NEXT SHOW!!! And fun at sales

First, a quick announcement: I will be at the Aetna Fire Hall Spring Craft Show in Newark, DE this Sunday, April 1 (no, it's no joke, I WILL be there selling my handcrafted items). It was a last-minute registration. Karma, actually, as I had thought the show was already filled, but then got an invitation email from the promoter just the other day. So, please come on out and see me! The show is free to get in, and will be open from 10am to 3pm.

Now, about fun at sales. I had some sad news yesterday that turned into a ton of fun. Backwards, perhaps. But there is a Hancock Fabrics near to my house, and it's closing. Not the entire chain, but that particular store.

And that's where the fun comes in - the closing sale. Everything is on sale! I had a great time and bought lots of supplies to make more fun stuff for my store: fabric, purse handles, ribbon...

Tomorrow I get to shop some more, this time for storage bins. Large ones. After setting up and then packing up displays and products this past weekend, I decided life would be much easier with a set of 4 or 5 large plastic bins, rather than various sized boxes and bags for moving all my stuff. After all, a display is more than just the large furniture; there are the cloths to cover and make everything look uniform and neat, there are decorative cloths/doilies to be, well, decorative, there is my model for the hats, and baskets, and candles and flowers for homey touches. Yes, I really do up my booth right. And I don't want to have to cart all that stuff in multiple boxes and bags ever again!

Pictures .. the boring part

I know my sister would have a cow if I told her that taking pictures are the boring part of having an online store. That's because Dawn is a photographer. Owns her own studio, as a matter of fact (she's incredible; I'm so proud of her! Check her out at www.innovativephotographydes.com).

But as I was saying, to me the pictures are the tedious, boring part. I've learned a lot from Dawn, but not enough to make it easy for me to take good pictures. And good pictures are soooo important when they're the only visual people get of your product.

I usually try to take pictures in batches ... you know, photograph about 8 new items, then list them one every day or so until I run out of pictures and have to start over again. So today is one of those days. To top it off, I also have to take a few pictures for entry into a juried craft show. A juried craft show, if you're not familiar with the term, means that your items are judged --- by the pictures you take --- and then only some of the applicants are chosen to actually participate in the show. I have to submit my application for the March show this week, or it'll be too late!

It's looking like a busy Sunday! I know God rested on the 7th day, but I get no such luck! Hope He understands..... :)