all had an enjoyable time out in the snow, experiencing the joys of sledding again after many years.

So this is my version of a snow Angel. Much easier than getting snow down the collar of your coat! hehe. As I write this the snow is coming down amazingly thick, and the wind is howling. I just got a weather update from dad who has been watching the news, and I guess they are saying we are getting hurricane force winds here, oh fun. I best finish this up before the power goes out……

Tomorrow is the last day of the craft show, and I was hoping this winter storm would hold off until Monday or Tuesday, but here we are, and it is what it is. Hope I can make it in tomorrow! I hope everyone is warm and cozy where ever they might be tonight!

For more fun critter photo’s visit:

Catching Up December 1, 2008

Wow, I fell way behind on my blog this weekend. Two of the main reasons being I did my first weekend of the Pacific Arts craft show, and my family ended up getting the flu. About half the people we know around town ended up getting the same flu bug, not pleasant during the holidays.

Pacific Arts was fun. Its always fun for me to see who is showing, and what they make. There are a good hand full of the same people as last year. It becomes a little social group by the end of the show because it runs for so long. I am really happy with my spot this year, I am surrounded by people that I met last year, and they all seem to be good souls. Christie is across the isle from me, and her booth is filled with so many wonderful body products she gets lots of traffic. If the people around me are getting good traffic it means I am getting good traffic.

All day I get to visit with the customers that come through my booth, and when it gets a little slower, I get to visit with the other great vendors around me. Bernie’s photography gets high praise from almost everyone that comes through our booth. It’s great to see peoples reactions to the wildlife. Bernie is so good at capturing the unique personalities of each animal he comes across. I think some people miss the wild world around them, and so each picture shows them a glimpse of that world. Some people just get ecstatic about the pictures, it’s great to see. We have a few particular shots that are our best sellers, and I love to watch people looking through the cards and come upon them. The reactions are all slightly different, but all along the same lines. “Oh isn’t that funny!” “Oh isn’t that so cute!” “Oh my gosh, look at him, isn’t he adorable!” It cracks me up some times; I can almost guess what picture they are looking at.

I also have up some stained glass snow flakes, and a little display of my felted acorns. I really underestimated how popular the acorns were going to be, people think they are so clever. So that’s great for me, I just need to get myself into gear and make some more of them this week! I am thinking of coming up with some other felted crafts to possibly sell, since it seems to be an enjoyed medium.

So over all I am pretty excited, other than the family sickness I had a good weekend. I am enjoying a day off today, because I do feel a bit drained. I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving, and a relaxing weekend.

Holiday Season Initiation November 15, 2008

Well I did it, I made it through the first show. It has made me nervous for this holiday season though. People weren’t buying nearly as much as last year. I really hope Pacific Arts does better for us. This was a good show to get back into the swing of craft shows.

Last holiday season was our first selling the photos seriously. We got a lot of kinks worked out of our display. My dad was kind enough to help me build a display and print racks to make our booth look professional. I am really pleased with our set up now, and I think it helps a lot.

Now I need to get my act together and revamp some of the framed prints. We need some fresh material in there to get people buying. I have just under two weeks to get our stock built up. Pacific arts is an expensive one to participate in, but they do a good job with advertising, so it draws a pretty good crowd. I have faith that we will sell lots this year.

My needle felted acorns did pretty well. They weren’t flying out the door, but I sold a good handful of them. So that was fun for me. I love having a new project that people actually like. The acorns are just too cute. At these shows its always the items under $5 or $10 that sell the best, so the more little pieces you have the better. Greeting cards are always our top seller.