CRAFT SHOW SEASON!!!

It is that time of year again...in addition to falling leaves, apple-picking adventures and football games galore, it is Craft Show Season. For the uninitiated, it may just seem like they notice more announcements in the local Penny Saver or Community Courier paper than normal...but the reality is, if you are a handcrafter or a direct sales representative, pull out your checkbook, calendar and pen...it is a race for the first spots, the best spots, the only spots in some shows...Ready, Set...OH!

What to take? What to make?

My first craft show was nearly eleven years ago...and it was a complete fluke. A dear friend introduced me to the wonders of handcrafted bath and body products and, as a person with little to no self-control, ordered enough stuff to stuff family stockings for at least a decade. As a side note, it was this little adventure that was the inspiration for Harmony Bath and Body...but that is a story for another day.

In the process of experimenting with this and that, our friends and family were guinea pigs in the first degree. The difference between these products and other attempts at arts and crafts (remember...I'm crafty, not artistic), was that these very same people came back asking to buy more! One of these nearest and dearest mentioned that a fellow teacher was organizing a craft show at a local elementary school and suggested we attempt to peddle our wares. What the heck, right? What the heck was right! We actually sold stuff and made money!!! People actually liked what we made and wanted to pay us for it!

I have come a long way since those early days in knowledge, experience and product selection. It is this very variety that presents me with such challenges around the time school starts: what the heck am I going to focus on this year? What will people be looking for? What can I do that sets me apart from the masses? Decisions, decisions.

It is this very chaos that has my craft room and family room torn apart right now - in a rather ADD-esque fashion, I am jumping from one brainstorm to another. This weekend it was solid sugar scrub cubes, yesterday it was wine charms. I am anxiously awaiting a shipment of new fragrance oils to tease out my soap and sugar scrub inspiration of the season...then there is the blanket I just finished for a certain family member who is expecting a tiny baby boy any day (I think I should wait until she opens the box before I post a pic, don't you?)....

As you browse your local craft shows this season, please take an extra moment to stop by the tables that do not scream, "100,000 other people around the country sell this product too...". We pour our hearts and souls into our creations and are thrilled to share them with you. If you aren't careful, we may actually be willing to tell you all about them and the inspiration behind them.

Happy Crafting...