Monogram, of Sorts

Brenda suggested a monogram-to-order type of center embellishment when I posted this new design the other day. I like the idea but I think it's the kind of thing that could drive me crazy if I offer it for sale at shows.

My first thought was to make a plethora of Sticky Notes with a variety of letters - single letters, not true monograms. I'd have more "S" notepads than "Qs", for instance. But I know this is the type of thing that people are going to say, I need a "T" but do you have it in this pattern and in blue?

Then, to get back to an idea I've been percolating on for a long time, is to have bowls of embellishments and a good selection of "blank" notepads and I could glue them on the spot, to order. It seems a little crazy but I think it would be do-able. I sometimes have a line in my booth, but not usually. And at these bigger shows, I'll likely have someone working with me - so she could handle other customers. I glue pretty fast. But under pressure? How do I glue under pressure of someone watching and waiting??

I ran the idea past a few customers at a couple of shows last year and it was met with positive response. (I know, what else are they going to say? Though people are surprisingly honest too, I've found. Some people are not shy about offering suggestions!)

The key is, now that I have the Groove in full service - this crazy idea seems even more do-able in terms of preparation.

I think it would be pretty interesting seeing the combinations that people come up with. Especially with the letters - maybe they'd make their own monogram, if there was room.

~ ~ ~

I received an application yesterday for the Mendon Station Festival. The chairwoman approached me at a show last year but I had a conflict that year. I'm considering doing it this year - still thinking about it. It's two days in September - seems to be largely an equestrian event - being in Mendon and all.

And I received my application for the Junior League of Rochester show yesterday. It's the weekend after Letchworth so hopefully I'll be accepted for that and will have to skip the Jr League show this year. Their choice of vendors was a little disappointing to me last year - but like I've said, they bill themselves as a "Holiday Market", not an art show. I'm not too upset about missing it - but I'll hold it in reserve in case I don't get accepted at Letchworth.

Speaking of shows, again I invite any local craft business owners to join our Yahoo Group, Rochester Crafters. We're a growing little group who shares information about area craft shows and resources.

Click to join RochesterCrafters

St. Jude's Craft Sale Report

My office day job stupidly continues to be open the day after Thanksgiving. Because I take off a bunch of other days in November for shows, I always work it; which also allows the other two people in my department to take it off. I left early, as do most people.

After work, I stopped at Keuka Coffee, just up the road from my office, to meet a new online artist friend, Tanvi Asher-Jones. She greeted me warmly by name, by just having "met" on Facebook. She showed me her beautiful earrings, jewelry and embroidered bags. (I bought a bag with lots of turquoise (of course) - couldn't resist - it's colorful, stitchy, handmade and useful!) We talked shop for a while. I'm very happy to learn that Tanvi is very happy with her 1000 Markets shop (linked above) and has closed her Etsy shop. I'm pretty sure that's what I'll end up doing. (Soon - one more show to go next weekend.)

I then stopped at JoAnn Fabric for ONE spool of red thread. Turns out the thread was 50% off; it never goes lower than that. I picked up a couple more colors. Oops, my hands are full, better get a basket. Eighteen spools later I headed to the check out counter.

I used to buy thread is sets of 3 shades. This time I just bought 2 shades of 8 colors. This is the olive green set - you know how I loves me some greens. Even though I stitched a lot at yesterday's craft show, I still haven't tried all my new colors. Plus I've officially run out of room in my thread box. Must buy another. Darn, I hate when that happens - I have to buy a craft item.

Oddly, this year Steve had to work Friday also but he came home early too. We spent the afternoon watching our newly arrived Netflix movie, Goodfellas. I'd never seen it and he hadn't seen it in years. It was pretty good. I told Steve I bet it was a more fascinating look at mob life back when it came out because now, post-Sopranos, it's a little been there, done that. Good movie though. And I got lots of gluing of Christmas tree pins done.

Yesterday's show at St. Jude's Church in Gates is run by a friend of mine. She invited her vendor friends to participate last year and because we're all craft show veterans (hey! that's me!), this thing runs effortlessly. (Or so it seems from where I sit. I know there's lots of work being done to make it happen.)

But it's a small church show so I set my expectations accordingly. Except, I increased my sales from last year by 65%. Sweet! Since my last 3 shows have shown significant increases over 2008, I'm inclined to say the reason is two-fold. One is that I'm making sure each design is stellar (she says modestly) and the other is the economy is perking up just a bit.

(I haven't forgotten that I promised to post some sub-standard designs, so you can see what I'm talking about, even though you people think I'm just being hard on myself, you silly reader-friends, you! I'll show you, goshdarnit!)

I've said that meeting people is the highlight of any show for me, second only to making money, of course. :-) My first two (separate) customers both told me they came to the show specifically to see me. This is the only show I do on the west side of the city so I guess that isn't totally surprising.

But what was extra cool was the first woman brought some examples of paper art she had stitched since she saw me a year ago. She does have a computer - so if you are reading this, please don't be insulted if I have this wrong - but I'd guess she's in her 80s. She was so excited to show me what she'd done. It was beautiful work! At one point, I put my hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eye, "You aren't setting up shop, are you? Are you my new competition?"

"Oh no!" she laughed. "This is just for fun." She has a friend who is also crafty so they are both always searching out new things to try, then they teach each other. Isn't that cool? Imagine how many crafts they have tried over the years??

She showed me a couple of cards and even a Post-It Note pad she'd made. We talked shop for a while, she asked me some questions. I gave her an old pattern of mine that I used when I poked the holes by hand. And I gave her a couple of circles with the designs already poked so she can either stitch them or use them as patterns to create more pieces to be stitched. I told her I didn't care if I sold anything at all that day, the joy she had from making these paper pieces and showing them to me was all I needed for the day.

Then my artist friends Cheryl & Don came by. Cheryl bought some things while Don grilled me on my KNK Groove. He had previously dropped some broad hints that he'd like to come to my studio to see the machine in action, so he teased me for avoiding his question. I hadn't really - just said after show season. ;-) He uses a laser cutter for his wood and paper pieces, so he's always interested in cool tools. It was fun seeing them - nice people, so creative!

Then the biggest surprise of the day, my friend from high school, John and his partner Eric came to the show - from Vermont! They were really in town to celebrate Thanksgiving with family, but on Saturday they found themselves near the show, to attend a surprise party for John's uncle's 80th birthday. So they stopped by, John saying, "I guess this proves that people read your blog!"

All in all a good day, for sure!

Number 3

I was worried about not having enough Christmasy stuff for this show. But the big sellers seemed to be ladybugs and sunflowers! Ya never know.

This weekend's craft show at the Rochester Museum and Science Center was a smashing success. I was up 57% over last year! 2008 was down 44% from 2007 so I'm happy to be "trending" in this new upward direction now. I don't know how much to attribute it to being in the front building this time, but I'm requesting the same space again next year if I'm accepted to the show.

I said yesterday that this would likely be my 2nd best show ever but I'd forgotten about the quilt show I did in June. This museum show was just $8 below that one so technically this weekend's show is in 3rd place. I can live with that. :-)

One of my favorite parts about doing shows is the new opportunities that find me. A woman from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra organization sought me out. She'd purchased from me before and asked if I'd be interested in participating in their fundraiser in May 2010. They build 2 houses every other year she said, as show houses for people to tour. It seemed like she meant that literally - new houses are built - but I'm not sure about that part. She said one house will be a pop art style house and the other more traditional. People who tour the houses have to exit through gift shops so she wanted to know if I'd be interested in selling my stuff there on a consignment basis. Yes! It lasts for 5 weeks. I had a lot of success doing that at the Jr League of Buffalo show house this year. Great exposure, little time investment.

The other opportunity is to sell my goods on consignment in a new shop, (to be located on Winton Road, across from the Winfield Grill). A vendor I'd met at another show last year came into my booth with her partner this weekend and mentioned the store in passing. Then I found an email from them when I got home last night. So I'll be checking that out too.

Plus I bought Christmas gifts for Mom & Gretchen. Score!

My other favorite part of craft shows is hanging with my vendor friends. Before I started doing shows, I never would have guessed the community is so tight. I look forward to seeing these people. I'm amazed at how many vendors I know now. Because I was in a new location, some came looking for me. I love this biz!

No time to dilly-dally, must go order red crystals for Christmas tree pins and more brochure paper.

November 28, 10:00-5:00

St. Jude's Holiday Craft Sale

4100 Lyell Road, Rochester, NY 14606

Man Chair

Here's today's offering from Urban Dictionary:

November 22: man chair

A man chair is the chair that men sit in while their partner is shopping for long periods of time. They can be found in almost any clothing or shoe store.

Honey, Ill go over here and sit in a man chair while you go shop around. Meet me here when you're done.

(Mom & Gretchen - I corrected the punctuation from the original. Even though it was a copy and paste, I couldn't let it be.)

I can't imagine why anyone would drag anyone along to something they clearly didn't want to do. Especially someone you love! I see it at craft shows a lot.

Woman to disinterested husband: Isn't this cute?

Husband: Yeah.

Woman: Wouldn't this be perfect for Aunt Betty?

Husband: Uh-huh.

I'm sitting there thinking, "Why are you asking him? Can't you see he doesn't give a darn?? Furthermore, why did you bring him in the first place?"

There are men who are genuinely interested - especially in the mechanics of how I do what I do. I can spot an engineer at 20 paces. Or a math teacher.

My favorite addition is one I've seen several times this weekend. Mom or Mom & Dad are dragging a disinterested teenager with them around the craft show. Said teenager is walking and texting on their phone the entire time. Sometimes they actually do look at my stuff - and then they dig it. Especially the peace signs. They are selling well at this show.

I took twice as many Sticky Notes as I've taken to any other show. I think I'm just going to have enough. The show is just 5 hours today. If I have an outstanding afternoon I just might match the first year I did this show. I was starting to think that was just the novelty of my first year of participation in that show. That was my "career-high" to date. As it stands now, this weekend is in 2nd place of career-high - so I'm pleased as punch.

Most other vendors are saying good things too. I honestly don't know if being in this front building has made a difference in my sales, but it feels like it has. I want to stay here, I've decided. I'm going to walk around this morning and get a better feel for the lay of the land. I'll take a picture of my area today to post tomorrow. I was assigned a spot I wasn't sure I'd like - in an alcove of an exhibit. That sounds worse than it is. Being a museum, the layout is a bit funky but maybe that makes it interesting. I paid for a larger booth this time, 10" x 10" but I can use this whole alcove, which I think might be 12" x 12" or so. I love having that much room.

Granted this is a big popular show in time for the holidays - but we're feeling the economy must be improving. I hope/think/feel/believe the worst is over and things will get better and better from here.

I have two more shows the next two weekends - each just a one-day Saturday show. Then I have some house projects to finish up. Then time to get cranking on next year! Yesterday I counted - I did 15 shows last year. This year I will have done 8. But that was my strategy, to do fewer, but bigger shows. Not doing the major 3-day Letchworth show when Steve's mom died definitely put a dent in my projected sales, but that's okay. I'm already planning next year in my head. I'll get serious about planning after this season is over.

39th Annual Holiday Bazaar
Friday November 20, 5:00-9:00

Saturday November 21, 9:30-5:00
Sunday November 22, 11:00-4:00

Rochester Museum & Science Center Holiday Bazaar

657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607

The Museum Show

My space at the show is right across from Anne Fischer, an extraordinary fiber artist. She is stitching royalty to me! Besides these outstanding quilts, she makes a whole variety of fiber objects - including earrings made of thread, colorful hand dyed sports bras and fabric pins, purses and more. I bought one of her fabric pins at a Casa Larga show a few years ago that I still wear a lot. She and I are working a trade at this show so I see another pin in my future.

She is the one who turned me on to the vendor application for the Genesee Valley Quilt Club's show, which turned out to be such a success for me and a real turning point in finding my niche. Those quilters loved my stuff!

The above quilt was at the Quilt Show and seeing her work in person is breathtaking. I think I blogged about her back then but I don't have time to look it up now. She uses a regular sewing machine, nothing computerized. I cannot say enough about her work!

She also sells her work at Artizann's in Naples, where my Sticky Notes are sold. I told her I'm so pleased I get to sit across from her for 2-1/2 days and stare at her work!

~ ~ ~

I have to chuckle at the number of people who have emailed me to say they want to see the Sticky Notes that I consider too ugly to sell. I'd already taken those apart but I came across some others the other day so I will post them after this weekend. I suspect I'll get the same number of emails, "Uh, so yeah, Stef. You were right. Fug-ly!"

My first thought was to sell them at discounted prices but they didn't even make the cut for that. And Leslie, in answer to your question, how do you label those for sale - I call them "Retired Designs". Classy, huh? I learned that from someone else, Alyson Stanfield, I think it was.

In fact, I have some Christmas cards that are rubber stamped, pieced paper, etc. that have no stitching that I was going to sell as retired designs at this show. I even made a nice sign for the display. Then at the last minute, I threw them in the spinner with my new Christmas cards - and people are liking them, even sold a couple last night. These aren't ugly though, they just don't represent me any more.

I love, love, love this show. I tell people if they can only go to one craft show per year, go to this one. I think last night was a good night for me. It was quite crowded - I even had a line in my booth at one point, people waiting to pay for stuff. I have a feeling this is going to be my best show to date. I'm in the front, larger building this time, 2nd floor - stop by!

39th Annual Holiday Bazaar
Friday November 20, 5:00-9:00

Saturday November 21, 9:30-5:00
Sunday November 22, 11:00-4:00

Rochester Museum & Science Center Holiday Bazaar

657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607

.

I killed it!

But first: Happy 22nd Birthday, Simon!!!

I don't have my final numbers for this weekend's craft show but based on what I sold Thursday and Friday, plus how (half) empty my Sticky Notes rack was at the end of Saturday, I think I did really well. It's been a while since I could say that! My more typical answer for 2008 and 2009 has been, "Good enough," - so I'm thrilled.

I got up at 4:30 yesterday to continue embellishing Sticky Notes. I worked so hard that when I took a break, Saturday had morphed into Sunday in my mind. Simon and Steve were both at work, so then I thought it was Friday and I was on a vacation day. It took some serious concentration to get my head straight.

So while selling well is good news for sure, I have the big 2-1/2 day Rochester Museum and Science Center show next weekend. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off this week though, to catch up and set up Friday morning.

Last year I went to a show in Canandaigua called The Christkindle Market to check it out. It's an outdoor show in November so I was intrigued to see how it was set up. Vendors set their tents up inside a gigantic tent, which is heated. Though our weather lately has been so lovely, not sure they were needed as much as some years. It's a high quality show so I decided I wanted to apply, and almost did. But it's always this same weekend as this Brighton show.

The Brighton show is run as a co-op, we all pitch in with set up and take down and other tasks - I maintain the mailing list. This is my third year doing the show and it's always been the Little Show that Could. It's always been a surprisingly good show for me. And because it's such a small group of nice women, I feel a certain loyalty to them.

I was driving home from the show last night, trying to decide if I regret not applying for the Christkindl Market. I would have presumably made more money but I would have invested a lot more time and money. Not only would I have to be at the show Friday afternoon, all day Saturday & Sunday, but I would have lost the time I got to spend making more product. For the Brighton show I only have to work one 3-hour shift. And the entrance fee is one of the lowest around.

No contest. Brighton is where I should be. This time of year gets like this - many shows on conflicting dates. Can't do them all.

I found a similar video on my new friend Lisa's Facebook page. When I went to You Tube to grab it, I found this one which is a bit more informative. Wild stuff I never knew about before!

39th Annual Holiday Bazaar

Friday November 20, 5:00-9:00
Saturday November 21, 9:30-5:00
Sunday November 22, 11:00-4:00

Rochester Museum & Science Center Holiday Bazaar
657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607

A Great Start!

Christmas Tree Card, $4.50

I took yesterday off to set up the Brighton show in the morning and work my shift in the afternoon. I usually just take the morning off and then work an after-work shift but I decided to kill 2 birds in one day. It worked out much better I think. Plus I had a few hours in the middle of the day in my studio too.

When I went back to work my afternoon shift, they asked me if I had more Sticky Notes because I'd sold a lot. I hadn't told anyone under which table I'd stashed my extras because I knew I'd be returning in a few hours. I walked over to my rack and saw at least 2 full rows missing, which is 18 Sticky Notes. Plus I sold my latest framed piece! {Crap. I just looked for a jpg of it to post here - maybe I never scanned it. Darn - I loved that piece. Can always make another. :-) }

I replenished my Sticky Notes rack, leaving only a dozen or so extras. The thing is, just before I left for the show, the owner of Artizanns in Naples called to order 30 Sticky Notes. She said a customer had just wiped her out. She said they were having an Open House on Saturday so if I was able to ship the order Friday, she'd probably have them in time for that.

So after the show last night at 7:00, I came home, ate dinner quickly with Steve and got busy in my studio. I had a big box of Sticky Notes ready to be embellished so I finished up 30 and packed them up to mail on my way to work today.

If you're local, I recommend stopping by this show - it's really good. It's called Not Your Usual Craft Show because instead of each artist having their own booth, our stuff is all mixed in together, attractively displayed. There's Christmas music playing - it's a very nice experience.

There's another paper artist there, Lori Kibler, whose work I really like - very clean and neat. We worked for a short while together yesterday - we bonded. :-)

There are some gorgeous mittens, some beautiful fabric bags - purses and tote bags by Kat's Kustom Karry-Alls. Lisa Cupery is a new artist I'd not met before - she makes pop-art pillows and garlands. Kristin Curley is there with her outstanding mosaic pieces. Ellie Shulman has her beautiful jewelry, including some chain maille pieces, which I love.

So yeah, the season is in full swing! I'm going to get busy again so I can drop off more Sticky Notes at the show first thing tomorrow morning.

Thursday, November 12, 1:00-7:00

Friday, November 13, 10:00-7:00

Saturday, November 14, 10:00-4:00

Not Your Usual Craft Sale

Brighton Town Park, Carmen Clark Lodge

777 Westfall Road, Rochester, NY 14620

Just for a Week

If I could clone myself just for a week, I could get reasonably caught up, I swear. Thankfully, I'm feeling very motivated in all areas of my life in need of attention (not in order): day job, Pine Tree Designs, Stefani paperwork and basement re-org.

The basement re-org is an ongoing project that keeps getting put on hold for shows and well, life. But now we have 30 (?) years of Sports Illustrateds to deal with. Steve saves all of his WEEKLY Sports Illustrateds - for what I'm not exactly sure but it makes him happy. He still had some boxes at his mom's house, which he and his brother have been continuing to clean out.

Now those boxes cover our pool table, which annoys the cat no end, since that's one of her favorite spots to hang out. (The pool table is covered by a comforter which is over the pleather cover.) He said the other day that he was ready to take my suggestion of putting them in plastic boxes instead of cardboard. So I went to Lowe's the other day and bought all they had of the right size. I even took a Sports Illustrated (1978, Pete Rose on the cover) to measure.

So that's the Saturday morning project, after my 8:30 haircut. Steve can box them up, I'll print labels (of course!) and make room on the existing shelves for these boxes. I'm in a huge purging mood so that should be easy.

Every so often I've been taking stuff into work to put on our Freecycle table and that stuff is gone within the day, usually. Most recently was a perfectly good black plastic pot that held flowers from Wilma's funeral. I've taken some of Simon's old Disney videos. (I don't even care if someone is taking them and selling them on eBay, which I doubt they are - they're gone from our house.) Knick knacks, all gone. I'm going to take some books in today.

I do worry that I'm so not sentimental that I purge too much. I do save some stuff, as I talked about here. Love to purge. (Have you seen this TV show, Hoarders on A & E? Fascinating!)

~ ~ ~

I took my car to the dealer for an oil change and NY State Inspection yesterday - dropped it off the night before. The whole thing cost me $27.38 because the inspection was free. I used to take my Saturn to a Jiffy Lube type place and never got out of there for twice that. (And I said no to most of their suggested add-ons.) Say what you will about car dealers, they have really upped their game over the years in terms of customer service. This Toyota dealer just moved into a new building or newly remodeled building I guess it is - it's all so shiny and new. I told Steve it looks like the lobby of a swank Las Vegas hotel. I exaggerate, but it's nice! The waiting room is huge and offers a couple of big high def TVs, a little kitchenette area I think, comfy chairs and free wireless connectivity. I would not hesitate to take my car there for an oil change and wait.

~ ~ ~

So last weekend's craft show produced by the Jr League of Rochester was a success for me. I would have sworn my sales were higher than last year, but turns out I was down 15% from last year. That's still one of my more profitable shows and I definitely hope to do it again.

I had plenty to say on their vendor survey. Two things are my traditional complaints about any show: vendors who leave early and vendors who park in what I consider customer parking. Some jewelry vendors near me left 30 minutes early on Saturday and on Sunday, they started packing up an hour before the end of the show. I would just never do that. Ever. And I always park as far away from the building as possible. Each day, there was one other car next to me.

This show is billed as a Holiday Market, not a craft show. My guess is it's a 50/50 mix of hand crafted items and wholesale/resale items. I understand their rationale - it's a fundraiser and they want as big a show as they can. But I wish they were more selective.

Near me was a Billy Mays dude that had at least a double booth - filled 3/4 with cashmere scarves, which he ignored. The other 1/4 was a table full of colorful plastic cones used for removing snow from your windshield. He had a looping video showing how they worked. And he was selling the crap out of those things! Another vendor and I figured he must have been accepted at the show based on the scarves, then slipped in those ice scraper things.

I went in early on Sunday to have some time to look around. A vendor at the other end of the hall was selling packaged bedsheets! I think their hook was high thread count cheap sheets.

Call me a snob, but I'd like to see a higher end selection of product. That's the one comment I hear repeatedly about my work, "Wow - this is different; I've never seen anything like this." But bedsheets and ice scrapers? C'mon!

Oh - here's another one. I saw a print of a painting that I really liked and decided to buy but the artist wasn't in her booth, though her lights were on. I went back two more times and she still wasn't there - and the last time was 30 minutes after the show started! I decided she didn't deserve my business so she lost a $30 sale and I saved my money. (I did sneak back over to take a peak at her at the end of the day, so presumably she wasn't MIA earlier due to an emergency or something.)

On the other hand, I had at least two customers who asked me if I was a local artist because they like to buy local whenever possible. One woman told me that's a stipulation of the gift exchange between her extended family from around the country - all gifts must be created in their locale. That's cool!

And I reconnected with some vendor friends, which is always fun. I ran into a friend from high school I haven't seen in 35 years - loved seeing her!

In spite of these things, I think it's a good show and one I hope to do again.

The Show is Going Well

I had less of these pumpkin pins than I would have liked but I figured I could probably make it through this show. I have tons cut out, ready to be assembled. Then my first customer bought 5! I thought, "Uh-oh." When I got home last night and pulled out my box of pumpkin parts, I discovered about 20 that just needed pin backs and price tags. So I'm good to go now. I love these. Unfortunately I can't sell them on the Internet because it's from a purchased file for my Groove and that stipulation is within her Terms of Use.

The show is going well - not spectacular but I think spectacular is an unreasonable expectation in this still shaky economy. Still, here's the thing. I have a shoot-for-the-stars number in my head that I would like my sales to be this weekend. I have been concentrating on it throughout the show. During one slow period, I sat there stitching away and really concentrating on that number. Just then a customer who had already bought a couple of things came back to my booth and stood staring at my stand of Sticky Notes. I smiled at her, but hadn't said a word yet when she said, "Just a minute, I have an idea." Hand to head, she was thinking hard, I could tell. Then she said, "I'll buy 15 of these please."

Wow - this law of intention stuff works fast! :-)

Overall, I'm having a lot of fun. I'm seeing vendor friends and return customers plus meeting new people who have never seen my work before, which I love too. A customer told me about her volunteer work with our Seneca Park Zoo and how one of their biggest fundraisers is an event that in part, features arts and crafts from Madagascar. They are tossing around the idea of including local artists and would I be interested. Absolutely - sounds cool! So she took my card. She says the idea is in the beginning stages so who knows if and when, but I love new ideas and interesting venues.

I'm going in early this morning so I can check out the other vendors. Yesterday ended with rain but today is supposed to be partly sunny and almost 50. Plus there's a bridal show today in the other part of the building, just like last year - so the organizers funnel those participants our way. Meanwhile, I'll keep concentrating on "my number" and having a blast.

Saturday, October 17, 10:00-6:00

Sunday, October 18, 10:00-5:00

Junior League of Rochester Holiday Market

The Fair & Expo Center, 2695 East Henrietta Road, Rochester, NY 14467

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.

We're Having a Heat Wave

Sunday, 9:00-5:00

Holy crap, it's hot this weekend! Sitting in my booth all day at the festival, I kept hoping no one would mention the number of degrees because I had a feeling that would make me even hotter. Even the veteran outdoor show vendors were complaining. I was keeping my whining to myself until I realized it wasn't just me. The customers were complaining too. It was hot & sticky. I used my hand sanitizer regularly, trying to keep my hands from getting too sticky to stitch.

This location on Canandaigua Lake is notorious for quick storms popping up - I've been hearing horror stories from other vendors for years. Tents ruined. Tents floating in the lake. So we all agreed, a little (or a lot) of heat was preferable to almost any other weather extreme.

When I arrived at my tent yesterday morning, it seemed a little flappy to me. Looking around I noticed some tents had more Velcro strips down the legs than ours did. So I called an audible and made a dash to the nearby Lowe's and bought 8 clamps, the kind that look like giant clothespins and put two on each leg. That was better.

Once I got the front and back of the tent opened up, the breeze had somewhere to go so that was better too. I happened to be next to a light pole from which I'd read I could get electricity but I couldn't figure out how. Coupled with the delightful breeze, I left my clip-on fan in the car.

Then the breeze died and only rose, slightly, occasionally. I kept wiping myself down with the wet wipes I'd brought. I stayed hydrated with all the water I'd brought in my cooler.

I have a great spot, as I mentioned yesterday. The rest of the arts & crafts layout seemed a little helter skelter with no clear walking path. Early Saturday morning my jewelry vendor friends behind me moved their entire tent from behind me to set up in the empty space next to me. They had a generator from which I will plug my fan in today. He also told me how he's going to get electricity from that light pole. The organizers have to bring a ladder - the connection is at the top. I figured it had to be - they wouldn't make them low on the pole for any Tom, Dick or Harry to use year round, know what I mean?

Sales are good, as my fellow vendors agree. Not through the roof, but decent enough. This is my first time in this town so a lot of people are seeing my art for the first time and that's always fun. A good number of friends stopped by, I always love that. Some repeat customers, always a good sign.

All day I kept fantasizing about the drive home with every vent focused on me, blasting cold air. By the end of the day, I had to admit, I was so hot and so tired that I found myself ever so slightly teary when I finally got to the car for the drive home.

I feel better today - - - and off we go!

Riesling Festival Countdown

I'm so glad I took Thursday and today off to do all the final prep. I want to finish up product today and make sure all my printed material and supplies are in order. I'm feeling the usual frenticism, in a good way. I'm also feeling the usual I-can't-wait-until-the-show-is-over-so-I-can-clean-up-my-studio. Then, it's on to the KNK Groove - I can't wait to get started with learning that software. It will be life-changing, I know.

Steve took today off too so I think I want to set up earlier rather than later. The set-up time is 5:00-7:00. I don't know if this is true but I always figure people without day jobs want to set up earlier rather than later so we usually go towards the end of the time frame. We usually just drop everything off then I set it up the next morning. Of course that's been indoor shows. Tonight we'll set up the tent and all the furniture inside. We'll basically set up everything but the product which I'll take and set up tomorrow morning.

Saturday: 10-5, Sunday 9-5

Picture perfect weather is expected. It will be hot but I'm hoping for a nice GENTLE lake breeze. Hope to see you there. Seriously, check out the festival website - there will be lots of food and music and stuff for kids.

The Weekend Rocked!

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Look Ma! My name in lights!

The only "complaint" I had to enter on the vendor evaluation form was it would have been nice if the pipe and drape was behind each booth too. But I'm sure customers didn't notice - they are looking at our stuff.

So what do you think of my new 2-sided rack for my Sticky Notes?? Isn't it cool? Way better than customers having to paw through them stacked 4 deep in my old acrylic riser set up. It holds 126 notepads. This is the 3rd time I've used it but I made that new Sticky Notes sign for it recently - looks 100% better than the smaller sign I originally stuck up there. It was a huge attention getter.

I sort of wish the racks were closer together but this is how it came and I could put cards in there too. Better to have flexibility.

The little green signs say:

Hand Stitched
Sticky Notes
(Refillable!)
$5.00

Those are the signs I used on both sides before I made the big teal Sticky Notes signs. I used them Friday night then decided they weren't right. I made new ones to use that left off the word refillable. I had originally thought that would be a big selling point but it turns out, not so much. By not stating it on the sign, it gives me an opportunity to tell the customer about it, thereby engaging them in conversation. :-)

So my new signs feature the words Hand Stitched in bigger letters, with the price. Being a quilt show, lots and lots of these people are machine sewers so even more so than usual, people assumed I used a machine. And even though I still use my big white sign that says hand stitched, they haven't gotten that far yet because the Sticky Notes are the first thing you see in the booth.


These are the black shutter doors I'm using for my framed art and now for my magnets, which you see on the upper right there - 3 frames full. Remember my aversion to magnet clutter on refrigerators that I finally got over? I didn't sell a single magnet until mid-day Saturday. I was mentally writing my next blog entry, "One magnet, people? One lousy magnet?? I finally made the damn magnets, now where are those magnet people??"

I sold 2 framed pieces, both brand new paper quilts. Selling framed art always makes me happy.


This is my new table set-up. I say new because I used to have all my plates of pins flat on the table in a grid (naturally!) but decided I wanted to add some height to the display. I found 6 glass candle holders at 2 dollar stores. The tallest 2 are each 2 candle holders glued together. The shorter ones are just 1 candle holder high.

I didn't glue the plates to the candle holders because I wanted to be sure I was happy with this arrangement. I'm very happy, it turns out - it worked exactly as I envisioned. And now I don't think I'll glue the plates in place anyway, so I have added flexibility and they are easier to store unassembled. People pick the pins up very gingerly so I'm not worried about the plates falling off the candle holders.

Those are little square gift cards to the left. I only sold a few of those. I was thinking maybe I won't make those any more but 1) it's too soon to say that and 2) I think they will sell better in the holiday season, especially when I make them season-appropriate.

This is how my table looks from the front. That's my free drawing in the lower right, 70 people entered, most of whom gave me permission to add them to my mailing list! A lot are from out of town so I really need to do a better job of keeping my Etsy shop well stocked. How I'll accomplish that, I'm not sure. Always good to have goals, though. :-)

I'd forgotten how quilters love to take bus trips to shows and events together. When I pulled into the parking lot Saturday morning and saw a big bus idling in the parking lot, I didn't want to get too excited, so I thought maybe the bus was related to a college event. (The show was held at Rochester Institute of Technology.) Then I realized, duh, the college year finished in May. When Pam arrived an hour later, there were 3 buses in the parking lot she said.

At the very end of the show I was looking around my booth and noticed the Sticky Notes piece of the free giveaway trio was missing! I looked in the floor rack, under the tablecloth, then I thought someone must have stolen it! But realistically, I bet dollars to donuts that I sold it without realizing. A bunch of people asked me if I had any for sale so I explained I just made it for the show and had no idea it would turn out so darn cute, but I would definitely be making more. I was so brain dead by the end, that I bet someone who bought a stack of Sticky Notes, had it among their purchases and I didn't notice. I'll just make another one.

This is the single smartest thing I did for this show. I started using those drawers late last year I think it was. I put the drawer from my cash box in the top drawer during shows, misc stuff in the second and spare bags in the bottom one. Otherwise I fill it up and tape the drawers shut for transporting. During the show, the smart thing I did is, I put the drawer unit on top of one of my tubs, covered with that cloth. Now the cash drawer is the same height as my director's chair where I sit and stitch throughout the show. No more backache from leaning over to reach the cash drawer! I'm a freakin' genius!

I bought 1000 flat Kraft bags a few years ago and am just now finishing them up. Last year I bought a smallish amount of turquoise flat bottomed handled bags that I use for 4 Sticky Notes or more - or framed art. I'm almost out of those too. Vickie had told me she gets her bags at the dollar store. (Again with the dollar store! It's just never on my radar screen until someone mentions it.) I didn't see any in the 2 stores I was in recently, but I found some clear plastic "snack" bags in Target. So I bought 4 packages which is 100 bags.

I had been thinking I needed to upgrade my bags when I used up the old ones and I'd been thinking clear would be a cool way to go. These little bags expanded more than I thought they would but they are also perfect when not expanded, for little items like 1 or 2 Sticky Notes and/or pins or cards.

I was really happy with them - - - until I remembered that I'm anti-plastic! So I'm going to look around online for similar bags that are either made from post-consumer recycled product and/or recyclable themselves, preferably both. I bet I can find something.

The bags came with twist ties but I didn't use them. I'd thought about tying them shut with ribbon but it seemed like way too much work until my smart friend Pam suggested a way to do it. So I may try that next time

Steve had a cold last week but I knew my body would hold off getting it, if I was going to get it, until after the show. It's happened before. I love that, btw. I started taking echinacea right away. Sure enough Sunday, I started feeling a tickle in my throat. I was still flying on adrenaline a bit yesterday as I told Jen and others at work about how great the show was for me. Today, I feel worse, got my period dammit and have solidly crashed from the weeks of adrenaline. Hoo-boy, it's going to be a long day.

I'm happy to report that this weekend was my 2nd best show ever! As I've said, quilt shows are definitely my new market. This show had 60 vendors. Yesterday, I emailed for information for future Pennsylvania National Quilt Shows - they have 200 vendors!

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My People

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Jane Sassaman is teaching 2 workshops at the quilt show this weekend. She is a contemporary quilt artist from northern Illinois, who is also a fabric designer, author and teacher. Her award winning internationally known quilts are known for their bold designs celebrating garden flowers and plans. She's quilting royalty!

As luck would have it, she stopped by my booth yesterday after her workshop, while I was in the ladies room. My booth sitter told me when I returned, "Jane stopped by and loved your work." I said, "Darn, I wanted to meet her!" The volunteer must have told Jane because shortly thereafter Jane came back to my booth, "I really think you're on to something here," she kept saying. We talked for a while and I told her about some new ideas I had and she pointed me in the right direction, "Look up Heather Bailey's website and see what she's doing."

And check this out. I started the show with a whole box of business cards. Because each one has a stitched design on it, a box full is less than the original 250 but still, it's a lot. I ran out yesterday so that's what I'll be stitching in my booth today. Very late in the day I was down to one card. Quite a few people stopped by my booth when I had just the one lone card sitting there - and no one took it. Like at work, no one wants to take the last cookie or brownie. Humans are weird that way.

Then Jane came into my booth and I mentioned my business cards in conversation. She asked if she could have it. That last card was sitting there the whole time, waiting for Jane! I love that stuff. (I do have a few in my purse, now that I think about it but don't ruin my mystical story with facts, okay?)

I could hardly get to sleep last night thinking about 2 new projects. I'm not ready to share details just yet. Still mulling things over and need to do some research.

I did get to the show early yesterday so I could walk around a bit. I had to stop at one point to go sit down in my booth and catch my breath - the colorful creativity was literally overwhelming. I'm completely serious. I'll go in early today too to look at more stuff. And a bunch of vendors came in my booth yesterday towards the end of the evening when things slowed down so I want to reciprocate and see what they are up to today.

The title of this entry is My People because as I said to Jane yesterday, while I've been to lots of quilt shows (I name dropped Quilt National of course), this was my first time as a vendor and I've definitely found a niche I was looking for. I said, "I feel like I'm among my people," and she smiled and nodded.

A fellow vendor asked me if I ever vend outside New York. I said, "Not yet, but I'm interested," so she took my card and is going to send me information about a big quilt show in Massachusetts. It's full for this year but is held every 2 years in September. I think that would be very cool.

Pam and I had fun hanging out yesterday. My head is swimming with ideas. I've met a ton of nice people. I've seen old friends too. I generally worry about setting my expectations too high. I had high hopes for this weekend and those have been exceeded.

I'm having such a good show. It feels like it's been a while since I could say that.

~ ~ ~

You may notice the post time of this entry is 4:47 am, the time I started it anyway. I got up extra early today to see Gretchen off at her first triathalon at 6:00 am. It's in Pittsford and Mom is volunteering with her old Parks & Recreation co-workers. I paid for Gretchen's entrance fee as her 50th birthday gift - I'm very excited for her! She didn't know I was coming so when she walked up and I was standing with my arm around Mom, Gretchen burst into tears. Score! (See? It runs in the family!)

In response to a couple of comments on yesterday's entry - Ann, re Steve's transgression, I know you're right. I just have to finish up being mad about it - I'm almost there. The fact that he forgot about something that means so much to me is 100% personal. If he cared, he'd remember. For him, it's 100% not personal. I know he can't put it on the same scale that I do. It's kind of a historical complaint with me that I've almost gotten over - that he never remembers "my stuff". I think it's rude. He doesn't. This quilt show is a big important deal for me though, that I've working hard towards for weeks. I wasn't totally shocked that he forgot about helping me pack the car, but the heavy sigh of inconvenience put me over the edge.

Leslie - I decided to quit worry about drinking water in my booth yesterday. Hell, I even ate licorice too! So far, the Food Police haven't shown up to cart me away.

Btw, the hand dryers in the ladies room are soooo strong, the air moves your skin around like you're in an airplane testing G-forces or something. Besides being fascinating to watch, it's incredibly quick! They should all be like this.

Must go punch more business cards before leaving.
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Love this Show!

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As I filled my rack of colorful Sticky Notes, I had one with a dragonfly in the center. I'd forgotten all about it. It must have been a prototype I never went back to. It sold right away and friends of the woman who bought it came back later after they saw hers and wanted one too. They said they'd come back today so I made up 20 or so when I got home last night. Thankfully, I had a whole bunch of notepads in the right palate ready for embellishing. I also have a drawer full of dragonflies ready to go.

Steve broke my heart yesterday morning by forgetting about helping me load up the car. When I reminded him before he left for work yesterday, the sigh he let out was a bit too heavy and I lost my mind and told him to forget it, I'll do it myself, I don't need your help, blah, blah, blah. This is the second time he's done this. The first time I ignored his sigh and figured it was his own damn fault for forgetting and not managing his time better. This time, I lost it.

I had loaded the vehicle about 80% when Simon got up to go with me to the venue. He helped finish it up and naturally, it made me cry that someone was being nice to me and helping me. You know how that goes. I have been very excited about this show and working my butt off extra hard for weeks. This show in particular felt important to me because it's the kind of niche market I've been looking for. And it's 2-1/2 days long so it's a "big" show.

My friend Pam is helping me for a few hours today. She's a quilter so I knew she'd totally love the show. The moment I first walked into the venue yesterday, I wanted to call Pam on the phone, "You are gonna die!" I haven't been to a quilt show in a long time. I've been to Quilt National in Ohio twice, once with Mom & Gretchen and once with my ex-husband, before Simon was born so that tells you how many years ago it's been. That's a major show of mind blowing contemporary quilts. I've been to bunches of local quilt shows over the years too. Both of my grandmothers were quilters. Gretchen and I have quilted, back in the day. We're a family of quilters.

This venue is a college field house so it's huge. The center is filled with hanging quilts and the vendors are around the perimeter. They had opening ceremonies last night at 5:00 complete with a ribbon cutting. They announced awards.

Here's the unexpected treat I'm totally digging. These customers milling about, most of whom you have to figure are quilters - not only carry beautiful quilted tote bags and purses they've made but lots dress in colorful, artistic clothing! Even if it's not a quilted piece, lots of these women are into color. I'm loving the eye candy.

I did well enough in the 3 hours last night that I know this is going to be a successful show for me. I'm going to get there about an hour early today so I can look around. As I sat stitching and selling and schmoozing last night I kept thinking I have to make sure I get a blog entry posted so I can encourage any local readers to come to this show if they are into quilts at all. You won't regret it, I promise.

Most of the other vendors, from what I've seen and read in the program (where I have an ad) are specifically quilt related. (My set up is easy compared to lugging in bolts of fabric!) I knew being different could be really good or really not-so-good. But I know my stuff appeals to quilters, based on the designs and color and it's got thread! What's not to like?

The only thing I'm finding a little tricky is figuring out the food part. Food and drink is not allowed in the room, understandably. There's a concession stand with tables where we can eat. When Pam is there, it's not problem, I'll grab lunch. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I'll do. They have "Helping Hands" booth sitters so I guess I'll take advantage of that service, but they don't make sales for us so I really don't want to be away from my booth for very long at a time. I have had a water bottle in my booth that I've been sneaking drinks from. Every time I sneak a drink, I feel like I'm an alcoholic glugging gin from a flask or something. (Maybe it's not as strict as that - they just post the rules so people are not walking around with burger and fries and touching the quilts.)

The weather is gorgeous, free parking is plentiful. There are classes offered, lectures and one can get a weekend pass ($15)or a day pass ($10). The show is worth that admission price, in my opinion. I'd pay it and I'm frugal! Today is going to be a long day, the show hours are 10:00-8:00 - but I can't wait to get back there.

Friday, June 5, 5:00-8:00

Saturday, June 6, 10:00-8:00

Sunday, June 7, 10:00-5:00

Genesee Valley Quilt Club's Garden of Quilts

RIT Gordon Field House

One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5603

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Trio Giveaway

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You know how I frequently ask you guys for a second opinion? I don't need no stinkin' second opinion on this one - I love how this turned out! How freakin' sweet is this with the hearts, flowers and happy dots??

I wanted to make something special for my free giveaway for this weekend's craft show. (Also known as my cheap ploy to gather names for my mailing list. I state this on the drawing slip - omitting the words cheap ploy.) I also needed something of around $10 value to give to the organizers as part of their fund raiser shop hop raffle. So I made two of these sets - greeting card, Sticky Notes and magnet.

Naturally, they turned out so adorable that I wish I had lots more. That's a rubber stamp from Outlines Rubber Stamps, my most favoritest stamp company in the whole wide world. So last night while watching TV, I cut out a stack of stamped pieces. I've stitched the center element in other colors too, but I'm so in love with navy, green and white these days, it's hard to get away from it. I wonder if that means I'm officially out of my turquoise phase?

~ ~ ~

I got lots done yesterday but have a few more things to finish up this morning. One of the things I worked on yesterday was to try painting some 8" x 10" frames I'd gotten from a fellow Freecycler a few years ago. They were natural wood and I wanted them white, so I could fit them with the pieces of sheet metal Simon kindly cut for me, to display my magnets. My intention is to hang them on my black shutter bifold door. One side is for framed art (I framed 4 new paper quilts yesterday) and the other side will be for magnets.

I sanded the varnish off the frames and spray painted them with a white primer. I have spray paint of every color under the sun - except white, it turns out. But I had ivory, which is close enough. The wood grain was still showing through, even the ivory. I could have sprayed another coat of primer, I guess. But I decided I didn't want to deal with it any more and possibly still not be happy so I ended up going to Target and buying some inexpensive frames.

I was so proud of myself for my "free" solution with the Freecycled frames and the paint I already had - but I knew if I had to sit there for 2-1/2 days looking at grainy-not-what-I-wanted frames, it would drive me batty.

Target only had 4 frames of the kind I wanted, not 5, but good enough for now. I was going to throw the Freecycled frames out, but now that I think about adding another coat of primer first, I may give them another shot after all.

~ ~ ~

Simon will be going with me this morning to help me load stuff into my booth. Then he can leave and I'll stay to set up. I figure I should be home noonish, then leave to go back around 4:00. The venue is at Rochester Institute of Technology, 29 minutes away according to Mapquest.

(See Gretchen? I've got my own personal day laborer too!)

~ ~ ~

I still haven't figured out the solution to fixing my camera. But I had a brilliant thought in the shower this morning. Steve's printer is fairly new, an all-in-one type, so it probably has a memory card slot that's the right size for my camera's memory card. Turns out - no, it doesn't. But I plugged my camera directly into his laptop - and voila, my photos are retrievable! So that will be my work-around until I can figure out a more permanent solution.

I've been thinking that I wanted to get my camera fixed before vacation in July, but then I realized I want to take pictures today too. I'm still puzzled as to the problem, but happy to have a workable solution.

And I'm off to do some last minute printing.

Friday, June 5, 5:00-8:00

Saturday, June 6, 10:00-8:00

Sunday, June 7, 10:00-5:00

Genesee Valley Quilt Club's Garden of Quilts

RIT Gordon Field House

One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5603

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Garden of Quilts

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After yesterday's entry about Lego Art, I received an email from emiko oye! I love the Internet.

Hi Stefani,

Thanks so much for posting my Cartier Blanc lego necklace on your blog! And for putting me on the same page as Nathan Sawaya....Looked at your etsy site and really like your paper pins--you should consider charging more for your work for all the time and energy that goes into them. I still think people would buy them at $10 a pop. if we all raise the bar for each other, we'll all earn a better wage, and the perceived value of our work will be higher. think about it.

best,
emiko oye
www.rewarestyle.com
blog.rewarestyle.com

Here's my response:

Hi Emiko -

It's so nice to hear from you, thanks for taking the time to write! I usually try to email people I feature in my blog but ran out of time yesterday. Your work is outstanding - I'm glad you are happy with my entry.

I appreciate your kind words and especially your suggestions about pricing. I actually feel quite strongly about what you've said, raising the bar and all. When I see "hobbyists" on etsy, I think the same thing, it drags down the value for all of us. I especially hate it when people say outright, "I'm not really in it to make money, I just want to cover my costs."

I have been raising my prices on some of my work over time, trying to figure out what the market will bear. I will definitely give your thoughts strong consideration, I promise. I truly understand and appreciate all you've said.

Have a great day - thanks again!
Stefani

Pricing is something we all struggle with, I know, trying to find the right balance. I use a handy dandy spreadsheet that Steve built for me to figure my costs. It's way more sophisticated than I could have come up with; he is Mr. Spreadsheet. It has a cell where I enter my hourly rate and the quantity, showing how producing in mass quantities, so to speak, lowers the cost per item. (It's weird figuring out how much thread or glue I use per item but I do include every little thing.)

I've never forgotten the words of a woman who owned a business where I was employed years ago, "There's no shame in making a profit."

I'm confident I'm making a profit on my work, but it definitely varies per type of item, depending on what I think the market will bear. I know I have bunches of fellow vendors who read my blog. I'd be interested in your thoughts on the subject.

I'm so glad I took today off to finish up stuff for the show. I'm feeling good about things, very much looking forward to it - so I'm off the get busy!

Friday, June 5, 5:00-8:00

Saturday, June 6, 10:00-8:00

Sunday, June 7, 10:00-5:00

Genesee Valley Quilt Club's Garden of Quilts

RIT Gordon Field House

One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5603

Riesling Festival

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I post this as a community service to my fellow artists - a brand new festival this year! I'm applying for what would be my 3rd outdoor show this year. Must buy tent soon and start practicing putting it up. And figuring out my layout within. (Mom, I don't anticipate any more custom tablecloths!)

I was sure thinking of my fellow vendors at this weekend's Lilac Festival when those strong winds kicked up Saturday afternoon. It rained too, briefly but quite hard at times. But the wind! No place for a novice outdoor show person like me. Reinforces the need for heavy weights - must give that serious consideration.

Because this festival was on my mind, Steve and I celebrated Mother's Day a day early by taking Reggi for a nice walk along Canandaigua Lake, where this festival will be held. It's one of our favorite places to walk since they fixed up Kershaw Park a few years ago.

I realized though, as soon as I put on my sneakers that I had not had tight shoes on since I broke/sprained/whatever my little toe last weekend. It hurt a bit but I could live with it - and it went numb after we began walking, so it was fine. Except now it hurts like mofo. It's not really that bad but it's definitely swollen and slightly painful.

Steve had asked me to pick when and where I wanted to go out to breakfast or dinner for Mother's Day. (What? No lunch option?) Simon worked all weekend so that's how we ended up taking my favorite child with us - the furry one that doesn't cost me a ton of money and does whatever I ask with a smile on her face and a wag of her tail. Just sayin'.

We weren't sure where we'd end up for breakfast since we had Reggi with us so after our walk we drove down Routes 5 & 20 to see what was available. I picked Panera Bread which I know made Steve a little nervous - he's not one for "girly" food, which is wraps and paninis and such. Being the true geeks that we are, we sat in the parking lot, connected wirelessly to their website and perused the menu. Steve thought he could live with it - so we both had smoothies and breakfast sandwiches on ciabatta. He loved it! We took our food to the City Pier and sat in the car by the lake and ate. It was delish!

A fine day was had by all.

Sunday, I awoke to find flowers and a giant mushy card from Simon sitting on my laptop in my studio. That kid knows one of the first places I head in the morning! I love that kid - he's a good son.

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Saturday afternoon my friend Vickie came over to take photos for a brochure she's putting together for me. We wanted, in particular, a shot of my hands stitching. So after a tour of the studio and the house, etc. we got set up. I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille! Then I notice blood on the paper I'm stitching! Apparently I developed a paper cut on my hand sometime, don't even know when. Figures. Luckily it was the hand that was not in the shot and the blood was on the backside of the paper so we got what we wanted without problem.

Check out the tons of events offered.

Friday, June 5, 5:00-8:00

Saturday, June 6, 10:00-8:00

Sunday, June 7, 10:00-5:00

RIT Gordon Field House

One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5603

Green Box

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How clever!

So two exciting things have happened lately.

I broke my little pinky toe on Sunday. I did it the usual way, walking into furniture. It hurt but no more than you would expect it to. I noticed a few hours later it still hurt, which seemed unusual. After I sat at Spot Coffee Sunday night for hours, the first time I got up to walk around, it really hurt. Limping hurt. I noticed that night it was pretty purple.

I consulted Dr. Google and found what I expected. Do nothing unless it gets worse.

Here's the bummer. It's practically healed! How is a girl supposed to garner sympathy and be waited on hand & foot without a cooperative toe?? Seriously, by mid-morning it really didn't hurt at all and even I have to look really hard for any discoloration.

This morning though, when I put my shoe on, it hurt a bit. So maybe there's a little hope for complete servitude towards me after all. Go me!

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I've been accepted for the Letchworth craft show! This has me scared shitless and really, really excited. This is a major 3-day show about 45 minutes from here, held Columbus Day weekend, so it's Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

I know seasoned artists who don't feel ready to apply for this show. And you can choose to exhibit 1, 2 or 3 days but I decided to be all go-big-or-go-home about it and asked for 3 days. Oh my.

The thing I didn't pay attention to, but wouldn't do any differently anyway, is that the following weekend is the Junior League of Rochester 2-day show. It was my 2nd best show last year.

So I have to be ultra-prepared. Which I am, each year is better and better, but still, yikes!

And I received an application for the brand new Finger Lakes Riesling Festival to be held in Canandaigua in August. It's a 2-day outdoor show. I have nothing planned for July (except vacation with Steve) or August - so I want to do this one too.

I'm feeling so motivated! (And Pam, I'll be in touch with work to do!)

After not being allowed to use my own table at Spot Coffee I checked with the Nixon Peabody people yesterday and was told yes, I can use my own table tomorrow and yes, I'd already asked that. Oops. Once bitten, twice shy.

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