Show #2

First of all, a little note... remember that Kalos journal that I submitted my tree wall-hanging to? Here's a link to the online version in case you want to see it. And now, I return you to our regularly scheduled programming:

A few weekends ago, Jason and I headed down to Jersey to hang with the fam for a bit and to take part in the Cranberry Festival in Chatsworth with my mom and Amy, who came up from South Carolina (with my darling little nephew Jesse) for the show. I packed up my aprons and headed south, excited about the day of crafty exhibition to come.

By an advantageous connection with its owner, we were supposed to set up on the porch of Buzby's General Store, which is THE prime spot in all of Chatsworth. Seriously, crafters would literally kill to get that spot at the Cranberry Festival, which turns little Chatsworth from a quaint town of cranberry bogs nestled in the Jersey Pine Barrens into a crazy, bustling cornucopia of activity like unto Times Square. Seriously...it's craziness. Every square foot of Chatsworth property is covered with vendors. People rent out their driveways and front yards and backyards and porches and rooftops--okay, maybe not rooftops--for vendors to come and sell their wares. (Here are pictures from the 2007 cranberry festival. If you scroll towards the bottom, you'll see my mom set up on the porch of Buzby's.)

So we were all set to go. I had my aprons. Amy brought dozens of adorable felted owls and birds and flowers and leaves. My mom had her jeep full to the brim with baskets and jams and tables and displays. And then the sky opened up. And Jersey was hit with a nasty nor-easter, which lasted the entirety of the weekend. (For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it is basically a big scary storm that hits the east coast and dumps precipitation everywhere and is so called because it includes strong winds from the north east. Consider yourself educated.)

My mom and I still drove to Chatsworth on Saturday morning to survey the damage. Buzby's porch is very narrow, and with the curse of the wind added to the annoyance of the rain, it was thoroughly wet with no place where we could set up our inventory without it getting all soaked and ruined. So after all that, we didn't do the show. Which was very sad. I was really excited to be able to do a show apprenticed under my mom before I was the lead dog on November 8th for show #3, learning from the master how to handle transactions, how to deal with difficult people, and how to sell without being too pushy. But the North Shore Bazaar is only a 3 hour show, and I think it will provide me with some experience without being too overwhelmingly scary. And not selling anything in Chatsworth means I'll have more inventory for that show. Plus, the rain meant that almost the whole family--we were missing Jared--got to spend a relaxing weekend together, talking over displays and pricing plans and general creative ventures and also holding Megan and Justin's babies and playing cowboy with Jesse. So all in all, it was still a very satisfying weekend despite the storm.

Looking ahead from behind, the North Shore Bazaar was on Sunday, November 8th. It's an annual show that is all fair trade and local made with live music, local foods, and the work of quality artisans, including yours truly. More about that when I am all caught up, which will hopefully be by the end of this week. Hang in there. I've got so much excitement to tell you about!!