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....