MEGAN AUMAN

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crafty bastards recap + complaints about crutches

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No pictures in this post because I didn’t take a single picture at Crafty Bastards. Sad, I know. Thanks to everyone who responded to my last post, and thanks a million to my wonderful husband, who came with me to help out at the show! Oh, and thanks to the Crafty Bastards volunteers who helped out as well.

Sadly, I didn’t get to scope out the show, for obvious reasons. One trip to the port-a-potties on crutches was enough to keep me tied to my booth. But I really appreciate everyone who came by and shopped – you made my day worthwhile! I’m happy I decided not to cancel the show.

Now I’m home and exhausted, thanks in no small measure to my crutches. My foot may be resting, but the rest of my body feels beat up and sore. I’m also learning how difficult crutches can be if you’re a grown-up who needs to do things like grocery shop, clean, and laundry. I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to get my dirty clothes from my second floor bedroom to my basement washing machine. That’s not to mention that I have several wholesale orders to go out this week. At least I have a rolling chair in my studio…

crafty bastards is Sunday!

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Its cold and gray today, forcing me to bust out the fleece lined boots and making me not want to do anything. That’s not good, though, because…

Crafty Bastards is this Sunday! Rain or shine (lets hope for shine). Please stop by and see me in booth #49 – I should even have some new work if I can get my butt in gear.

Really though, I’m still in a pretty crappy mood. On top of the weather and my foot, I sliced my thumb chopping an onion yesterday (not bad, but enough to be annoying in the studio) and we have a groundhog that’s taken up residence in our back yard. I’m terrified of groundhogs, plus I have to make sure its not around when I take out Grizzly, or he practically pulls me off the porch to chase it. I’m really looking forward to Monday, when my to do list looks like this:
-sleep in
-go for a long ride on my new bike
-clean my house

Hopefully your Friday is happier than mine!

new york gift wrap-up

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Well, the show is winding down, and since I’m bored out of my mind, I thought I’d do a little recap now. These are my thoughts in no particular order.

display – I’m really happy with how my booth turned out. Having the person next to me have the same curtains turned out to be a good challenge – I LOVE my Ikea curtains layered with the black. When I had hard walls black at ACC, I had toyed with the idea of painting my hard walls black, but had chickened out. Now that I see how the dark makes my displays pop, I’m inclined to try it next time I use hard walls.

finding my niche – I also think my overall presentation positioned my work to a target audience – one with a design-savvy eye. I’m totally ok with this, because that market appeals to me. However, I’m curious to see how I could market the work to a more fashion oriented buyer simply by staging the booth in a different way. This is something I might consider if I’m looking at other shows.

location, location, location – My location at this show did not help my cause, particularly because the buyer I’m targeting might not think to go to this part of the show. I’m definitely going to try to move to another area for the January show.

promotional materials – I have a postcard that I love (and got lots of compliments on), but its time to work on putting together a catalog. That’s my goal for the January show.

Overall, despite slow sales, I’m leaving the show feeling good. I’ve definitely been in a slump these last few months, going so far as to wonder if this is what I wanted to be doing. But being here has energized me – I’m heading home with a clearer perspective on my audience and my work, and I can’t wait to get back in the studio. This is what I want to do, and I’m going to reinvest my energies to make it as worth while as possible.

woops!

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Well, I fell off the blogging wagon hard. But sometimes a girl just needs a little break. After returning from our annual trip to the lake, I had a busy week between starting cross country practice (I’m coaching again) and getting ready for New York Gift.

But now I’m at the gift fair, with plenty of time to kill. The above picture is the view from my booth. At least I get to watch boats go by on the Hudson. This huge cruise ship came in this morning!

The photo below is my booth set-up. I had a moment of panic when I arrived and discovered that my next-door neighbor had the same curtains as me. Aack! So it was off to Kmart to pick up some black curtains to break up my other panels. But I think it turned out rather nice, don’t you?

regroup

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Well, now that Artscape is over, I’ve reached the end of my summer retail show season. And I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a bad one. Between the weather and the economy, business has not been good.

But I also haven’t been putting my energy into the right activities. So now its full steam ahead for upcoming wholesale shows. Here’s what I’ve got on the horizon:

San Francisco International Gift Fair (represented by Cameron Marks Agency)
New York International Gift Fair
Pool (represented by Cameron Marks Agency)

Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well. Now its back to work, I’ve got to get a sample set to CM, um , yesterday.

color and other stuff

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I’m up against some tight deadlines and I’m not feeling well, so this is going to be a rambling, update sort of post.

-I’m doing something unusual for me, and adding so color to my work in the form of beads. You’ll be able to pick up the new pieces at Artscape.

-Artscape is tomorrow in Baltimore. You can see my work in the DIY section.

-I’m not sure I agree with the kick-off or the winner on PR last night. Come on, garbage bags? Like that didn’t take 5 minutes? Overall first impressions, including their work prior to the show, I liked Jennifer and Leanne.

-Joe and I are seriously considering selling my car and getting a scooter. This makes me a little nervous and a little excited at the same time.

All right, out to the studio. Meanwhile, I’ll be wishing I was vacationing here or here. (Wow, I must really have camping on the brain, my last 5 bookmarks on del.icio.us were all about camping or the outdoors.)

thank you, cain park

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Thanks to everyone who came out to say hi this weekend, and especially thanks to the wonderful staff at Cain Park. Despite less than ideal sales this year (the economy and the weather are so on my list), the show is still a nice one to do. And that’s all because of the most helpful show staff ever. If you have to do a show by yourself, Cain Park is the one to do. (And if you organize a show, plan a visit to next year’s Cain Park Arts Festival, to see how to do it right.) Everyone, from the show director to the staff, is helpful and supportive. I had 3 people help my pack my tent and load the car!

So, thanks again, Cain Park! You guys are truly the best.

perspective from burger king

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On my way home from Renegade Brooklyn, I stopped at a Burger King in New Jersey. While I stood there, still wet from the storm, waiting for my food, the assistant manager looks at me and says, “Smile. At least you’re not on this side of the counter.”

Me: “Its just been a very long day.”

Manager: “I’ve been here since 4:30.”

Me: “This morning?”

Manager: “Yep.”

Me: “You win.”

Manager: “That’s not really something I wanted to win at.”

So my new mantra when a craft show is not going so hot is “at least I’m not working a 16 hour shift at Burger King.”

Though if things don’t pick up soon, that might be my next job.