Doing a Local Craft Fair

Tomorrow morning I'm both managing (overseeing, setting up) and "doing" (selling at) a wee Craft Fair in our mobile home community's clubhouse. We'll only have 12 tables up, six-footers. It's indoors which is a plus for shoppers. I'll let you know in a day or so how it went. I know that our local area success or failure does not reflect your own area, but some things might interest you.

I did not manage to finish half of what I wanted to display. I also could not find a "hand" to put a fingerless glove on. When people see these gloves on a table, they look like "tubes" and they are not sure what to use them for. I ended up making my own by stuffing batting into a disposable household vinyl glove. Not bad. I'll try to post a photo on this.

Putting prices on is one thing I hate. This year, I used a lot of tags with string wherever I could do that. I used a crochet hook to pull the string through and then pulled the tag through the string. The self-stick tags almost always fall off of some materials like plastic canvas or crochet projects, so this went well.

Getting people to the Fair is the hardest part. I don't like putting signs on the poles on the street. Street drop-in's are usually people who see Craft Fair but think Yard Sale. They almost always want bargains, which would be fine if it were not a true Craft Fair with all brand new, handmade goods. I did place an ad in the Garage Sales part of our local paper. I made sure it said Holiday Craft Fair. I also placed one on Craigslist and on another local place similar to Craigslist. I managed to get a few local store managers to put a stack of 24 into their employee break rooms. I'm not sure how else to advertise a Craft Fair.

I am tired, but I hope tomorrow night I will feel it was all worth while.

Needs vs. Wants

Today was one of those days we hate. I got off to a late start on my to-do list because of a phone call to straighten out an order I placed via online catalog. I wanted to cancel an item, right away. It took 45 minutes for them to tell me that it could not be cancelled because it was in "shipping" and on the way out the door.

By then, I was edgy, worried about my long list for the day. Tomorrow, I'm both managing/overseeing, and selling at, our mobile home park community Craft Fair. I knew I had to do all my errands and come back in time to do all my pricing and stack the items neatly in totes so I could quickly unpack tomorrow morning.

I really worried about my list. I thought, for sure, that every item on that list was a "need" and that it had to be crossed off. By the time I hit my first stop, the Post Office, I ended up helping an elderly woman (I know, I know, I, too, am an elderly woman) because she didn't know how to use the automated kiosk. But, you know, tonight I feel good that I was there to help her. I guess God knew if I had gone there earlier, this woman and I wouldn't have crossed paths.

Another item on the list was a "hand." Yep, a "hand." I wanted a display-hand so I could put some fingerless gloves on it to better display them. The shop did not have the size I wanted. But, by the time I got home, I decided to try to stuff "batting" inside a disposable rubber glove, and it works well. The good part is that it didn't cost me a cent.

By the time I got to this post, every item was either crossed off, or the need for it was eliminated.

Father, thank you for the patience you sent that enabled me to get through this day and the wisdom that allowed me to see the difference between "my" list and "your" list.

Evie@PrayersnCrafts-$15 Etsy Gift Certificate (11/18)

This is drawing #101, a two week Giveaway for a $15 Gift Certificate for handmade items or other items in my Etsy store. You can mix and match anything in my store.

For example, you could get funky fur-trimmed fingerless gloves for the winter, or get 15 assorted plastic canvas cross bookmarks, or my Busy Person's Prayer Book and $5 worth of other items, or cross bookmarks; you have a lot to choose from. There are beverage sweaters to keep your drinks cold during these hot summer days. There are Genuine Buck-skin Shirts for gifts (dollar bills folded to look like a shirt).

The link for my store is
http://www.evelynmayfield.etsy.com

This is a great deal. Not only am I giving away a $15 Gift Certificate to the handmade items on my Etsy store, but you can go to the window below and start clicking on approximately a hundred other giveaways! How great is that?

Rules
1. Go to my Etsy store, look around, and come back here.
2. Leave a comment saying what you would like most to win.
3. For an extra entry, blog about this Giveaway, and leave a comment with a link to the blog.
4. For an extra entry, link to me on your Giveaway list and leave a comment here with a link to that page.
5. Become a follower of my blog and leave comment to say so.
6. Deadline is Wednesday night (11/18), midnight, Pacific time.
7. Winner chosen by random draw through random.org.

Have fun! Oh, and to leave the comment, go below the window with all the Blog Hop links.

And the newest winner is...

Random.org chose Comment #4 for my latest drawing which ended 11/04. I just emailed Miss Snape and gave her the good news.

Good news for past winners. All previous prizes are now in the mail. I hope you feel they were worth the slight delay.

Don't give up if you've entered and haven't won. I speak from experience when I share this with you. I have entered several drawings every single time they are posted and have never won; on the other hand, there are at least three where I only entered once, for the first time, and did win. So, it's all part of the game.

Keep entering those you would like to win, and have fun.

Because my prize is always the same, I will begin to number these drawings (the next one will be 101) so that it is easier for us to keep track of which one is current and which one is over. I hope this helps.

Guidance for Uncertainties

Several times this afternoon/evening, people shared their faith with me in a casual but firm manner. I love the way people today feel free and unafraid to say they believe in God's power and in his guidance of their lives.

One lady was emailing me about why she had to forego getting a table at our upcoming Craft Fair. She is moving and that is a mess, as many of us know firsthand. I mentioned I didn't envy her and said I would keep her in my prayers. She wrote back to the effect that she trusted him to help her and appreciated the prayers.

Another lady was trying to gather names to assemble a volunteer committee. She and I both feel the timing on this committee is too soon and it should wait until early next year, but the decision is up to someone else. Without conscious thought, we both agreed we'd pray on this issue and if it was meant to be, it would fall into place, and if not meant to be, the signs would be there.

Still another woman ordered some plastic canvas satin ribbon crosses from my Etsy shop for some boxes she was packing for the military. Timing, for both she and I, got off track. She told me tonight to ship anyway, and that if it was meant to be, God would get them there in time, and if not, they would be ready for next year.

Trusting God to handle the uncertain parts of our lives is so easy on the nerves. It is so reassuring to find others who feel the same way.

Father, bless each of these women, and me, and continue to watch over us and guide us toward the paths for the plans you have for us.

Faith - The Great De-Stresser

A kind follower of this blog posted a comment about yesterday's post and seemed concerned about my inner turmoil. Trust me, folks, I am just fine. It's facing these daily issues squarely and praying about them that keeps me sane. If I did not have Faith to lean on, I don't know how I'd make it. I don't know how anyone makes it in today's world without Faith.

My life is not bad at all, compared to so many others who I know. I worry about a lot of people who do not have an outlet for their tension and their worries. I had a friend long ago who used to worry that I was "beating myself up" by reflecting on what went wrong and how I might have done it differently.

That was not a problem for me. I do not dwell on those things for long. Only long enough to consider the pros and cons, the solutions revealed by hindsight, take some moments to pray about the issue, and then move on.

In my Busy Person's Prayer Book, I have a few two-line prayers. One of them is:

Two or three minutes; that's a lot
Then it's time to get off of the pity pot.

You have no idea how often that little tiny prayer helps me put some stability back into my life.

It's true that some folks have trouble letting go when they begin to reflect on something they may have done wrongly (that's not the right word, but it works for me). They torment themselves. With Faith, however, once we reflect, and pray for future guidance and help, we can easily move forward.

Dear God, thank you so much for being there whenever I need you, and for your generosity in continuing to forgive me, and continuing to offer your guidance; please open my heart and ears that I may take advantage of that help.

Holidaze!

Where did this year go? It's already almost too late to begin some of the gifts I wanted to make for the holidays. My budget is too small for buying gifts. But I have a good stash of yarn and other supplies. With these, and the right management of my time (yeah, right!), I can make what I need, especially those smaller, quick and easy "thank you" gifts for people who we only seem to touch base with during the holidays.

The hard part is trying to remember what I gave out last year, and be sure I do not duplicate that this year. Although some folks do not mind two or three of the same ornament, novelty gift, or other gift, some people are put off by it. And I know, in my heart, that I have plenty of ideas. I just need to organize them in a better way.

I've been trying to remember what I gave out last year. That is a real challenge. I might be better off by trying to remember which items I have made, for the first time, over the past six months. That pretty much guarantees that I didn't give those things out last year.

Once more (I do this every year, without success), I hope to jot down what I make, and who it went to, as I distribute the items during this upcoming season. This should prove interesting.