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 am ALMOST caught up. After this post … one more to go.

Thank you for your patience!

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Ridgecrest, CA. Santa’s Art Shop. Year 6.

For each of the last 5 years, this event was our biggest event of the year.

For each of the last 5 years, we set a sales record at this event.

Every year: Best. Event. Ever.

Every year.

Let that sink in for a moment.

It was time for year 6, 12/7 & 8/2019.

No pressure.

New Ideas

• Nope, this was not new territory. After 5 years, we knew what we were doing. I did have several new products: Cheese Slicers. Cracker Things. Garlic Dipping Boards. But, we had legacy clients and they knew where to find us at Santa’s Art Shop.

Observations

• This event began with me freaking out.
• Thank GOODNESS I have friends.
• A good friend.
• You’ve heard the story of my Garlic Dipping Boards: how I collaborate with Nicole, who makes my Great Garlic Graters. We told Nicole about this event, and she decided that she wanted to play.
• She told the promoter that she wanted to be next to Mrs M’s Handmade. The promoter – who was new this year – told Nicole that we weren’t signed up.
• It was Black Friday, November 29. The promoter told our friend that we weren’t signed up FOR OUR BIGGEST EVENT OF EVERY YEAR.
• EVERY. YEAR.
• OK, go.
• Freaking out.
• Me.
• What happened? I have no idea. How did the promoter not have our application? No idea.
• No.
• Idea.
• Managing Mrs M’s Handmade – and Mr M’s Woodshop – is a big job. To keep track of the details, I keep a spreadsheet of every event on our radar.
• Every event.
• I have promoter contact information. Websites. Costs. Descriptions. Comments. Dates. And, I keep track of whether or not we’ve approved the event for this year’s calendar (Mrs M and I), if the application is in, and if we’ve received approval.
• The spreadsheet said that the application was in.
• Honest.
• Unfortunately, the promoter didn’t have the application, and the NEW PROMOTER THIS YEAR did not reach out to us to ask why we were missing after 5 years of faithful vending.
• What did happen, though, was that my friend Nicole’s application said she wanted to be next to our booth (bless her), so the promoter called Nicole … and told her we were not on the list.
• Nicole did not accept that. Oh YES we were coming. YES we were a part of the event. And, YES, she wanted to be next to our booth.
• Bless her.
• And, in the end, it worked out just fine. I called the promoter at Nicole’s direction, the promoter accepted that we could be a part of the event if I would just submit (re-submit?) the application, and get the check in the mail.
• Today.
• I did. That day.
• Now, in 20/20 hindsight … I don’t know what happened. Normally, I keep a copy of EVERY APPLICATION on file so I know what I’ve provided to each promoter. Every application. However, I know that when this application was due, my life was out of control and I remember not keeping a copy of a couple of applications. This one? No clue.
• But, the spreadsheet said the application was in.
• Unfortunately, the promoter gets a vote, too, and she said she never got it. I’m sure it’s my fault. Must be, right? But every event is different, and we do 25+ events every year. Some will talk to you, some don’t, some will NOT talk to you … and I’ve gotten into the habit of submitting my application and forgetting about it.
• My mistake.
• Thankfully, our 3 booths were still available (!), and we slid right back into that opening. After Thanksgiving. For an event on the first weekend in December.
• Thank you, Nicole. Couldn’t have done it without you, obviously.
• And, yes, paid for dinner at Mon Reve. It was wonderful, too.
• This event is now about legacy, and we have many fans in Ridgecrest after 5 years. Thank goodness.
• One customer did observe the sign above my head as I sat in the booth (“Meet The Maker”) and asked if I was the maker. Uh, yes. They wanted to make sure, as I might have been sitting in the wrong chair.
• Uh, OK. Me = Maker. Be calm.

• We were way, way down on Saturday. Almost 40% down. Was it the new promoter? No, I think not … perhaps it was the major earthquake that Ridgecrest had in 2019. People had to fix their homes, perhaps? In any event, we were down on Saturday. Way down.
• This event finally – finally! – fixed it’s #1 problem. There was WiFi, which meant that PayPal transactions could be done in the metal building without me having to go outside to find a cell signal. It would have been great to get a heads up about this, but oh well. We had WiFi, and that made transactions SO much easier.
• I have fans in Ridgecrest that buy something from me every year. That is so sweet, and so unexpected. Every time.
• I have to work very hard to earn those accolades. Every time.
• But, alas, we were down on Saturday. We were down on Sunday.
• The streak is broken. This was not the best event of the year. This was not our best event ever. It was good, certainly, but not even in the Top 5 all time.

The Food

• Best Meal: Mon Reve, a ridiculously good French restaurant on the edge of the Mojave desert.
• Honorable Mention: Olvera’s, a traditional Mexican restaurant that is a good value for good food.
• Honorable Mention 2: Kristi’s, a local “diner” that serves comfort food, every day. We had lunch on Friday and dinner on Sunday here; definitely good decisions.
• Worst Meal: Fair food for our lunches was easy; we didn’t pack food for this trip. But to call the vendors at these events fair … well, that’s what they are. IMHO.

The Facts

• Total miles driven: 270
• Booth cost: $758
• Food cost: $315
• Travel cost: $368
• Total sales: $4,439
• # of people we met during the event from the producer: 3
• Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: several
• # soap & lotion vendors: Several, as always
• # woodworking vendors: Several, as always
• Returning next year? Maybe. Probably. But, perhaps we should give it a rest….

Boards sold: 50

• Cutting Boards: 5
• Garlic Dipping Boards: 5
• Surfboard: 1
• Cheese Slicers: 8
• Cracker Things: 7
• Lazy Susans: 3
• Trivets: 5
• Cheese Boards: 5
• Cribbage Boards: 2
• Serving Pieces: 3
• Bread Saws: 5
• Card Box: 1