Archive for the ‘San Fernando’ Tag
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.
This event organizer found us at the Taste of Encino, and it fit into our calendar … this annual holiday boutique is staged at the Temple Ahavat Shalom as a fundraiser by the TAS Sisterhood. If fit into the calendar neatly, so I committed … and then I learned what the event cost. Ooops. My fault.
Tables were $50 for the first one, and $45 for the second one. So, $95 for our 2 tables.
And then there was a central cashier: we’re not allowed to accept any payments. They do that for us. And they take 20%.
Oh, and we are to give a $25 raffle prize as well. So the cost of this event is $95 + 20% of sales + a raffle prize.
My fault. I would have never done this event if I had understood that originally.
But it did fit into our calendar.
Would we make our goal of $1,000 in sales this weekend? Given the paucity of success on Saturday, we had a steep hill to climb on Sunday: we need $651 to make our goal of $1,000.
New Ideas
- Our location was way less than ideal. We got two 6′ tables, and I got a chair on one end in the traffic pattern of the hallway. I was bumping legs with everybody when I was sitting. When I was standing, people were taking my chair. Like the kid with the bloody nose. Like the senior citizen looking for a break. I was the only vendor with a setup like this; it was a bad thing.
- Used our folding wagon to load into the temple. Worked like a charm. Perhaps I should reconsider my desire for a better rolling cart.
- Since there was a central cashier, I added tax to most transactions – an effective price increase of 9%. I didn’t do that on my two biggest transactions, though, as I couldn’t do the tax calculation in my head fast enough to satisfy myself.
Observations
- The organizer told me three times how I had a good location, because my hallway location was on the way to the cashier. “Everyone has to walk by your booth.” That was true. And then they sat in my chair.
- Overheard: “You’re shvitzing like I am.”
- Loved the 30 something lady that bought 3x cheese boards for herself and 2 friends. Clearly, I need more boards at $35. That price works.
- On the other hand, the 50 something lady that bought the BDB as a gift to herself worked even better, with revenue of $225 for that large cutting board.
- Not one customer objected to being charged sales tax. Hmmmm.
- Very nice community event. This Temple is 24 miles from our house, and all of the buyers were members of the Temple. I love local events.
- I hate central cashier events. I’m set up to take cash, so why wouldn’t I? As far as I’m concerned, central cashier events mean that the organizers both a) don’t have the confidence to charge appropriately for their space and b) don’t trust me to pay them the right percentage. Since they don’t trust me, I don’t believe I should trust them either. Therefore, I hate central cashier events. Like this one.
- We did make our goal for the weekend, by the skin of our teeth. This event was *very* expensive, however, with an actual cost of $262 for 2x 6′ tables. Given total sales (including sales tax), our revenues were just above 3x our booth cost. That’s a minimal standard of success according to some crafters. Minimal. Given that, there’s probably no reason to come back to this event next year. But we did make our goal!
- Final note: these numbers assume that the central cashier will pay us the same revenues that I’m showing on the collected receipts for the event. The promise from the TAS Sisterhood is that I’ll have a check within 30 days. That’s another reason I don’t like central cashier events: they keep your money, and what they pay you is a mystery until they actually pay you.
The Food
Sunday Breakfast: “Free” bagel & coffee from the TAS men. But I hate coffee. And with the cost of the booth, there was nothing free here, believe me.
Sunday Lunch: Booth service was offered by some teenage girls. I got a 4″ submarine sandwich, turkey with my selected toppings, with a cookie and a soda for $4. Nice price, but not enough food for this vendor.
Sunday Snack: nope
Sunday Dinner: We went out to our new favorite local Mexican restaurant: Weliks. I had a chicken burrito, but it wasn’t as good as the Chicken Mole I had last time. Nice crepes, though.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 48
- Booth cost: $95 + 20% of $837 = $262
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
- Total sales: $877.68 (which includes the collected sales tax)
- # containers of product taken: 16
- # boards available: 62
- Sunday alarm: 6a
- # transactions: 11
- # soap & lotion vendors: just us
- # woodworking vendors: one other, a turner
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 6:3
Boards sold: 9
Small boards: 4
Cheese boards: 2
Large cutting board: 1
Large surfboard: 1
Custom order: 1
Small Board # 15 – 012. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Cherry end grain. 10″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Large Surfboard # 15 – 22. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry & Red Oak.
Cutting Board 15 – 072. Cherry, Black Walnut, Yellowheart, Hard Maple, Padauk & Purpleheart. Edge Grain, Juice Groove. 15″ x 18″ x 1-1/2″.
Small Board # 15 – 051. Black Walnut & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 10″ x 11-1/2″ x 1-1/2″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 011. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple, Padauk and Yellowheart. 8″ x 9″ x 1″.
Small Board # 15 – 054. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 7″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 030. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cutting Board # 15 – 056. Cherry, Jatoba, Purplehear and Hard Maple end grain. 14″ x 12″ x 1-1/2″.
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.
One way you find new events is to meet their event coordinators at your current events. At the Agua Dulce Country Fair, we met the coordinator for a self-described Holiday Boutique at nearby Vasquez High School in Acton. The event was to run 2 – 8pm last Saturday, so it allowed me to to help set up the Saturday morning event for the elder Mrs M before I went to Acton to run this event.
Very bright & bubbly event coordinator greeted me, and she pointed me to the booth space. Now we just had to find out … would we meet our modest goal of $350 in sales?
New Ideas
- We’ve been here before. Well, not really. Never been to the Home of the Mustangs before. But then, neither have they. The event was in the courtyard of the new gym, which is currently under construction and will be the site of the event next year. Allegedly.
- Single booth set-up with lights. This is exactly like the set-up we did for the Farmer’s Markets last March. Not a new idea, but we haven’t done it in a while. What’s new? After too many large one day events, we’re not traveling so heavy. I loved this cut down set-up for a 6 hour event.
Observations
- Actual thoughts:
- Common Wisdom, “Don’t do first-time events.”
- I thought, “But it fits on our calendar so well!”
- When we set up, other vendors envy our DIY weights. We get weight envy.
- Weights are essential in Acton, where wind. Blows. We had 20 MPH gusts throughout set-up. When the event organizers are making the rounds with free sandbags, you know they’re concerned – and prepared!
- Overheard:
- She said: “Juniors & Freshman are like a thing this year, huh?”
- He said: “Yeah, it sure seems like it.”
- When it gets dark, other vendors envy our spectacular lights. We get light envy.
- This wasn’t a vendor event, really. It was a high school Halloween carnival/fund raiser. Booths run by cheerleaders, sports teams & other groups of students trying to raise funds to pay for their program. Did we make our goal? No way.
- During the load out, I broke our folding 2-wheel cart. Ooops. I guess it wasn’t made to transport 100 pounds of DIY weights. We don’t get cart envy, that’s for sure.
- If you’ll forgive the sports analogy, this event was strike 2. We’re nowhere near our goal of $1,000 in sales this weekend. Will our Sunday event get it done? Tune in tomorrow!
The Food
Saturday Lunch: a protein bar I got from Mrs M … and a bag of Chex mix. High living.
Saturday Snack: nope
Saturday Dinner: Izzy’s Tacos was there, just as they were at the Agua Dulce Country Fair. One taco & and half of a Chicken Quesadilla on a homemade tortilla. Again, high living. But tasty.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 86
- Booth cost: 10% of sales
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
- Total sales: $183
- # containers of product taken: 11
- # boards available: 52
- Saturday alarm: 6a
- # transactions: 9
- # soap & lotion vendors: just us
- # woodworking vendors: just us
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 2:0
Boards sold: 2
Cutting Board: 1
Cheese Board: 1
Cutting Board 15 – 034. Hard Maple, edge grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1″.
Small Board # 15 – 045. Black Walnut & Hard Maple. 11-1/2″ x 12″ x 1-1/2″.
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 women’s group associated with the Elks Club is called Emblem, and Emblem/Elks Club of Canyon Country hosts a holiday boutique in their lodge. I did this event last year, and it was one of our first small, table-top events. I was home before 4pm, and thought I’d found a great idea. Of course we planned on returning when it fit into our calendar perfectly.
Speaking of the calendar, we have 3 events scheduled for this weekend. I was to help Mrs M set up this event, and then she would run it while I went to event # 2 on Saturday. Sunday, we had our third event. Our goal was to have sales over $1,000 between the 3 events.
The Emblem Charity Holiday Boutique is a low impact, low expectations event. Last year we had sales of $360, and it was great doing a local event that I could do and still be home by 4pm.
This year, we’ll be returning to the Elks Lodge for the third time. We did the Holiday Boutique in 2014, of course, and we also did their Car Show in June of this year. Sales there were $501, so I was confident we could surpass our goal of $350 at this event.
New Ideas
- Last year, we did boards only at this event. We added a 2nd table for Mrs M’s lotions this year.
- Last year, Mrs M stayed home and I did this event solo. This year, I helped her set up and then left for my event.
- Mrs M stacked the boards on the table for the boards, and thought that led to more customer involvement with the boards as the customers played Jenga with them.
- Vendors got free coffee, much to Mrs M’s delight. Good thing she did this event: I would not have cared.
Observations
- One customer told Mrs M that I was not getting enough credit, since every board tag shows the company name first: Mrs M’s Handmade. Mr M’s Woodshop is also identified on the tag, but that gets 2nd billing. This customer thought Mrs M was taking advantage.
- Hmmmmmmm.
- For the record, he didn’t feel he should show support by buying something.
- Since the summer season of outdoor events is over, we now get to do indoor events … with indoor plumbing. Life is good.
- We were set up right by the main door, with the boards on the path from the main door, and the lotions perpendicular to that, on the path to the bar. (The tables were in an “L” shape.) Mrs M observes that most women were there to shop, and didn’t walk by her table. Most men were there to drink, and they didn’t buy lotion on the way to the bar.
- Most of our sales were to the volunteers running the event. With total sales less than half of last year … we were disappointed. We certainly did not make our goal here.
The Food
Saturday Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs & part of a cinnamon roll
Saturday Lunch: from the snack bar – chicken salad on a croissant
Saturday Snack: $2 cookie from a vendor
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 24
- Booth cost: $70
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
- Total sales: $166
- # containers of product taken: 9
- # boards available: 39
- Saturday alarm: 6a
- # transactions: 8
- # soap & lotion vendors: just us
- # woodworking vendors: just us
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 1:1
Boards sold: 2
Small board: 1
Cheese board: 1
Small Board # 15 – 041. Black Walnut, Cherry, Purpleheart & Hard Maple end grain. 7″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 029. Black Walnut, Red Oak, Padauk, Hard Maple and Yellowheart. Edge Grain. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
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.
This annual event is one of the largest fall festivals in the LA area. It’s a fundraiser for the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club, who have turned this monster of an event into a well-oiled machine.
370 vendors for a one day event. It’s no wonder that the Rotary actually enforce their rules about how and when you set up and tear down. However, they also supply volunteer labor to help you get everything done quickly. Importantly, the help is actually helpful. This is a well-run event.
Last year, we had lackluster results. Our products felt crowded in our single booth; our neighbors put up walls on their booths (as is their right), so there was limited visibility of our products for the thronging masses. I wasn’t happy with our booth location, nor our crowded presentation. Sales were $675. I thought we could do better.
Also, the elder Mrs M had to work last year (you know, at her “job”), but she still showed up late in the day to supervise what was only our 10th event ever. The result was that all three of us drove separately to be at an event 52 miles from home … and this was when gas was at about its highest price. Profits were rare that day, to say the least.
Coincidentally, Mrs M again had to work at her “job” this weekend, so I again had the pleasure of the company of the pregnancy-impaired younger Mrs M. And that was a wonderful thing … but could we sell more stuff?
New Ideas
- A double booth, with a “corner” (which they define as an open second side). We moved from the D section (sort of center) up to booths B 13 & 14. I hoped that would be a better location; it’s nearer to an end, and since many people want to come back to get their heavy boards, I hoped that would be more convenient.
Observations
- Being rushed to set up + it’s still dark + black cash box + black truck interior = having to walk back to the truck to get the cash box when you realize it’s not there to be set up. It’s more work when you start before the sun rises, clearly.
- 50 miles from home isn’t necessarily local in LA. We were often asked “are you local?” and my answer was yes, and told them where we are from. Santa Clarita wasn’t always local enough; I definitely felt some push back from a couple of customers that advocated for closer-to-home vendors.
- Great weather … cloudy most of the day. So cloudy, I had trouble finding sunshine sometimes to show how the bloodwood and yellowheart can fluoresce. Oh, the challenges we must overcome.
- Uncle Chris’ Italian Ice was directly across from us, and they often had a kid in front of their booth offering free samples. In the afternoon, they often had two samplers working the crowd. That frustrated me: stay in your booth. Like I do.
- Met a direct competitor at this event! Woodworkers are a relatively rare breed, and I’ve only met one other serious cutting board maker in the 20 months we’ve been doing these events. This guy makes some very similar pieces to mine (and some not so similar) … and uses a totally different finish to get very different results. He’s a professional finish carpenter – that has chosen to not make end grain boards because they aren’t attractive enough. Au contraire, mon ami!
- Met a student that’s taking her first woodshop class in junior high, and was excited to see my booth. Loved talking to her! Her family even brought her back to the booth so she could ask me a question (!) about “cannery wood.” It took me a moment to understand she meant canarywood, and I proceeded to talk to her about that exotic that I seldom get to use. Thanks to the online expertise of Mrs M, I even got to show the young woodworker how beautiful canarywood can be.
- We were actually overwhelmed a couple of times with customers stacked up. Mrs M was wrapping board sales (6 boards sold to 4 people at almost exactly the same time) during one rush, and I’m pretty sure I missed helping her with lotion sales at that point of the chaos. A year ago, the three of us were working a single booth (and we barely fit!). Now, we only take two to an event, and it’s the right solution about 99% of the time. We do occasionally get overwhelmed by a rush of customers; at that time we can only ask for patience, which sometimes is in short supply.
- It’s a relief to be past the last 2 weekends, which both featured two different one day events. Since I have the pleasure of doing the heavy lifting, that’s a real challenge. Maybe I should stop playing with my hobby and start working weekends at my “job” like the elder Mrs M. As we all know, work is easy. Having fun is hard.
The Food
Sunday Breakfast: Bagels & cream cheese
Sunday Lunch: Jack in the Box # 9. While I was wrapping a board, the wind blew over my crispy curly fries, though, so they were a loss. The dog visiting the booth a few minutes later did enjoy the crumbs, though.
Sunday Snack: Blue Raspberry Italian Ice, but it was not nearly as good as yesterday’s.
Sunday Dinner: Leftover meatloaf. And bourbon.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 108 miles
- Booth cost: $370
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 0 (though I did have some nice conversations with a couple of the Rotary volunteers)
- Total sales: $1,072
- # containers of product taken: 24
- # boards available: 110
- Sunday alarm: 4:40am
- # transactions: 24
- # soap & lotion vendors: no clue … at least one other
- # woodworking vendors: no clue … at least three others
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 13:1
Boards sold: 14
Cheese Boards: 6
Small Boards: 2
Cutting Board: 1
Large Cutting Board: 1
Lazy Susan: 1
Large Surfboard: 1
Large Sous Chef Board: 1
Small Sous Chef Board: 1
Small Board # 15 – 039. Hard Maple, Cherry & Yellowheart. 10″ x 14″ x 1-1/4″.
Lazy Susan # 15 – 017. Red Oak, Walnut, Hard Maple & Cherry. 21″ diameter x 3/4″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 027. Black Walnut, Canarywood and Purpleheart. Edge Grain. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 031. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Bloodwood, Red Oak, Yellowheart, Cherry, Purpleheart & Padauk. Edge grain. 9″ x 10″ x 3/4″.
Large Surfboard # 15 – 23. Hard Maple.
Cutting Board # 15 – 065. Hard Maple, Cherry & Black Walnut. End Grain. 16″ x 21″ x 1-1/2″.
Sous Chef # 15 – 30. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Purpleheart.
Cheese Board # 15 – 005. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple & Jarrah. 7″ x 10″ x 1″.
Cheese Board # 14 – 040. Hard Maple, Cherry, Black Walnut & Padauk. Edge grain chaos board. 11″ x 8-1/2″ x 3/4″.
Sous Chef # 15 – 37. Black Walnut, African Teak and Birdseye Maple. This board has a wider work surface … I got carried away and couldn’t bear to cut anything off.
Small Board # 15 – 044. Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart. Edge Grain. 7-3/4″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board # 15 – 069. Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart. Edge grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
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″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 037. Black Walnut, Cherry, Yellowheart & Hard Maple. Edge grain. 10-3/4″ x 9-3/4″ x 3/4″.
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.
This event is an annual fundraiser sponsored by the LA Sheriff’s Department to benefit the Special Olympics. Various departments (teams? groups? commands? no clue.) make their best chili and compete against each other for awards in categories such as “best spirit,” “people’s choice,” and “best team.”
The public buys tickets for $10 each, and get a taste of 30+ chilis made by the various departments for their consideration.
This event is local, supports a good cause, and is a place that cooks congregate … and cooks use cutting boards. We’re in.
We did this event last year, in the heat, and had frustrating sales of $380 in our single booth. This year, we’re in a double booth, and …
New Ideas
- Much better location this year: we’re on flat ground. Last year, we had to scavenge landscaping rocks to level out our tables.
- The weather was good this year: the high was 84*, I believe. The threats of rain didn’t happen (welcome to Southern California). The crowd was definitely bigger this year. More classic cars showed up. It was a bigger event, from every perspective.
- Lots of new products available this year, from goat milk lotion to beard oil, from lazy Susans to pig cutting boards.
Observations
- Local, Local, Local. Can we do more local events, please?
- We had a family dinner Friday night, and loaded the lotion products into the younger Mrs M’s truck (she doesn’t let Christopher drive it anymore, I think) so she could drive straight from her house to the event Saturday morning. I drove my typical Jeep load, and had the canopies up before my partner arrived. Perfect timing.
- The elder Mrs M had to work at her “job” today, so the younger Mrs M joined me in the booth. The elder Mrs M reminded me that the younger Mrs M should not be lifting things in her delicate condition. Apparently I need a reminder to take care of the younger Mrs M, who’s breathing for two now.
- The elder Mrs M needs a vacation.
- Large events don’t always equal large sales, nor do small events always equal small sales. This was a very good event for us … though I wish we could figure out how to do one day event set-ups with less sweat. We travel heavy to events, whether they are one day or two days long. It’s a choice.
- A frustrating choice, at times, but a choice.
- The event location is the Jack Bones Equestrian Center, off Parker Road in Castaic. It’s adjacent to a jail, and the Sheriffs have inmates form crews to clean up after the crowd is gone. Most events don’t have clean up crews that are all dressed alike.
- We loaded everything into the truck for Sunday’s event, so I had to employ new packing strategies. It worked OK, except I forgot to pack the chairs left leaning against the fence. I remembered not packing them when I was almost home, so I had to turn around and go fetch them.
- I love local events.
The Food
Saturday Breakfast: Jack in the Box drive through.
Saturday Lunch: Chili, of course.
Saturday Snack: A fabulous Blue Raspberry Italian Ice. Do I lose cutting board credibility with blue lips?
Saturday Dinner: We went to our favorite Thai Vietnamese restaurant. I had my standard, S5, hold the squid. I have a delicate palate, you see.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 129
- Booth cost: $50
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
- Total sales: $915
- # containers of product taken: 22
- # boards available: 85
- Saturday alarm: 5:30a
- # transactions: 14
- # soap & lotion vendors: just us
- # woodworking vendors: just us
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 14:0
Boards sold: 14
Cheese Boards: 4
Lazy Susans: 3
Cutting Boards: 2
Pig: 1
Small Board: 1
Small Sous Chef Board: 1
Large Surfboard: 1
Pizza Server: 1
Cheese Board # 15 – 029. Black Walnut, Red Oak, Padauk, Hard Maple and Yellowheart. Edge Grain. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 030. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Pizza Server 15 – 01. Black Walnut, Cherry & Hard Maple.
Edge grain cutting board. Jatoba, Hard Maple and Yellowheart. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/8″.
Large Surfboard # 15 – 17. Cherry, Hard Maple & Black Walnut.
Pig # 15 – 07. Walnut, Maple, Yellowheart, Padauk & Honey Locust.
Cheese Board # 15 – 032. Balck Walnut, Hard Maple, Yellowheart, Cherry & Padauk. Edge grain chaos board. 9-1/2″ x 9-1/8″ x 5/8″.
Cutting Board # 15 – 069. Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart. Edge grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
Small Board # 15 – 052. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Padauk. Edge grain. 8″ x 12″ x 1″.
Lazy Susan # 15 – 022. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry & Yellowheart. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.
Lazy Susan # 15 – 020. Black Walnut & Hard Maple. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.
Lazy Susan # 15 – 016. Red Oak,x Teak, Black Walnut & Hard Maple. 19″ diameter x 3/4″.
Sous Chef # 15 – 27. Black Walnut & Honey Locust.
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.
Encino is a nice community in the southern part of the San Fernando Valley. It’s a little outside of our normal circle in the Los Angeles sprawl, but we were excited to return to what was the rather unfortunately named 28th Annual Taste of Encino.
Why unfortunate? When they say “Taste,” you shouldn’t expect to find good food, or the restaurants of Encino. Expect to sample the varied experiences & concerns of Encino. And eat fair food, at your peril.
Last year, we had a marginal event, with sales of $506 against a booth fee of $150. It fit on our calendar, though, so we scheduled our return with high hopes and a bigger plan.
New Ideas
- As with almost all of our events this year, we changed to a double booth for 2015.
- By signing up early for our booths, we saved 10% off the application fee.
- We were invited to use their app to make a promotional offer to anyone visiting our booth. They gave us “signage” to promote that offer. What they gave us was a piece of paper with a color picture printed on it, and a hand written copy of our offer scrawled on it. Not the way to impress in an upscale community. Or with a discerning vendor selling a premium product like Mrs M.
Observations
- For an event trying to use social media, their lack of a graphic to share promoting their event is hard to fathom. The single graphic they produced, the above “poster,” was not readable. Bad plan. Oh, but they got all of their sponsor logos on it. And it was STILL a bad plan.
- We arrived at 7am (the street was officially available at 6am). Unfortunately, our booth location was not yet marked. I watched the guy scrawl our booth numbers on the asphalt, and when I asked him a question, he looked at me like I was from Mars. He never did answer me. Perhaps he was only capable of chalking asphalt. As Beckett’s Hamm says, “Each to his own speciality.” Clearly, as accurate here as it was with Clov in my favorite Beckett play: Endgame.
- Booth arrangements were terrible. No concept of flow. They put all of the vendors at one end of the street – the farthest position from the food and stage. And the bathrooms. Not good. Not good at all.
- It was hot. Not quite as hot as yesterday in Granada Hills, thankfully, but it was still hot.
- None of the 12 vendors (!) had a good day. As the “nothing over $5” necklace vendor next to us said, “I can’t give this stuff away today.”
- Sitting beside Mrs M, we both opened the apps on our phones for Accuweather. We both looked at Encino weather. Her side of the booth was 2* hotter than mine. No clue how Accuweather makes weather reporting so accurate as to tell how the heat emanating from Mrs M impacts our environment.
- On the other side of our booth was a tanning salon business promoting their brick & mortar store immediately behind their booth. Very nice young ladies were doing a fundraiser for their local fire station (truck 83 even made an appearance for photos!). Good neighbors.
- A surprise guest appearance by Soozy (and family!) of Soozy’s Achy Muscle Rub was a highlight of the day. Before she was gone, I had her quoting Timothy Leary. That’ll teach her to bring up her history paper on the 60s.
- Met some nice vendors, and perhaps some of the conversations I had with “customers” about future special orders will materialize. Good things may still come from appearing at this event. Unfortunately …
- As with yesterday, it was too hot for a fair comparison to last year’s results. HOWEVER, this was a bad event following last year’s marginal event. We will not return in 2016.
- So concludes the story of The Lost Weekend: Part II.
The Food
Sunday Breakfast: Bagels & cream cheese
Sunday Lunch: Pizza by the slice from Mulberry Pizzeria, conveniently located across the street from our booth. Undersauced; not great pizza. Unfortunately. Oh, and the store was rude, telling people they couldn’t sit at a table more than 20 minutes.
Sunday Snack: Water.
Sunday Dinner: Leftover chicken piccata. Mmmmmmmm.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 102
- Booth cost: $202.50
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 0
- Total sales: $330
- # containers of product taken: 24
- # boards available: 110
- Sunday alarm: 5:15a
- # transactions: 10
- # soap & lotion vendors: just us
- # woodworking vendors: just us
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 6:0
Boards sold: 6
Cheese Board # 15 – 026. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Padauk. Edge Grain. 8″ x 10″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 040. Jatoba, Hard Maple, Canarywood, Purpleheart & Yellowheart. Edge grain. 11-1/2″ x 9-1/4″ x 3/4″.
Hard Maple, Black Walnut and African Teak.
Cheese Board # 15 – 007. Black Walnut, Hard Maple and Padauk. 9″ x 10″ x 1-1/4″.
Medium Surfboard 15 – 03. Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart.
Small Board # 15 – 052. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Padauk. 7″ x 12″ x 1″.
Where, oh where, are the customers?
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.
Granada Hills is in the northern San Fernando Valley, and is a good demographic match for us. Seems like a nice town; a commuter suburban community. Mrs M is in the community (and on the street the event is on) every week as a part of her “real” “job.”
This was our 8th event of 2014 (so, our 8th event ever). It was our 22nd event of 2015. It would appear we’ve picked up the pace a bit.
We were very happy with our sales last year of $577 (we were so young then!). That was not our goal for 2015. Not nearly. Also, this was only the 3rd event that we have repeated for 2 years running. More of those to come in the 4th quarter, of course, but this presented only our third opportunity to directly compare results year to year.
This was the 11th annual Street Faire, sponsored by the Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce. It had a bunch of vendors (150?) spread over 3 city blocks. There was a car show, stage entertainment, pony rides … it was a Street Fair. Or, Faire. Those Granada Hills folks do put on airs. I mean aires.
New Ideas
- Last year, we had a single booth (we were so young then!). This year, it’s a double booth.
- Mrs M took delivery of her new custom aprons (her boothwear) from the delightful Theresa of Heart Strings Creations. She was ready to rock it today!
Observations
- I hate being lied to. Vendor instructions were very clear we could not get on the street before 8am. We were in line at 7:50a … and a host of vendors were already set up when we got on the street at 8am. Apparently, people were getting on as early as 6am. We didn’t need to be there at 6, but we would have certainly been there earlier if it had been a known option.
- Hot. It was hot. 102*, Velda said. Hot.
- We were next to a Chinese merchandise vendor (defined here as a booth selling very cheap kid-oriented merchandise almost certainly made in China). Lowered the property value of our booth.
- Our neighbors on the other side and in back were local concerns, such as the booth for a state senator (they left early) and an air conditioning vendor (who didn’t have working models: bad plan).
- It was hot.
- When you’re hot and business is slow so you have nothing to think about but the heat, it’s really hot.
- Conclusion: I don’t like 1 day events. We travel so heavy … it’s a 2 hour set-up and a 90 minute tear down. Easier if that work gets spread over 2 or 3 days.
- I expected weather to impact some 4th quarter events, but I was expecting Godzilla El Nino. I never expected heat. But, it was hot, and the buyers stayed away in droves. Traffic was significantly down from last year, regardless of what our booths were offering.
- Some of our vendor friends had better days than us (there were some buyers in the small crowd, just not enough of our buyers). Comparisons to last year aren’t fair … but we had a bad event.
- Foreshadowing, it’s called. This day shall forever be known as The Lost Weekend: Part I. Tune in tomorrow for ….
The Food
Saturday Breakfast: Bagels & cream cheese.
Saturday Lunch: Velda found a new deli on this downtown street, and bought some salad and a couple of wraps. Better than fair food, but ultimately forgettable, IMHO.
Saturday Snack: Velda got an ice slush sugar thing. It was blue (which she gave me bites of) and red (that she ate exclusively). No clue what that means.
Saturday Dinner: Leftover meatloaf. Mmmmmm.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 86
- Booth cost: $250
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 0
- Total sales: $390
- # containers of product taken: 25
- # boards available: 115
- Saturday alarm: 6am
- # transactions:11
- # soap & lotion vendors: no clue
- # woodworking vendors: no clue
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 4:1
Boards sold: 5
Small Board # 15 – 052. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Padauk. Edge grain. 8″ x 12″ x 1″.
Sous Chef # 15 – 30. Hard Maple, Padauk & Black Walnut.
Medium Surfboard 15 – 06. Cherry, Hard Maple & Black Walnut.
Small Board # 15 – 037. Cherry, Black Walnut & Hard Maple end grain. 11″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Large Surfboard # 15 – 25. Hard Maple.
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.
You may remember Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Bill and Ted were from San Dimas … and that’s where we headed last weekend.
It was not an excellent adventure for us, unfortunately.
This was the 48th Annual San Dimas Western Days. They have a Street Fair-styled event run by the Chamber of Commerce, and there’s a rodeo happening at the same time. There were about 80 vendors … perhaps 30 were handmade. The rest ranged from chiropractors to financial planners to the local water company.
This was actually our third choice event for this weekend. We weren’t accepted into our first choice (the horror!), and were then too late to apply to our second choice. We took the third option.
Unfortunately.
New Ideas
- We added a second awning this week for shade in front of the booth. Given the weather, we were giving protection from the rain, too, in front of both booths.
- We had rain overnight on Saturday, so we had to deal with waterproofing the booth for overnight, and rain protection needed throughout Sunday. We survived with no rain damage at all!
Observations
- The Chamber of Commerce really angered our next door neighbor that thought they had the first booth in our line. In the new secret configuration, though, they had the third booth. Lots of anger in the 6am air.
- Do the Western theme in your booth, we were told. Then why is the music from the stage all rock & roll?
- Do not close your booth early, we were told. But on Saturday, the Chamber of Commerce closed their booth 30 minutes early. This was not a well run event from ANY perspective.
- The neighbor across the way had a booth that looked like a homeless encampment, Velda thought. It was a sportscard/memorabilia dealer, and he had a pipe frame with tarps clipped to it for his booth. When the rain came Sunday, the booth just added more tarps/blankets/whatever for rain protection. Didn’t help the property values in our section of booths, and Mrs M was annoyed.
- Lots of dog walkers at this event. The angry neighbor had his dog with him and prompted him to talk all day. “Rur-rur-rur,” the owner said. “Rur-rur-rur,” the malamute replied. All. Day. Long.
- Many vendors did not return on Sunday; perhaps they were scared off by the rain forecast. This is Southern California, after all: rain scares us.
- We spent all day Sunday waiting for the big rainstorm that never came, fortunately. We had sprinkles; it was definitely wet for an hour or so. But, in the end, Sunday’s rainy sales exceeded Saturday’s hot weather sales. Go figure.
- Most Embarrassed Dog Award goes to the poor terrier that had to wear a yellow raincoat on Sunday. His mistress? No rain protection required.
- I’ve said you can’t have a bad day if you sell the most expensive board on the table … but we did on Sunday. Nice sale, but the day really was long, wet and boring.
- The Tandy leather retail booth next to us had total sales of $220 for the weekend. A jewelry retailer that had sales about like ours said this was their 4th year, and that sales had gone down every year. I’m not interested in seeing if there is a 5 year trend next year….
The Food
Saturday Breakfast: McDonald’s # 4 for me, # 1 for Mrs M. Sound familiar?
Saturday Lunch: Cheese & crackers. Sound familiar?
Saturday Snack: Too hot. Too bored. Not interested.
Saturday Dinner: Mediocre Chinese Food to share: Cashew Chicken for me & Shrimp & Snow Peas for Mrs M.
Sunday Breakfast: Holiday Inn Express biscuits & gravy. Mmmmmm.
Sunday Lunch: We shared a dry BBQ chicken sandwich & Mac & Cheese. Not exactly high living.
Sunday Snack: Peanut M&Ms. Thank goodness there was a grocery store nearby.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 255
- Booth cost: $325 for a premium 10×20 crafters booth, open on 3 sides
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 0
- Total sales: $991
- # containers of product taken: 23
- # boards available: 110
- Saturday alarm: 4:30a
- Sunday alarm: 6:30a
- Home on Sunday: 7:10p
- # transactions: 26
- # soap & lotion vendors: just Mrs M!
- # woodworking vendors: one turner, one carver and me
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 7:1
Boards sold: 8
Lazy Susans: 2
Cheese boards: 2
Cutting boards: 2
Large cutting board: 1
Small surfboard: 1
Small Surfboard # 15 – 10. Hard Maple & Teak.
Lazy Susan # 15 – 025. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry & Yellowheart. 17″ diameter x 3/4″.
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″.
Cutting Board # 15 – 103. Cherry, Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart. Edge Grain. 13″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
Lazy Susan # 15 – 024. Black Walnut & Yellowheart. 17″ x 3/4″.
Cutting Board 15 – 053. Black Walnut. Edge Grain, Juice Groove. 15″ x 18″ x 1-1/2″.
Cutting Board # 15 – 102. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 028. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Jatoba & Canarywood. Edge Grain. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
The boards that I create are almost always symmetrical … because in my mind, they must be. I’m driven that way.
Velda, on the other hand, can see boards in an unbalanced, but pleasing way. That’s why she designs chaos boards.
Here’s some of both. Which do you prefer?
Cutting Board 15 – 080. Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart. Edge Grain. 14″ x 11-1/4″ x 1″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 031. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Bloodwood, Red Oak, Yellowheart, Cherry, Purpleheart & Padauk. Edge grain. 9″ x 10″ x 3/4″.
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″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 032. Balck Walnut, Hard Maple, Yellowheart, Cherry & Padauk. Edge grain chaos board. 9-1/2″ x 9-1/8″ x 5/8″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 037. Black Walnut, Cherry, Yellowheart & Hard Maple. Edge grain. 10-3/4″ x 9-3/4″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 033. Hard Maple, Canarywood, Yellowheart & Black Walnut. Edge grain. 11-1/2″ x 9″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board # 15 – 040. Jatoba, Hard Maple, Canarywood, Purpleheart & Yellowheart. Edge grain. 11-1/2″ x 9-1/4″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board # 14 – 040. Hard Maple, Cherry, Black Walnut & Padauk. Edge grain chaos board. 11″ x 8-1/2″ x 3/4″.
Engraved board # 15 – 36. Black Walnut, Cherry & Hard Maple. Edge grain. 11″ x 8″ x 3/4″.
Small Board # 15 – 057. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. 12-1/2″ x 7″ x 1″.
Small board # 15 – 057. Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart. Edge grain. 11-1/4″ x 8-1/4″ x 1″.
Velda’s cutting board is nearly 2 years old … and it still looks just like new when it’s treated well. This is the 2nd resurfacing I have done on this board that gets daily, heavy use.
I spent 5 minutes sanding (only 5 minutes!) and then re-applied a few coats of mineral oil over 24 hours. As with all of my boards, Velda’s cutting board was then finished with a topcoat of Velda’s own Mrs M’s Board Butter, which is locally-harvested beeswax mixed with mineral oil.
Velda’s Cutting Board. Goncalo Alves (Tigerwood), Black Walnut, Honey Locust, Jatoba & Cherry. Edge grain, and 2 years old as shown. 16″ x 21″ x 1-1/4″.
More
The Cutting Board (12/26/2013)
KNX’s Melinda Lee On Beeswax & Cutting Boards
