My Table

One unfortunate thing (of several) was that communication up until the show was lacking. I never got any of the mailings and had to get Alicia to forward when she got them. All the way up until the day before the market, I had NO idea whether or not I needed to bring my tent or tables – and I scoured every inch of the application and all the emails I had been forwarded. So I called one of the organizers and asked. She was helpful, although surprised that I didn’t know what was going on and insisted that the information was in every email. Turned out I didn’t need to bring anything but my product & display stuff which made me super happy.

So on to the day of the show.

Alicia of Alicia's Colors - Glass Art

Alicia and I got there around 8:30 am to set up. The only indication that we were in the right place were the tents and one sign in front of the venue. No signs lined the main drag. No people waving folks in. No indication at all that there was a big event going on. Eep!

Mismatched gigantic candy-stripe and plain white tents were all over the grounds. All the tables were draped with tablecloths and although we were told we’d have signs at our “booths” we didn’t see any, so we had to track down someone to help us locate our space. The space was not 10″x10″ as promised. We barely had 10×4, just the size of the table and definitely not enough space for 2 people. I didn’t realize how much stuff I actually had! Thankfully (?) whoever was to the left of us didn’t show up so we each had a 10 foot table to ourselves.

Detail of part of my booth

The layout of the show really left a lot to be desired. I understand the “first time show organizer” dealie but there are conventions for laying out shows, and having vendors see each others’ asses is NOT a good thing. Not only that, if you promise 10″ x 10″ space, vendors expect 10″ x 10″ and will be a bit pissed if they don’t get it.

There was a lovely garden area off to the side of the venue with a fountain and flowers and such but no signs pointing that there were other vendors in there. Poor folks in the garden area had a great vibe and probably 10 degrees cooler than the rest of us but no customers!

Several folks ended up bringing their tents and setting up wherever they could which also interrupted the non-existent flow. Lots of unhappy vendors the first day and as a result quite a few failed to show up on Sunday.

Although I understand the reason why they refused to show up the second day, I think it’s never a good idea to go back on your end of the bargain – even if the other party failed to live up to your expectations. For me, it’s an integrity issue.

This was a first-year show and although it could have been run a LOT better, it’s not a show without vendors. I also think the organizers could have been a bit more cordial – after all we came from all over expecting to make some money that weekend and if we weren’t there, there would have been no Hatch Market. I know of a few vendors who had some “words” with the organizers and ended up leaving early.

And another shot of my table

Foot traffic was minimal on Saturday because of Prom. I was informed that the high schoolers were planning on being there on Sunday (with their parents) but really – how much to teenagers really spend on crafts in small towns? Especially after prom? At any rate, I was seriously reconsidering showing up on Sunday. But I sucked it up and did it again the next day.

I made twice my booth fee (which was only half the “full” booth fee due to a stroke of good luck) on Saturday. But it was S – L – O – W! I ended up chatting with quite a few of the vendors including some of my NORGA team mates. Sunday was slightly better in terms of traffic, and I was able to reach just over 6x my booth fee, which was WAY beyond my expectations. I sold a book necklace & a new distressed-leather 224-page sketchbook, both of which were a couple of my higher-priced items.

The gal who bought that book necklace also brought in her copy of 1,000 Artist Journal Pages: Personal Pages and Inspirations (1000 Series) and asked me to sign it!

I was so nervous 1) because I sold a book necklace 2) I was given a $100 bill to make change for and 3) someone actually wanted *my* autograph that I failed to count out change correctly. Now mind you – I grew up in a restaurant and as a teenager ran the till with NO problem counting out change (who needs a stinkin’ register!). I can count change in my sleep. But I kept screwing up. AND I ended up signing in BALL POINT PEN instead of Sharpie which I had in my pocket. *headdesk*  Oh well.  If you’re out there, ENJOY your signed book & book necklace!

So overall, despite the gloomy weather (thankfully it didn’t rain), disgruntled sellers, disorganized organizers and no beer despite being sponsored by Yuengling, it was a decent weekend for me – both in terms of money and adding tons of new people to my mailing list.

More traffic, better advertising, reorganized flow & better vendor relations may make next year’s (if there IS a next year) Hatch Market even better.

Just when I thought things were going to get a tad easier. OH, and did I mention I’m running full speed ahead with a brand new offering? Yeah – It’s gonna rock, but I don’t want to spill the beans too much. If you join my mailing list, you’ll be one of the first to know!

To get myself moving (since I have a hard time getting stuff done on my own) I’m doing a few new things. I’m a part of a “Success Team” run by a fabulous lady – where a group of folks get together to share their dreams & we all band together to help each other out with ideas & accountability. I’m also taking the “Complete Idealist Blisness Action Camp” from Artella, and lastly, I’m being NAGged by the ProNagger, Rachel. I’m getting stuff done & it makes me feel good!

And as a lil’ bonus, Artella’s got another really cool class coming up. It’s called ” Make Change with Your Muse!: Mixed Media Art Projects to Attract Prosperity and Change in Your Life” and not only includes all the course materials but a goodie bag full of ephemera & stuff to use for your art via snail mail! Everyone loves snail mail, right? And if you sign up by May 3, you get $20 off for being a part of the pilot group.

I love Marney’s teaching style & so far all the e-courses I’ve taken (two to date) have been majorly helpful.

I swear I have a good excuse.

You see, this Tree – a red oak – was uprooted during a horrible storm with winds reaching 75mph last Monday April 13th (tree with a capital T since it’s 100 year life-span and 15-ton weight sort of make it a Tree). It fell in the direction of our neighbor’s house. It did not land on said neighbor’s house (that would have been bad for them, but easy for insurance to cover). Instead the Tree got tangled up in a pine about 1/2 the girth of the Tree and stayed there all week while the pine slowly kept bending under the weight.
All week our neighbors did nothing while we were stuck trying to figure out how to take care of this Tree. Insurance wouldn’t touch it since no buildings were damaged. Our neighbors wouldn’t touch it because it was “our Tree” although the law in GA says that what falls on your land is your problem…

Four tree service quotes later we found a service that would take it down for $1200 LESS than everyone else was quoting and wouldn’t completely screw up our lawn with a crane. It came down on Thursday. I suppose it would have been sooner if a) the Tree actually fell on our neighbor’s house and b) if there weren’t 17 kazillion other trees in the Atlanta area that fell.

Hubs and I ended up borrowing money from my dad to pay for this tree removal since we were not prepared for this in the least. It’s scary when you know something needs to be done about a precarious situation but you don’t have the funds to accomplish it. The Tree came down on Thursday, and the large parts went to a craftsman. I’m glad the bulk of that gorgeous red oak went to a good use.

Where that huge tree stood for 100+ years is now a bare patch of earth with roots sticking out of the ground. The last barrier between us & our neighbors has fallen and we’re not too happy about that. How does the saying go….? Good fences make good neighbors? Well, we’re going to put one up. As soon as we have the money.

We were supposed to drive up to New Jersey for Pascha (Greek Easter) on Thursday but that’s when the tree service folks came to remove it. So Easter was downsized… I made some killer lamb chops, but nothing could possibly compare to what my family had without us…

So it’s been a rough week, and I’m still coming down from it… I have 3 shows in May as well as my first Tiny Art Make & Swap class at the local community center, and I have a feeling I have overbooked myself. I’ll try to make it here more often but I can’t promise.

Send some vibes this way if you can – I’ll need all the positive energy I can get to push through the rest of this and next month.

To my surprise, my painting won First Place in the Acrylic & Oils category!

My two books, “Snake” and “Light” won Third in the 3-D category.

Needless to say I was a happy camper! You can see everything on display (including the REST of the wonderful artwork) ’till October 20 at The Art Station – Big Shanty in Kennesaw, GA.

Oh, and pass by Art on the Lawn this October 18 & 19 at the same place. It’s from 10am – 4pm on both days, includes food, music, demonstrations & 20 local artists including yours truly. Since I’m on the board of the North Cobb Arts League, I know who the vendors are and it’ll be a fantastic opportunity to get a jump on your holiday shopping!

Here’s a peek at last year:

As of right now I have 8 products up, and I’ll be adding more over the weekend. I’m also trying to set up a mailing list.

And in other news: The Art House has decided to be an art gallery instead of a ‘shop’. That means my things are now back in my possession, and no longer at the Art House. I suppose everyone moves on, but this was a bit of a blow – shop #2 that changed focus & dropped my products…

But I gotta keep going.

I’ll have a schedule of classes coming up soon. I’ll be teaching book arts, an altered book class and hosting an ATC night starting in mid-to-late September.

I did however get in contact with a few people who seemed interested in carrying my books. We’ll see how that goes. And I met a fantastic gal who makes awesome hammered and beaded jewelery.

here are a few photos:

you can see more photos on my flickr set.

This weekend I’ll be in Powder Springs at their “Country Gathering” – possibly not my target audience, but it was cheap!

The first one is the Kirkwood Spring Fling on the 19th of May from 10am to 7pm – there will be music & an artist market.

June 2 & 3 I’ll be in Powder Springs, about 12 miles west of the Marietta Square.

Bring a printout of this blog post to either show and I’ll give ya 10% off any one item!

Hope to see you there!

I signed up because the Arts League I’m a member of had a deal where members could set up a booth with no money up-front and just pay them 20% of the sales up to $100 (which was the booth fee, I think, for the rest of the folks there). I didn’t have to show much in the way of paperwork either.

I got a great space. They initially were going to place me behind the ceramic folks but there wouldn’t have been a way for people to get to my booth! Since someone hadn’t shown up yet, I was given a prime corner spot instead of being hidden behind the ceramicists. And since I was with the Arts League, I got use of the yellow house – which meant indoor plumbing, soap & water instead of port-o-lets.

The week before I decided, upon consulting with the friend who lent me the sturdy but complicated & heavy canopy, to find a way to accept credit cards over the cell phone. I did, and almost half my sales were credit!

My husband was there to pick up the slack – I sent him for food, he took pictures, counted change, bagged items & watched the booth while I walked the festival or took a bathroom break. He also almost single-handedly put up & tore down the canopy. He’s such a helpful guy.

So we made our goal in sales, had a blast and met lots of cool folks. My books were the best-sellers, which surprised me the most. I thought my card holders would have been wiped out but only 2 sold. I also, on a whim in the wee hours of Friday Morning (2-4 am), made 5 more tooth ghosts and out of the 7 total, 5 sold.

This was a great experience. It was exhausting, the freakishly high Georgia pollen count did me in on Sunday, but it was good. I hope to do a few more shows this year – and I’ll make sure to update everyone who signed up for my mailing list as well as posting new dates on the blog.

and now for your viewing pleasure: