No matter how organized you are, there is always a certain frantic scramble in getting ready for a show.? I’ve been pretty good about keeping my display stuff all packed together, but since the tables at Down the Street are eight foot tables and my display stuff is for a six foot table, I had to find another table cover.? I tested all the lighting tonight and it all works, hooray!? Since the business and packing supplies stay consolidated, it’s an easy matter to put them into the carrying cases and get those ready.
The packing challenge is always getting the merchandise together.? What to take and how to set it up changes from show to show, and so how to pack and store it changes as well.
The other big challenge I have is pricing.? I don’t want to devalue my work but I don’t want to price it out of reach, either.? I did decide that for this show, it’s time to move out some of the old beads.? I have a ridiculous number of soft glass beads from early on in my lampworking career, mostly just basic round beads rolled in frit, and they really do need to go.? So I’ve priced them to move.? With any luck those will pay my part of our table fee and expenses.? I also have put a lot of the tinier and wonkier beads into a jar, and am going to put them beside a Good Mews donation bucket with “Donate a Buck, Pick a Bead” or something like that. That way I get rid of them and raise some money for the kitties.
Pricing with focal beads always seems to be a crap shoot anyway.? This time I’ll see if my display method of last time is why they didn’t seem to attract attention.
The boro sets I will have to actually price in the morning when I get there, but I am certainly going to price them higher than the basic soft glass sets.? They look a lot cooler anyway, so I think they can command a higher price.
Setup tomorrow morning will come way too early to suit me — it opens at six a.m. but no way in hell am I going to be there then!? Still, time to get the car loaded and get some shut-eye.