Month: August 2010

Silvis Moonlight Festival Craft Show [ recap ]

The weather was wonderful, we had a nice breeze, clear skies, lots and LOTS of sunshine (quick note to self: if I do this show again I will need to invest in a patio umbrella). The craft show was much smaller than I thought it was going to be, it definitely was not my target audience.

But…

I think there is at least one customer at each show that makes that show memorable. There was an elderly gentleman that had been to my booth several times during the day just browsing and listening to me be an ArtNerd to some of the kids asking questions. So about the very end of the show (right about 945p) when it was quiet he came back to pick out his prints and talk to me. He was just so completely happy with his purchases he was grinning like a young kid. It makes me incredibly happy that my work makes someone else that happy.

Below are some clips I shot to show my booth day & night.

http://www.facebook.com/v/464096660254

[ Larger Version Here ]

And sometimes life kicks you in the teeth…

Lots of life stuff this past week…

Sunday I got side swiped by a semi truck, he only stopped because I honked my horn. And when he got out and started approaching I said “we need to exchange info” that’s when he went into hysterics about how I hit him, when really it was his trailer that hit me while I was stopped letting him through. And as fate would have it, I forgot my cellphone at home on my desk. I had asked him several times if he could just call the police to get an accident report done, but since he was hysterical it didn’t register. Finally, I had to flag someone down to help me out.

Since the accident was on ‘private property’ all the officers could do was write up an accident report; but, one of the officers told me that if it had been on the city road the trucker would have been cited for improper lane usage and he would have been at fault. They had marked on the accident report that I was ‘parked’ when he hit me.

Tuesday Night: just about a week ago today, my grandma passed away, she had Dementia. It was a blessing that she passed in her sleep.

So the rest of my week consisted of helping my parents sort & donate what was left of my grandmother’s belongings; and taking care of my vehicle situation. As a result of that accident and truck drivers hysterics, the sleep faeries abandoned me, I had insomnia for about 3 days. I seem to only get it when I’m severely stressed and anxious. I had a terrible bout with it after each Tika and Tasselhoff were put to sleep, hours of laying in bed wide awake staring at the ceiling fan.

Then Friday was the Funeral, after that I came home and slept for about 4 hours.

So here it is a new week, I have a few pieces I’m working on (Zombie Girl & Day of the Dead Themed painting) that I’m hoping to have finished with prints by Friday. Then Saturday I have a show in Silvis IL (2010 Moonlight Parade & Craft Show).

Also on 9/10-9/11 I will be at the Non Sports Expo in Carol Stream IL, which is (or most likely will be) my last show of the year.

Just a few things I’ve been working on…

I started this bag about a month or so ago… the one I had been using was Pat’s, he brought it home from his old job. They always get freebies from their distributors, and he needed it back to carry his stuff with him on the train to work. I had been looking on ebags.com (at this one) for a replacement, but either they were too expensive, too small with the right amount of pockets, or too large with not enough pockets. My only alternative was to make it myself. I probably spent about 45.00 in materials (used a 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby) each time I needed to buy leather). This was definitely a learning experience, I have learned just how important it is to have the proper foot on your sewing machine in order to sew leather. Too many times I was so close to tossing my sewing machine into the street. @_@ and that was all because I was sewing with the wrong foot on my machine.

The finished project:
http://www.facebook.com/v/458248740254

I’m currently working on 5 cards for the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation, this is one, but will also be a full blown painting. Hopefully I get it done before my show at the end of the month… I have no new work since the craft show in June. @_@