Another one bites the dust

Cross the first of three shows off the list. The Prairie Village Art Fair wrapped up today. It was a fun weekend because my mom came to town to watch Ellie while Em helped me set up. Just when I was checking my cheat sheet of tent directions, Nick shows up and literally had the tent together in no time - and he wasn't looking at the cheat sheet. I guess he is going to the Army and has probably set up a tent or two. You should see him fold the sidewalls. Talk about neat! Anyway, I'm sure my mom would have loved to be a fly on the wall watching the three of her kids laugh and sweat together.

And, man, it was hot! And humid. It was in the 90s nearly all weekend. I know that I complained about the long winter, but did summer have to come blazing in like this? Thank goodness my spot had a shade tree, which was a little bit scarce. My mother-in-law bought me a fan and it helped a little bit, but the patrons surely felt like they were baking in my tent.

Because of the weather, many artists were blaming their little amount of sales on sluggish, overheated patrons. So, I guess I will have to agree. My experience this year was NOT bad, but it was NOT awesome. I got lots of smiles, comments on great work, two thumbs up, had to make a mad dash to Kinko's for more business cards Sunday morning, but not a TON of buyers. That's OK though. The show really doesn't end for me when the tent is all neatly folded and placed in its proper Rubbermaid box. I had lots of questions about commissions, which is wonderful. I also had two gallery owners inquire about my work as well as a cute little shop in Brookside, where the owner thought my work may look great for sale in her dressing rooms. So, cross your fingers for some good things to come my way.

All in all, I did have a wonderful weekend, especially with family and friends stopping by. I don't think a 30 minute period went by where I didn't see or talk to someone we knew. I saw two girls from my high school as well as George Brett and one of the designers that used to be on Extreme Home Makeover. Also, my booth was two booths down from two wonderful artists from New Mexico that I've fallen in love with from my days at the Plaza Art Fair. (We visited them at the end of the show on their tricked out rock star bus that gets 4.5 miles per gallon of diesel fuel resulting in $2,000 worth of gas for their round trip to Kansas! Insanity!). I also enjoyed refilling my water bottle every hour with water from a hose, seeing my glass neighbors' crack every time he bent down to wrap up a piece for a customer and then watching the customer's faces as they then witnessed the crack for the first time, drinking skinny iced vanilla lattes twice a day, bringing an illegal cooler filled with wine and beer for friends and chatting with my husband because we just never seem to make the time to sit side by side for 9 hours on a Saturday and people watch.