Beach and Wilmington Art Walk - Photos

View of sound-side marsh from back deck at Sunset Beach.

Morning visitors to our deck - juvenile night herons.

Ready for a walk on the beach - pretty pedicures and flip-flops!

And just a few photos of the 9th Annual Art Walk in Wilmington, NC.

Beach - Here I Come!

I think I am ready for a week at the beach... and the art walk in Wilmington! It's a gorgeous day unlike the near 100 degree yesterday!

--Etsy shop in vacation mode - check

--Petsitter service scheduled - check

--Vacation hold on newspaper and mail - check

--Jewelry inventoried and photographed - check

--And the car packed!

See my earlier posting on pre-pack notes and concern on it all fitting in. I even have some room for a last minute change - a friend will ride along for the weekend!

Completely forgot that I had the roof rack to stow away stuff! That luggage pack is no easy task to get situated on top of the car, especially when you are only 5 feet tall! You should have seen me standing on the door ledges (all the while mindful of not falling down - an acquaintance fell and injured his neck / collarbone when he was packing the roof rack on his SUV).

So this is the last post until I get back.

Hope you all have a wonderful long Labor Day weekend!

Preparing for an Outdoor Show

I am preparing for my first outdoor show of the 2010 fall season! I will be at the 9th Annual Art Walk and Parade in Wilmington, NC on Saturday, September 11 (10:00am - 5:00pm). If you are in the area, please come by and say "Hi!"

Lots of stress and brainstorming for ideas on how to set up the tent display. Especially when you don't know where your assigned booth location will be or tent orientation. I've done several outdoor and indoor shows and I haven't set up the same for any of them. There is always something to cause a change in setup - perhaps a change in the size of the booth space, location, orientation, etc.

One task I do is to photograph my jewelry on displays to remind me where each item is to be placed. I didn't do this one time, got all of my jewelry set up and found that I had some empty slots. I had a moment of uncertainty - had I left some pieces at home, lost or misplaced some of them, or had I just put more items on a display?

Also I create a grid layout for many possible tent setups, print it and bring along so that I can quickly determine which would fit the situation.

The hardest part of preparing is the physical task of getting everything packed in the car! Start out with an empty car - I took out the 2 back seats to get as much space as possible.

AND .... fit all this stuff in - a tent with canvas, tent weights, 4-5 tables ranging in sizes (6ft, 5ft, 4ft), table risers, a chair, rubber flooring, step stool, table cloths/sheets, banner, bungee cords, jewelry displays, jewelry inventory, and miscellaneous items for actual sales (business cards, inventory list, signage, packaging, receipts, cash, change...). Plus, this time I have beach stuff to pack to since I will be spending a week prior to the show at Sunset Beach - more packing...