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Posts Tagged ‘Chateau St. Croix’

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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Where’s Robert?

Posted in Candles, Craft Business, tagged , , , , on June 14, 2012| 2 Comments »

One of the best things about doing the same craft show every year is seeing repeat customers.  Even those who visit every year but don’t buy anything become familiar and are worthy of a Hello!  Good to see you again! 

Robert and his friend have been repeat visitors and buyers at my booth at the Chateau St. Croix festivals (spring show and fall show) for several years.  They love my candles and bought some every time they stop by.  A couple of shows ago Robert said he was looking for a chocolate candle like the one he bought the previous year.  He ranted and raved about how it made his bathroom smell like a candy store.  I was sorry to tell him I stopped making chocolate-scented candles.  People loved the scent, but would usually just comment instead of buy.  “Ooh, that smells wonderful!  But if I burn it I’ll just get hungry.”  Robert was sad to hear of the discontinuation and settled for another fragrance.

During the down season, between January and May, I received a small complimentary sample of fragrance oil with an order I placed with my supplier.  The fragrance?  Fudge Brownie.

Of course I thought about Robert right away.  The sample bottle of fragrance oil was enough to scent only two candles.  I decided I’d make them up and when I returned to The Chateau I’d keep them behind the display and pull them out as a surprise for Robert.

Fall, 2011 ~ no Robert.

Spring, 2012 ~ no Robert.

Where are you Robert?  I have the candles of your dreams!

With the disappearance of Robert I have to grapple with the decision of whether or not to try to sell these two chocolate-scented candles at my upcoming shows. What do you think? Hang onto the candles until the Fall Festival at the Chateau St. Croix with the hope that Robert not only shows up but actually buys the candles? Or take them along with me to the Olde Ellison Bay Days show next week with hopes to entice another chocolate candle lover?

What would you do?

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Prep Day

Posted in Craft Business, tagged , on June 9, 2012| 2 Comments »

Whew!  What a day!

Strange how you can take inventory after spending an entire winter creating product and still feel like there isn’t enough to take to the craft show.  Of course that’s a complete fallacy ~ the anxiety comes with the question have I made enough of the product people will love and buy?

It was bad enough I was having self doubts about my inventory ~ right in the middle of it all my smarty phone crashed.  Crashed, I say!  I don’t think I’ve sworn so much as I did when I discovered every stitch of information was wiped clean from that phone.  I had to reload all of my apps and I still haven’t got the mail functioning correctly.  I’ll be spending some time loading my contacts’ information in the coming days and weeks.

After spending precious craft show preparation time trying to get my phone to function I was satisfied enough with it and got on with my work.  Sorting, counting, gathering, packaging.  Do I have enough?  Do I have too much?  The first show of the season is always a little daunting, but exciting nonetheless.

Wait!  It occurred to me with all of my phone problems I better check out my credit card processing capabilities.  I tested it with one of Husby’s cards.  No luck.  Then I tried another card.  Still no luck.  Dang it all anyway!  If there’s anything I hate is having to call customer service on anything, but I knew I had no other choice.  After about five minutes of being on hold (pretty good, huh?) a very lovely woman walked me through a lot of technical things and got me through my crisis.

Around 7:00 I realized I hadn’t done any laundry.  OK, I can fit in a load or two to round out the day.

Now it’s pushing midnight.  I think I have everything ready.  I have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow so there will be no time to second guess myself.  Right now I’m ready to collapse.  But with my exhaustion comes an anticipation I haven’t felt for a while.  Time to welcome new and return customers and say hello again to the craft show friends I see only when I’m on the road.   Show season is here with all its challenges and rewards.

Come and see me at the Chateau St. Croix if you’re traipsing about in Wisconsin this weekend.  It’s you festival goers that make these stressful days so worth it.

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The Vines Are Blooming

Posted in Craft Business, Etsy, tagged , , , , , on May 17, 2012| 8 Comments »

After an especially aggravating day I sat on my little corner of the couch, wishing for a vacation.  I don’t think I’ll be taking a true vacation any time soon, as craft show season is sneaking up faster that I imagined it would.  With that thought a small smile came to my face.  Craft show season ~ it’s like lots of mini vacations for Husby and me.

I usually get antsy around March and April having been away from the circuit for several months.  This year March and April were occupied with the care and vigil of Husby’s dad so the ants in my pants were kept at bay, my mind on more pressing matters.  Now that the dust has settled and things are returning to normal the eagerness to get out to these en plein air shows and festivals is overwhelming me.  I’m totally ready to get on the road again.

The first show I do is the Chateau St. Croix Winery and Vineyard Fete Des Fleurs ~ a festival celebrating the blooming of the grape vines.  Husby and I have returned to this event for several years as it has become one of our favorite venues.

The winery inspired my grape-themed bottle cap magnets.  They’re available at the show and in my Etsy shop.  Each is charming in its own way and depict delicious wine at its infancy.

Bottle Cap Magnet ~ Grapes

Bottle Cap Magnet ~ Artsy Grapes

Bottle Cap Magnet ~ Juicy Grapes

Bottle Cap Magnet ~ Vintage Grapes

No, I don’t see a typical vacation in my near future, but I sure am looking forward to spending some time meeting festival goers and revisiting old friends.  A working vacation, as it were.  But  like they say, it isn’t work if you love it.  Bring on the shows…I’m ready.

If you’d like to visit some of the great events and festivals on my summer route you can find information on the 2012 Events tab at the top of this page.  The page will be updated as shows are added to my schedule. 

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