The Barn

Okay, I’m in the midst of running around with my sister, helping her daughter with prom, splitting time among family members and visiting favorite nostalgic spots…and the weather is fan-freakin-tastic so I’m a happy bird!

But…wanted to tell you about my *latest* endeavor!

So a couple weeks ago I mentioned that I was pretty much collecting my eggs back from the proverbial baskets I had put them all into.  It was part of my New Year’s resolution to try different ventures for my business but I realized after the fact that I was going into the wrong ventures.  All things that didn’t feel right and were giving me that pit in my stomach.  I’m pretty big on listening to your gut so that’s what I did, even if it meant slowing things way down.

However one of the ventures that I’ve been secretly hoping to get into was renting a booth out at a specialty kind of shop – one that features gifts and antiques, but those kind of places are hard to find.  Until I happened across the Barn.  I’ve spoken about it before in this post and the wonderful antique and handmade boutique feel it had.  I thought it would be a great fit for my stuff and left my info at the front desk for the owner in hopes of renting out the space.

When I never heard back I was a wee bit discouraged but now know that they don’t have much turnover and the wait list to get in is long (which is a good thing I now realize!).

So here’s my philosophical moment: I am a believer that when you clear clutter from your life (physical and emotional), you create space for good things (and things you’ve been wanting) to come into your life.

Well wouldn’t you know that only a couple days after I terminated my art licensing agreement, I got an email from the owner of the place I was hoping to rent a booth, letting me know she had space.  I went to see it and it was the perfect sized space for my work.  I pay rent and a portion of sales and my booth operates like a permanent stall; there’s a central register, my work is tagged with my vendor number and I get paid weekly based on what I sell.  I really only need to visit weekly to spice up my booth and bring new material as needed.

The day I went to see it was less than a week away from my trip to CT so I had to act FAST to set up before I left.  That means that for 4 days, David and I worked day and night to make, package and tag close to a thousand items (between cards, bookmarks, magnets and originals) – even on my birthday, we were working it!  Then we had to set it up and merchandise the space.

Here’s how it looked before…

And here’s how it looks now:

I’m really hoping it does well!  But I’m giving myself a pretty strict timeline to turn a profit (the fees aren’t cheap and neither is the gas to make the weekly 120 mile round trip drive) so if it works, then I’ll be a happy camper.  If it doesn’t, well, at least I’ve given it a shot in my never ending search to determine where I and my artwork fit in this world.  Though sometimes heartbreaking and always a lot of work, I’m learning so much with every venture I take on.

If ever you are in the Castle Rock area (situated right between Denver and Colorado Springs), hope you check out the great finds at The Barn!

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