Friday was set up day, after getting in, visiting with some friends, selling some earrings, and of course a nap after the over night bus ride, we got to the park for check in and set up! My amazing parents pretty much had everything ready to go when I got in. My dad and I went to the park Friday night and set up our tent, which is pretty much the only thing we could leave out over night. It was quite interesting trying to figure out the tent after it spent the last year in a box!
As you can see, we got it figured out! There's my dad! He wasn't too keen on getting his picture taken.
Saturday stared out amazing, we got there bright and early, got everything set up, met my neighbors and got started! Ironically the first thing I sold was my father's dulcimer that I was using as a display for one of my necklaces.
This year, I brought some of my paintings, drawings, and photos in addition to my jewelry, so we had to be a little more creative with the set up. To keep with the theme of the weekend, my dad (who conveniently had all this stuff at home already) used music stands, mic stands, and instruments to display my work, on top of the jewelry displays he built last year.
As the day progressed, the temperatures got well into the 90's, but we toughed it out and still had a great day. I had a few memorable customers; One woman who bought a necklace and earring set, who went on and on about the jewelry and how much she liked everything, she even stopped back by later in the day with her family! A gentleman stopped by and asked about one of my new designs, I answered his questions, he thanked me and left, I wasn't sure what to think about it, until he returned wasting no time in pointing out the necklace he had asked about before and said simply that he wanted to buy it! I like to think he went to all the jewelry booths, decided he liked my necklace the best, and came back to get it. The most memorable customer of the day was definitely a woman who told me a story about her pink and peacock pearls she got in Florida, and a few years later her home was broken into and her pearls stolen. She picked out a necklace and bracelet set, (pink and peacock pearls,) handed them to me with a smile and said "these will replace what I have lost." She purchased them, and then returned later to get the matching earrings. She reminded me of why I like doing this so much, simply to make people happy.
I did have several family and friends also make purchases, and of course all my facebook friends showing their support with 'like's throughout the day. These people are simply invaluable to me, the amazing show of support has been incredibly uplifting!
The day did have it's challenges, the wind was great in keeping the temperatures from feeling as hot as they were, but they also caused some serious issues for us! The partition was blown over once, thankfully not doing any significant damage to person or merchandise, and one of the jewelry displays was blown over twice, and we almost lost one of my favorite necklaces! After some intense re-staking and added weights we managed to get everything safely nailed to the ground. With storms on the forecast for the evening, we took everything down for the evening and went home to recover. My feet were so swollen from the heat that I couldn't put my sandals back on, and felt like a true Kentuckian walking back across the parking lot in my bare feet!
Sadly, the storms ended up being our downfall. That evening, the weather got so severe the amphitheater lost power, there was damage to some areas of the park, and a few tents were damaged. During the evening concert a storm hit and blew rain and debris onto the audience, they had to be pulled up onto the stage out of harms way! Due to the evenings events, and the forecast of more storms on Sunday, the second day of the weekend was cancelled. I'm sure it was a hard decision to make, and I believe we were all disappointed, but I had a great Saturday none the less! I was able to take advantage of my unexpected free time, got my Etsy store up and running, and spent some time with my family.
All things considered, I will most definitely be coming back to the Kentucky Music Weekend again next year! Despite the storms, I was reminded of why I am doing this. Getting to hear all the great complements about my work, realizing that I am a pretty good artist, but more than that, I got to make some people happy! I was able provide a woman with pearls to replace the ones she lost, able to alter pieces on the spot so some amazing ladies could have jewelry that fit them just right, and able to offer many people jewelry and art to bring beauty to their lives.
In the mean time, please take a look at my Etsy store, and send me your email if you wish to be put on my email list, where I will send out special announcements and offers!
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