Wednesday, July 8, 2009

CRAFTING BUG BITES AGAIN.....


We should have spaced items in a more eye-pleasing way. Our assigned booth was small and I must have felt the need to cram things together. I'm still learning lessons after all these years.
You can click on the photo for a close-up view of our items.
My crafting partner, Deanna, received two craft show applications in the mail last week. She called and asked if I might want to participate in one or both of them. I'd been hoping for some incentive to get back into crafting and planning for shows might be exactly what I need. I dabble in my crafts now and then and I recently made curtains, a table runner, and pillow shams for my cabin. I also love sewing with my granddaughter, but I haven't pulled out patterns and made anything to sell for quite awhile.
We decided we'd do the shows and we're compiling lists of things to make and projects to finish. I love our brainstorming sessions over the phone, and we get fired up and ready to go when we're talking about crafting. Once we're off the phone, reality sets in and our enthusiasm wanes a bit. We're trying to figure out how to keep the creative juices flowing while wrestling with mundane household tasks and other things that have to be done. Balance is the key, but it's not easy to achieve even after all these years of homemaking, crafting, raising kids, helping with grandkids, and caring for pets.
Yesterday I looked through lots of patterns and ideas I keep in a notebook. I saw things I'd like to make but then remembered some projects I'd intended to work on last year or the year before and decided I should start with those. Through my decades of crafting, I've learned that I can't succeed if I have 20 projects going at one time. I have to pace myself and finish one thing at a time. That certainly seems logical but I don't think I've ever actually worked in that way. I'm prone to listing numerous ideas, pulling out dozens of patterns, and feeling overwhelmed before I begin. In the end, I eliminate projects from my list and feel defeated.
This time will be different. I don't feel frantic about having enough merchandise and I'm not stressing about what will sell. Between the two of us, Deanna and I already have enough finished products to fill a table, so there's not as much pressure as with previous shows. This time we'll choose only those items we want to make and we're not particularly interested in following a primitive or vintage theme, as in the past. I think I'm saying we're going to have FUN with these shows. Imagine that!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Kady! My english is very poor, but I must write to you, because your blog is very intresting for me. I would like read all stoties, but it will long time. I was Agnes from Hungary.

Kady said...

Hello Agnes - I'm so glad you've come to visit my blog. Thank you for your kind words. I think your English is just fine. Welcome! It's an honor to know you....Kady