The possibilities ......

a recent jar from flea marketing....

When we go hunting for old stuff to make jewelry into, I always keep an eye out for mason jars and zip baggies full of stuff.  Sometimes it's really disappointing, just a bunch of junk.. more properly termed some one's treasure of course.  Sometimes buried in the stuff I can't use will be a true gem of opportunity.  I'll see it and immediately picture the jewelry it will make, and cackle evilly cause well, cackling evilly is fun. 

Today I start the search for shows for next year, and it's every bit like buying that jar full of junk... you just don't know what you will get.

Sure there are shows we do almost every year, but even they can be surprising.   And the weather is always a lottery game... when you do 20-25 shows a year, most of them outside, sometimes the numbers are going to be bad and rain on you, and your sales. 

We always try to do new shows, to keep it fresh and find new audiences.  Just like that jar  -- it looks very positive on the outside, but I won't know what's on the inside until we actually do that show.

This past year of shows had some strange jars indeed... where everything I looked at in advanced said this should be a good show.  The folks running the show are good people, the location is excellent, and they did huge advertising.   But actual buyers on the ground... not so much.

You just can't tell looking into that jar from the outside.

We did shows that lived up to the promise in the paperwork -- true gems hiding in the muck as well.

But that is part of the fun of doing shows.