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Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Let The Christmas Season Begin

Posted in Events, tagged , , on November 26, 2012| 4 Comments »

The Thanksgiving weekend is over, and I hope it was a happy one for all of you.  Husby and I had a cozy little dinner with just the two of us.  Now that we celebrate the day as a twosome we serve ourselves something other than a giant turkey, because there’s only so much two people can do with a twelve pound turkey before getting sick of it or developing narcolepsy due to excess tryptophan.  This year we had a nice little pork loin with a cranberry barbecue glaze and a bunch of other good stuff to accompany it.  We also had a very nontraditional dessert ~ applesauce cake with a spiced cream cheese frosting.

Black Friday was very leisurely for us as we spent the day at the Taylors Falls Depot selling my wares.  There was a crowd shopping, but there was no screaming, clawing, or trampling.

Joyce and Doug’s booth filled with beautiful original paintings.

A friend of one of the vendors stopped by and it turns out she’s a professional pianist. It was so nice of her to play some music for us for free, although I’m pretty sure the out-of-tune piano was bugging her to no end. Despite that, she played beautifully. One of the shoppers loved the music so much she lingered to sing along to the Christmas songs.

Live music from a real professional. What a treat!

Of course I was thrilled to meet some new customers and see lots of returning customers.  I was especially happy to meet the lady who loves beeswax so much she bought every beeswax candle I had.  Woo Hoo!  I appreciate all who stopped by my booth to pay me a visit or buy a thing or two for themselves or for gifts to give this Christmas.

Some shoppers perusing my booth

With the Thanksgiving weekend behind us I foresee a whirlwind of activity coming our way.  I’m looking forward to the festivites and preparations.  Let the Christmas season begin!

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When You Eat And Run You’ll Get A Side-Ache

Posted in Events, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 21, 2012| 2 Comments »

There was an article in Yahoo News or some other internet news site about a woman who claims to have paid only $2000 on $10,000 worth of merchandise on Black Friday.  I only have one thing to say about that: The day I spend $2000 (much less $10,000) on Christmas gifts is the day I win the lottery and become Oprah’s sole beneficiary.  But probably not even then.

I’m not alone in thinking the whole Black Friday thing has gotten out of control.  It’s unbelievable how Corporate America is able to manipulate the country into thinking that more is better.  Seriously, I believe people go out on Black Friday Thursday just to buy as much stuff as they possibly can and decide later who will receive what item from the myriad of on-sale crap.  Where has the thoughtfulness of gift-giving gone?  Are we, as a whole, really convinced that a violent, frontal lobe-frying video game is better for our kids than a book?  Is it really better to give Grandma a high-tech food processor rather than a CD featuring music from her era?

The magic and joy of the Christmas season is being sucked away by greed.  Not only is Christmas promoted way too early, it is obscenely promoted with shouting and concepts like “busting” doors. 

I can think of SO many things I’d rather do than stand in line, outside, on a cold Minnesota November night, with a bunch of strangers.

There’s nothing wrong with a sale or saving money, but let’s all remember the idea behind giving gifts.  Let’s not let retail stores tell us we are bad if we don’t give diamonds and flat-screen TVs (on sale of course) as gifts.  Most importantly, let’s not let the Thanksgiving holiday turn into an eat-and-run kind of day.  Relax.  Preparing a delicious meal is enough to think about for one day.  Even if you’re all alone on Thanksgiving, take that time to be silently thoughtful about that for which you are thankful.  Or watch a good movie.

I’ll be spending Black Friday with Husby at the Taylors Falls Depot selling my wares along with some other talented artisans.  It will prove to be a fun event with sweet treats and cider for anyone who stops by.  Be sure to stay for the parade downtown Taylors Falls, as well as the lighting of the Christmas decorations. 

I like the idea of spending the day in small town, doing small town stuff at a small town pace.  In the back of my mind I’ll still know the world has gone mad and people are clawing and trampling each other to the delight and amusement of big box stores.  To this thought I can only say, non illegitimi carborundum est.

Ray Troll rocks!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

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Summer’s Last Show, Part II

Posted in Craft Business, Events, tagged , , , , , , on October 19, 2012| 4 Comments »

If you read yesterday’s post you know Husby and I endured a blown-away canopy followed by a beautiful, sunny autumn day of sales at the Sister Bay Fall Festival.  The thing that made me so nervous about applying for this show in the first place was the fact that it was a three-day show.  I’ve never done a show of that length before.  With one minus (blown-away tent) and one plus (lovely and lucrative day) everything about the show was even.  However, periodically throughout the day Husby was checking the weather report for the rest of the weekend.  It didn’t look good.

I spent the entire evening toiling over how I was going to manage the show with 20 mph winds and a 90% chance of rain with temperatures in the mid-40s.  At least I was satisfied with how we closed up shop on Friday evening, lowering the canopy and adding even more weights to keep it from flying away overnight. 

When I woke up Saturday morning I resumed my worrisome behavior, trying to decide if I should weather out the storm or shut down completely.  I weighed the pros and cons of sticking it out.  The cons won.

This is how it looked outside while I was pacing back and forth Saturday morning, trying to make one of the hardest decisions of my business life.

We rushed to the site of the show and packed up everything before the event was scheduled to begin.  (No, the canopy had not blown away this time, thank goodness!)  Before we made it back to the motel it started to rain.  And it rained for forty-eight hours straight with healthy winds coming off the lake.

I’ve always been kind of judgmental when it comes to people packing up and leaving a show before it’s scheduled to end.  I felt like a hypocrite and spent the rest of Saturday second-guessing my decision to leave early.  When it was still raining on Sunday I knew I’d made the right choice.  Not only would that much wind and rain have damaged my product, Husby and I would have been crabby and cold.  Thinking like a shopper I knew I’d never venture out in that kind of weather to wander around at an outdoor event.

While we were out at an antique/junk store on Sunday we happened to see our vendor neighbor.  I looked at my watch and saw the craft show was still, technically, in progress.  I teased her and asked why she wasn’t sitting out in the cold rain.  She said she wished she had done as I did and packed up Saturday morning before the rain started.  There were no shoppers and many of the vendors started tearing down on Saturday afternoon.

Long and short of it all, I worked one day of a three-day show.  I still feel a little guilty for begging out, but I’m also very glad my wares were safe and dry.  I’m very pleased with the money I earned on Friday, but disappointed that the weather didn’t cooperate in making what could have been the most lucrative show of my life.

To my fellow craft show vendors out there, I don’t recommend leaving a show early for reasons like poor attendance or low sales.  That’s the show to avoid next year.  If it’s a one-day show, stick it out to the end.  If it’s more than one day, and your product or your health might be jeopardized, pack up during the off hours of the show to avoid annoying shoppers and fellow vendors.

The decision to leave in the middle of this show was a difficult one indeed.  Now I’ll spend the next six months trying to decide if I’ll take a chance on it again next year.

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Don’t Bug Me, I’ve Been Busy

Posted in Events, tagged , , , on September 14, 2012| 6 Comments »

All right, so I got off easy by creating only one post this week (besides this one).  It was a Wordless Wednesday too ~ what’s the effort in putting up a measly picture?  Don’t bug me, I’ve been busy.

1.  I’ve been failing miserably doing my best to get Halloween magnets up in my Etsy shop and in other assorted venues.  My goal was to have them set up six weeks before Halloween.  So far I’m a week behind.

2.  I had a certain medical procedure that required days of agonizing preparation but resulted in an excellent outcome and a most dreamy drug-induced sleep.

3.  It’s show time again and I’ve been packaging and labeling my little heart out.

Tomorrow I’ll be at the Chateau St. Croix Winery and Vineyard selling my wares.  It’s going to be a beautiful weekend, weatherwise.  Husby and I will be in our little booth, dancing to the music, visiting with our craft show friends, and have a sip or two of wine.  My favorite part of doing live shows is watching people’s reactions to my offerings.

Here’s someone looking at my pulp fiction magnet board. She seems to like it. 

When I’m done having fun at the winery I’ll have a few weeks to get ready for what will probably be the biggest and most demanding shows I’ve ever done.  We’ll talk more about that at another time.  For now I’m looking forward to a nice weekend after what has proven to be a very busy week.  Come on over to St. Croix Falls, WI and see me!

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Ach Du Lieber!

Posted in Craft Business, Events, tagged , on October 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The day started early. Husby and I had our belongings gathered and packed by 6:00 a.m. Just as we were ready to head out to Ruttger’s for the Oktoberfest we saw a house on a semi trailer traveling slowly down the quiet, dark streets of Deerwood, MN.  I wonder where it was going…

This event, Oktoberfest, was a new experience as we had to set up in the dark.  I’ve never done an outdoor show this late in the season and it was cold in the wee hours of the morning.  By 8:00 a.m. the chill had set into my bones and I was shivering, but was saved by a complimentary danish and steaming cup of cocoa provided by the event coordinators. 

By show time the sun was out and so were the people.

Lots and lots of people.  As the day wore on I began seeing some pretty odd characters.  Wait!  That isn’t a person ~ that’s a cat!  I’m not sure what the tradition is with the costumes we saw, but I’m sure it’s very German and Oktoberfesty. 

For me they were just a little scary, but very friendly nonetheless.

There was music and food and tons of vendors set up for craft and art shopping.  There was a juggler, a balloon sculpting guy and a “bouncy house” as I heard it referred to by a little girl passing by.  Of course there was also beer, a necessary staple for Oktoberfest.

Everyone was having a marvelous time.  I took a picture of part of my candle display just for fun.  I didn’t notice until now how Spiced Cranberry appears to be posing for the camera.  And it should!  A fantastic fragrance and beautiful candle if I may say so.

It was a wonderfully bright autumn day.   Roadie Husby and I were happy to participate in such a fun event and we’d be glad to go back next year!  So long, Ruttger’s, until then.

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