Bohemian Mermaid Palace

Ok, well it's time to get ready for this next round of shows. Fort Bragg was a nice warmup. I dyed whatever random stuff I had here to dye. It was a lot, but mostly unusual special items... I didn't have all my stock up to what I like. Now, I need to do a full inventory and order whatever I need to fill it all out. About a ton. In fact, I should over order, since I'll have 2 shows in a row right away. I have 2 weeks until North Country Fair on Sept 22-23. woooo! I'll see you all there. It's the rockinest hootinany around. As I've mentioned before , the drama is over and this will be a great show for all I'm sure. Hey, looks like there are still some vendor spots available. The following week, I'm off to Caspar on the beautiful Mendocino coast for Caspar Fest. I loved this show last year, it was my intro to doing shows in this area. So it will be fun fun fun. Also they are adding more eco-groovy & community themes and activities, like demos and a din

I'm still here. Vacation was swell, thanks. My attitude was adjusted appropriately I think... just in time too. I'm back to work at the peace sticker place. Most of my coworkers left for a week or two, so I'm holding down the peace fort. I have skills. And it's been slow. Also, I refuse to be stressed. So it's working out fine. I also just scored a last-minute spot in the Fort Bragg festival this weekend... um Paul Bunyan Days. Yippee! I have wanted to do this one for a few years, but always miss the deadline somehow. I usually do pretty well in that area, and it is a holiday weekend. So I suspect the wealthy vacationers will be in abundance. Luckily, I have been reckless in my online ordering during my break, so I have lots of stuff to dye up. I'm a bit behind schedule, due to car issues and my own lame tendencies... but I can hear the washer finishing up a load of Ocean colored stuff as I type. I'll have a few things for the mendo throngs to adore. Worry n

Oh, yessss. I'm lovin it. After months of hard work and slaving away at the Peace Sticker place between c raft shows, filling in for other folks and whatnot... I now have a whole week off! Yippee. Can I afford it? I don't know. But that won't stop me from enjoying myself. Oh no. I managed to work o ut a Mom visit, which is pretty cool. She'll be arriving on Tuesday from North Dakota, and on Thursday we'll drive to Reno to visit my little bro and his wife in their new house. I'm getting pretty excited about the whole thing. I mean, Mom hasn't been here to visit for a couple years, hasn't seen the new digs. And I haven't seen my brother since his wedding over a year ago. Eesh. Way too long! It's going to be so fun!! So, for now... after I'm done basking in my vacation-ness, which means lounging on the computer in my pj's for hours at a time... it will be time to clean the house real good. Yip. I have a few things planned for Mom when she ar

Oh yeah, baby. One of the best things about vending at festivals with such talented artists is definitely the booty. I love to trade mermaid clothing for goodies on my travels. Sometimes I even buy stuff. Like the painting above. I bought it from the guy selling next to me up at that oregon show. I love it. sort of a cross between sunset at the beach up here and maybe some other planetscape. Plus the guy was neat to talk with (and he wasn't selling much I think). This bag is great and the fabric is fuzzy. Love it so much I made it my new magical money bag for the booth. I scored both of these at the fair on Clear Lake. The bag I traded for. The painting I bought from this little old lady who was so sweet! She was doing her booth all alone and it was painful to watch, she wouldn't accept much help cuz she said, if I can't do it alone I might as well stay home. The painting really reminds me of her. The card above was SUCH a score! I was at that oregon show, running to get so

I'm resting. But as we know, the Mermaid's work is never done... I have things to take care of. Let's see... uh, website stuff for sure. I haven't updated the inventory on it for months. Gotta do that. I also have a bunch of items not shown on the site. So, new photos and new pages are in order for sure. I think I'm going to hire my friend's daughter to help with a bunch of stuff. That will be fun. I have business crap to take care of too. This place is a mess! Gotta fix up my files and sales records and all that. Ick. OH, and it looks like I'm gonna get me a new VAN finally! Yipee! A nice big cargo van, just like the one I use that belongs to Barney. But newer and not creepy. THAT is freakin exciting. Christmas fair applications are showing up, so time to figure out what the hell I'm doing this year in that area. Sigh. Oh, and the designs I've been working on with The Buz are coming together. I should have at least 2 new pieces for North Country F

So today at work , as I slaved away over a hot keyboard/phone/stickerpile... we had khum on the radio as usual. At some point I noticed they were playing the friday songs. (Larry usually plays a few particular songs near 5pm on fridays and then announces it's officially the weekend. Sometimes he'll play them at like 2pm and just say he's 'calling it'. It's the weekend people, start figuring out your excuse to leave work early. Cute, I know. I love Larry.) How odd, thought I. Why the hell are they playing friday songs at noon on tuesday? Cruelty? I may have mumbled about it to myself throughout the set of songs... I'm not saying for sure. Well duh Mermaid, there is a holiday tomorrow and many many folks have the day off or even long weekends. Sure, ok. At the end of the set Mike says, "call me up and tell me what just happened, using the proper phrasing and I'll give you a cd". So I did. You called it, man! Then he asked if I had to work tomorr

Oh, let's see um... huh... maybe I might do ANOTHER FESTIVAL. Wooo! Tomorrow I'm off to the Umpqua Valley Arts Festival up in Roseburg Oregon. It's a 3 day hootinany with over 100 art booths, 2 stages, kids area, food, wine garden... the whole shibang. Sweet. So, it's about a 4 hour drive north. I'll be going alone, Barney has to be at work friday I think. I am splurging for a motel for the entire trip and that will be quite luxurious. Showers and beds and everything. Heehee. Barney might show up at some point, not sure yet. But, I have no problems with doing a festival alone, I've done it lots of times and it's a little more of an adventure that way you know. Yeah, I don't have much else to tell. Except that I have about a ton of stuff to do and I'm still sitting here in coffee mode. Yawn. Thanks for helping me procrastinate...

I've been so busy, I forgot to show off my new Bohemian Mermaid stickers! I've wanted these ever since I started working at the sticker place and now I have them... sweet huh? I have 1000, want one?

Ok, I might be getting a little tired. I've done let's see... 4 craft shows in 6 weeks, most of them out of town. And dyeing stuff while working 4 days a week. Heh. Yeah I know, I'm studly. But I wouldn't mind a day off really. However, as you well know, a Mermaid's work is never done, and so... Tomorrow I have a festival! Wooo! It's the 17th annual Oyster Festival right here at home. Sweet. There aren't that many craft booths, this is really more about the food. But, I will have a giant obnoxious double booth per Barney's encouragement (bah just go for it!). I'm feeling a little self-conscious about it. But I guess if it makes me more visible it could help my sales. And he was right about paying more for the corner booth in benbow, that paid off pretty well. Yeah, I really hope he's right. Cuz this little one day fair is costing me plenty. The booth is spendy to begin with, for the privilege of selling in the lovely town of Arcata. Double booth

No. So there I was, trying to recover still from the busy festival last weekend. I've been so tired all week, with work and all... when Friday I get a call from the chick who runs the Trinidad sunday market. She's saved me a spot at the Fish Festival and will I be attending? Uh, I wasn't planning on it... since I have a ton of dyeing to do and I'm still so tired like I said. But, then she says how it's the 50th annual and there are like 40 booths and how I don't have to pay extra since I'm already signed up for the market etc. Gosh, at that moment it sounded too good to pass up. Sure, ok I'll be there! Of course, as soon as I got off the phone I says to myself I says, "What are you nuts?!" But Barney, being the awesome supporter he is, says "Hey, why not right? You can make a few bucks and I'll go with you to help, I'd like some of those fish and chips!" Ok. Sure, I'm studly what the hell. I'll dye stuff on saturday an

Yeah, I really just wanted to see that title.... so I needed a separate post. For some reason, my booth was a place for weird items to be lost during the show. Ok, two items. But still it was odd. Saturday, a garbage bag full of popcorn. Nobody claimed it, we asked around the neighbor's busy henna booth. Nope. Everyone in the immediate area. No, not mine. To my knowledge, no booths were even selling popcorn. We left it there for hours. People commented on it, but nobody touched it or came looking for it. It was a mystery. Later, we closed the booth and went wandering... many hours and drunk people passed, and still the popcorn was there. When we were returning to the booth to go to bed, I saw a figure in the dark bent over inspecting the bag... I didn't miss a step, "It's popcorn!" and I disappeared behind our tent laughing. The next morning it was gone. Sunday it was a pair of handcuffs. They were first spotted by some kids whose parents were visiting the pottery

Well, we are off to the thriving metropolis of Lakeport for their Memorial Day festival thingy down on Clear Lake. Barney is packing the truck and getting a new airbed for the back. I'm printing stars on baby shirts and gathering sunscreen and water. Yip, got my big bag of peace buttons and my sandals... ready for the sun baby! I'm counting on the bay area vacationers to come through this weekend. Line up ladies, wrap skirts and mermaid tanks for everyone! Woooo!

Ok, maybe I went a little nuts with my latest supply order... wait. No. I have two shows in a row and I need a buttload of stuff. And that's what I got. Yeah, baby. That is one beautiful 53 lb box of dyeable goodness. Oh... then I also ordered a bunch of things that were on sale before we left for the last show. And again two days ago, when I was in a panic about having enough hats and T-shirts. Um... and last night I found a source for some parasols, which I'll silk paint. That probably wasn't totally necessary. I may be a little on the obsessive side right now... but alas. I have used all the money and credit available. So, I guess I'm done ordering for now. Time to dye all this stuff. Woooo! New colors for this time around are um... avocado green with black, a new purple with black. Black is tough, but what the hell right? I'll try it. Last round I came up with a beautiful burgundy color. Love it! I guess photos would be nice. Maybe later.

Crazy dog... she's pretty cute though, huh?

Get moving, Woman! Ok, well as you can see... the shows have begun. Heehee. So, for the next uh, at least 3-4 months I'll have a craft show every other weekend, sometimes 2 weekends in a row. Good thing I'm so studly. Yeah. Ok. So, this has been my goal right? This is how I want my life to go, shows all the time. Enough so I can eventually quit my day job. So I need to figure this all out. How to go to a show out of town, come home, go to work and still have enough stuff to sell for the next show. Normally, I spend about 2 weeks preparing for a show. Ordering and receiving supplies, dyeing them, washing, ironing, sewing labels and printing mermaidy stuff onto them. I like to do the dyeing in large blocks of time over the weekend, 8-10 hour chunks. Then it's done and I can spend evenings after work during the week pressing and printing. Obviously this won't really work if I have 2 shows in a row. My new strategy is to make the buying and dyeing more continuous. Order as

Well, I have to say the Spring Fever Festival this weekend was a success. Woo! I mean considering it's so new... and the amount I made last year at this fair. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I did. I um, let's see... made about 3 times what I made last year. Yeehaw. I learned something too: the Power of the Discount. Holy moly. I mean, I always have a clearance rack going in the booth for flawed or discontinued things. But, I decided to have a supersale and clearance out a bunch of shirts I'm sick of... bam! half off! I also made all the skirts, pants and jacke ts $5 off. People bought stuff generally in twos, threes or more. It rocked. Oh, and I won a gorgeous pair of earrings in the door prize drawing. The chica next to me was doing her first fair and I picked her earrings from the prizes. They are so cute and sparkly! I also bartered for a handmade journal and scored some super sweet gifts for Mother's day. I want to tell more about them, but she might read th

See how cute the girls' faces are? Just ignore that weird one on the left... Here's the Lampgirl hanging out with Redballs in my bedroom. As you can see, his balls are no longer red. But, when I found him sitting next to a dumpster behind the thrift store... he had bright red balls and a magic marker bikini top. Leaving him outside for a while took care of that. And below you see Betty in all her glory, wearing my dress from The Buz's castle wedding in Prague. The ladies next to her are old fashioned blouse forms, with wooden ball-joint arms. Pretty sweet.

I have a small collection of mannequins... have I mentioned that? I love every one of them. Betty here is the original family mannequin. My dad passed her down to me as I will pass her down to Josh's daughter some day. She wears outfits, she has a box of wigs. She is glamor. I also got the frilly lamp girl from dad. Her body lights up green. She usually hangs out with Redballs... hm, I need a photo of him. The girls here are pretty neat. They have beautiful old-fashioned faces and one-piece bodies. They prefer no hair or clothing... unless they model for my website. I have a few more... but no photos. I'll work on that.

Woo! I'm scheduling a ton of festivals this year, and I'm pretty set up through July at this point. Here's how it's looking (if you really care about exact dates and locations look here )... I have one at the end of April here locally called the Spring Fever Festival. It's very new and not yet very well attended. But, it's put together by a local art chica and it has great potential to really take off. There's also a fall version in october. Good quality crafts, non-profit booths, activities, music. So, this is my second time doing it... who knows if money will be made there. But it's my first chance to visit with some of my craft buddies and see what other festivals people are doing etc. AND it's literally right down the street. May will be interesting, no local festival really during May. So, I'll be going to Shasta for an Old Time Fiddle Jamboree. Then for memorial day weekend, heading down to Lakeport right on Clear Lake. I'm looking forw

So there I was... saturday afternoon sometime, I turned on the tv. First thing I saw, the very first thing, was my ex-boyfriend's big face. Stunned, I watched as they zooooomed in on his face even more. He was talking on the phone on tv, his wedding ring glistened on the handset next to his big face. 'Weird' I thought to myself. Then, I figure out why he's on the phone on tv. It's the local Easter Seals Telethon. Weirdness #2 - I worked for ES for 2 years and volunteered behind the scenes of that very telethon twice. Whoa. As I'm staring, still stunned, STILL seeing whatshisname's big face ... the mc lady says, "now let's speak with someone pledging all the way from Bismarck North Dakota!" I almost spit out my beer. Why, I used to live in that very part of North Dakota ... in fact my mother still does. It felt like I turned on the tv and the tv people pointed right at me and said, "HEY MERMAID!!" Weirdness, no?

Man, my head is spinning. Lookit all those applications! But see how organized I am? Yeah... I know. I made a map and everything. Yep, tis the season for planning out the craft festival season. It's fun! I'm trying to do as many shows as physically possible this year. It may kill me. If so, please give my mannequins to my boyfriend. I'm looking at doing all the usual local fairs... oyster fest, north country fair, 4th of july, trinidad sunday market. Also some things in oregon and mendocino. Sweet. Check out my web site if you care about exact dates and places. (Don't bug me about the crappy width of the screen ok? The html edit thing stinks.) Really, I can't think of anything else right now. Must... do ... more ... fairs...

I always have. Now, I'm trying to make a living making stuff... sheesh. It's fun, but there are plenty of challenges. Mainly I like selling at craft fairs and such. I have a great time. Traveling, camping out, meeting interesting folks. I love all that. The up side (along with all that stuff) is I'm getting full retail price for all my goods, personal interaction with my customers and therefore direct feedback. The down side, I suppose, is the added cost of travel, booth fees... and personal energy. Physical and emotional. Well, that's not really a down side I guess, but a cost none the less. The travel, setup, and breakdown takes lots of physical energy. And being 'on' all weekend, schmoozing customers and such, is exhausting as well. Still, it is my preferred mode of selling... versus say, wholesaling to shops. That's a separate post I think. The problem I'm trying to solve right now is, well... there are only so many craft shows. The ones that are goo

O k, well you can all relax now. I got my confirmation in the mail yesterday... whew. Not only that, but it looks like I have a killer spot! All alone on a little island, in the middle of the show. Sweet. I did this show once before... when I was doing Wax Hand job. That is, the job where I worked in a kid's wax hand booth in college. As I recall, the quality of crafts was mixed... not too high end handcrafts, mixed with buy/sell goods. Well populated, large festival with a difficult setup. I also remember hitting some bars at night and having fun. I think it's a sort of historic section of town. Anyway... I think I'm set up to do as well as possible, which is all I can ever do. At the very least, I'll cover my expenses. Not worried about that. And I'll get some quality time with my little sis, a rare treat. Get a little visiting time with Dad, also fairly rare. AND get out of town to someplace warm where I'll be doing my thing. Good times. But first, I have app

This could be a blues song... But I hope not. Any day now the Dandelion Days - Lions Club guy is going to call me back and confirm my booth space. Yep. Pretty soon. Festival is this weekend. Ha. Anyway I'm proceeding as if it's a go. My first ever double booth. Yessss. I've got bead kits, hat kits, dye kits, lots of new jewelry... oh, and some new goodies for my booth set up. Extra baskets, better dressing room and awnings! Oh, I'm ready. And clothes . I always have lots of those. Jackson is waaay down near Stockton, so there's a bit of travel involved. I'm getting excited to leave town, now that spring is starting to spring forth. It's gonna be in the 70s! Plus, my little sister will be my sidekick for the weekend. That will rock. So... yeah... once I can get this all uh firmed up... that will be cool.

Well, it's been decided. The Same Old People will run the North Country Fair this year... and Washington Whatshisname has resigned as coordinator. Yippee! I can't wait for September and my same old festival.

Well, I think my foggy winter head is waking up finally. I have my lists of potential craft fairs and application deadlines nicely plotted out on my yahoo calendar. Printed and color coded and pinned to the bulletin board. I'm even sending off applications! I have my lists and charts of new bead and jewelry stuff all laid out. Sweet. Gawd how I do love going through the bead catalogs and web site. Rather than doing it for 2 weeks, though... in a cave-dwelling haze of notebooks and pajamas... I'm getting it all done in a couple days. Not bad huh? Sometime today I'll be conferring with The Buz about some new clothing designs. Heehee. I'm gonna have my OWN original designs. So, we need to get going on all that and work out some details. I'm also working on my booth setup. I want to order a few items to beef up the display a bit... it's getting freakin crowded in there. I've been needing a rolling clothing rack for the travel of wrinkle-prone clothing... and a f

(Hey, there's my booth up in the top left corner... see that purple spot?? That's me!) Ah, the saga continues. You can see my previous posts about this on my Craft Fair Reports list over on the right there... and more recently, here . So, the other day I got a letter and email from the Same Old People, the traditional organizers of the North Country Fair. They seem more than confident about reclaiming the fair from Washington Whatshisname. So, that's good. Apparently, they both have submitted applications to the city to use the Plaza for the festival this year. No decisions yet. But, I see also that the city has adopted a new policy of only issuing permits of use to non-profits. That's pretty cool, considering the SOP have now attained that status. They had always worked like a non-profit, but never really felt the need to officially get the papers... because things just worked very well as they were. Anyway, that might be a help. Also, they have issued a letter to What

At work, we sell this movie called The Secret. I haven't watched it... but I watched most of Oprah's show about it. Man, she can make even the most deep and wonderful things so very cheesy and lame. I didn't realize that The Secret isn't just a movie, it's a book and a lecture series. A little weird, as far as 'spiritual' type teachings go I think... the method, not the message that is. Anyway, the secret isn't so secret really. Stuff I've lived by for years. Ask for what you want. Visualize your life as you want it. You create your own reality. That sort of stuff. The idea being, you reap what you sow... or putting out thoughts and energy will create that path for you. I know all that, but I think (aside from the television-cheesiness) it's neat to see it put out mainstream style. I guess. I mean, if that's what it takes for folks to accept some of this info. Things enlightened hippy-types have been spouting forever. Somehow on Oprah it'

Well, I just got the first issue of my new subscription to the Craftmaster News . Wooo! It's been a few years since I subscribed, and they've really done a lot to it. This is a giant list of fairs and festivals, including all pertinent info. I mean lots of info... fees, deadlines, contacts, type of show, types of crafts, whether or not commercial items are allowed, if there's camping available, everything. Now there are lots of emails and websites too. Sweet! Used to cover mostly California and a few surrounding states... now it includes shows all the way to North Dakota and Texas! Also some articles, indexed ads for supplies and shows. Each issue used to cover 6 months, now it's almost a year. Pretty cool. I remember hunting around for a craft fair list a while back and many cost hundreds of dollars. This one, I think, is a good value. They send you an updated version every other month, and now you can get updates online and via email. All for the low low price of abou

Yes, the new studio room at the house is getting broken in, finally. You know... it takes me a while to settle into a studio space. Moving the stuff in is easy. Making it a comfy place to create takes some time. For some reason, until I get my mojo going in a place... I just want to leave. I stay long enough to get stuff done, but then I'm eager to go. I can't explain it. So, I have to make an effort to just spend time there... reading art books, writin g, sketching... quiet time stuff that gets my creative juices flowing. To that end, last weekend I spent lots of time in there... added some shelves, emptied some boxes, set up more lighting, put some of my favorite art on the walls (some of mine, some I have acquired from friends). And I made a wonderful discovery. While the super bowl raged just a few feet away... my little studio was a calm oasis. Quiet except for my npr favorites on the radio and the occasional passing car. Lovely. The photos really can't capture the cal

Oh, I have some craft kits alright. Do I ever. I love love love the idea of kits. I guess because I love to come up with craft projects, especially for those who think they are not crafty. That's what I like about teaching art ... showing folks that everyone can enjoy it, not only those who have a talent for it. It's fun and satisfying to start with a pile of stuff and end up with something pretty or useful. My approach is to have them make one item that incorporates a number of skills, pretty much foolproof but with room for creativity. So at the end of the class they go home with something cool that they feel good about. When I prepare a new class, I write up all the instructions. Once they are done, I can just teach it over and over. The hard part is finished in planning the activity. I like to take the instructions and some supplies and make up kits to sell. Likewise, I can just sell them over and over without much more thought. Except for what the next kit will be. So, an

I'm feeling scattered. Just like every year at this time. Craft fairs are on hold until spring. The weather is cold and laying around in my jammies seems so inviting. As well as a general winter cave-dwelling tendency. Every year at this time I try to make a good plan... like... it's really a perfect time to be working on new print designs or dye techniques. Also a good time to do some wholesaling (that's a whole other post) and improve my printed materials to that end. The web site always needs work. There are taxes to prepare, end of the year reports I like to compile (well I LIKE to have them, compiling them is a chore). Craft fairs to seek out and apply for... plenty of stuff. But, I always have a hard time getting things done. I guess I don't really make a solid enough plan soon enough or something. I think about the stuff... do some of it. But, really I mostly do whatever I feel like doing on a particular day. I've always been a self-indulgent adult. Without a

Ok, so maybe like me you have been hearing about the Mateel and Raggae drama going on lately. My understanding is that the folks now in charge of Raggae on the River (the name, or property... not sure) have outsourced it to some bay area fair management. Thus somehow removing it from its historical purpose... the main fund raiser for the Mateel Community Center . I'm sure I'm missing many details. But whatever, the result is this email I got the other day from one of the Mateel organizers: Dear vendor. I hope your new year is going well. Due to financial problems in regards to shortfalls in expected income form Reggae on the River, the mateel community center has been closed since December 14 th , just after our last event of the year the Winter Arts Fair. You may have participated in our Summer Arts and Music Festival, our Winter Arts Fair, or one of our other two outdoor festivals in 2006. Unfortunately all of our events for 2007 are now on hold. In or

I know I'm a bit late with this... but I wanted to talk a little more about the Arcata Holiday Craft Market. Like I said before, it was fun. This is my booth, right next to Paula's Puzzles just like every year at the North Country Fair. On the other side, some pretty copper hanging things... and across, the smelly wreath lady. Hahaha. I don't mean she was smelly, but her booth fulla wreaths smelled like all kinds of Holiday Goodness. Eucalyptus, pine, lavender, and I bartered for one of these pretty pepper wreaths that Barney wanted (then I faked him out so I could surprise him for Xmas, muahaha). Joyful Dancers top on the mannequin there... I sold that top & pants outfit right off her. Love when that happens. The guy had brought his wife by, then snuck back to get it. Lots of that kind of sweetness during that weekend. Heehee. I found a spot for all the new jewelry. I think it worked out well. People could see it walking by and I even sold some. Woo! Although, looking

Excellent question. Thanks for asking... Um, I've been festivizing like the rest of you. Went out to North Dakota for a week to visit my mom et al. Good times. Art-wise, not too much happening as I recover from this nasty cold. I have some garment dyeing to do for a friend who makes baby clothes. I got some beautiful beads and baubles as gifts from my sweety... so as I've been laying around blowing my nose, I've also been making jewelry. My ebay stuff went on hold for my time out of state. But today I decided to switch auction managers to save some cash... so I've been learning the new site and transferring auction stuff. The old one was Vendio.com (previously AuctionWatch). Really a great and easy to use site. I've been with them for years, they were free back in the day. Now there are lots of plans and their fees are pretty low. But, for the amount I sell, I shouldn't be paying for extras. Ebay and Paypal cost enough. So, I hunted around and found Auctiva . W