Wow! What an opportunity a chance meeting with an old friend has created.
Several months ago, I ran into an old friend at a local fast food restaurant. We chatted about what each of us had been doing and the subject of Donna's Crafty Creations came up. As I described the handcrafted merchandise I sell, I could see the wheels turning in my friend's mind. When he spoke, he said something like this:
There's this lady at my church who works with women in the Dominican Republic (DR). She taught them how to make beads from paper, magazine photos, boxes, etc, and now sells the jewelry they make from the beads. All the proceeds go back to the women in the DR, giving them a little extra money they can use to buy more food, medicine, or whatever else they need. She's been talking about trying to sell the jewelry at Trade Days, what do you think? Do you think she could?
We talked some more, I gave him my card, and he said he'd pass my info along to her. Fast forward to July 2009. I met with Lois the evening of July 30. We talked about the possibility of adding the paper bead jewelry to my product line. It seemed like a wonderful opportunity to help, so, starting with August Trade Days, there will be one more product opportunity for my customers - jewelry made in the Dominican Republic from paper. She also has bracelets made from soda cans and clothespin springs. All quite nice. Look for them in my booth in August.
Friday, July 31, 2009
July Trade Days
Can you spell "hot"? "Friday, July 17" is one way to spell it. The heat and humidity were brutal. (I've been in worse heat and humidity one time, the last weekend in June, 2009.) It was hot!
In spite of the heat, though, there were a lot of shoppers out on Friday, far more than usual. Not a lot of buyers in the "old" section, just shoppers. I had my ice chest full of ice and cold drinks, a one gallon cooler full of ice, cold water, and inexpensive wash cloths, and what my sister calls my "fan club" - my collection of battery-powered and A/C powered fans - to keep the air moving in my booth. This time of year I'm very thankful to have one of the few south-facing booths at Trade Days. The sun only hits the roof directly late in the afternoon, unlike the west facing booths that get sun on their roofs in the morning, the east facing booths that get hit with afternoon sun, and the few north facing booths that have sun on their roofs all day. I'll take any break I can get when it comes to summer heat.
Saturday didn't feel as hot, although my clock/thermometer said it reached the same high temperature. Sunday afternoon, around 3:30, a storm blew through. A lot of vendors packed up, in preparation for leaving. I did pack up my tabletop flower arrangements, since they're not meant to withstand high winds, but I made sure they were still available for prospective customers to view. For a little while after the rain moved through, it was cooler, but then the humidity crept back in and raised the heat index back to almost where it had been before the rains hit.
I sold a few flower arrangements, a few pieces of jewelry, and made a few pairs of custom earrings. The customer who had special ordered a red and white potholder was delighted to pick it up. All in all, a "normal" weekend for me.
In spite of the heat, though, there were a lot of shoppers out on Friday, far more than usual. Not a lot of buyers in the "old" section, just shoppers. I had my ice chest full of ice and cold drinks, a one gallon cooler full of ice, cold water, and inexpensive wash cloths, and what my sister calls my "fan club" - my collection of battery-powered and A/C powered fans - to keep the air moving in my booth. This time of year I'm very thankful to have one of the few south-facing booths at Trade Days. The sun only hits the roof directly late in the afternoon, unlike the west facing booths that get sun on their roofs in the morning, the east facing booths that get hit with afternoon sun, and the few north facing booths that have sun on their roofs all day. I'll take any break I can get when it comes to summer heat.
Saturday didn't feel as hot, although my clock/thermometer said it reached the same high temperature. Sunday afternoon, around 3:30, a storm blew through. A lot of vendors packed up, in preparation for leaving. I did pack up my tabletop flower arrangements, since they're not meant to withstand high winds, but I made sure they were still available for prospective customers to view. For a little while after the rain moved through, it was cooler, but then the humidity crept back in and raised the heat index back to almost where it had been before the rains hit.
I sold a few flower arrangements, a few pieces of jewelry, and made a few pairs of custom earrings. The customer who had special ordered a red and white potholder was delighted to pick it up. All in all, a "normal" weekend for me.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Pirate Ship Cake from Wilton's 2010 Yearbook Preview Demo
Well, when the 2010 Yearbook came out, and I found out we were supposed to create the cover cake for our July demo, I asked my Course 1 students what they thought of the cake. They thought it was too intimidating, so I decided to do something else - not a cake - for the demo.
Our store manager has been getting a lot of questions about fondant, though, and I've been wanting to do a fondant demo, so cupcakes just didn't seem like the right way to go. I'd decide to do the pirate ship, then I'd think, "Intimidating". Then I'd decide to do cupcakes. Back and forth I'd go. Finally, the morning of the demo dawned and I had to make a decision. By then, I'd looked again at the cover photo and decided it didn't look that bad at all. So, I baked a 9x13 cake (I'm too cheap to buy a special pan if I'm probably not going to use it much), cut a diamond-shaped chunk out of the middle, and cut cylinders for pirate bodies out of the leftovers.
I colored some fondant light blue for the ocean (a fondant-covered cake board), colored some gum paste light blue for the waves - the color match between the two media was pretty good - cut out sails from white gum paste and waves from the blue gum paste. My car was full of "cake stuff" when I pulled out of the driveway to go to Michaels.
Several people stopped to watch me work on the cake. One young lady really got into the fantasy of the pirate ship, wanting to know where one pirate's arms and hands were (I hadn't made them yet), how the pirates would get belowdecks, why one pirate looked like he was drawing back one arm to slug somebody, .... She was delightful to interact with.
I hope you enjoy the photos.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
June Third Monday Trade Days
I got off to a late start setting up on Thursday - there were a few odds and ends from my "real" job that had to be polished off. Wednesday night, we had been under a tornado warning (no tornado actually hit McKinney), and I wasn't quite sure what I'd find at my booth. I'd left three tubs of hardware, lights, and fans, on my space, and was pretty sure they were heavy enough to withstand any storm winds, so I didn't check on my space Wednesday night. I ordinarily hang the wind curtains around my space Wednesday evening, but I didn't do that this time.
Thursday morning, when I arrived at my space, the crew that puts up my canopy was there. We had had so much rain that my canopy had collapsed. In fact, seven canopies collapsed in the storm, mine was the last one they had to put back up. I was very glad I hadn't put the wind curtains up, as that would have made even more of a mess for the canopy crew to sort through. I was doubly glad that I hadn't put shelves and merchandise out yet, too.
Friday's weather was threatening, but it really didn't produce much in the way of bad weather. There were quite a few people around, for a Friday. Saturday morning the weather was much nicer, but it was the beginning of a very hot, miserable day. Granted, my alarm clock/thermometer isn't an official weather station, but the thermometer registered 102 F Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was horribly humid and turned into a miserable day. Thank goodness for ice chests and wet towels. I'm sure I looked lovely with a wet towel wrapped around my neck, but I didn't get overheated.
Sunday afternoon, I noticed the blue vinyl tablecloth on my worktable/desk/office table was turning white. I didn't think anything about it until I noticed I had two blue forearms and elbows. It didn't take long for me to put two and two together and figure out that the sunscreen I use softened the vinyl so it transferred from the tablecloth to anything that touched it. I've finally managed to scrub off the last of the blue vinyl from my arms and elbows and I think I've gotten all of it off my nice white laptop.
I took several special orders from Trade Days again this month. Those will help fill the coffers.
I added several "chunky" necklaces this month and some adorable ice cream sundae earrings. I need to get those photographed, and the photos posted, too.
Thursday morning, when I arrived at my space, the crew that puts up my canopy was there. We had had so much rain that my canopy had collapsed. In fact, seven canopies collapsed in the storm, mine was the last one they had to put back up. I was very glad I hadn't put the wind curtains up, as that would have made even more of a mess for the canopy crew to sort through. I was doubly glad that I hadn't put shelves and merchandise out yet, too.
Friday's weather was threatening, but it really didn't produce much in the way of bad weather. There were quite a few people around, for a Friday. Saturday morning the weather was much nicer, but it was the beginning of a very hot, miserable day. Granted, my alarm clock/thermometer isn't an official weather station, but the thermometer registered 102 F Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was horribly humid and turned into a miserable day. Thank goodness for ice chests and wet towels. I'm sure I looked lovely with a wet towel wrapped around my neck, but I didn't get overheated.
Sunday afternoon, I noticed the blue vinyl tablecloth on my worktable/desk/office table was turning white. I didn't think anything about it until I noticed I had two blue forearms and elbows. It didn't take long for me to put two and two together and figure out that the sunscreen I use softened the vinyl so it transferred from the tablecloth to anything that touched it. I've finally managed to scrub off the last of the blue vinyl from my arms and elbows and I think I've gotten all of it off my nice white laptop.
I took several special orders from Trade Days again this month. Those will help fill the coffers.
I added several "chunky" necklaces this month and some adorable ice cream sundae earrings. I need to get those photographed, and the photos posted, too.
Overdue updates
Wow! It's been a while since I last posted what I've been up to.
Anna Glowfest wasn't quite a bust, but almost. Saturday's weather started out overcast, but not terribly threatening. I don't think the balloons went up because it was so windy. The winds continued all day, vendors started leaving around noon, the balloons didn't go up for the evening flight, then, around 7:30, event staff went around to all the remaining vendors and told us there was a bad storm 6 miles away and heading our direction fast, we should all batten down the hatches and get out before the storm hits. So we did. We left, not knowing what we'd find the next morning. Well, the next morning, it didn't even look like it had rained at the fair site. "Better safe than sorry" became our mantra.
Sunday was even more windy than Saturday. More vendors left during the day. One vendor, who hadn't staked his tent at all, or so it seemed, put up his wind curtains and left. Around 4, a strong wind came at us, and lifted his tent off the ground. Another vendor noticed the airborne tent, grabbed it, and hung on for all he was worth until a couple more vendors, including me, dropped what we were doing to help him handle the tent. It took three of us to get the tent back on the ground and callapse it so it wouldn't become airborne again. While we were struggling, the wind pushed us all sideways and took out another vendor's tent. That was enough for me. I knew my tent wasn't going anywhere, but I didn't know when someone else's tent might take my tent out. I decided to pack up and call it quits. While I was packing, one of the organizers came by and asked me if I was leaving. When I replied that I was, her response was that she didn't blame me.
As soon as I had everything packed up, I called Alan and asked him to meet me at Sicily's for dinner, after which we would come back to the festival, pack up our Tributes, and leave. By the time we returned after dinner, the balloons were being inflated for the evening glow. We had to wait until after the glow to be able to get our vehicles in place to load them. The glow was great. I think the pilots were trying to make up for the loss of flights. The glow lasted about30 minutes and featured simultaneous ignitions, pattern ignitions, an apparent contest to see who could fire his burner in the shortest, most rapid bursts, and random burns. It was fun to watch.
Monday dawned clear and calm. The vendors who were left probably had very good sales. I spent the day with Alan, watching him fly his RC helicopters and running errands.
The bands that played at the festival were actually pretty decent. Most, if not all, were praise bands, so I did get a little tired of praise music. Most, if not all, used the instrumentals from "Sweet Home, Alabama" for their sound checks. Now, don't get me wrong, I like "Sweet Home, Alabama", but hearing it 20 or so times a day is a bit much. Of course, when I got in my car to drive home and turned on the radio, what was playing but, you guessed it, "Sweet Home, Alabama". Alan even played it for me on Monday, just so I wouldn't miss hearing it so much.
I'll have to take pictures of the balloon jewelry and ornaments. Both turned out well.
Anna Glowfest wasn't quite a bust, but almost. Saturday's weather started out overcast, but not terribly threatening. I don't think the balloons went up because it was so windy. The winds continued all day, vendors started leaving around noon, the balloons didn't go up for the evening flight, then, around 7:30, event staff went around to all the remaining vendors and told us there was a bad storm 6 miles away and heading our direction fast, we should all batten down the hatches and get out before the storm hits. So we did. We left, not knowing what we'd find the next morning. Well, the next morning, it didn't even look like it had rained at the fair site. "Better safe than sorry" became our mantra.
Sunday was even more windy than Saturday. More vendors left during the day. One vendor, who hadn't staked his tent at all, or so it seemed, put up his wind curtains and left. Around 4, a strong wind came at us, and lifted his tent off the ground. Another vendor noticed the airborne tent, grabbed it, and hung on for all he was worth until a couple more vendors, including me, dropped what we were doing to help him handle the tent. It took three of us to get the tent back on the ground and callapse it so it wouldn't become airborne again. While we were struggling, the wind pushed us all sideways and took out another vendor's tent. That was enough for me. I knew my tent wasn't going anywhere, but I didn't know when someone else's tent might take my tent out. I decided to pack up and call it quits. While I was packing, one of the organizers came by and asked me if I was leaving. When I replied that I was, her response was that she didn't blame me.
As soon as I had everything packed up, I called Alan and asked him to meet me at Sicily's for dinner, after which we would come back to the festival, pack up our Tributes, and leave. By the time we returned after dinner, the balloons were being inflated for the evening glow. We had to wait until after the glow to be able to get our vehicles in place to load them. The glow was great. I think the pilots were trying to make up for the loss of flights. The glow lasted about30 minutes and featured simultaneous ignitions, pattern ignitions, an apparent contest to see who could fire his burner in the shortest, most rapid bursts, and random burns. It was fun to watch.
Monday dawned clear and calm. The vendors who were left probably had very good sales. I spent the day with Alan, watching him fly his RC helicopters and running errands.
The bands that played at the festival were actually pretty decent. Most, if not all, were praise bands, so I did get a little tired of praise music. Most, if not all, used the instrumentals from "Sweet Home, Alabama" for their sound checks. Now, don't get me wrong, I like "Sweet Home, Alabama", but hearing it 20 or so times a day is a bit much. Of course, when I got in my car to drive home and turned on the radio, what was playing but, you guessed it, "Sweet Home, Alabama". Alan even played it for me on Monday, just so I wouldn't miss hearing it so much.
I'll have to take pictures of the balloon jewelry and ornaments. Both turned out well.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Anna Glow Fest is here!
The balloon festival in Anna (TX), Anna Glow Fest, started last night. There were quite a few people around for a Friday night. I missed the actual "glow", but I did see the balloons illuminated while they were being inflated - quite impressive.
I succeeded in making a few knitted hot air balloon ornaments. I'll make more during the day today, while I don't have customers. I was lucky enough to find some very pretty beads in the right shape for hot air balloon necklaces and earrings, so I have several of those, too. I hope the weather holds.
Hmm. If I look outside now, I may be able to see some of the balloons. The wind is from the north and Anna is north of here.
More later.
I succeeded in making a few knitted hot air balloon ornaments. I'll make more during the day today, while I don't have customers. I was lucky enough to find some very pretty beads in the right shape for hot air balloon necklaces and earrings, so I have several of those, too. I hope the weather holds.
Hmm. If I look outside now, I may be able to see some of the balloons. The wind is from the north and Anna is north of here.
More later.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
What's new for Third Monday Trade Days - May 2009
I've been working on new floral arrangements for Trade Days this month. You'll also be able to see new earrings, and, I hope, new necklaces for summer. I'm experimenting with new earring styles, more posts instead of dangles, different combinations of materials, summer colors. If you've never been to Third Monday, you don't know what you're missing.
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