The Price of Creating

As you all know I had an event in beautiful Bell Buckle Tennessee this past weekend, and as always I do an after show follow up post. I must say Bell Buckle Tennessee is beautiful and a very scenic drive after you leave I24. I was listening to some Irish tunes and felt like I was driving through the country side in Ireland. The citizens of Bell Buckle are just as pleasant, unbelievable nice. I realize I have been in the city too long, don't get me wrong we have nice people here in Nashville but overall we aren't completely trusting of strangers. The nicest lady I met was my first sale and her name is Martha. Martha is a rare soul that will steal your heart before you know it. She is a giving person that would give the shirt off her back. (Without going into a lot of details let me tell you she offered me her car to drive back to Nashville saying I trust you and know you will return it, as I had some car problems). I love Martha!

The other highlight and I do mean highlight was meeting a flickr friend in person. After months of email communication I finally met Stitchin Sista! She is just as sweet as I imagined. I enjoyed the brief time I spent with her and her daughter. Stitchin Sista is an extremely talented creator that creates the most awesome wallets, bags and she quilts....I really want to pick her brains for tips. Go check her out!

The other positive outcome of the RC Cola/Moon Pie event was my friend Jodi was selected by Webb School to return to Bell Buckle in October. This is huge! Jodi's shemics were a hit, she finally had an audience that appreciates her talent. Recently Jodi had taken a different direction with her art and was questioning her decision and she deserved/needed the affirmation. i've been telling her all along....but will she listen to me? NO! I takes total strangers in Bell Buckle Tennessee to get her to see it. Yep Jodi had a ROCK STAR day and I'm so happy for her.
You Go Girl!

Before I started writing this post I had to go back and read my "Crafter's Conversations"post.
I did not have a good event. It was the worst event financially I have ever done. I keep telling myself I broke even, but I'm not so sure. The bad news that I really don't want to talk about is the fact that my car is still in Bell Buckle, under the watchful eye of Martha. Here is the short version of the story. When I left Nashville it was dark and I had my lights on. When I arrived in Bell Buckle it was light....I forgot to turn my lights off, the battery died. Normally this would be a matter of getting a jump and be on my way, but I drive a very ahead of its time 1991 525I BMW. The problem with this car is when the battery dies the car doesn't allow you to open the doors, hood or anything. After messing with the car for a couple of hours my husband called it quits and said we will go back. So that's another 100 round trip of gas besides the first two trips.

As beautiful and nice as Bell Buckle was I think the event was more of a flea market type of event. Even Stitchin Sista said we were out of place. I did have more people than ever touch and comment about my creations but only sold one handbag, several kids books, a tissue holder, comp book covers and two of my new art pieces. I passed out a ton of cards and let people know where to find me. So we'll see....

The Price of Creating
Booth fee $135 (however this was split)
Gas $100 (remember I had an extra trip)
Sales $140
Taxes $14

Meeting Stitchin Sista priceless
Meeting Martha priceless
Jodi acceptance into Webb School priceless
Beautiful drive priceless

Thank you Stitchin Sista and Martha and congratulations Jodi, you all made the event worth it.
I'd do it all again for you....

Tagged! I'm it!

Today I was tagged by the fabulously talented Leah of Sew Spoiled. If you haven't had a chance to see her patterns and creations you need to go check out her site. So here it goes.....
What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was a district manager for a fashion retailer with stores in 5 states, I was on the road a lot!
What are 5 (non-work) things on my to do list today?
Unfortunately I have a big show in a few days so not much on my list today that doesn't involve working. However I did take a mini break from the machine this morning and created some happiness in the form of butterflies. The pictures were hard to take as the glass glared...that measure about 5x5.
What are 5 snacks I enjoy?
Hazelnut spread on anything! Chocolate! Ice cream! Strawberries! Pecans! Ok now I'm hungry
Things I would do if I were a billionaire?
Travel, take care of my family, help others, open my own boutique (my money wouldn't last long)
Places I've lived?
GA, SC, VA, FLA, TN
I'm tagging
The Creative Jar
Wicked Moxie
Dark Horse Designs
Sweet Pea Totes
A Patchwork World

Almost there!

Here is a quick update of the works in progress. Hope you like what you see. As you can see the bags that were supposed to be finished are not yet ready, a 48 bug put me down over the week end. Now I must kick into gear and reach the finish line, at least with these bags. The last show I realized my bag inventory was way low and I have a big show this week end! YIKES! As usual there are so many things I want to create and I find myself in the position of picking and choosing. It's a hard choice as I never know what patrons will desire. Some shows it's all about the bags and aprons another show I won't sell any bags or aprons???

I also need advice....this show requires us to set up the day before the event, I have never had to do that before. The event is also 50 miles outside of Nashville. I am concerned about leaving my things out overnight. The promoter said they have never had any problems in the past 12 years of the event and they provide security as well. The bigger issue is the weather, as you know we recently had a terrible experience. They are calling for isolated thunder storms this week end.
The plan is to drop everything, leave it in the bins, cover and weight down, only put the tent up partially. I do not have a tent with sides so we hope this will be enough. If you have any tips or suggestions please leave a comment.

Shameless plug for the event.....this Saturday in Bell Buckle TN the RC Cola-Moon Pie festival
the event runs from 7:00am-5:00pm. Hope to see you there!

Works In Progress

I really really should be sitting at my sewing machine right now, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek of things to come. The pictures are of ten Nashville bags in progress....yes that's the basic beginnings of the Nashville bag. I still need to cut the interfacing's to sew and iron in, then the real sewing starts! I hope to have them finished in the next few days (fingers crossed and Boris behaves). Speaking of the King of the house, today he ate the remote! He was in the same room and I heard a cracking sound, I thought okay I need to get that bone/toy from him now. When I reached down it was the remote! Believe me it will affect my husband more than I.

The last two events have been tornado free but still on the breezy side. I am gearing up for another event...The World Famous RC Cola Moon Pie Festival in Bell Buckle Tennessee. YEAH! I love Moon Pies but prefer Diet Coke, do you think I will have to bring my own diet coke? I am looking forward to this event as it is the biggest event I have participated in. I have been wanting to break out of the box and do some bigger shows so this is the test. Hence I am trying to work like a mad woman and have everything good to go. If you veterans have any tips please please advise, I am totally open to your suggestions. Keep watching, I'm sure to have plenty of new creations.