Craft Show or the ER?

After weeks of sewing my derriére off, neglecting my housework to the point of having dust bunnies that are now able to pull up a chair & join us for dinner, and relying on my husband and mother for almost all forms of childcare, this was the decision I was faced with while setting up yesterday.

Things were going smoothly. I was actually on time. Despite feeling a little nervous about the amount of work I would have to fill out a table, I ended up having plenty. It was a beautiful day. My table was placed next to a good friend of mine, and another good friend was just at the other end of the aisle. My display, despite almost no planning, was looking decent. It was a very small show, but a good way to get my feet wet. I had everything mostly set up when I decided to grab the hand truck & head back up to the car for some mums & other small items I brought for decorations.

I decided to just put the hand truck in the car for the moment, but had to pull out the handle to collapse it to fit. It was stuck. I pulled harder. It was still stuck. I pulled again and…. F@!#%**!!! THAT REALLY HURT!! I shook my hand in pain, expecting the pinched feeling to subside in a moment or two when I noticed splatters all over the parking lot. I looked at my finger and the constant stream of blood dotting the ground below. It didn’t look good. I had caught my pinky finger on the release pin (a very BLUNT pin) and sliced it from the base of the fingernail to the tip, on an angle, and under the nail. I grabbed a friend & headed toward the bathroom to rinse it off & have a better look. Definitely not good. Friends & various Library employees kept telling me I needed to go to the hospital. My friend’s husband was trying to wrap it for me at the kitchen sink (yeah, the library had a kitchen!) when I felt the darkness come over me. It was unmistakable what was happening. My legs started to give out & a wave of nausea hit like a tsunami.

“I’m going to pass out”, I said, and everyone scrambled to get a chair before the pregnant lady hit the floor. My first craft show in 7 years, and I couldn’t believe this had happened- I kept thinking, Who’s going to watch my stuff? How am I going to pack all this up? All these preparations, and I’m going to end up missing everything?

I never really fully lost consciousness, but I definitely couldn’t see or stand for a while. Weird. I don’t get freaked out by blood or injuries of this level. I didn’t feel particularly squeamish, and I’ve only ever passed out once before in my life.  My friend’s husband, a boy scout leader, informed me that the ER Doctors probably wouldn’t be able to stitch it, since the cut was right next to, and underneath the fingernail.  Since we had cleaned it pretty well, I decided to stick it out for a while & see how things went.  I felt better.  I did need to change the dressing a few times, but the spewing had stopped, and the pain subsided.  Today I’m going to call the doctor & try to have it looked at & possibly get a tetanus shot, since I’m pretty certain I’m overdue.

Anyway, despite the rocky start, it ended up being a nice day.  Not a stellar show, but it was small & I wasn’t really expecting much.  It was nice to get out in the sun & fresh air, especially since I’ve been closed up in my little mole hole for the past couple of weeks.  I did make a few sales, but still have a lot of inventory which will be added to the shop over the next couple of days, starting with the bags, since I’ve already taken photos of them.

While I didn’t break any sales records, I certainly did leave my mark at the Jenkintown Library:

 

While all of my display items did not end up making their way out of the car, I think for the type of small-time show that it was, it still looked ok:

 

 

I am still planning on adding a few shows to my schedule over the next couple of months, but for now, I’ve never been so happy to be able to clean my house!  It should be done in about a week or two…