Gainesville Heirlooms and Blooms Festival

This weekend will be several "firsts" for us - an out of town show, the Heirlooms and Blooms Festival in Gainesville, Florida; which means that we'll have to cram a suitcase amongst the booth goods (plus snacks and drinks), and hope to god that we have brought what we need to the show; plus it's a three-day event, so I've got to make certain that my trusty checklist has actually been gone over and that we have enough small bills, bags, and wrapping paper - how's that for optimism? - for the entire run. We actually put the shade canopy up out back last week so we're sure that it goes up without a problem, and we packed the canopy in with the frame - what a brilliant idea! - instead of taking it off. The last time, the canopy was sitting on a shelf in the garage, and we had the empty frame with us at the show. Dope slap to the head! Plus, I've got gallons of water and bungee cords to anchor the whole business down to the ground, because we're expecting that we won't be able to drive any stakes down and will be setting up in a glorious parking lot. You kind of have to expect anything, and hope for the best.

Can you tell I'm a bit nervous? Traveling away from home, doing a long show, not knowing what the business climate will be - it's a whole bunch of uncertainty, my least favorite aspect of life. I like predictability, bring it on! I love certainty, my good friend!

Instead, I'm doing what I can to prepare for this beast. Restocking my jewelry inventory (from my own castoffs) - a scramble as this is a reliable source of sales for us. I noticed at the Tarpon Springs show that another dealer was using a throw pillow to display her selection of pins - and had remarked how much better they were selling from there than from her cases. So last week I hit the charity shops and found a sweet, ivory lace-covered pillow - I believe it was meant as a ring pillow for a wedding ceremony. My pins look very enticing on it, and it's freed up all sorts of room in the display cases for more earrings.

Another idea I had was to pull together some faux greenery to put in the planters and vases that we have for sale, since this is a garden-themed show. That way we can feature them on the tables and be in keeping with the spirit of the show. I'll take some photos if this effect is well received, and post them here.

Fingers crossed that Gainesville opens her welcoming arms to Time Travelers this weekend.