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Page 32             October  2017                                    The Catoctin Banner Newspaper                        www.TheCatoctinBanner.com                       Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com





                                  ‘T is the S e a s o n                                weather and looking at all the        8.  “You remind me of my
                                                                                                                                 grandmother.” Unless your
                                                                                       interesting items for sale, I’m giving
                                                                                       you a helpful list to make your craft     grandmother was Georgia
                                                                                       show experience a happy one. Read         O’Keeffe or Frida Kahlo, I
                                                          by Valerie Nusbaum           on.                                       might be a little offended by that
                                                                                                                                 statement.
                                                                                       Eleven Things You Should
               It’s September as I’m writing this   The work involved in setting up    Never Say to an Artist or a           9.  “I really need to start selling my
            column. The kids have gone back to    and tearing down for a two-day       Craftsperson                              own work.” Please do, so I can
            school, and summer is pretty much     show is very hard on our old joints.                                           come by your booth and make
            over. I can hardly wrap my mind       Not to mention that two or three     1.  “I/My husband/My kid could            you feel bad.
            around those facts. Thanksgiving is   days of dealing with people wears a      make that.” FYI: We don’t care.
            only two months away, Christmas       body out.                                                                  10.  “I don’t have the time to craft/
            is closer than I care to imagine, and   I don’t know how those of you      2.  “I saw one of those at Walmart,       paint/sew.” Then what, pray
            Halloween is almost upon us.          who work in retail manage it.            and it was cheaper there.” Good       tell, do you do with all that free
               September and October used         Shoppers and lookers can be very         for you. Chances are the item         time? Sleep?
            to be very busy months for Randy      rude, sometimes without meaning          you saw at Walmart wasn’t         11.  “Yes, but this isn’t, like, a real
            and me because early autumn is        to. Plus, the weather doesn’t always     handmade. That’s probably why         job.” No, it isn’t. I work much
            the time when all the fall festivals   cooperate, and it’s no fun in the       it cost less.                         longer hours for lots less money
            and outdoor arts and crafts           rain.                                                                          and even less appreciation.
            shows are held. Back in the day,        In November, Randy and I said      3.  “Did you make/paint/draw
            we used to participate in at least    goodbye to Catoctin Colorfest,           that?” Most juried craft shows       So, as you can see, I really did
            four or five festivals and shows      after many years of setting up our       or art fairs require that the items   need a little break from the business.
            annually.  It was a fun way for us    tent in the Community Park. Yes,         for sale be handmade and that     I’m still selling online and doing an
            to spend time together, as we sat     we’ll miss all the shows and our         the person who actually did the   occasional exhibit or small indoor
            in our tent and sold our handmade     friends, but we will still be able       making be the one selling. So,    show, and I’ll probably always paint
            wood items, watercolor prints,        to attend and do some shopping,          yes, I made it. Duh.              or make some crafts for the sheer
            potpourri, jewelry, candles and floral   and we’ll finally be able to get                                        pleasure it gives me. I just found
            arrangements. Over the years, we’ve   something to eat! Who knows? We      4.  “Will you give me a discount      selling it in-person is too exhausting.
            handcrafted everything from holiday   might miss it so much that we’ll         or take less for it?” Craft shows   Randy has had so many other things
            ornaments to wall hangings and        find ourselves wanting to get back       are not flea markets. Most of     going on in his life in recent years that
            yard decorations. Christmas trees,    into it. Maybe when Randy actually       us vendors never get paid for     he, too, needs some time to regroup.
            crab mallets, greeting cards—you      retires, and we have some time on        the amount of time we spend          We’ll carry with us many pleasant
            name it, we’ve made it.               our hands.                               making our art. We can’t afford   memories of our vending days. One,
               Last year, we more or less retired   If you’re a person who enjoys          to give discounts or offer sales.   in particular, still makes me smile.
            from the arts and crafts business.    getting out in the beautiful fall        The really good shows prohibit    It was during Catoctin Colorfest,
                                                                                           price haggling or sales.          and it had been a long day. A young
                                                                                       5.  “Can you give me directions for   father came into our tent with his
                                                                                                                             small son. The little boy was looking
                                                                                           making that?” Sure, but why
                                                                                           would I do that? I have a whole   at some of my prints and seeming to
                                                                                                                             enjoy himself. The father came over
                                                                                           table full of things I’m trying to
                                                                                           sell.                             and whispered that his son loved to
                                                                                                                             draw and paint, and asked if the boy
                                                                                       6.  “That’s very nice, but I don’t    could ask me a question.
                                                                                           know where I’d put it.” On           “Sure,” I said.
                                                                                           Saturday morning, I might            The boy was about five years
                                                                                           respond with a “thank you,” but   old, and he very seriously asked,
                                                                                           by Sunday afternoon, I might      “How do you stay inside the lines so
                                                                                           have a few suggestions for where   good?”
                                                                                           you could put it.                    I answered him honestly when
                                                                                                                             I said, “I don’t always, and that’s
                                                                                       7.  “Would you make one for me?”      OK.”
                                                                                           See #5.                              Happy Fall, y’all!




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