Bohemian Mermaid Palace

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...

It was fun!! I think I need to do this one every year... It's well run, the lady in charge is awesome and makes herself available all weekend. What a concept. It's put on by the city recreation dept so there are lots of kids volunteering and school bands playing. Just a fun atmosphere. They had a little food stand run by the kids too. Everything was either $1 or $2. The brownies were awesome and we got two coupons for free coffee. The Arts in the Afternoon program kids were selling silk scarves they made, which was neat. I got to see a few friends and made a few trades for gifts. I made money too! It didn't look good on the first day, but the second day was awesome and overall I did pretty well. Woo. They do need to advertise a little, at least on the community calendars... the crowd was pretty thin. But otherwise, it's a good one. Ok, I gotta go to officegirl land now, photos and humorous anecdotes to follow...

Well, it's my day off from officegirl land. I guess one tends to sleep in on those days. But there are things to be done!! A craft fair to prep for ... and as usual I'm behind schedule. Lately I've been crashing early and waking early and it's been good. But nooooo. Last night I crashed early (rather than working like I should have) cuz I was tired and I figured I'd wake up early like I have all week. Barney kisses me good bye at about 6:30, and lately I've been unable to go back to sleep afterwards. Not today. Sigh. Woke up at freakin 10. What the hell?!? Anywayzzzz... I'm only taking the time to write here cuz well... computerizing goes so well with my coffee. And I do need to wake up a bit. Luckily I have my Mermaid Power Mug to help me along... Buz brought this from Ireland (I think) and bought it from the artist at a craft fair or something. Isn't it awesome?? The photo doesn't do it justice really. So what's on the agenda for today? Plenty,...

Yeah, the new studio space is at home now. It is good in many ways... the main one being cost. And it's close. I have all my worldly possessions in one spot. Handy. I did get a little spoiled at the last studio. The two big rooms with sinks and tables and show space and teaching space. The nice central Arcata location. But, I never could afford it. Not the whole thing alone. There are some adjustments to be made with the new setup, unpacking still to be done. But here's the scene as it is now... I have one whole bedroom for my artgirl activities (Barney the Best Boyfriend in the Wholewideworld was all for it. He rocks!) It has big windows, pretty good light. Room for tables, a cabinet and shortly some bookshelves. Most of the dry type supplies like sewing, beads, painting stuff and kits. There's a huge walk-in closet that spans most of the length of this wall. Holds lots of Mermaid goodies. I've packed away most of the knit clothing, but there's still room for the ...