Bohemian Mermaid Palace

As predicted, a wonderful time was had in beautiful Mendocino, CA. I asked for a view of the stage and got just that. As usual, my neighbors were fun and talented. I'm considering going back for their holiday show over Thanksgiving weekend. hm, we'll see.

Well I'm heading today to the beautiful town of Mendocino for the Mendocino Art Center Summer Craft Fair. Woo! I love going there. So pretty and the people are so cool. I think I have a couple photos from last year... hm where are they? August is looking a little lean on the festival schedule for me... I might get back to the Mendo coast for Casparfest . We'll see, but I have a few other irons in the fire of course. I still have goods for sale at Schatzi's Hidden Treasures in the mall. I'll be beefing up my display when I get back next week. If you haven't checked it out you should. Pretty neat importy store full of interesting stuff. I also need to get my web site updated, duh. How long have I been saying that? Well I got a new camera last fall and now have some much better pics I can put up. I still want to get some sort of photo shoot lined up with models, as in real people. And I'll be going back online selling on the wonderful etsy.com. Possibly some ebay ...

I think this time I'll skip the commentary and just post some photos. Such a beautiful town!

Hey do I have time for this right now? Hm, if I make another cup of coffee, sure... mmm. ok. Well lagging still on my reports. However I have photos! woo! The Benb ow show was nice as usual. That is, the Mateel Arts & Music Festival. Perfect weather, good attend ance from what I could tell. Although Stu pointed out there is usually a time w hen it's elbow to elbow and we didn't see it get that crowded. Still lots of folks. We were across from the Holistic Hooping booth which was fun to watch all weekend... Two little bummers, ok 3. 1) Stu was a freakin grump. Note to self, leave him home next time and take a girl. 2) and I haven't dwelled on this at all really, but one o f my nicest pieces was stolen. It was a bummer, but I hate giving that sort of thing much energy so that's the end of that. 3) I managed to get poison oak, which finally cleared up a few days ago (that's 3 weeks of pure torture my friends). Haha. Still my favorite show... I mean look at our view...

Yep another hopping spring turning into a busy summer... along with my new day job (sigh) I'm super busy right now. Loving it. Of course, the big one coming up is the awesome Mateel Arts & Music Festival next weekend June 6-7 in Benbow. Our biggest and most fun local event, I would say. Tons of music and performances on 4 stages, over 100 high quality craft booths, a big kid's area and a beautiful location. Just lots of smiling folks and a super fun time. I'm SO happy to return this year, after my little hospital vacation last year. Yes... this is a much better year by far. I've been a little behind on my postings here... um let's see... I'll briefly recap my festivals so far. After the local Spring Fever Festival, which was fun as usual... I headed up to Gold Beach, OR for the Art & Wine Festival. A lovely little show near the beach with wine tasting and nice quality crafts. Not a huge money maker for the crafts vendors I think... but the beach campin...

I know I have the fever, so do you! First local craft show of the season... woo!

Hey that was fun! I know that's what I always say... but really. A great festival, (nearly) perfect weather, gorgeous location, nice quality crafts & music and very well organized event. The show folks came by VERY regularly to see if we solo vendors needed breaks or food. That alone was quite impressive. We even got food vouchers, very nice. I was pleasantly surprised at how many art friends I saw there. Always fun to catch up with my peeps. And Stu joined me on Sunday so I got a couple smooches too. The van ran great, no problems there whatsoever. I did have one minor adventure during setup. Gale force winds were a-blowin when I arrived. Most other vendors chose to wait to set up in the morning... oh but I was sure I could do it. Once my booth is up it's very heavy, I never have wind troubles. So I stubbornly insisted on trying to set up my tent, as I watched my neighbor's tear right through the top. She and another neigh bor held my frame a s I tied tubs and racks t...

Oh man... do I really have to say how excited I am that show season is starting? Nah. It's understood. My first show this year will be the Bodega Bay Fisherman's Festival down near Santa Rosa. Last year, as some may recall, this was also my first show scheduled and I was equally excited to go. However, it also turned out to be my first New Van breakdown, one of many in a string of unfortunate events. So I am feeling um... hm... a little nervous at the memory of being stranded in Willits. But I'm also feeling it will be a small milestone. If all goes smoothly, I will see it as a sign of a better year to come. Anyway, I came across this video of the festival so I thought I'd share. Seafood, boat parade, pet parade, kite flying, wooden boat contest, music, and crafts of course. Bodega Bay Fisherman's Festival

This is the first in a series of How-To articles I'm working on. I have a billion little projects in my head and I thought it would be fun to start posting them here. A girl's got to keep busy… The other night I was brainstorming some of these projects, itching to make some lists, but couldn't find a clean notebook (I swear I have a green one that's practically new argh). After tearing up the house a little bit, I decided to just make one. I wasn't fussy so it took me about 10 minutes. Maybe I should number the steps, huh? Ok... 1. Prepare the Paper. I have acquired a good stack of reusable paper under my printer, as you have I'm sure. You can use full sheets or cut them in half. I personally had lots of 3/4 and 1/2 sheets from printing mailing labels for my ebay stuff, so I used those. I didn’t worry about them being the same size or cut straight, but you could use a paper cutter to even them out. Make a stack of p...

Hey I did pretty well with my Christmas scores this year. Luckily, I got to ask for what I need... so it worked out well. Ok so first on my New Year agenda is to get my biz records in order. Stu got me Quickbooks for Christmas. Yay! I have used it at a couple jobs in the past, but now I'm learning all the ins and outs. I'm going to use the inventory tracking... so (theoretically anyway) after a show I will type in each item that sold and be able to see updated inventory levels. That will make quick supply orders so much easier. Rather than unloading the whole van and d oing a physical inv each time, or trying to do it at a show. Argh. Lots of other neato features, and it cost less than I thought. Oooh I also got a few gift cards from Mom... one I used to buy 3 new craft books. Heehee I get all giggly looking at them. I guess it's been a while since I added to my (awesome) craft library. I decided I needed some specific beading and jewelry maki ng books. I want to start maki...