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Archive for October 2018

The Board Chronicles: California Avocado Festival 2018 Leave a comment

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.

Their slogan is “Peace, Love & Guacamole.” Who can’t get behind that?

This was our 3rd trek to Carpinteria to enjoy the California Avocado Festival. It’s been a good event for us; you can read about previous successes in 2016 and 2017.

Though we have enjoyed this event, it is not without its challenges. The event is expensive, for one: a 10×10 is $450 (corner is $550). Plus, they take a $100 cleaning deposit to ensure you leave the asphalt in the middle of the street as clean as you found it.

Seriously.

Finding an affordable hotel in Santa Barbara County is also a challenge. This year, we’re opting for an AirBnB which is still pricey, but when you are a bit north of an hour from home, it’s difficult to drive home after a hard day of vendoring.

Mrs M got her avocado soap made, and my inventory is in pretty good shape these days. Let’s see what is in store for us in Carpinteria.

New Ideas

After being off for 7 weeks, Mrs M had nearly forgotten how to go a-vendoring. We both took too long to set up … it was almost 4 hours. Not. Good.
Cribbage boards are not completely finished, but I have a dozen to take to the event. This will be the first time I’ve shown the options with, uh, options.

Observations

Getting to our AirBnB proved to be an adventure. We followed my old, portable GPS which led us to a washed out bridge on a twisty overgrown mountain road. Good times. I then *read the directions* from our hostess, got back on the freeway and drove to our home for the weekend without further incident. Thank goodness.
I know inventory is expanding. I have 6 containers of signs. 2 containers of cribbage boards. 3 containers of cheese boards, and I have no idea how many cutting boards. No wonder setup takes 4 hours.
The sign making business is a competitive one, and I note that a lot of people are taking pictures of my signs … many without asking permission. Some artists put up “No Pictures, Please” signs. Some just say “No Pictures!” I think the signs are ineffective (I have signs displayed on an outer wall … am i supposed to get up and police people throughout the day?), but I wonder if I should do that. My signs are popular; should I let people copy what I do without even asking for my permission?
So far, my answer is to follow Elsa’s advice: “Let it go.”
Carpinteria is 66 miles away … and this event is a good getaway from Santa Clarita, apparently. At one point, someone asked where I lived in Santa Clarita, and 3 groups in my booth at the same time were all from Santa Clarita … and didn’t know each other!
Best moment of the day was when a very young lady solemnly passed her ZooSoapia turtle to me so that we could wrap it up for her. She was very focused on not hurting her turtle. Total cuteness, in the booth.
At the end of the event, I did ask our event representative what the official policy was on “handmade” in our handmade section. He called over some other guy on the 2-way, and the other guy said everything should be 100% handmade.
Uh, no.
I think a good clue is that my neighbor for the last 3 years brought merchandise in a box labeled “Made in China.” That’s a clue, right?
Both load in and load out were extremely tight. A double row of booths is in the center of the street, and a row of parked cars and a driving lane is on each side. Very tight. During load out, a vendor driving a U-Haul van hit our canopy with her mirror.
She got to meet Frenzied Velda. As Geena Davis said in The Fly, “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
After Frenzied Velda came out, the organizer apologized to us several times.
This event has been very good for us … but in our 3rd year, we were down from our 2nd year … which was down from our fantastic 1st year. It’s still a good event, but it’s also a very high cost event. There are alternatives that we must consider for 2019.
Requests were for custom signs (at least 6x!), a kitchen counter and a Go board. Time will tell if any actual orders follow, which will affect how we look at this event.

The Food

Best Meal: Breakfast at Esau’s, which is half a block from our booth. It’s an annual treat.
Honorable Mention: Dinner at Clementine’s, another annual treat … with blackberry pie to go.
Worst Meal: A getaway chicken sandwich at Carl’s Jr after teardown. The fries weren’t edible … and I didn’t want to eat, really. I wanted to go home. But, ya gotta eat, y’know?

The Facts

Total miles driven: 175
Booth cost: $950
Food cost: $181
Travel cost: $423
Total sales: $3,047
Net Revenue (does not include product cost): $1,453
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 0
Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: Several
Saturday alarm: 4:45a
Sunday alarm: 5:45a
# transactions: 115
# soap & lotion vendors: At least 5
# woodworking vendors: There were several; one does work similar to mine
Edge grain vs. end grain: 25:2
Returning next year? Maybe

Boards sold: 27

Signs: 11x

Cribbage Boards: 4x

Cutting Boards: 3x

Cheese Boards: 2x

Trivets: 2x

Large Serving Piece: 2x

Coasters: 2x

Small Board: 1x

Cutting Board 18 – 328. Goncalo Alves, Hard Maple, Black Walnut & Jatoba. 13″ x 16″ x 1-1/8″.

Cheese Board 18 – 113. Jatoba, Cherry & Hard Maple. 8″ x 11″ x 5/8″.

Trivet 18 – 721. Jarrah, Bubinga, Purpleheart, Yellowheart, Padauk & Hard Maple.

CNC Sign 18 – 51. Hard Maple. 6″ x 22″.

CNC Sign 18 – 41. Hard Maple. 14″ x 12″.

CNC Sign 18 – 88 The Answer

CNC Sign 18 – 89 The Answer

CNC Sign 18 – 59. Hard Maple. 9″ x 12″.

CNC Sign 18 – 64. Hard Maple. 6″ x 22″.

CNC Sign 18 – 44. Hard Maple. 11″ x 16″.

Coasters 18 – 18. Purpleheart, Cherry, Hard Maple & Padauk.

CNC Sign 18 – 39. Hard Maple. 11″ x 17″.

Small Board 18 – 212. Hard Maple, Jatoba & Goncalo Alves. 7″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.

Large Serving Piece 18 – 11. Hard Maple, Purpleheart, & Cherry.

Large Serving Piece 18 – 12. Black Walnut, Cherry & Hard Maple.

CNC Sign 18 – 52. Hard Maple. 10″ x 14″.

Cribbage 18 – 16a detail.

Cutting Board 18 – 708. Hard Maple, Mesquite, Bubinga, Purpleheart, Bloodwood & Padauk. 15″ x 20″ x 1-1/2″.

Cribbage 18 – 10. Cherry top, Black Walnut bottom. Sold in its first showing.

Posted October 10, 2018 by henrymowry in Craft Fairs

Tagged with Carpinteria, craft fair, Cutting board, end grain, handmade, I love guacamole, Mr M's Woodshop, Santa Clarita, Valencia, vendor

This Cribbage Thing Is Catching On 8 comments

Since I’ve finally broken through and started making cribbage boards, I’m getting obsessed. Variations abound, and I’m only scratching the surface.

Last weekend, I sold more cribbage boards than cutting boards. That’s a sobering thought … especially since so many people comment that this is a game for old folks that so few play anymore.

But then, people also tell me that no one uses wooden cutting boards, either.

I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, and people get to choose. That seems to be working out so far!

All cribbage boards are finished with lacquer. They are not cutting boards (yes, I’ve been asked), and they are not food ready. They do, however, come with the cards and pegs for playing, held in the convenient storage slots under the top. All of these sets are customizable: any 4-track set top can go with any 4-track set bottom (the 4-tracks are the round ones, about 14″ in diameter). The oval sets are 3-tracks, and are 10″ x 14″.

Cribbage 18 – 12a. Cherry Top, Black Walnut Bottom.

Cribbage 18 – 12 detail. Yes, the cards & pegs are included.

Cribbage 18 – 09. Bloodwood top, Hard Maple, Bloodwood, Cherry & Black Walnut bottom. Sold in its first showing.

Cribbage 18 – 09 detail.

Cribbage 18 – 10. Cherry top, Black Walnut bottom. Sold in its first showing.

Cribbage 18 – 08. Cherry Top & Purpleheart, Bloodwood, Bubinga, Jarrah & Cherry bottom.

Cribbage 18 – 08 detail.

Cribbage 18 – 06a. Hard Maple Top, Black Walnut, Padauk & Cherry bottom.

Cribbage 18 – 11. Cherry top, Hard Maple bottom.

Cribbage 18 – 16. Hard Maple top with colored stain, Black Walnut bottom.

Cribbage 18 – 16a detail.

Cribbage 18 – 13. Cherry Top, Hard Maple, Purpleheart & Bloodwood bottom.

Cribbage 18 – 13a detail.

Cribbage 18 – 14a. Cherry Top, Hard Maple bottom.

Cribbage 18 – 14 detail.

Cribbage 18 – 15. Cherry Top, Hard Maple bottom. Sold in its first showing.

Cribbage 18 – 15a detail.

More

New: Cribbage Board Sets

Posted October 8, 2018 by henrymowry in Woodworking

Tagged with 3 player cribbage, 4 player cribbage, cribbage, cribbage board, handmade, Mr M's Woodshop, Santa Clarita, Valencia

The Board Chronicles: Santa Barbara Home & Garden Expo 2018 Leave a comment

Santa Barbara artists have a virtual monopoly on events in their city. Most events require you to be a county resident to be a vendor. When the opportunity came up to represent at an event in Santa Barbara, I was very interested.

This promoter does 3 home & garden shows in Santa Barbara (and one in Santa Maria) every year. It fit on the calendar.

Let’s see what all the fuss is about in Santa Barbara.

New Ideas

Same setup as last week in Visalia. I didn’t even unload the trailer.
I had a corner location with a wall that extended forward to the door … and the promoter invited me to fill the space. I was happy to oblige with an extra table that I dedicated to a cutting board display. I sold 3 boards off of that “feature” table.

Observations

Got to the venue for setup, and found they had me in a single booth. I asked the promoter if that was a mistake, and she put me in a double. After researching everything following the event, I believe the mistake was mine, but she had the space, so it all worked out.
But … I was right by the exit. I an superstitious about being by the door, but whachagonnado?
This is a relatively small event, with about 70 vendors. All were indoors. Some traditional home show businesses (AC repair, window replacement, bath remodel, etc). Some buy & sell, from Scentsy to import crap. A few artists. And me.
The first buy & sell vendor left at 1:30p on Saturday, after only 3-1/2 hours. I mean, it was slow, but, wow.
I didn’t sell anything until 3p on Saturday. In the next 2 hours, I sold 15 pieces, including 5 cutting boards. Patience is a virtue.
A self-professed turner came into the booth, talked about her passion for the hobby … and bought 2 cutting boards. Loved that!
As at most shows, I was asked if I was local. I generally responded that I was “local-ish,” from 2 hours away. 2 of the questioners talked about how they wish there were local artists here.
What is it with the insular approach to art vendors in Santa Barbara? That’s a mystery to me.
Sunday started slow … and stopped. Not. Good.
This weekend, I could have done the nearby Goleta Lemon Festival, which we’ve done a couple of times previously. That event has not proven very profitable, so I though I’d try something new. This event … was a bit worse.
Requests were for an elephant board, surfboards (I’ve been out for months now), in-counter boards, and a few custom boards “with details to follow.” We’ll see; good follow up orders could make this event more interesting for next year. Without them ….

The Food

Best Meal: Woodstock Pizza, Henry’s MOS. Best pizza I’ve had in some time.
Honorable Mention: Hello, Old Friend
Worst Meal: Chicken & Fries from the diner @ the Showground. The fries were not edible.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 176
Booth cost: $500
Food cost: $96
Travel cost: $315
Total sales: $1,365
Net Revenue (does not include product cost): $454
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: several
Saturday alarm: nope
Sunday alarm: nope
# transactions: 10
# soap & lotion vendors: there was one; she had a big bath bomb display
# woodworking vendors: one of the artists there did woodburning, but not woodworking, really. She just decoratively burned pieces of wood.
Edge grain vs. end grain: 15:4. Amazing.
Returning next year? Doubtful.