Returning to myself

Dear Reader,

The eye of the storm

As I slowly head into my busiest season of the year, I often try to focus on how to care for myself properly and keep my stress levels low. Folks who work for themselves know that it’s quite a balancing act to make sure that you are not always working. In my case, when you really love what you do, and the need to keep your hands busy is a constant reality, it’s even more difficult to manage your work life and your personal life. This delicate work and life balance is something that I’m constantly learning. Everyday teaches me what I did right, what I did wrong, and how I can improve, much like life in general. Making mistakes is certainly not bad, it’s how we grow. Can you imagine if we went through our lives and never made mistakes? We’d just be the same person year after year. If I’m not a better person today (even in a minuscule way), then I need to take some time for deep introspection.

What I’ve realized recently though, is that while I do a pretty decent job of caring for myself personally. I don’t think I always do a great job of caring for myself professionally when it comes to one area-shows. Translation: I’ve been doing a lot of working hard and not working smart. So, what am I doing to address this issue? Well, I’ve started to consider the quantity of shows I do in a season and figure out which ones I’m going to continue to do, and which ones I’m not. If I’ve done shows that consistently either have a poor turnout, or didn’t work out that great for me, or both, then I’m not going to do those shows anymore. Also, shows that have inconsistent turnouts probably won’t be on my list anymore either. I know in the past I’ve done shows just because the entry fee was low or free, and the location was convenient and I won’t be vending at those shows in the future.

Why the sudden change of heart? This spring/summer I vended at MANY shows. Sometimes even as many as 4-6 in a month. And, with the exception of two of those shows, none of them were well-attended. I did ok at the ones that weren’t as well-attended, but I did INCREDIBLY well at the two that were. Anytime I do a show, it’s A LOT of work. I accept the fact that I never know how things will turn out, and I actually even kind of enjoy that part of the process. To be honest, I love it. And, I’ve done shows for long enough at this point, that once I set up, the rest is gravy. But, if I spend hours setting up and hardly anyone shows up, my chances of doing well have just dropped dramatically. So, unlike other years where I would have just kept at it. This year I actually sat up and took notice. Those two really successful shows that I do every spring are going to stay on my list of shows for next year and the others are not. While I plan on traveling a lot more for shows next season, I will still be around locally. I’d love to do pop-ups, so If anyone has any ideas please feel free to comment. I do have some other things I’m considering locally, but I’ll save that for next week.

Last week at a glance

• On Sunday I dropped off 12 fabric collages and 2 art quilts at River Pearl Studio

• My husband and I found out that we need a new transmission in our older Eurovan.

• Our tomatillo harvest was abundant, so my husband made salsa verde and canned it.

• My cousin had her baby. (I need to finish the baby quilt).

• I played basketball several times this week with my family and it was so much fun. I constantly played as a kid both for fun and on my school team, and every time I play it’s like I’m a kid again. Also, I still can kick some butt. Yes, I’m very competitive.

• I finished a crochet vest, some beanies, a bunch of patches, shoelaces, and drawstring bags that I use for packaging jewelry.

  

• I found an Anne Lamont book, Blue Shoe in the free library. I’ve only read her nonfiction books which I loved, so I’m interested to see how I will like this book since it’s fiction.

• My kids made some delicious baked goods.

• I figured out the size chart for jersey tanks/tees and crochet tanks/tees/vests/sweaters as well as beanies. My plan is to have made-to-order options available on the website in the next week or two.

• I received a couple of great folding shelves from my friend’s sister that will be a perfect addition to my booth.

• We bought a digital camera.

What will be happening in my studio this week?

I have a big show coming up in Woodstock, NY on September 27th, so I’m making as much inventory as I can to prepare for that. Here’s a sample of what I’ll be working on this week.

• Beanies

• Eyeglass/sunglass cases

• Fabric collages

• Long patchwork skirts

• Leggings

• Crochet vests and sweaters

• Zippered pouches

• More jewelry

  

I appreciate all of you who choose to be here and read my newsletter.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

xo,

Christa

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  Website: https://www.wildchildfibers.com

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