What have I been up to? Sometimes, I wonder this question.

The New Year is no longer new. However, I feel like I'm still not yet in the swing of felting activity. Certainly, not at that lovely level of creative-making that I was at back in the fall. Fingers were busy and hats were made!

Of course, I do need to remind myself that in the new year that I set up a new website which took (and continues to) take up time. As part of my website migration, I put ~all~ of my felted wearables on Shopify's POS (Point of Sales) credit card reader device. While it was a pain, it was so worthwhile. It's much easier to keep track of Hat Adoptions during craft fairs with this tool.

There have been additional administrative activities. I've been applying to craft fairs! And while not exactly a time-consuming activity, it does require research and concentration to figure out which events 'suit' my hats which are not always 'everyone's cup of tea.' As I look over events like FaerieCon I wonder and ponder. My hats are often whimsical, but they're not intended as costumes.

Moreover, there are other details that I need to pin down and then mull over. And then mull over some more.

Firstly, can I get to an event? After my brave driving TWICE to Cleveland last autumn, I now feel free as a bird. But, there are limits - I'm not ready to drive more than 4ish hours, at the moment. Nor, am I brave enough to drive in NYC if it were closer than 4 hours away. I love how polite (mostly) other drivers are in Pittsburgh.

Secondly, how expensive is the booth fee? Not surprisingly, artists have to pay to exhibit/vend their wares at craft fairs, in addition to needing to purchase our tents and display units. This stuff adds up. So, while some events are not priced so expensively, other events make me pause. For example, if the booth fee is $600 ~and~ an event is four hours away, then, I will have to pay for lodgings because I cannot expect to drive that much back and forth over a weekend. But, at this stage of my felted hat adventure, I hesitate to drop that much money. Fortune may Favor the Brave. But that's not me :)
 

In addition, there are several other 'spinning plates' on my Craft Fair calendar which I keep somewhat untidily within an EXCEL file. Included on this file are other craft fair applications that have yet to open up their applications for events that occur later in the year. I suppose that the application process gets easier to organize with experience. 

Hopefully, I will soon return to being in the Felting Zone! I definitely have some ideas about what I want to make next!


The Big Hat Look