VivoCity Craft Market 26th - 27th May 2012 Post-Mortem

Folks,

Have you ever had a weekend where you feel happy and yet not happy at the same time? My weekend at VivoCity was kinda like that.

I had no problems getting to VivoCity. My taxi came quite fast. My driver did drive like a F1 driver but he was pretty skillful so there were no accidents. Maybe there were a few heart-stopping moments but my F1 driver somehow managed to escape unscathed. He also dropped me off at a place which was even closer to the craft market.

My counter location was, in my opinion good. I know some sellers don't like the location I had but it suits me because my larger bags which are hung on a rack are visible. It's close to the toilet and rubbish bin. What more could I ask for?

Everything went well for me. My long-time craft neighbour Mandy who owns Forest Flame was next to me so I need not fear going for food or toilet breaks. The traffic was gooood. I had good sales. At least on Saturday it was. Sunday's sales dipped but it was still good. My best sales this year.

So what went wrong? I guess it started to hit me in the late afternoon. A seller seated close to me had used a spray to varnish her products. Although she took care to do it outside the building, when she brought the items back to her counter, the smell lingered and lingered. My eyes and temples started to throb. Around 3pm I took my first two paracetamol. At 7pm I felt like I wanted to throw up. I took my next two paracetamol. The pain was spreading like fire. The stupid thing was I never once told the seller to stop her spraying. Before I went to bed, I took an anti-histamine and 2 more useless paracetamol.

On Sunday I woke up and almost died of panic. I couldn't open my eyes! My eyes had grown so puffy and I honestly thought I would not be able to leave my home. I took another anti-histamine and eventually the puffiness subsided and I looked human enough to go back to VivoCity. My head pain was clearly a migraine now. I decided to talk to the seller who used the spray varnish because I was not going to suffer further. Anyway, I did try to be as inoffensive as I possibly can because I can imagine how I'll react if someone were to tell me what I can or cannot do. Long story short, the seller did not agree to stop using the spray. But she did compromise by putting the sprayed items in a plastic bag to contain the smell. And she was very apologetic.

One thing about migraines - once triggered, you can't take it back. You just have to ride it out. Today is day 3 and it is tapering off. I have learnt a good lesson. I need migraine pills from the doctor. It's silly to suffer and take paracetamols which don't work. I have never taken migraine pills before even tho' I have suffered from migraines almost my entire life since I was a teenager. Time to make the change. Oh, when I'm reborn, I want to lose all my sensitivities.

This was my Saturday's table display. I didn't try very hard - just wanted to display everything I had. I want to say this display worked because I made good sales on Saturday. I notice that when my display is interesting or even creative, customers don't want to "spoil" it and have less desire to touch my pouches. When I display them casually on the table, they feel compelled to touch and feel. And that's important because the first step to buying an item is picking it up with your hand.

A neighbouring seller insisted on taking a pic of me. This was way before my head pains started. I had no idea!

Okay, who said this shopping bag would sell? Raise your hand. You're right. It sold.

Who said this skulls and roses crescent bag would sell? Raise your hand. You're right. It sold. Psst. I made 2 of these as I was thinking if one sold I get to keep one for myself. If the 2nd one doesn't sell by July, I'm gifting it to MOI.

Who said these felt brooches won't sell? Hubs did. He's so right. :(

Don't worry. I'm not going to show you every item that sold.

I sat in front of the two balloon artists. Here is one of them. They make interesting shapes with the balloons and sell these, usually to kids. They do very well. Thing is, each time they use the machine to blow up the balloons, it gives off a poooornnng! sound. Well, you know me. It pissed the hell out of me. (migraine, people!) But they were very nice folks.

I have a craft market this coming weekend. Crazy right? My stock is low. I have 4 glorious days to sew. I devoted today to my family, shopping, eating and a movie - Men In Black 3. See you soon.