Farmers Market and Craft Show

It was a beautiful weekend in north central Florida, and perfect for craft fairs and farmers markets! I didn't sell much, but I did sell a few small things. And of course I bought stuff and spent more than I made lol. But it was FOOD and a couple of Christmas gifts for friends, so that's ok :)

We set up in a different spot this time. Right in front next to the parking lot.

Laci made some new things!

This is her lil jelly fish family...aren't they so cute?! I want them!

And she brought one of her hemp produce bags. I already have one of these, and I love it!

This is Anna of Vagabond Crafts, the coordinator of our craft show. We love Anna:)

Anna makes crochet doggy sweaters, purses....

baby sweaters and booties, and little purses to carry your cell phone in. She does make blankets and other things (like dolls!) but didn't have them with her this time.

She did have some fresh picked grapefruit since it was the farmers market weekend....

some brownies and cupcakes......

and some delicious gingerbread! I know first hand cause I ate some :)

This is Barbara and George(?) I'm pretty sure he is George, but not 100% positive she is a Barbara, but I think so. They sell the produce, obviously :P which is why I bought food. I couldn't resist broccoli that had just been picked that morning!

I bought hubby some of those Satsumas in the basket. There were other tangerines, too, but he likes the Satsumas.

The basket of broccoli was chock full. I'm sure they sold every bit of it! I had to have some of these tomatoes. They are huge! Lace and I at half of one with our lunch.

Lotsa fresh greens and turnips, too.

 The bell peppers were only 50 cents each! You can't even buy them at Walmart for that cheap.
I would say they are professional gardeners, and they wrote a book on gardening in north central Florida. I am buying that book from them! I couldn't quite swing it this time, but I will next time.

I love Craft Show days! We have so much fun out there even when we don't sell anything. We have another one to do next weekend!

So, you are probably wondering what I did about my picture uploading over storage capacity problem. A good friend emailed me and sent me to a blog post on this very thing. What ya do is size your pics 800x600 and it doesn't count as 'storage' because it's under the size limits :) Pretty cool, huh?!

So now I can upload pics til my heart and blog are content. I'll be back soon with some product photos or something!

McIntosh Festival at Harvest Village

We are watching the megastorm closely, and thinking of friends and family in the path of this killer storm. Hopefully it will be over soon, and everyone will be safe and sound. Clean up on the other hand will be a massive undertaking. Things can be replaced, but our people can't be. Stay safe dear friends and loved one's, my heart goes out to you.

For several days we felt the fury that was Sandy passing a couple hundred miles off our coastline. The wind blew relentlessly, and anything that wasn't heavy or nailed down was seen blowing across yards and fields. I watched my palm trees sway and blow for days prior to the craft show, so I took precautions and took some rock pavers to hold my canopy down. Thank you honey for giving me the pavers!

The turn out for this show was better than past shows at Harvest Village, but remember that this is a new venue, has only been going this fall, and people are just now finding us. It did help that the McIntosh Festival was happening the same day right down the road.

We had more vendors on Saturday, and some of them set up their canopy frame, or saved a spot with a table on Friday. Laci and I set up across from where we usually do.

You may notice my necklace displays are in a different spot this time. The winds from Sandy blew them over a couple of times, so I moved them. The big necklace display provided a wind break and kept them from falling over. I didn't even bother to set up the heads for the headbands, as I knew from previous shows that the slightest wind will take them down. I'm working on having something made to keep them in place.

I did move a couple of things around.....

but most things are the same. I do need to make some new earrings as I have 2 entire sides empty now.

I really like, and needed the larger ring display, and have sold a few of them :)

My bracelet board is a few shy of what is was also. I really need to get busy, and before the next show in 2 weeks! I also have an idea for the shell name badge reels....they just need a little something something added to them and I have just the thing in mind ;)

I did make some keychains, and didn't sell a single one :P
I'm nearly out of bookmarks....that is on my to do list.

I really do like the barrettes on the net this way, but sure played hell keeping them straight all day. It isn't normally so windy, so I'll still do this. I'm a few hairpin sets and barrettes down, too. So Much To Do!

THE WIND!!!!!!!! My big display did nearly go over but Laci caught it, and I ran around the other side to set it to rights. It really damn near blew OFF the tables!

Laci made some new things for the show, too :D

Her mini cupcake necklace was the first thing she sold. It is so adorable! Even though it takes a couple of hours or so to crochet such a tiny thing, she will probably make another...or two. It's only about an inch tall!

These are for kids.....except the cupcake pin cushion, lol. I must have taken this after she sold her pie darnit!

These are for kitty cats! Catnip toys! It's hard for me to pick a favorite. I love the whales, and the fish of course. But the little pie, cheeseburger, and toilet paper rolls are so darn cute, too. Laci can literally look at an object or think of one, and make it with yarn. No pattern!

It was a really good day despite the wind :) and Laci outsold me :D

I bought something that is beautiful and amazing, and I'll show it to you next time!

We are preparing for the next show on November 10th!

Is there anything you think we should make?

A Learning Experience

I decided before the show that I was going to use the first one as a learning experience. Maybe even the first two. It was fun, I sold stuff! And I did learn a few things.

1. It pays to do your research! I did a LOT of research on setting up craft show booths. I started studying layouts months ago when a friend (Kim!) sent me links to check out. Over the past couple of weeks, I started Pinning ideas. It helped to see others booth set ups.

2. Don't forget the OFF! We were nearly eaten alive in the predawn and early morning hours before the sun came up...which took a while because of the RAIN.

3. Be prepared for RAIN....and I was, thanks to Karen! She suggested tarps, duct tape, and bungee cords. My canopy protected most everything, except for what I had on the ladder, which I moved closer in during the storm. I had rolls of plastic....hubby's tarps are HUGE and far too bulky for me to manage. The plastic saved me. Had it been a blowing rain, I would have covered everything in plastic. It was a downpour, and came down in nice straight sheets.

4. Take an extra shirt! Our shirts were WHITE. They weren't by the time we were done, lol. On the way I spilled some coffee on my nice bright white shirt. UGH! I backed into/rubbbed up against something black. I'm guessing it was that cushy trim around the back door of my SUV. No more white! An extra shirt would have been nice to have.

5. Love Bugs LOVE white, and light colors! They loved me, Laci, and my tent. The poles are white, and the canopy is light colored on the inside. It was very obvious that they were preferring white over dark colors, as we, and the vendor next to us observed this preference. Now I know why hubby's white Tahoe gets so covered in love bugs.

6. I need to streamline my set up for future shows! My vehicle was packed, and I mean packed. We couldn't have stuck a pretzel in there.....but Laci did bring home a cat, so hubby had to load some things in the other car to go home. LOL!

I did get some pictures! Which I was worried I wasn't going to....because I thought I forgot my camera. It was in a ziploc bag in the bottom of my bag, and Lace couldn't find it. After we got settled in, I dug til I unearthed it.

Standing sideways to hide my coffee drippage....not very flattering to my figure.

Laci wanted a funny face, so I gave her one :)

And of course she looks FANTASTIC is both of her pics!

My barrette clipped above a pony tail. I think I really need one of my aqua abalone shell barrettes!!! I sold my favorite one, though. It had the most beautiful color, and was so smooth, too.

A better close up....and you can really see my gray...but hey, those are sparkles. Do you know what gals are paying to have 'sparkles' added to their hair???? A LOT! Mine were free, and came naturally :)

And look who stopped by?! My good friend Diane, from Lavender Dreams, and her hubby!

What a look of concentration! Or indecision? She had a hard time picking out what she wanted....I think she said she wanted it ALL! It was so good to see her! And she was wearing my colors!!! So pretty :)

My momma stopped by too, and I didn't get a picture. I was excited to see her, too...and not sure if I had found my camera yet.

Next time I will try to take MORE pictures....if I have time. People will be Christmas shopping by then!

I did sell 7 items....and not just to Diane, lol.

I'm going to get busy preparing for the next one....well, actually there are 3 next month, and then at least 2 more before the end of the year....maybe more! We have a local craft fair in town, and I'd like to attend that as well.

Have I said what a great time we had?! We did! It was fun, and we are excited to go back and do it again. I will be giving out some info on the next one as soon as I can find the flyers I brought home. I just barely started unpacking before I started this post.

I have some new supplies I haven't had a chance to use, and some on order that should be here soon. I can't wait to get back to work and make some more pretty seashell things!

Thanks for bearing with me for this long winded post!