Change of plans

We've decided not to try for that crafts fair in Amarillo next weekend after
all. The reasons for this are multiple:

1) He's covered up with printing work, and this event would take 5 days out of
his schedule at a time when he can ill afford it.

2) Neither of us is feeling particularly optimistic about the chances of this
event being significantly more profitable than the one in Canyon, and another
bust would really hurt us right now.

3) It would mean that my friend and I would have to get up at 0-dark-30 on
Thursday morning to drive back from New Orleans to Houston, where I would
change vehicles and end up spending close to 18 hours in a car that day. Not
Fun.

4) The event promoter indicated that if we changed our minds, she'd be willing
to roll our table reservations over to another event. There are several later
in the year which would be less of a problem schedule-wise.

5) We both want to go up to the Kerrville Folk Festival that Saturday -- to see
if we might want to apply for a vendor booth there in the future, and to cheer
on fellow filker Carla Ulbrich, who is a finalist in the New Folk Talent
contest. This is not a super-high priority; the chance to do it is more like
icing on the cake after the decision had already been made for the other
reasons.

I'm actually relieved. I've spent all week thinking about how I really needed
to be making stuff but not doing it, and I finally figured out that it was
because I had no confidence that I'd do any better next weekend than I did last
weekend. Another couple of months, and maybe some cons that actually make us
some money, and I'll be less gun-shy. And having the pressure off will probably
mean I'll have an easier time sitting down at the worktable and making new
items. I've never worked well under the gun, it makes me crazy.

In the meantime, my hairdresser has offered to let me put up a jewelry rack in
her salon space for a 20% commission on sales. She has a single unit in a
"salon mall" type facility, where hairdressers, manicurists, massage
therapists, makeup artists, and other "body care" professionals can rent space
for less than the cost of setting up an independent shop. I won't put any of
the really expensive stuff in with her, but the $15-$30 pendants and earrings
will probably work well as impulse purchase items. I found a wire wall rack for
$20 at The Container Store which will suit the purpose very well; it's intended
to be a base for organizer attachments, but my display cards will hook neatly
over the wires and it looks sleek and professional.

I want a logo. I've thought about and discarded several ideas, and finally came
up with one I really like. I'm sure some of you have seen pictures in astronomy
books of constellations "drawn out" against the sky, with the major stars
highlighted inside the outlines. Well, I want a picture of Bastet, in her
"seated cat statue" pose, made into a constellation like that! Now I just have
to find someone who can draw it...

Celine

--
Handmade jewelry at http://www.rubylane.com/shops/starcat
"Only the powers of evil claim that doing good is boring."
-- Diane Duane, _Nightfall at Algemron_

Celine,

Sounds like you made a good choice. Sometimes the craft fairs just
aren't worth it (actually so far they never have been for me ). The
new consignment deals you have made will probably end up doing you more
good.

Have fun at the folk festival!

marisa2

Lee S. Billings wrote:

We've decided not to try for that crafts fair in Amarillo next weekend after
all. The reasons for this are multiple:

1) He's covered up with printing work, and this event would take 5 days out of
his schedule at a time when he can ill afford it.

2) Neither of us is feeling particularly optimistic about the chances of this
event being significantly more profitable than the one in Canyon, and another
bust would really hurt us right now.

3) It would mean that my friend and I would have to get up at 0-dark-30 on
Thursday morning to drive back from New Orleans to Houston, where I would
change vehicles and end up spending close to 18 hours in a car that day. Not
Fun.

4) The event promoter indicated that if we changed our minds, she'd be willing
to roll our table reservations over to another event. There are several later
in the year which would be less of a problem schedule-wise.

5) We both want to go up to the Kerrville Folk Festival that Saturday -- to see
if we might want to apply for a vendor booth there in the future, and to cheer
on fellow filker Carla Ulbrich, who is a finalist in the New Folk Talent
contest. This is not a super-high priority; the chance to do it is more like
icing on the cake after the decision had already been made for the other
reasons.

I'm actually relieved. I've spent all week thinking about how I really needed
to be making stuff but not doing it, and I finally figured out that it was
because I had no confidence that I'd do any better next weekend than I did last
weekend. Another couple of months, and maybe some cons that actually make us
some money, and I'll be less gun-shy. And having the pressure off will probably
mean I'll have an easier time sitting down at the worktable and making new
items. I've never worked well under the gun, it makes me crazy.

In the meantime, my hairdresser has offered to let me put up a jewelry rack in
her salon space for a 20% commission on sales. She has a single unit in a
"salon mall" type facility, where hairdressers, manicurists, massage
therapists, makeup artists, and other "body care" professionals can rent space
for less than the cost of setting up an independent shop. I won't put any of
the really expensive stuff in with her, but the $15-$30 pendants and earrings
will probably work well as impulse purchase items. I found a wire wall rack for
$20 at The Container Store which will suit the purpose very well; it's intended
to be a base for organizer attachments, but my display cards will hook neatly
over the wires and it looks sleek and professional.

I want a logo. I've thought about and discarded several ideas, and finally came
up with one I really like. I'm sure some of you have seen pictures in astronomy
books of constellations "drawn out" against the sky, with the major stars
highlighted inside the outlines. Well, I want a picture of Bastet, in her
"seated cat statue" pose, made into a constellation like that! Now I just have
to find someone who can draw it...

Celine