Wednesday, November 10, 2010

October Craft Shows, 2010

Doing a little catching up here, so I will just give you the highlights of the five shows I did in October.

The first weekend was a show I have done for such a long time.  I have been on the east side of Riverside Park for so long, I can hardly remember setting up anywhere else.  This is a well run show put on by the Pilots Club of Vero.  The show had beautiful weather--but hot on both days.  I was fairly slow on Saturday, but, Sunday more than made up for it.  I had lots of regulars stop by--Linda, Terri, Victoria and so many of you.  Thank you!  I did camp in the van that weekend.  It was pretty hot on Saturday so I went down to the Mall to catch a movie while waiting for it to cool off and did a little shopping.  I found a great tea shop www.tiffanysteacrafts.com.  I spent about an hour talking tea with the owner who had a hard to spell name that sounds out to More-Tea...isn't that fitting.  And his wife's name, you will never guess--Tee!!  I can recommend the House Blend--been drinking it in between my Republic of Tea favorites.  Oh the movie--I think it saw that Ben Affleck movie about the bank robbers.

Do you see my phone anywhere?

Log House at the park in Mayo, FL

The demonstrators booth in front of mine

The second weekend I went up northwest of Gainesville to do the Mayo Pioneer Days.  I decided to set up and sell on Friday night...but it really wasn't worth it.  I camped again and it was the first weekend I had to bring out the blankets!  Nice!!!   On Saturday, I was really impressed with the crowd, but, it was not a great show for me.  Especially  since I lost my phone--or it got stolen!  I think I dropped it when I was opening up,  picked it up and set down on the soap at the front of the table.  Then it walked away with someone!!  The show was only open the one day, so, it was pretty nice having Sunday off with Rod.

Next up was the Cedar Key Seafood Festival--another new show for me.  It had been suggested by several friends, so, I had applied in the summer.  Set up was pretty hairy as it was only allowed after on Saturday, but, it all worked out.  My spot was on the seafood end of the festival, which I think worked out really nicely.  I had several customers from other shows stop by.  Many of the customers had been coming to the Seafood Fest for decades.  You know it is a good show when it has a dedicated following!!  I did fantastic both days and spent a little money on clam chowder and crab bisque for dinner on Saturday night.  Lynn the SpiceLady was camping with her boyfriend beside me overnight, so, everything went great.  They suggested camping out on Friday night next year--to make setup easier, so, I will be sure to do that!



The view from my campsite!

Walking home after dinner

The fourth weekend I went down to West Palm Beach with Buckler Promotions.  I haven't done one of their shows in 7-8 years I think.  It was pretty unremarkable, except, I still did have a few good customers stop by...and I got to see two old crafting friends I have not seen in ages.  The other great thing about the weekend was my cheap $35 a night Priceline hotel.  I stayed in an Extended Stay DELUXE.  Never have gotten one of those before and for a cheap room it was huge with lots of amenities.  It was about 8-9 miles from the show, but, since I got to stop at Carrabbas for dinner on the way home Saturday--so worth the drive!  Plus that female bartender there makes one AWESOME mojito!!!

Finally, it was my second year at the Micanopy Fall Festival.  The weather was just perfect for Fall--in the fifties overnight and upper 70's/low 80's during the day.  It was Halloween weekend and I thought we would see more kids dressed up, but, honestly I think there were more adults in costume.  Soap wise, it was better than last year by a huge amount.  So much so that I had to go into Gainesville Saturday night (oh shucks, Carrabbas again!!!) and get more copies of my order form.  I was next to Greg Smith the potter again, and, had a new vendor (ApronLady) on the other side.  I really love doing shows in the Gainesville area--they really appreciate handmade items!!

I was home in time for some Trick or Treaters at the house...Rod had stocked enough candy for 10 times the number of kids we ended up seeing.  But, that's ok--he got plenty of Reese's and other chocolate goodies.  I won't tell you home long it took me to devour all that chocolate...not long...LOL!  My sister tells me this chocolate craving I am having is not a symptom of pre-menopause.  Dang IT!  Turns out it is just my sweet tooth which is totally out of control.  HELP!!

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