Sunday, October 21, 2012

a good day...

Well... I can officially put my first craft fair on the books.  It went well, and it was good to be able to spend that time with my daughter, Patricia.  We arrived at Belton High School at a little before 7:30, and after some initial confusion as to where, exactly, we were supposed to be, we parked our cars and got started with the load-in.  My wife Pam was a great help carrying things in, running out to buy me a large table cloth, and getting a supply of ones and fives for change (even though she didn't have to).  What would I do without her...  The event was well organized, and seemed to run very smoothly (a testament to the people in charge).  We were surprised to find that we each got our own 8 ft table.  Because we were sharing a booth, we just assumed that we would also be sharing a single table.  So we got to spread out a bit, which was a good thing... it would have been pretty cramped, otherwise.  Festival hours were from 9:00am to 4:00pm.  Traffic was pretty slow most of the day, with only two periods of about an hour each where I would describe it as busy.  Out of what you see on the table above, I ended up selling 12 pieces, which I was thrilled about.  I went with the hope that I might sell one piece, just so I could say that I had sold something, but the final talley, though not a barn-burner (ha), was nice.  I got up Saturday morning feeling a little under the weather, and unfortunately it went down-hill from there.  By the time we were packing our stuff up to leave, I was in the mean grip of a bad cough and head cold... Yuck.  And we still had to drive back to Springfield.  But all-in-all it was a good day.  Next time, I'll be an old hand at it (HA!)

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Getting ready...

Ready or not, this Saturday (the 20th) I will be sharing a booth with my daughter Patricia at the Belton High School PTSA Fall Craft Festival.  For all those seasoned potters out there, that probably sounds kind of quaint, but this will be my first showing of pottery for sale.  We all have to start somewhere, and it is time.  I really have no idea what to expect from it, but that's OK... just the fact that I am finally taking that leap is enough at this point, even if I don't sell a thing.   Several months ago, Patricia started a small business making single serving cake mixes (most of them are gluten free), called Just One Bite.  Her business is starting to grow, mainly because she's good at it, and the mixes are easy to make, and very tasty!  So I am fortunate to have her there, helping her ol' dad get going. I will be bringing a variety of pottery with me, including some blue ware flower vases and jugs, platters and serving dishes with sgraffito designs on them, plus some fun, Halloween themed stuff that just came out of the glaze firing a few days ago.  Also I will bring a few of these earthenware effigy pieces that I have been working on.  I really like these, but I don't know how well they will go over with the Craft Fair crowd.  I guess we will see about that.  At any rate, I will be packing it all up tonight, and head for Kansas City Friday evening after work!  Ready or not... here we come.