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.

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A note about my absence. After a few months of getting more and more behind … I still haven’t caught up.

I will, just not today. In the interim, here’s the latest installment of The Board Chronicles for all of you that have been missing my missives.

Enjoy, and thank you for your patience!

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The Camp Fire was largely contained by now, but this event still was smoke impacted on November 16 – 18, 2018. Sacramento is much closer to Paradise (only 88 miles), but the smoke was less bothersome, and got better every day. But would it be enough?

After having a very, very disappointing event last weekend, I was hopeful. That’s all I had, really. If this event didn’t score, then I would be in a deep hole.

New Ideas

• Last week was my first Harvest Festival, so I got a $100 discount off of the price. This week, no discount. I paid the full $1,590, which was now the most I’ve ever paid for an event.

Observations

• I arrived at the motel Wednesday night and was in the middle of a little insurrection. There was no hot water in the motel due to some plumbing issue. People were yelling, checking out, not checking in … it was a mess. I got the room key & hoped (that word again) that I would have hot water the next day.
• I did.
• Friday started hot. I was ‘whelmed by 1pm. I had people standing in line – 3 deep – to give me money a couple of times. Those are good times.
• I had a person give me a suggestion for a sign (this never ends well):
  • If you love someone, set them free
  • If you hate someone, set them free
  • In fact, set everyone free
  • People are stupid. Get a dog.
• Requests were for an appetizer server with a slot for a wine glass, odd cribbage boards, a thinner heart-shaped board (mine are 3/4″ thick), and 2 separate requests for deviled egg trays. These are my people … and this will happen soon, I said to myself. A year ago.
• Editor’s note: it’s now 2020. Deviled egg trays will happen soon. I’m working on the design now. Honest.
• This event was great. I couldn’t believe how many pieces I was selling … and by Sunday, it was clear I had done something special.

Best. Solo. Event. Ever.

• I sold more pieces at this event than I ever have before. Even with the increase in volume, though, my average selling price was higher than ever before. Sacramento came to shop, without question!
• The top selling items were from the CNC. Signs were my top seller, but almost everything I sold had been touched by the CNC.
• I had a long drive home on Monday, but there was a smile on my face.

The Food

• Best Meal: I had a treat meal at a BJ’s that was pretty tasty. The venue was very near a shopping/restaurant district, so life was good

The Facts

• Total miles driven: 768
• Booth cost: $1,590
• Food cost: $232
• Travel cost: $580
• Total sales: $5,637
• # of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
• Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: several
• # transactions: 58
• # soap & lotion vendors: my next door neighbor was a soaper, so I felt right at home
• # woodworking vendors: many, many woodworkers are here. My favorite is a retired couple that owns (?) a company in North Carolina making lawn furniture out of white oak. Very nice work … but the “sellers” were definitely not the “makers,” at least not anymore.
• Returning next year? Yes

Boards sold: 73

• Cutting Boards: 15
• Lazy Susan: 1
• Cribbage Boards: 4
• Signs: 15
• Cheese Boards: 8
• Hearts: 5
• Cheese & Cracker Servers: 3
• Trivets: 8
• Small Board: 1
• Clipboards: 2
• Chess Set: 1
• Serving Tray: 1
• Coaster Set: 5
• Sous Chef Board: 1
• Magic Bottle Opener: 1
• California Bear: 1
• Wine Bottle Coaster: 1