getting ready

This week has been so hectic, I am preparing for the Buyer's Market of American Craft which is a show I've been quite apprehensive to do for about 3 years. The show offered etsy teams the opportunity to show together as a group for a discounted rate in the hopes that we'll all do well and come back to the show in a full booth to build our businesses. Shortly after I joined Handmade Philly (the local etsy-ish team), I saw a post in our forum about this and jumped at the opportunity. I'm even organizing our wee group of 3. The Buyer's Market is a huge deal in the craft world, buyer's come from all over the country to view our handmade wares and place orders. The show seeks out the top crafters in the US and the buyer's rely on their strict jurying process to create a show that will dazzle! So here I am doing the show for the very first time and while I feel like I know what to expect, I am nervous. I've had about 6 weeks to prepare but this was during a very busy show season and wedding gift season. So most of my prep work has been in the past 2 weeks, yikes! I'm getting ready to put about 1/3 of my samples in the kiln today. The only pattern I have completely ready is pictured above, my Anemone pattern. There are 2 new items in the line - the large rectangular platter and the tall vase. They will be available on my site shortly after the show. But for now, I'm going to freak out until I finally set up the show on friday - it seems like the natural thing to do!

xo, Linda