I Did It! the Mississauga Water Front Festival & Port Credit Farmers Market

 Jacqueline Neves at the Port Credit Farmers Market

  I did it! I sold my Handmade Jewellery & Accessories at the Port Credit Farmers Market and The Mississauga Waterfront Festival, they were great. I sold lot's of jewellery and got lot's of custom orders and I'm so happy! I met so many wonderful people and had fun!

 I told you I was going to write about my experience with the shows and my chronic pain, to  give other artist with chronic pain some ideas that might help them to do shows. Well,  It was not easy,  I'm exhausted and very sore. I was close to tears a few times, but, I did it! Hurray! 

 I cant stay in bed all day (although I want to), I have to move my body, do my exercises and try to walk ( I don't feel like it, LOL!)

 I crawled out of bed, hobbled into the kitchen, made some tea and sat at the computer, here I am and here I am going to stay until I finish this blog entry, it may be too long, it gives me  a good excuse to sit, LOL!

  I'm so happy, the Festival it was great. I have never had to deal with so many people at once, it was a challenge. I had to talk so much, even my mouth got tired. 

  The Farmers Market is easier, just one table and only 8:00am to 1:00pm, but, the Fair was very long hours. 

  If you are planning to do a show while living  chronic pain, perhaps my experience will give you some ideas to get through it and make it work.

 I brought my favorae wooden stool from home, there was no way I could sit on a fold up chain all day. I kept my spine aligned as much as possible. I found that If I kept the stool in the center of the tables, I could talk  & sell while sitting resting.

 I was careful to move mindfully, people could see  that it was difficult for me to move, but, they could see my cane and seemed to understand.  I displayed things and had things set up so that everything was easy to reach without straining. 

  I had displays that were easy to set up and pack up to take home. That was very important. You don't want to spend too much time packing & unpacking. I think it's important to set everything up at home, to see how it's going to work when your at the show.

 

 I made displays out of picture frames and pinned things down, the displays are small enough that they fit inside large Zip-lock bags. I used shower curtain hooks to keep the necklaces together, wrapped them in cloths and packed them in bags. The earrings stayed in place on the metal displays with clear stoppers so they didn't fall off when we put the displays in bags. I spent a lot of time planning how to set up and pack fast! It has to be simple enough for my husband to do too. You may have someone helping you that does not know anything about packing jewelry, so keep it simple.

  I had a table with bags, receipt book, earring backs, note books etc, all easy to reach and didn't have to bend to reach them. I had things on stools to make things easier to reach. I put a lot of thought into everything. I knew it was going to be difficult, so I wanted my set up to be as efficient as possible.

I took breaks, walked around to stretch my legs, did some simple exercises. I got home for breaks ( we live right around the corner from the park).  I did my prayer and mediation at home (fell asleep a few times in the process) Lol!  I brought my own food from home (I did eat a few treats, it was  festival, LOL!)  I think it's really important that you eat your normal diet when you live with chronic pain, you don't want a stomach ache on top of everything else!

 I'm in no hurry to do the next,  it will take long time to recuperate from this show, but, I have lot's of work to do at home.  My website is doing great and I will start to put things on Esty too. I will be selling at the Port Credit Farmers Market on Saturday July 5th, so I have until then to rest.

I'm so blessed I had my Husband to help me, my Sister and Niece came out to help too. Don't take on something too big without help.  You don't want to hurt yourself setting up or you will be in too much paint to sell, make sure you have someone to help you

I hope you try to do shows, It may seem like alot of work and a lot of pain, but, I'm happy I did it. .

  I spent lot's  of time preparing for the show, learning how to move,  eating well, doing my exercises, lot's of prayer and mediation. If your not spiritual, I think it would help to do some relaxation and some type of mediation to help. If you can keep your body relaxed, you wont hurt yourself as easily.

You should ask your Doctor how to prepare for a show,  find out if you can do some exercises to strengthen your body and learn how to move. This is the class I go to Mind Body Pain Clinic.

The shows are a lot of work, difficult for anyone, but, especially for someone living with Chronic pain, but so worth it.

God is good! My faith got me through it and made it a wonderful experience. 

If you have any ideas to share about doing shows, please share,  I would love to learn more!

Well, I guess I have to move now. I need another cup of tea and I have some custom orders to make.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a peaceful, creative and pain free day! God bless you.

  Jacqueline Neves

www. anythingspossiblejewellery.com