Friday, May 9, 2008

Don't hold back, now.

Last weekend we had a local two-day craft show that went pretty well, I think. The weather was glorious (which doesn't necessarily equal good $$, but it's nice for us in general) and the crowds were quite good. Very few crazy people and lots of repeat customers, which is really flattering. There's nothing nicer than someone coming up to tell you how much they loved the necklace they bought from you last year. I could hear that all day and never get bored. You love me? Really? YOU DON'T SAY. PLEASE KEEP TALKING.

There was a lot of good art/craft at this show and also some that fell into the "breathtakingly weird" category. The painter across the way certainly was part of the latter and, because I completely lack morals or decency, I asked Kate to take a picture:


I mean, how on earth would I ever properly describe this stuff with plain old words? My favorite one was on the other side of the divider and it involved a pictorial of the caves of Lurray Caverns complete with ghostly cavern people-creatures. Wow. Clearly. On. Something. The paintings certainly did keep us entertained all weekend - better than TV! She even sold a couple which just...wow. Good for her.

We spent most of Sunday going into a gradual slump as the weekend wound down and sales slowed. We were not all that excited about the process of breaking everything down because what a pain in the ass that is. Near the end of the show the woman from the booth directly across the aisle who sold ugly plate-mirror hybrids came marching over and said,

"I've been looking over here all weekend and I couldn't stand it any longer..."

Now, because I'm a flopsy fucking moron, I sort of assumed she'd been glazed over with love for a our shiny baubles and wanted to buy something. Oh ho ho! How funny that is.

No, no, instead she spent the next 20 minutes telling us how incredibly awful our booth display is and how we need to throw out our table cloths because they, "don't make sense" and blah blah blah. Then she talked about how she's been doing shows for 20 years and has held booth design seminars and has really figured out what works. I stood there glaring mutely while Kate (poor Kate, always the mediator of rudeness and crazy) was very kind and took her unasked-for criticism gracefully.

So I ask you, what the hell? What on earth? Who does that? Just for the record (and because I lack morals and decency) I asked Kate to take a picture of her booth:



Now, here's our booth:



Not perfect, sure, but cute, right? At least we aren't selling ugly plate-mirrors. I mean, damn.

11 comments:

  1. Definitely cute. It's funny, because when I pulled up this post, the pictures loaded before the text and I was thinking how a booth that looked like that would probably be the first one I stopped at at a craft fair. And then I read the text and was certain that the woman who accosted you must be insane.

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  2. Wow. Man, you sure are the crazy magnet. And thank god! Because my entertainment needs are high. And, for the record, your booth rules and plate lady's drools. In case you didn't already know that. I love how people with zero taste also have zero tact. What's driving the compulsion to tell you this?

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  4. Your booth is totally cute. She's a nutbar.

    And I must be insane 'cause I think I like that painting of the green lady.

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  5. The tablecloths are purty. They look keen. Or rather, they look Keen. Her booth? Looks like every last tired-ass generic decor-and-jewellery booth I've seen at festivals across the continent. Come and get yer beaded hemp bracelets and plate mirrors over here. Yargh.

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  6. That lady is nuts. Her black tablecloths are boring and sloppy and her whole booth is totally un-feng shui. Yours flows nicely and is pretty and inviting. I wish you would have yelled at her to go back and hold one of those mirrors up to her own damn booth.

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  7. Your booth is adorable! I would stop there first because you guys obviously have good taste.

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  8. I think I saw that booth at my local craft fair but it was selling hand painted saw blades. Or maybe airbrushed tee-shirts. I forget.

    But your booth looks sweet.

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  9. 1) We should definitely hang out and talk falcons.

    2) Your booth was pretty and that lady was nuts.

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  10. You should have told her that she shouldn't have stolen Elvira's sheets for her tacky display.

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  11. Is the plate lady married to a dude who does treestump/chainsaw sculptures? Because she should be. Gah.

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