Riesling Festival in Review

I've been having a heck of a time loading photos in Blogger the last few days. Is that happening to anyone else? I even republished my entire blog, hoping that would help. It did not.

This was my view this weekend, overlooking Canandaigua Lake, from my tall director's chair at the back of the tent, stitching away, making sales, interacting with customers. Sunday brought us a nice breeze most of the day, which made it head & shoulders better than Saturday.

That cinder path though, made for some dusty product and display pieces by the end of the weekend. I'll have to dust and clean and repack everything. That was a surprise to me. Fellow vendors said it's not always like that, especially if you're on grass or even pavement.

I'm happy to report that after all that physical uncomfortableness, I look back at the Festival as a success, one that I'd like to do again next year. I mean, there were a lot of people there. I wonder how many more would have come if it wasn't so blasted hot?

Sunday, as usual, wasn't as busy as Saturday. I took these photographs on Sunday. On Saturday, there was never a time I didn't see people walking past (and into!) my tent. There was a very steady stream of festival goers.

My sales were decent. I was hoping for over-the-top-crazy but I'm happy with decent. (Other vendors said the same thing; decent enough sales and they'd do the show again.) I attribute it to a still dismal economy and that it was just so blasted hot. People were content to walk around with their water bottles and get to the shade or home or the beach or something.

Speaking of drinking, wine tasting was a big part of this festival. I saw a handful of Tipsy McStaggers walking around, not drunk, just unsteady. Honestly, I don't know that it was the wine, could have been the heat or medication or a combination. Didn't look like fun to me, but that's me.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard a person read the Sticky Notes sign out loud, I'd have, um, a really big bag of nickels. That tall freestanding display is one of my very best investments.

But since I started using the stand, I haven't liked that side of my booth layout. I used to use two tables when I displayed the notepads in the tiered acrylic rack. It looks out of balance here. Wasted space. But I have come up with a way to use the other table again. And I credit Gretchen with getting me there.

I have the magnets hanging on the right side of the black doors in the back and Gretchen said I should move them up closer to the front and she's right. Those black doors look especially far back here because I had them bungeed to the tent leg because the ground was a bit uneven there.

I'm going to put my other table on that side of the tent, add a shelf, drape it with black gabardine like this other side and stand up the white picture frame easels filled with magnets. I'll use two table top spinners for cards instead of the floor spinner you see above. I can see putting some framed art there too if it fits without looking too crowded.

I need to design a way to hang the Pine Tree Designs sign, the one in the middle photo, from the tent "rafters" so it's more visible. I can use fishing line or something - it's just foam core.

This show convinced me that the magnets are a good idea, here to stay. I talked them up and they sold well. Sometimes I could tell people wanted to buy something so they were looking at the pins but when I mentioned I have magnets over here in some of those same designs, their faces lit up. So yeah, magnets, they're a good thing. :-)

I tried putting my carpet down but it was too bumpy. I might have to give that idea up for outdoor shows. I still like it for indoor shows though - just gives a nice finished look.

The staff finally came by and hooked us up with electric from that light pole so I was able to hook my fan up on Sunday - clipped it to the tent support right near me. It was fantastic. Leslie, I appreciate the idea of the battery operated fans. Steve finally found something online I can plug into the 12 volt jump starter thing we have. Not sure exactly what it's called - but it looks sort of like this:

The plug-in place is like a cigarette lighter, so Steve found a fan online that will work. Love him! Better find a heater too - next big show is in October. Weather could really swing either way that time of year around here - heat wave or snow. Whoa-boy.

I did put my container of Wet Wipes in my cooler Sunday. An ice cold wet wipe across the brow, back of the neck and down the cleavage - woo-hoo! I had planned to take cold wet washcloths in plastic bags, Leslie, but I never thought of freezing them first! I love that idea even more because I'd much rather use a reusable washcloth than put these chemical-laden Wet Wipes in the landfill. Thanks for your suggestions, friend!

On the drive home, once I got my air conditioning blasting, I caught myself already plotting and planning what I'd start working on that night after dinner for the next show. And so I did. Stay tuned.