MowryJournal.com   Life's Passions

The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind..

Anticipation was building. We were very excited to be a part of the 68th Annual Almond Blossom Festival in Quartz Hill. This would be our 3rd appearance at this event in the last 3 years.

You know I love local. Quartz Hill is a community in the Antelope Valley, about 45 minutes north of us.

When we do this event, we stay with our two granddaughters, so this event has about the best side benefits I can imagine.

In 2015, we had a 10×10 booth and sales of $1,291. Last year, it rained. Nothing to be done about that, and sales dropped to $879, in spite of our 10×20 booth and expanded product selection. This year, we have Mrs M’s purpose-built display. My inventory isn’t perfect (no chess boards!), but I have as good an array as I’ve ever had. We’re ready for Quartz Hill.

New Ideas

• Mrs M’s soap will be at this event for the first time – hardly a new idea, really, but it should help us increase sales this year.

Observations

• Every year, there is confusion with load-in and booth placement. This year, I was on an end … then I wasn’t. There was plenty of room in the park, though (fewer vendors this year, for some reason), so it was a non-issue. There was plenty of room, and the atmosphere was very casual during set-up. Very casual.
• This is a community event in a county park. Local dance studios perform. Local bands perform. It’s all sponsored by the Quartz Hill Chamber of Commerce, so local businesses have booths, too. It’s all about the community.
• When the Quartz Hill queens & princesses came around handing out candy to the vendors as a thank you for supporting Quartz Hill, I was amazed. Can’t remember the last time a pre-teen gave me candy.
• And, of course, it’s cute when a little girl strolls through a park & gives me candy. Me strolling through a park & giving a little girl candy … not so much.
• Wine Bottle Holders were prominently displayed for the 2nd time, and for the 2nd time I had a senior citizen ask me if they are door stops.
• They are not.
• An artist’s work is so seldom understood.
• The fire marshal closed the vendor section early on Saturday, the last day of standard time. It was scheduled to be open until 7pm (which was way too late). As darkness descended, the fire marshal said to close the vendor area at 6:15pm so no one would be hurt in the darkness.
• Huh?
• Every vendor was complaining about the low traffic this year. The weather was glorious: over 80* each day. This was our first weekend this year with great SoCal weather, in fact … maybe the weather was too good? In any event, there were slow sales for everyone, it seemed.
• There is live music playing throughout the event, and 2 bands were noteworthy. Big Coyote sounded great this year, and happens to include one of our next door neighbor musicians as a guitarist & vocalist. Also sounding great was The Fulcos, a family act based in the AV. Both bands had excellent presentations, and even this critic enjoyed them. Good thing, as there wasn’t enough traffic to hold my attention.
• Requests from this event were for a kitchen island top (2x), a hope chest and, once again as the # 1 request … chess boards (of course).
• This is our 2nd event in a row where Sunday sales exceeded Saturday sales. No complaints … but has the world gone crazy?
• In the end, sales were a disappointment. We did not equal our 2015 sales – where we had much less product, and only a 10×10 booth. Our booth expenses have more than doubled, and sales did not increase. Perhaps we have saturated this event, and should give it a break next year? There aren’t that many good March events, however, and none allow us to spend time with the granddaughters except for this one. Much to think about before we schedule 2018.

The Food

Saturday Breakfast: Bagels & cream cheese, brought from home.

Saturday Lunch: “Half a Polish,” he said. Of course, I’m not half Polish … I’m not half anything. I’m a mutt. “English, Irish, German, Dutch….”

Saturday Snack: A Twisted Spud. They look better than they taste, every time. Maybe I’ll learn someday.

Saturday Dinner: “Deconstructed cabbage rolls,” she said. Well, OK then. Tasted great.

Sunday Breakfast: See above.

Sunday Lunch: See above. I’m consistent.

Sunday Snack: Nope. I learn, too.

Sunday Dinner: A carnitas burrito from the local Mexican restaurant, La Cocina. And guacamole. And a Cadillac Margarita.

The Facts

• Total miles driven: 226
• Booth cost: $255
• Food cost: $81
• Travel cost: $121
• Total sales: $1,264
• Net Revenue (does not include product cost): $807
• # of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
• Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: Several, including 3 visits from 3 different people explaining to us the load-out procedure. I thought that was overkill. Been there, done that, and didn’t learn a thing.
• Saturday alarm: 6:15am
• Sunday alarm: nope
• # transactions: 70
• # soap & lotion vendors: Incredibly, just Mrs M. Maybe the soap fad is over?
• # woodworking vendors: Just me. No fad here.
• Edge grain vs. end grain: 10:1
• Returning next year? Maybe.

Boards sold: 11

Small Boards: 3

Magic Bottle Openers: 3

Cheese Boards: 2

Wine Bottle Holder: 1

Lazy Susan: 1

Cutting Board: 1

Cheese Board 17 – 315. Purpleheart, Hard Maple, Cherry, Black Walnut & Yellowheart. Chaos board. 11″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Small Board 17 – 214. Purpleheart, Cherry, Bubinga, Hard Maple & Bloodwood. 10″ x 11-1/2″ x 3/4″.

Small Board 17 – 212. Purpleheart, Cherry, Hard Maple, Bubinga & Bloodwood. 11-1/2″ x 11-3/4″ x 3/4″.

Small Board 17 – 210. Hard Maple, Purpleheart, Padauk & Jatoba. 9-1/4″ x 10-1/2″ x 3/4″.

Wine Bottle Holder 17 – 04. Purpleheart, Hard Maple & Bloodwood.

Cheese Board 16 – 047. Purpleheart, Bloodwood, Jatoba, Black Walnut & Caribbean Rosewood. 7″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Lazy Susan 16 – 020. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple, Purpleheart & Yellowheart. 17″ diameter.

Magic Bottle Opener 17 – 613. Jatoba, Yellowheart, Padauk & Hard Maple. Double Magic.

Cutting Board 17 – 411. Chaos Board, End Grain. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry, White Oak, Purpleheart, Jatoba, Hickory, Goncalo Alves, Yellowheart & Canarywood. 13-1/2″ x 17-3/4″ x 1-1/4″.

Magic Bottle Opener 17 – 611. Padauk, Cherry, Canarywood & Yellowheart. Double Magic.

Magic Bottle Opener 194. Red Oak, Padauk, Black Walnut & Hard Maple. Single Magic.