First, an apology. I’m sorry poor blog. I have been so busy that I haven’t had a free second to write. I have ideas, and things to say, but between some craziness at work, a few minor medical issues, and trying to prep for the holiday shows, something had to give. But, I was at St. Joe’s in Montvale this weekend and the Craft Show Wars have spurred me back into action.

St. Joe’s is an awesome show. It is a mile from my house so I kind of consider it my “home” show. The organizers are terrific. The customers are great. And the vendors are among the nicest I’ve met. Except for one.

We were setting up in our normal holiday spot and all was going fine. There was the normal amount of chit chat amongst the vendors, and everyone was in a good mood and excited about the weekend. We bring one of our embroidery machines to the shows so we can customize items for customers while they shop. The customers love it! And the vendors should too because it brings people around to our area again when they come to pick up their item. Well, when we set up our machine, the vendor next to me (Bobi who makes mediocre at best jewelry) asked if the machine would be going all day. I said, “Yes, all day I hope.” She then proceeded to tell me that it was unacceptable because she wants to talk all day. I explained that it would be noisy and she wouldn’t even notice the machine. She then proceeded to continue to complain about me to her partner, on and on.

Another lovely vendor came and told me that this woman was a problem at every show. My neighbor on the other side suggested i move the machine to her side to get it far away from the witch, which I did. We then hung a quilt on the outside of our booth so I didn’t have to look at her. Problem solved, or so i thought.

I went to the ladies room and when I came out she was in the hallway near the bathroom talking to a customer telling her how terrible I was for bringing a machine and suggested that she shouldn’t visit my booth. I went and told the manager, who told her to cut it out. You really can’t make this stuff up.

A few minutes later, Rob stepped into her booth while leaving ours (we had a big heater / obstruction cutting into our space) and she started screaming at him that she paid for that space and he couldn’t step into it. She then barricaded it so we couldn’t leave our booth. This woman is really not a nice person. At all.

Fast forward about an hour later and a customer looked into her booth to see the quilt I had hung to block her. So funny – i have been carrying that quilt around for two years and no one every wanted it. 😦 I really just had it with me to hang if i ran out of holiday stuff and needed a table filler. Well, this customer wanted to buy the cat quilt, and stepped into crazy-lady’s space to get a closer look. Crazy-lady started yelling at her to get out. She bought the quilt anyway! Then, a woman was shopping at my booth and her husband wandered into crazy-lady’s. At that point he told his wife to come over and look at something when she was done. Crazy lady started yelling at him, “you can’t be in my booth if you are shopping with her. Get out.” The guy actually wanted to buy from her, and she kicked him out of her booth.

Oh well. Fortunately she didn’t say a word to us all day Sunday and that day was uneventful. The whole thing was upsetting as the vendors work so hard on their items, the school really tries to create a great environment while raising money for their students, and the customers just want a nice day out. Several other vendors came up to me and told me how this woman is an ongoing problem, so I have to shake it off and just ignore her when we go to other events.

Other than crazy-lady it was an awesome show. We had a lot of fun, met several really nice people, and sold a few things too.

Happy Monday y’all.