Camosun Show

My show at Camosun is this Thursday, 12/3/09. Today is the last day of production for that show. While the pieces bake in less than 20 minutes, the varnish that I am using takes about 24 hours to get to the cured, non-sticky state.

What are the things I am most nervous about for the show? I worry that there will be someone with pieces very similar to mine in either theme or medium.

Since this is a Thursday show I think my fellow vendors will be of the knitting and card making variety, but I could be wrong! Beaded jewelry is popular as are knit hats. While I enjoy making beaded jewelery for myself, I'm not gung-ho for it on a larger scale. Knitting? Right! Bless those hands who can! I crocheted a bit when I was a teenager, but my squares always ended up as trapezoids! Knitting is beyond my current skill level. My mom tried to teach me, but she is left handed, I am not, which makes for a very incompatible teacher/student relationship!

I am nervous about customer traffic and my pricing strategies. I am nervous that my table, in its infancy stage, will underwhelm and detract from the pieces. I am nervous about what to wear! I am selling myself along with my pieces! I am selling the idea that you should buy these pieces, and you should buy them from me!

I notice that most craft/art vendors are dressed casually in jeans, shirts and sweaters. That makes sense for all the outdoor shows I've been attending, sure, but I think being too casual makes it look more like a yard sale than an art/craft show.

What to wear to the show... as I've mentioned on my Facebook page and will again here, one of my beacons that I look to would be the fantastic Princess Lasertron. She is so cute! I love her work and her blog equally! She posted some pictures of her shows on her blog. Her style is similar to mine. I am considering dressing up like she does for my shows. The Dickens' Fair will be so huge that I won't seem out of place, but for the Camosun show I think I could come off oddly. Then again, whatever gets table traffic can't be too odd!

The last thing that I am nervous about is one anyone can understand! I'm nervous about getting hungry! There will be no one to babysit my table while I run off for a cup of tea or grab a candy bar from the vending machine! No one to bring me a slice of pizza from the college cafeteria! How will I cope? Tomorrow I will hit the market in search of deli food, snacks and drinks. I'm not a good salesperson when I'm hungry!

Ok, off to penguin production!