Show Tomorrow

Took today off so I could set up for this weekends show in Akron. I've never done this show before. The vendors look good. About 6 jewelers, a bunch of children's clothes, some felted purses, a glass maker, painters, potters and more. I have a corner booth right at the door...great location!! Across from me is another jeweler. I usually hate that but she seems really nice. Her name is Tracy and she knows Kim who is another jewelry person.....small world. Across the other aisle is Michelle who works for the same hospital I work for and is the promoter of Gifts from the Heart Boutique that I will be exhibiting at this year. Two booths down is Donna who I have exhibited next to a Mrs. Claus' Closet for the last three years. If the show get boring I'll have plenty of people to talk to.

Because I have a corner booth I have to set up a little differently. I need some pipe and drapinig to block the view of the booth that I am next to. Since I don't have any of that I went to World Market this afternoon and bought a dark wicker three panel room screen and a three shelf bookcase that folds up. The bookcase I will use inside the booth to put my packaging materials, cash box and credit card machine on. The screen which will become a side wall of my booth is pretty large. It fits in the car just fine because my back seats fold down and the front passenger seat folds down. My worry is when I pack up on Saturday night...I'm not sure I will be able to fit everything in the car. I'm going to have to be really creative. Of course I also stopped in a Pier 1...love that store. They had wire dress forms...about 12 " high. So I bought two for my table display. They were an ugly yellow wire and meant to be rustic with some rust on the wires. I bought a can of black Rustoleum spray paint and painted them. They look so cool now. I always find things at Pier 1 for my dispaly.

I used Lou's Tom-Tom to get to Akron today...I call it his Dum-Dum. I'm really good at finding places. I am known as Sacajawea in our house. When I was about 9 years old I was in the car with my Mom and sister. It was dark out and Nancy was driving. She missed an exit on the freeway and I started crying. I remember thinking that I would never see my Dad again. Of course, my sister thought I was being a pain in the ass...something she thought I was quite often. My mom assured me it would be OK...but since that day I always study a map before I drive anywhere I haven't been. I don't like to get lost. Of course now that I am older...I just keep driving until I figure it out. The cool thing about the Dum-Dum is that if you take a wrong turn it gives you directions to get you back on track.

Got a catalog last night....Micro-Mark. You know you're a geek of one sort or another when you spend two hours pouring over a catalog that specializes in small tools. It is primarily focused on model builders and train enthusiasts. But there were a number of things that would be great for working with PMC and other metals. They had a small double sided strainer that would be really good for when you need to patina small items. It is a tea strainer ball with handles. It was one of those hit yourself in the head moments when you see something that gets used everyday and you realize you can use it in your art. They also had some great corner punches to make windows in sheet metal. They send out free catalogs girls so give them a look.