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June 25th, 2011
10:51 pm - Reston
Got a much better space today. Overall it was good with some notable highlights.
My second sale of the day was the 3 children patriotic star shirts I dyed this week. Wish I had gotten more of them done, but they are a PITA. I even had some more stars sewn, but they are time consuming to dye too.
And then someone bought the large rayon dress I bought and dyed with someone else in mind. It was way too long for her and not the type of dress that could be hemmed. But it's found a home. :) (and, according to Quicken she bought something from me before)
And I got the rainbow tank dress to the person who bought it. Well, sorta. (buyer lives in Mass. Her friend said she'd get it from me at the market. EXCEPT her friend is in LA today. So, another vendor got it to give to her so she can give it to the buyer.
And I got a late unwrapped baby shower gift to the mom to be's MIL who's been vending at Reston.
I sold $23 worth of cards very late in the day (when I had most of the tie dye packed up already. Lots of wonderful comments and complements from them and non-buyers who looked at my pics. :)
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June 10th, 2011
03:43 pm - This weekend
I will NOT be at Reston Market this weekend. I need some time to catch up on all the things that were put aside while I was vending this spring and I haven't sold a lot this weekend at Reston to be worth going when one source is still saying there's a 60% change of thunderstorms.
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June 6th, 2011
05:46 pm - Saturday
I'm thinking about this coming Saturday. Should I or shouldn't I? Right now the answer is probably not. But I'll keep an eye on the rain %.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Chance of rain 40 percent.
I gave out a lot of business cards this past weekend and am realizing that I don't have the Reston Market information on my actual web site. OOPS. This should really be on the calendar and I'll try to fix that this week.
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June 1st, 2011
12:24 am - Why I cannot sell “T-Shirts” at the Washington Folk Festival
The event rules say:
NO T-SHIRT SALES. It's a Federal park. There's a blanket prohibition against T-shirts being sold in any Federal park anywhere, any time.
You may have noticed that the even sells it’s own T-shirts ACROSS THE STREET. (and not IN the park)
( MORE )
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May 27th, 2011
12:42 pm - Heat
I'm getting nervous about this weekend.
Summer has arrived. Hazy Hot Humid
why couldn't it have waited?
The worst of the heat will be Monday. At least the chance of rain is only 10%. I can pack slowly. Rest with some ice.
I'll arrive early & take my time. Remember last years failure of cope. I don't want to go back there again, but at least I know I can get myself out of that dark place.
Cooler filled with ice. Bottle of water with me so I can immediately make ice water (traveling with ice water can be very messy). Maybe a frozen water bottle or two... esp on Monday.
And on Sat & Sun I'll again insist on being in a parking space on the closer side of the field. Walking across a shadeless field to get into a HOT van after the event last year was NOT good. There's no reason they can't let me park at the beginning of row 2 instead of the far end of row 1.
I guess it's good that I've done both these events before.
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May 23rd, 2011
04:49 pm - obsessing :)
Is it time to start obsessing about next weekend? SURE!!
Saturday & Sunday = Delaplane, VA
30-40% chance of rain. Temps low 80s. I hope those #s don't go any higher!!
It looks like I packed my 4th canopy side up in the attic so I'm going to have to go up there to get it this week. When I do, I'm pulling down my spare tarp bits for some added rain protection (my canopy top leaks a bit and I want to be able to leave most of my stuff overnight)
Monday = Falls Church, VA
88f with a 40% chance of T-storms.
Yeah, I could do with those #s coming down some. Not much more I can do to prepare for that, except maybe order a new cool tie beanie. (the one I got last year no longer absorbs). And make sure I have enough ice cubes ready. Maybe I'll even freeze some water bottles.
I've been busy enough the past two days that I haven't read/seen any news, but weather.com has some horrible headlines. I am NOT complaining about the weather here. NOPE. Just obsessing, so I'm as prepared for it as I can be. I can't imagine what the area that was hit with this horrendous tornado is going through. :(
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May 15th, 2011
08:14 pm - Arbutus Arts Festival
I'm never doing this event again. In addition to the annoying and way too early setup, there were at least 4 other tie dye venders there. They've got 3 listed in the program, and there's another across the street listed just as "clothing". I'm not listed as tie dye either, even though its what I put on my application.
There's an event speaker 20' away and they've been playing about an hours worth of music over and over. Luckily it's music I like, but really - how many times can you hear the same songs in one day? Every 30 min they make a long announcement. Mostly about food. Every food vender is mentioned and their menu. Then a band was playing on the other side of me. When in the middle of my tent both were equally loud. Again, it was music I liked... but two at once?!! But wait... it got worse. In the last hour or so I discovered that the building behind me housed a "Church". So Buffet is singing about getting drunk and screwing (really - how appropriate is that for a street fair), the band was playing something by the Stones and the church is singing about Jesus... because they just HAD to have their door open. The only good thing is they kept playing the music after 5:00 because if I had been left with just the church I'm not sure I would have been legally responsible for my actions.
Customer comments - the people up there are fucking cheapskates. Some are rude about it. And I'm used to hearing how good my prices are. My first customer was fine, but for the next few hours there were more unpleasantness then not. (the first customer got two 4X Ts and thought I gave him too much change back because he mis-heard what I said was the total price) I wasn't too thrilled with the people next to me either. I tried to be nice. And at least it wasn't negative UNTIL....
I had one of the princess cut dresses hanging up. Yes, it's expensive. And every time I think maybe I should lower the price ($50) I make another one and remember why it cost that much. Plus the price is comparable (maybe even cheaper) then other similar items for sale by others. So, while I'm writing up some notes for myself the people that were with the booth next to me must have been talking. One comes over and says "Miss, how much does that dress cost" So I told him... he then went back to his friends and told them and they laughed about how ridiculous the price was. (and these were older people, not teenagers)
Later someone really wanted that dress, but didn't currently have $. She took my card and said she'd contact me when she did. (that was later after the customers started changing a bit.) I'm just glad some people recognized quality. The tie dye person across from me was cheaper in all ways. Colors weren't as vibrant. Designs weren't tight. Lots of white. And yes.. the prices were lower. I have no idea about the other tie-dye vendors because I couldn't walk the whole festival.
I wanted to mention how crazy setup is. It must be run by an obsessive control freak. The road is wide - two way with 3 lanes and a parking lane and I see no need for all this nonsense.
For comparison - I usually get to an event 2-3 hours before it starts. 2 hours for Reston and I've got to drag my stuff across the courtyard (vs just emptying it at my spot)
The event starts at 10:00. I had to be there 15-20 minutes before 6:15am. Vendors need to wait in a parking lot (staging area) and enter the street in space order. Then we unload on the sidewalk. Parking is a block or two away at thethe fire company lot. After that we can set up. ON THE SIDEWALK!! At 8am we can move onto the street. (everyone does)
Now, according to the paperwork, if we aren't ready to enter with our row we have to carry our stuff in, so I don't know who we're staying off the street for.
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May 14th, 2011
08:56 pm
Arbutus Arts Festival
Vending Fee: $80
Event starts at 10:00. I need to be there at 6:15. But wait... they really want us there 15-20 minutes early!! They want to micro manage everything. I kinda remember this annoying aspect. There goes my sleep tomorrow. Really. It's an hour away which means I have to leave home before 5:00am. And I need gas. UGH.
In 2008 I sold only about $250 worth of stuff. The street was filthy so the rain caused all my stuff to have black dirt on it.
Sunday
Patchy fog in the morning. Showers likely with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning...then showers with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 70s. Southeast winds around 5 mph. Chance of rain 80 percent.
I really am not sure about this. The event was so slow in 1998. And this weather looks tons worse.
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May 2nd, 2011
08:32 am - Greenbelt Greenman Festival
It's a two day event, but we have to tear down on Saturday night. If anyone wants to earn some $ or tie-dye by helping me pack up let me know.
Event is 10-7 and 11-6
Craft booths close by 5pm on Sunday and can close at 5:00 on Saturday. WHEN I close on Saturday will depend on many things--like sales, how tired I am, and what everyone else is doing. Sunday will depend on the weather. Because of the current forecast, if you want to see me, come on Saturday.
Current weather:
Saturday
Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.
Sunday
Partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of showers. Highs around 70. (weather.com is saying 50% chance of Scattered T-Storms) Hopefully that'll go down.
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April 17th, 2011
09:15 am - What do I sell when I can't sell "T-shirts"?
Following up on a conversation from yesterday:
2010 sales were 30% less then 2009. The economy sucked in 2009 also so most people blamed the lower attendance at the Washington Folk Festival on the lack of a mention in the Washington Post. I hope the event is doing some appropriate PR so this doesn't happen again!
This list does not take into account items I didn't sell because I didn't have them.
( The List )
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