Page 8 - July2011

114 THE NATIONAL BUTTon BULLETIN July 2011

'*"U@lm,t.U"" Restoring Your Sanity

Sanity-saving Tricks

Before, During & After a Button Show

Button Show Sanity Saver # 1
Do you have a few buttons you can't identify? Do you need just the right person
to look at them and tell you what they are made of and when? Do you say that
you will take them to the next show but you can never find them when it's time
to pack your suitcase?
Stop it! Take a small piece of mat board and write "QUESTIONS" on it. Place
the board in your filing system (see National Button Bulletin, Dec 2010, p. 234)
inside a folder marked Shows, Competition, National or whatever pleases you.
As time goes by and you find a button that you wish to know more about,
wire the button onto the card you have filed for questions. When the next show
comes around you will know exactly where your 'question' buttons are and you
can readily locate them. Now all you have to do is remember to pack them.
Once you are at a show, write what people tell you about the buttons directly
onto the mat board. How easy is that?
Button Show Sanity Saver #2
After a long day of shopping in the showroom at a button convention, do you
sit on the edge of a hotel room bed and unwrap all of your new treasures to
show your friends? Do you then carefully rewrap each one and find just the right
'hiding' place for them? Do you go through the same ritual the next night with a
different button friend but you can't remember where you hid some of them?
Here's a strategy that will save your sanity and prevent the loss of any buttons.
Before leaving for a button show, find a mat board and write the year and location
of the show at the top. If you write it in pencil, you can use the card again next
year. The card can be an old used card with holes already poked. Take this card
with you to the show. Each evening unwrap your day's button purchases and
throw out all of the little wads of paper and bags. Wire your little treasures onto
the card. Write the price you paid, the dealer you purchased it from, and any
other pertinent information about the button on the back of the card. If you
don't want your friends to see how much you paid, bring along a 'black-backed'
plastic sleeve to slide the card into before handing it to your friends to view.
When you're ready to go home at the end of the show, you will have ALL your
new purchases in one location. No more searching for a zillion little baggies. You
can put the ONE card into your carry-on (if flying) and not have to worry about