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Trivets Are Fun! Leave a comment

The good news is that I made another batch of trivets, and I needed them at last weekend’s event. I have a few left, and I’m sure I will need them this week, too!

The bad news is that I blew up one blank due to a loose hold down. I’m still learning how to use my CNC.

However, I do know something about creating pretty trivets … and once again, the tri-color trivets were the first to sell at last weekend’s event. I believe I need to learn that combining different woods is the most important thing I do in the shop … according to my customers.

Maybe I’ll learn that someday. Meanwhile, I have 2 new product introductions this week – BIG introductions, I think – and they both feature single species. Hmmmm.

No one said I was a fast learner.

More to come as I burn the candle at both ends this week. I have 5 days of events to cover, and there are 64 new pieces in the ~~garage~~ woodshop needing to be completed. Sanity is in short supply, I believe … bear with me!

And bears are coming back! 3 of those are in the shop, and they will be finished this week. Unfortunately, those 11 chess boards … are still waiting. Like I said, no one said I was a fast learner.

Trivet 17 – 05. Black Walnut, Padauk and Hard Maple. 8.5″ x 8.5″ x .75″.

Trivet 17 – 06. Jatoba. 8.5″ x 8.5″ x .75″.

Trivet 17 – 07. Cherry. 8.5″ x 8.5″ x .75″.

Posted October 30, 2017 by henrymowry in Woodworking

Tagged with handmade, holiday boutique, Mr M's Woodshop, Santa Clarita, trivet, Valencia

The Board Chronicles: Carpinteria Holiday Faire 2016 2 comments

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.

The Carpinteria Valley Museum of History hosts a monthly swap meet-style event on their grounds in their city. In November, the event transforms into a handmade-only holiday boutique. We’ve done the event for a couple of years, and have thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of this community event.

Here’s the Board Chronicles from last year: Carpinteria Holiday Faire 2015.

OK, so doing an event on a holiday weekend is a bit crazy.

OK, so doing an event on a holiday weekend when we could be making product for next week’s biggest event of the year might be a bit crazy.

But we like the feel of this event! It’s community. It’s handmade. It’s what we do.

We’re in.

New Ideas

We asked for a booth on the front side of the museum (the city street) instead of our traditional booth on the other side (the parking lot, which is cramped quarters). No double space was available on the street, but the museum director assured us he would help us get the trailer through the unloading/loading process. We’re in.

Observations

We checked the forecast Friday … and it was bad. Rain was forecast throughout the event. In fact, the forecast said it would rain 10a – 3p … the entire span of the event! Rain would continue through 6pm, so we would not have any respite for the load out.
I just did a wet event last weekend.
Velda’s recovering from a bad cold.
We became 2 of “those people.”
I learned the phrase when I was running marathons: DNS DNF. Did Not Start, Did Not Finish. We stayed home.
We made product.
And the weather was awful; raining as predicted. We made the right call, IMHO.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 0
Booth cost: $150
Total sales: 0
Returning next year? If we continue down the path of not doing one day events….

Boards sold: 0

Posted November 27, 2016 by henrymowry in Craft Fairs

Tagged with Arts & Crafts, Carpinteria, craft fair, Cutting board, end grain, festival, holiday boutique, Mr M's Woodshop, Santa Clarita, Valencia, vendor

The Board Chronicles: Valencia Summit Holiday Craft Boutiques 3 comments

We’re back for part 2.

This boutique ended up being split onto 2 different days in November and December. The November event was good (read that Chronicle here), but I had lower expectations for this event just 6 days before Christmas.

New Ideas

The promoter, Stella, played into my superstition and moved our tables away from the door. My working theory is that being next to the door is a negative on sales.
Of course, Stella put her tables right by the door … so she’s either being far too accommodating of me, or she rejects the superstition outright.

Observations

With only 2x 6′ tables and 1x 4′ table, space is at an absolute premium at this indoor event. I left the blocks at home, brought too many cheese boards, and decided I didn’t have room for the pig on the table. And I still sold it. Go figure.
Here’s what I will remember: a year ago, I was out of the pig business. At the end of 2015, I was, again, out of the pig business. Therefore, I’m not in the pig business.
Yes, I sold the last pig.
Santa’s a very busy man this time of the year, what with the workshop to manage remotely and all.

We had 3 different people come to find us at this final event of the year, and all 3 were big sales. Note to self: when you promote where you’re going to be, people will find you.
With promoter promotion (THEIR JOB), and then when all of the vendors do this as well … it works.
Santa came by today … not sure who he was texting.
Sales were up today from last month’s event, with our booth not near the door. My superstition only grows….
Loved this day. Totally relaxed with no expectations at all for this event. Great friends working the event, relaxed atmosphere. Goodies to snack on. What’s not to like?
Mrs M showed up at lunch and stayed the rest of the day, through load out. Good news: she helped. Bad news: no Christmas cookies were baked. Unless she’s hiding them from me.
The last event of the year was a success. And I am oh so ready for a break. Well, a break after I get those last few promised projects out of the shop in time for Christmas!

The Food

Saturday Breakfast: Velda’s egg burrito. Yum.

Saturday Lunch: Tater tots & grilled cheese with bacon from The Grilled Cheese food truck. Yum.

Saturday Snack: Holiday treats brought by the vendors to share. Yum.

Saturday Dinner: Salmon at Fishtail. Yum.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 44
Booth cost: $80
# of people we met during the event from the producer: both of them
Total sales: $870
# containers of product taken: 18
# boards available: 72
Saturday alarm: nope
# transactions: 20
# soap & lotion vendors: one soap vendor & Mrs M
# woodworking vendors: just me
Edge grain vs. end grain: 5: 1

Boards sold: 6

Cheese Boards: 2x

Large Cutting Board: 1x

Pig: 1x

Bear: 1x

Small Sous Chef: 1x

Pig # 15 – 13. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Yellowheart and Jatoba. 19″ x 12″ x 1-1/8″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 055. Black Walnut & Bloodwood. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 065. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple & Yellowheart. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cutting Board # 15 – 086. Cherry, Hard Maple, Purpleheart & Jatoba. End Grain with Juice Groove. 15″ x 20″ x 1-1/2″.

Sous Chef # 15 – 54. Hard Maple, Yellowheart & Jatoba. 9″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Bear # 15 – 03. Black Walnut. Edge Grain. 10″ x 20″ x 3/4″.

Posted December 21, 2015 by henrymowry in Craft Fairs

Tagged with craft fair, Cutting board, holiday boutique, Los Angeles, Mr M's Woodshop, Santa Clarita, vendor

The Board Chronicles: Winter Wonderland 1 comment

The Church on the Way hosts an annual community event that includes snow, a live nativity, Santa … and vendors. Their flyer is my absolute favorite for this holiday season, too.

New Ideas

In the “we’re still crazy” department, we are doing this event on a Sunday in December. It’s a 3 hour event … so I’ll spend as much time setting up and taking down as I will, uh, eventing.
The cost for the event is a voluntary contribution. Happy to tithe from our sales, as is suggested.
Given the forecast and the short window for the event, we downsized to a 10 x 10.

Observations

After last week’s Best. Event. Ever., this week promised to be a comedown. Zero expectations for this event, actually. It will be what it will be.
Rain was forecast throughout the event. It never rains in Southern California, but girl, let me warn you….
Last year’s event was a success, I was told. But this year’s forecast….
It started misting at 4:30, and it rained more every hour. There was no saving this event. No one’s fault … but it was raining. No shoppers.

Worst. Event. Ever.

No one’s fault, really. But, it was raining. We were done before we started. Setting up was a mistake, in the end.
Broke down in record time with Velda’s help, and then we came home with wet containers, a wet shade structure, and wet table cloths. We don’t think that any product was damaged, but it may have been. Only time will tell.

The Food

Sunday Dinner: A ham & cheese from The Grilled Cheese Truck. And tater tots. Mmmmm.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 16
Booth cost: $1
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
Total sales: $11
# containers of product taken: 15
# boards available: too many
Sunday alarm: No problem. Load in was at 3:30p
# transactions: 2
# soap & lotion vendors: just us
# woodworking vendors: just me
Edge grain vs. end grain: 0

Boards sold: 0

Posted December 14, 2015 by henrymowry in Craft Fairs

Tagged with craft fair, Cutting board, holiday boutique, Los Angeles, Mr M's Woodshop, Santa Clarita, vendor

The Board Chronicles: Santa’s Art Shop 3 comments

Here’s the intro to this event from their website:

Located in Ridgecrest, California, Santa’s Art Shop is now in it’s 35th year. Over 5,000 holiday shoppers come together with more than 200 art and craft vendors for this two day event. The Desert Empire Fairgrounds provides over 33,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space for this show.

Ridgecrest is about 120 miles north and east, located on the edge of the Mojave. Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS, or China Lake) is nearby, and this community of 27,000 is a military town. As the residents will tell you, there aren’t many opportunities for shopping nearby, so the community saves for this annual event and really turn out to support it and complete some unique holiday shopping.

We did this event in 2014, and we had our best event of the year. Loved it. Handmade goods, nice people, nice community, holiday spirit … what’s not to love?

But, we agreed, we did it wrong. We did not take advantage of the opportunity that this event provided us. We were in a crowded, single booth with all 3 of us working it. The lighting in this government-owned fairgrounds building was horrible (and I am SO focused on lighting!). We had the best holiday decorations money could buy from Walmart the night before with no planning, no electricity, and no way to hang anything.

We had a lot of work to do.

So, we spent all year talking about how we could bring our “A” game to Ridgecrest. We wanted to make sure that our presentation was perfect, and our product offering was as good and complete as we could make it.

We went all in. My secret goal was to have our best event ever, of course, and have sales over $3,000. We had only barely gone over $2,500 once, mind you, so I had a lofty, secret goal, indeed.

New Ideas

Double booth, of course, with holiday lights, garland, and Christmas tree tablecloth runners.
We had spent weeks preparing for this event. Velda, Alley and I had all made an incredible amount of product. We needed to buy new containers just to hold it. We had a LOT of new product. The ladies weren’t making batches of lotion … they were making quadruple batches. I finished 70 new boards (42 cheese boards, 13 Lazy Susans, 6 large cutting boards, 4 pizza servers, 1 cutting board, 1 small board & 3 bears) just in time for this event, in addition to my current inventory.
I asked Velda what product we were taking. The answer, “All of it.”
We rented a 5’x8′ trailer, hitched it to the Jeep, and prepared to head north. We filled the trailer with our pop-up shade structures, lights, product & decorations.
Christopher & Alley drove separately with Payton, and the 5 of us set up the booth. It was great having Christopher there, using our new industrial strength rolling cart to empty the trailer while the rest of us got busy setting up.
Remember those new containers needed to hold all of the new product? We had no room to store them in the booth, so they had to be returned to the empty trailer for the duration of the event so we could conveniently access our overstock (this year, we had overstock!) during the event.
The trailer was dropped in a parking lot on the fairgrounds for the duration, and we had the Jeep to drive around town without the trailer. Thank goodness. I may get used to driving a trailer someday, but I’ll always remember pulling a hay trailer with a tractor while Dad loaded the hay. I was not good at pulling a trailer then, and I haven’t practiced much since.

Observations

The pitcher may throw you a ball that is just begging to be smacked out of the park … but you still have to hit it. Could we?
Here’s a hard rule: never, never, never talk to a woman about being pregnant until she actually says she’s pregnant.
A lady with a pronounced bump in her middle loved one of my large cutting boards. She couldn’t stop touching it. She was shopping with her Mom, and it became a joke about how she kept touching the board.

That’s when I did it.

I said it was OK: she was touching for 2 now.

She said, “Oh, I’m carrying twins.” My immediate and obvious reply, “Congratulations!”

Her response, “Oh, they’re not mine. I’m just the surrogate.”

OK, you’re so smart, what do you say now?
She bought the board. And I’ll never violate the rule again.
I only had 2 medium surfboards left, and I almost left them at home. I’m going to the desert: no surfers there. I sold both boards on Saturday. Lesson: stop thinking, and bring the product. All of it.
Saturday night, my Facebook news feed had a meme with a picture of Sam Elliott saying that you’re not a man if you can’t back up a trailer. Now, how in the HELL did that arrive in my news feed just after I had driven a trailer over a hundred miles for the first time in years?
And I had backed it up. Just sayin’.
Board sales on day one totaled 31: an all-time record for any event … on day one! I checked my overstock Sunday morning, and with my 3 tables full of 80 boards, I still had an overstock of 31 for the second day. We. Were. Prepared.
# 1 comment at this show: “Oh, these are too pretty to use!” Is that code for too expensive to buy? Perhaps that is sometimes the case, but with sales so good, I’m not going to worry about it.
Remember how I sold the last chess board last week? Yup, I was asked the question. Again.
# 1 request at this show was for cribbage boards. Nope, not going to do it. Still.
Y’know, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked to make a cribbage board, I still could not buy the template and drill bit I need. Just sayin’. And, I don’t wanna. The end.
Saturday was a blur. We were so busy. That’s a fabulous thing, because….

Best. Day. Ever.

I love it when the event organizers buy stuff from us. We generally sell some boards, and especially some lotion products, to the other vendors, but we don’t always sell to the event producers. Cool when it happens!
Sunday was much slower. That was OK … because it was still 40% of the incredible day we had on Saturday.

Best. Event. Ever.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

After the frenetic pace of the day before, I caught myself yawning a couple of times. Then, it happened. In the last hour, I sold a large cutting board … checked the total … and we were ever so close to reaching a very big number. Velda had 2 more lotion sales, and we made it on the final sale.
I talked to several vendors that had their best year at this event, or simply, like us, their best event ever. This is a GREAT event for vendors of their own handmade goods.
Coming back next year? You bet.

The Food

Saturday Breakfast: Just like last year. Free breakfast at the Clarion Inn. 2 eggs, over easy. Yum.

Saturday Lunch: Food vendors were overwhelmed. We had orange chicken over rice … luckily. They had run out of rice, it seems, and a few patrons ahead of Velda in line got their orange chicken served over french fries. Velda got the rice, and that’s about the only good thing I can say about the lunch.

Saturday Snack: Peanut butter toffee from another vendor. Yum.

Saturday Dinner: We went to dinner with our good friends, Barry & Wendy, our vendor neighbors. We tried to find dinner … and our first 3 Italian restaurant choices were all closed (note to self: Ridgecrest doesn’t support Italian restaurants. Apparently.). The 4th restaurant was a Mexican restaurant, and the line was out the door, so we passed. We ended up back at the Clarion Inn’s restaurant for dinner. I had beef medallions … and I should have had the pasta like everyone else. In this not-an-Italian-restaurant restaurant in Ridgecrest. Go figure.

Sunday Breakfast: Free breakfast at the Clarion Inn. Their omelet was a mistake. But it was free.

Sunday Lunch: Tortas. A mess, but good food.

Sunday Snack: nope.

Sunday Dinner: Cashews on the road, and then an egg sandwich when we got home. At 9:30p.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 590 miles
Booth cost: $407
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
Total sales: $4,012
# containers of product taken: All of them
# boards available: 142
Saturday alarm: 6:15a
Sunday alarm: 6:15a
# transactions: 90
# soap & lotion vendors: at least 3
# woodworking vendors: at least 9. There was a scroll saw expert making wonderful nightlights. A spoon maker. A turner that made pens, and another that made bowls. A model maker. Toy maker. Jewelry box maker. Sort of a general woodworker with a few items including hat racks … and a few cutting boards. And me. I don’t count the buy & sell importer with wooden boxes & dust catchers that were NOT handmade. Or, at least not handmade by the vendor, as the rules require.
Edge grain vs. end grain: 38:7

Boards sold: 45

Cheese Boards: 21

Lazy Susans: 7

Cutting Boards: 4

Large Cutting Boards: 2

Small Boards: 2

Large Surfboards: 2

Medium Surfboards: 2

Large Sous Chef Boards: 2

Clipboard: 1

Blocks: 1

Small Sous Chef Board: 1

Surfboard # 15 – 32. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Cherry. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 060. Padauk, Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Cherry. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 048. Cherry, Hard Maple, Jatoba, Honey Locust, Jatoba, Purpleheart, Black Walnut & Yellowheart. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cutting Board # 15 – 054. Hard Maple & Jatoba edge grain with juice groove. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.

Sous Chef # 15 – 50. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Jarrah. 10″ x 22″ x 3/4″.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 047. Black Walnut, Cherry & Honey Locust. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 065. Black Walnut & Teak. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Surfboard # 15 – 40. Black Walnut, Jatoba, Cherry & Hard Maple. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/4″.

Cutting Board # 15 – 051. Black Walnut, Jarrah, Purpleheart and Honey Locust end grain with juice groove. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/2″.

Small Board # 15 – 050. Jatoba, Cherry, Honey Locust, Hard Maple, Black Walnut & Hickory. End Grain. 11″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.

Medium Surfboard 15 – 01. Black Walnut, Hard Maple and Yellowheart.

Cheese Board # 15 – 051. Hard Maple, Purpleheart & Cherry. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 067. Cherry, Hard Maple & Black Walnut. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 063. Padauk, Hard Maple & Black Walnut. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 066. Hard Maple, Jatoba, Black Walnut, Yellowheart & Cherry. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 068. Black Walnut, Yellowheart & Cherry. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cutting Board # 15 – 084. Jatoba, Cherry, Yellowheart, Jatoba, Hard Maple, Bloodwood & Canarywood. 16″ x 20″ x 1-1/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 054. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 029. Black Walnut, Red Oak, Padauk, Hard Maple and Yellowheart. Edge Grain. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Sous Chef # 15 – 43. Hard Maple, Black Walnut & Jatoba. 9″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Cutting Board # 15 – 091. Hard Maple. End Grain. 13″ x 17″ x 1-1/4″.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 041. Black Walnut & Goncalo Alves. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 046. Black Walnut. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 040. Jatoba, Black Walnut, Jarrah & Caribbean Rosewood. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 044. Teak, Yellowheart & Black Walnut. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Hard Maple, Padauk and Yellowheart edge grain small boards. 12″ x 11″ x 1-1/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 064. Purpleheart, Hard Maple, Cherry & Yellowheart. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 043. Purpleheart, Hard Maple & Jatoba. Edge Grain. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 052. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple & Canarywood. 8″ x 10″ x 3/4″.

Small Board # 15 – 051. Black Walnut & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 10″ x 11-1/2″ x 1-1/2″.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 043. Jatoba, Purpleheart & Canarywood. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 042. Cherry, Black Walnut & Caribbean Rosewood. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 055. Black Walnut & Bloodwood. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cutting Board # 15 – 082. Black Walnut. End Grain. 12″ x 15″ x 1-1/8″.

Sous Chef # 15 – 51. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry & Purpleheart. 9″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Cutting Board # 15 – 076. Hard Maple & Jatoba. End Grain, Juice Groove. 16″ x 20″ x 1-1/2″.

Posted December 8, 2015 by henrymowry in Craft Fairs

Tagged with Cheese Board, craft fair, Cutting board, holiday boutique, Los Angeles, Mr M's Woodshop, Ridgecrest, Santa Clarita, vendor

The Board Chronicles: Carpinteria Arts & Crafts Faire 1 comment

The Carpinteria Valley Museum of History hosts a monthly swap meet-type affair on its grounds, and in November it transforms into a holiday boutique featuring handmade goods only.

I did the event solo last year, and did it poorly. We decided that I would only take boards, but it was near the end of my inventory last year … so I didn’t have a good stock.

And then I left one container of boards at home, to boot.

But it was a lovely day in Carpinteria. 70+ degrees, sunny, blue skies … what’s not to like on a Thanksgiving Saturday? Total sales were only $285, though … but I enjoyed the day, and we decided to do the event again. After all, it fit on the calendar.

So we doubled down, and the elder Mrs M joined me to see if we could have a better day with a full effort.

New Ideas

Our standard 10×20 booth, with both of us driving to get the product and booths to Carpinteria.
We did this for a 5 hour event on a holiday weekend.
Mrs M set up her tables with a price list on both … and that worked very well. Having to create 2 separate booth displays for earlier events, and then being able to combine them for the rest of this year’s events, definitely was a good thing in this case.

Observations

We’re crazy.
After enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving with family – even though I’ve been working non-stop in the woodshop – packing the cars for this event Friday evening just seemed crazy. We doubled down on an event that didn’t work well last year, no matter the reason. I was crazy. We were crazy. We had crossed over from sanity to looney land.
But at least it was a beautiful ride. We hit PCH (that’s Pacific Coast Highway for you non-SoCal folks) just as the sun crested the mountains, so we watched the sun rise and kiss the Pacific ocean for a glorious day. Blue skies. Blue water. Some people have to pay lots of money to get to see that sight.
My second customer of the day told me that my work had been highly recommended to her while she was buying a taquito snack. Apparently, I’ve made an impact on taquito eaters, so I’ve got that.
This show is probably the best I’ve seen at selecting vendors that are only offering handmade goods. If any were offering “buy & sell” goods, I didn’t see them. This is truly a handmade show.
While talking to my cutting board maker competitor (who’s a really nice guy that calls me “brother”), I explained that I have one chess board on display, and then I said it out loud: I hope I never sell it. That way, I’ll continue to have an answer to what was my # 1 request (“Do you make chess boards?”) without having to make another. This single board, the final remnant of my June production of 5 boards, has been on display since the July 4 event.
I sold it an hour later.
Lots of dog walkers at this community event. At one point, we had a convention of 4 Yorkies sharing fashion tips in front of our booth. Well, I assume they were sharing fashion tips, as they were all wearing sweaters that each closely examined. That’s how it looked to me, anyway.
Joke of the Day:

A senior citizen walked into the booth, and eventually declared that he was an 80-year old cabinet maker that had built over 100 houses in Carpinteria. He said he had a complete shop, but he just didn’t go into it much anymore. He asked what glue I used, and when I said “Titebond III” he said he’s never heard of it. He came back a minute later, and asked me to write it down for him so he could investigate. I’d taught him something, he said, and he wanted to look it up.

OK.

Then he stepped in close to me, and in sotto voice, said, “Don’t get mad at me. I don’t know what side you’re on. Don’t get mad at me.” “OK,” I said. (Where in the world is this going to lead???)

“A man walked into the White House, walked up to the guard, and asked to speak to President Obama. The guard replied, ‘Sir, it’s 2017. President Obama is not the President anymore.’ The man left.

“The next day, the man returned and walked up to the same guard. He asked to speak to President Obama. The guard replied, ‘Sir, as I told you yesterday, it’s 2017. President Obama is not here. He’s not President anymore.’ The man left.

“The third day, the man again returned and walked up to the same guard. He asked to speak to President Obama. The guard replied, ‘Sir, it’s 2017. As I’ve told you for the last 2 days, President Obama is not here. Why do you keep asking me that question?’

The confident reply: “Because it sounds so damn good to hear you say it.”

With that, my retired cabinet maker turned on his heel and left the booth to the sound of my laughter. To quote Larry the Cable Guy, “I don’t care who you are, that’s funny.”

The drive home was as the sun set over the Pacific. Some were fishing in the surf; some were camping. Every sunset is precious. Some people pay good money to see sunsets like this.
Did we make our goal? Absolutely.
Same booth next year? Absolutely.

The Food

Saturday Breakfast: Jack In The Box # 28

Saturday Lunch: Taquitos, sold by the Museum. They bought frozen and served them for $1 each with salsa & guacamole. Same lunch I had last year, and they were the only thing I saw not handmade at this event.

Saturday Snack: nope. Velda wanted to go to the bake sale … but didn’t.

Saturday Dinner: Thanksgiving leftovers, of course.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 262
Booth cost: $150
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
Total sales: $1,093
# containers of product taken: 17
# boards available: 77
Saturday alarm: 5:01 am
# transactions: 43
# soap & lotion vendors: 5. We had 3 soapers, one lotion vendor right across from us, and someone else selling oils. Lots of activity in the skin & body products area at this handmade event.
# woodworking vendors: 7. WOW. We had another cutting board maker (incredibly, 1 of only 2 true direct competitors I’ve met in Southern California), a trio of turners, a wooden jewelry maker, a rustic furniture maker and me. That’s an unprecedented collection of craftsmen in my experience at pop-up events.
Edge grain vs. end grain: 7:1

Boards sold: 8

Large Sous Chef Board: 3

Cutting Board: 1

Small Board: 1

Cheese Board: 1

Medium Surfboard: 1

Chess Board: 1

Cutting Board 15 – 046. Hard Maple. Juice Groove. End grain. 12″ x 15″ x 1-1/4″.

Sous Chgef # 15 – 45. Jatoba, Hard Maple & Black Walnut. 10″ x 22″ x 3/4″.

Sous Chef # 15 – 47. Purpleheart, Cherry & Jarrah. 10″ x 22″ x 3/4″.

Sous Chef # 15 – 50. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Jarrah. 10″ x 22″ x 3/4″.

Cutting Board # 15 – 058. Black Walnut, Cherry & Hard Maple edge grain. 14″ x 11″ x 1-1/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 043. Purpleheart, Hard Maple & Jatoba. Edge Grain. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Medium Surfboard 15 – 03. Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart.

Posted November 29, 2015 by henrymowry in Craft Fairs

Tagged with Carpinteria, Cheese Board, craft fair, Cutting board, holiday boutique, Los Angeles, Mr M's Woodshop, Santa Clarita, vendor

The Board Chronicles: Congregation Beth Shalom Holiday Boutique 2 comments

Congregation Beth Shalom recently expanded their Temple, and their semi-annual holiday boutique was this last weekend in their main building. About 20 vendors were there, greeting parents that came to the Temple to pick up their children after they finished Sunday school.

This was our third event of the weekend, and we needed somewhere north of $500 to make the weekend goal of $2,000 in revenue from the three events. Any chance?

New Ideas

This is a kosher temple, and no food or drink is allowed to be brought in. I went 4 hours without a Diet Coke in my hand!

Observations

I was chatting with a customer about the series of wine-inspired scents that Mrs M’s offers. There are Chardonnay, Moscato & Riesling scents, for example. I explained my trepidation about the scents when I first heard of these … I mean, who wants to smell like wine? The customer’s prompt reply: “Mothers!”
Last year, there was another woodworker at this event selling cutting boards somewhat similar to mine, as well as engraved boards. One lady asked where the Challah boards were, like those offered last year, and she was embarrassed that I was not the same guy. No worries … but maybe I need engraved Challah boards so I can keep up.
I need a Hebrew consultant. And a font, probably.
After describing a gift recipient to me, I showed an appropriate board. Seeing the price, the customer stated, “He’s not that nice.” Perhaps my prices are too high … or relatives aren’t nice enough. You choose.
This was a short, 4 hour event, and it was S L O W until families (mainly Moms) arrived to pick up their kids from Sunday School. However, the Moms were buyers and we made our goal for the event and the weekend.

The Food

Sunday Breakfast: McDonald’s # 4. Maybe I have a problem.

Sunday Lunch: made it home for a sandwich

Sunday Snack: nope. I was in the ~~garage~~ woodshop making sawdust. No time to eat.

Sunday Dinner: Leftovers. And bourbon. The weekend was over.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 12
Booth cost: $120
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
Total sales: $552
# containers of product taken: 17
# boards available: 62
Sunday alarm: I woke up first
# transactions: 14
# soap & lotion vendors: One buy & sell lotion vendor
# woodworking vendors: just me
Edge grain vs. end grain: 6:0

Boards sold: 6

Sous Chef # 15 – 52. Hard Maple & Cherry. 9″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 045. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry & Yellowheart. Edge Grain. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 035. Black Walnut. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Bear # 15 – 01. Black Walnut. 12″ x 19″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 050. Yellowheart, Padauk, Hard Maple, Black Walnut & Jatoba. 9″ x 11″ x 7/8″.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 037. Black Walnut & Padauk. 17″ diameter x 3/4″. Please note that the Padauk will transition from this bright orange to a more warm brown color with UV exposure.

Posted November 24, 2015 by henrymowry in Craft Fairs

Tagged with Beth Shalom, Cheese Board, craft fair, Cutting board, holiday boutique, Los Angeles, Mr M's Woodshop, Santa Clarita, vendor

The Board Chronicles: Summit Holiday Boutique 3 comments

The Summit is a development in Valencia with many gated neighborhoods; a friend produces a pair of holiday boutiques in the Summit’s clubhouse as a fundraiser for her designated charity, Bridge to Home. That charity funds efforts to help the homeless in Santa Clarita.

This event raised several hundred dollars for that charity. That’s worth something.

The event repeats in a month on December 19, with Santa Claus in attendance. Looking forward to it!

New Ideas

After so long doing outdoor events where you drive to your booth, it’s a real switch to prepare for indoor events with a folding wagon to haul product over sidewalks.
Splitting inventory to cover multiple events on the same day is a challenge. If you don’t actually count everything … you don’t know what you’ve got. That always leads to containers of products you don’t need, and containers of product at another event that you wish you had.

Observations

This event felt a bit like a home boutique: it appealed to a specific set of friends, and drew many people from the neighborhood.
There were about 20 vendors; a mix of handmade and buy & sell.
I did hear from one vendor that sales were down significantly from their appearance at last year’s event … it’s always a crap shoot, as one wise friend of mine likes to say.
More and more events, it seems, expect a raffle item contribution for them to extend their fundraising to selling raffle tickets. I need to start adding that expense to the actual cost of the events.
This is the 3rd event that we’ve been next to the door, and had less than spectacular results. This was a small event, but boards were next to the door, and I only sold one item from Mr M’s inventory. Superstitious? Getting there.
In the end, the event achieved my goals for the event. Expectations were met, and funds were raised for a deserving charity. Win, win.

The Food

Saturday Breakfast: McDonald’s # 4. It’s a habit.

Saturday Lunch: A peanut butter sandwich. High living, this vendor thing.

Saturday Snack: hahahahahahaha

Saturday Dinner: Linguini at Marston’s. It’s a habit.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 10
Booth cost: $80
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
Total sales: $543
# containers of product taken: 13
# boards available: 45
Saturday alarm: I woke up first
# transactions: 19
# soap & lotion vendors: one soap vendor
# woodworking vendors: just me
Edge grain vs. end grain: 1:0

Boards sold: 1

Here are the first few sets, bagged up!

Posted November 23, 2015 by henrymowry in Craft Fairs

Tagged with Cheese Board, craft fair, Cutting board, holiday boutique, Los Angeles, Mr M's Woodshop, Santa Clarita, vendor

The Board Chronicles: Valencia High Choir Holiday Boutique 3 comments

The Valencia High School Choir has sponsored a Holiday Boutique for 10 years. Their teacher, Mrs Tavares-Mocha, likes to have the boutique start on Friday so the students can see the merchandise during the schoolday on Friday and bring their parents back to the boutique on Saturday.

Works for me. Had a nice event in 2014 with sales of $812. We hoped to do better in 2015; additional marketing was secured to promote the event to the Valencia High community.

New Ideas

Students help vendors carry merchandise from the parking lot to the MPR. Loved seeing those young men and women struggle with the board containers. And no matter how much they struggled, I believe it was preferable to selling candy bars to raise money for the choir.
I set up and ran the event on Friday during my staycation, while the elder Mrs M ran the event on Saturday while I was at another event.
The merchandise and table we brought arrived in the Jeep and left in the Honda. Successfully, I might add.

Observations

I am still not used to the clothing worn by high school students. My guess is in 10 years I’ll simply stand in the front yard and yell at all passersby, “Get off my lawn.”
There was a domestic disturbance from a vendor one day. Loud enough to turn heads. Note Mrs M and I never were there together, so it wasn’t us.
Valencia High is the destination for many special needs kids in the school district who attend their classes on campus. That kind of exposure is good for everyone, I believe.
Vendor spaces were sold out with 26. Hope that doesn’t mean prices are going up….
Another child wanted to buy a single block at this event. However, when the child learned that S stood for Snake and not their name, they lost interest.
No students were caroling this year, which was a change from last year. That would have been a nice touch.
The Christmas sound track that was offered was nice when it was playing, but it seemed as if it went silent if left unattended.
Our booth neighbor kept telling Mrs M what a gem I am. Perhaps someday she’ll believe what she’s told.
A food option would have been a nice option as well. Note: no one starved.
Mrs Tavares-Mocha needs help; she coordinates this boutique herself. Where are the choir booster parents?
In addition to the sales recorded on Friday and Saturday, there were 3 quality conversations about buying boards (multiple boards in a couple of cases) that would substantially increase the value of this boutique to us. Happy to be a part of it!
Sales were up; the marketing worked. Or, uh, maybe our products are better.

The Food

Friday Breakfast: McDonald’s # 4. It’s a habit.

Friday Lunch: Made it home for a sandwich.

Saturday Breakfast: 5 raw almonds & a glass of milk (guess who ate this breakfast!)

Saturday Lunch: Chunky Skippy with Welch’s grape jelly on whole wheat

Saturday Snack: A cube of pumpkin bread and 2 crackers with homemade jelly from another vendor. Purchase activity ensued.

Saturday Dinner: Pistachio-crusted salmon with vegetables, and half of a Caesar salad, from Marston’s

(ed. note: Does anyone else notice how many nuts the elder Mrs M is eating? I mean, I knew she was nutty, but geez….)

The Facts

Total miles driven: 10
Booth cost: $180
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
Total sales: $923
# containers of product taken: 21
# boards available: 62
Friday alarm: 5:45a
Saturday alarm: up before the alarm
# transactions: 38
# soap & lotion vendors: one other lotion vendor with body butter & sugar scrubs
# woodworking vendors: just me
Edge grain vs. end grain: 5:0

Boards sold: 5

37 Building Blocks. Hard Maple. 1-3/4″ x 1-3/4″ x 1-3/4″.

Bread Board 09. Hard Maple & Canarywood. 6″ x 15″ x 3/4″.

Sous Chef # 15 – 41. Hard Maple, Bloodwood & Honey Locust. 9″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Medium Surfboard 15 – 05. Hard Maple, Cherry & Black Walnut.

Cheese Board # 15 – 045. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry & Yellowheart. Edge Grain. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Posted November 22, 2015 by henrymowry in Craft Fairs

Tagged with Cheese Board, craft fair, Cutting board, holiday boutique, Los Angeles, Mr M's Woodshop, San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Valencia, vendor

The Board Chronicles: Fine Craft Show 4 comments

The city of Santa Clarita hosts one show each year dedicated to handmade goods. The Fine Craft Show is in Old Orchard Park; the vendors’ shade structures are set up under the trees in a grassy area. Very nice location.

I love local, as you may know. This was our third best event last year, with sales of $1,137.

We were so young then. In the last 12 months, we’ve had 14 events with better sales than this event last year.

This was also the site of the iconic moment of me being overwhelmed at an event. Last year, I was working the event solo (mistake # 1), and had the walls down to help shield the booth from a windy day (mistake # 2, it seems). Add to that the fact that I was doing Christmas gift bags for lotion purchases in quantity with a booth full of folks … and all at once, I had the wall of my shade structure start to flap and blow away while people were 3 deep waiting on me to take their money.

That had to wait a minute while other customers joined me as Windblown Wall Wranglers. We saved the wall, and customers were (fortunately) very understanding of my gift wrapping speed, or, rather, the lack of it.

On to a (hopefully) much better 2015!

The logistics of this weekend were daunting, with the elder Mrs M covering two smaller events, while Little Girl & I covered the Fine Craft Show. Happily, it all worked out … with emphasis on the “worked” part.

New Ideas

With great pleasure, we welcomed the Intern, AKA Claire Bear, to the Mrs M’s family. I don’t know how she got whitewashed into helping us this weekend … I would have thought a UCLA scholar would have been familiar with the plot of Tom Sawyer.
Last year, we had a single 10×10 booth, and this year we moved up to a 10×20, of course. There was only one other 10×20 here … also for a woodworker. Who knew?

Observations

The Intern enjoying our Bear. Of course! Go Bruins!

I left home on Saturday without my cellphone (which I did retrieve), without my key to the cash drawer (oops), and without my stylus for people to sign for transactions on my smartphone (double oops). An inauspicious beginning for this important event, to be sure.
Whenever a show promotes itself as “handmade goods only,” then I get perturbed when the promoters don’t enforce that simple rule. Most of the vendors were fine, but a couple were clearly just reselling imported merchandise, and they were not asked to leave. I very much regret they were allowed to stay.
The Intern needs a name tag. But should it say “The Intern” or “Claire Bear?” Claire Bear is the preference of Granddaughter # 1, so I have to give that all due consideration. Decisions, decisions.
The Intern is a Freshman at UCLA, and her first blog post was just published by The Daily Bruin. I highly recommend you check out her article, here.
Love having customers pulling last year’s product out of their purse to show us as they replenish with more from Mrs M.
I have fans! Two guys sought me out in the booth to tell me that they loved reading The Board Chronicles. Who knew? It came to light that they were both woodturners, and since it’s known that all turners are crazy, I began to understand.
Why are they crazy? Turners take a perfectly good piece of wood, put it on a machine to rotate at a very high rate of speed, and then they stick sharp tools into it to see what flies off. Crazy, every one, and the good Dr H is at the top of the list.
We were busy all day on Saturday. Steadily. Busy. It was a lovely day, and people came out to buy both lotions and boards. The result: sales of $1,587. Better than last year’s entire event, and

Best. Day. Ever.

We almost ran out of $1 bills on Saturday – the only time that has EVER happened. We only had 5 singles left at the end of the day. At dinner that night, I asked our waiter for help, explaining that we were vending at a nearby event and needed singles. I bought all of the singles the wait staff would sell me, and ended up with $40 in ones to replenish the till.
We rely on the kindness of strangers.
Don’t mistake the reference as support for Tennessee Williams, as we continue today’s literary theme. I don’t care for his work, even if he was a Missouri Tiger in the ’30s.
Tom Sawyer was from Missouri. Tennesse Williams was from Missouri. The Intern is from Missouri. I’m from Missouri. M I Z
Sunday had poor weather forecast, and we did have sprinkles for about an hour in the early afternoon. A freak wind gust blew through and knocked over the display in the booth of a wonderful ceramicist. I understand all of her product on the display was lost, unfortunately. That was a significant weather impact.
The rain was not that big of a deal, however. Customers continued to wander through … but vendors, fearing they would melt, scurried away. At least 50% of the vendors were gone before 1pm.
Our best hour was after 2pm.
Good thing we stayed open. One of our final customers drove out to see us from West LA, after first meeting me at the Simi Valley Street Fair in May. She needed more product from Mrs M. And a cutting board. So she drove out just to visit our booth, and was most appreciative that we were still there.
In the end, this event had great sales for us. When you combine it with the 2 smaller events hosted by the elder Mrs M this weekend, the total sales resulted in the …

Best. Weekend. Ever.

The Food

Saturday Breakfast: Bagels & cream cheese

Saturday Lunch: Jersey Mike’s Italian sub, Mike’s way.

Saturday Snack: I saved the chips from lunch … and had no time.

Saturday Dinner: Linguini with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms at Marston’s. And it was as good as it sounds.

Sunday Breakfast: Bagels & cream cheese

Sunday Lunch: Chili cheese dog from the food truck. After a long, long absence, this is my second chili cheese dog in a week. Welcome back, old friend.

Sunday Snack: Chips & Dip (courtesy of Souper Dip!) when we got home

Sunday Dinner: Leftover chicken pot pie soup (courtesy of Souper Dip!). And bourbon. Don’t judge me.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 90 (There was set-up with the forgotten toolbag. Then there was Saturday morning, with the forgotten cellphone. With the intern, 3 people worked the event, and the miles add up … even when the event is in our hometown. Local, indeed.)
Booth cost: $300
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
Total sales: $2,353 (more than double 2014!)
# containers of product taken: 19
# boards available: 86
Saturday alarm: 6:30a
Sunday alarm: none
# transactions: 62
# soap & lotion vendors: 3 others, though one didn’t return on Sunday. All left early, except us
# woodworking vendors: 3 others (!), including an intarsia artist, a scroll saw expert and a company that does giant-sized Lincoln Log-styled building pieces made with a CNC router out of Baltic birch.
Edge grain vs. end grain: 20:4

Boards sold: 24

Cheese Boards: 10

Lazy Susans: 4

Cutting Boards: 2

Large Cutting Boards: 2

Small Boards: 2

Bottle Openers: 2

Sous Chef Board: 2

Lazy Susan # 15 – 030. Birdseye Maple (a uniquely figured Hard Maple) and Teak. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Sous Chef # 15 – 53. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Jatoba. 9″ x 16″ x 3/4″. Sold in its first showing.

Lazy Susan # 15 – 028. Cherry and Hard Maple. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 044. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart. Edge Grain. 10″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cheese Board 15 – 020. Hard Maple, Padauk, Walnut and Yellowheart edge grain. 10″ x 12″ x 1″.

Cheese Board # 15 – 035. Black Walnut, Yellowheart, Bloodwood, Padauk, Hard Maple, Purpleheart, Canarywood & Honey Locust. Edge grain. 9-1/2″ x 9-1/2″ x 3/4″.