Bohemian Mermaid Palace

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...