The Sad Part: Strange Folk Comes but Once a Year

My helpful husband and I drove separate, packed vehicles and arrived at my booth space on Saturday morning with three and a half hours to prepare for the 10:00 opening. After my husband helped to unload the gear and set up the tent and grid walls, he scooted away to entertain our son for the day. In spite of what sounds like ample time to prepare, I had only five spare minutes to use the restroom and pick up my artist's badge before greeting shoppers.
I had expected the changing area in the rear of my tent to draw more t-shirt sales, but ended up taking it down on Sunday. The openly visible mirror seemed to attract more people.
The t-shirt rack definitely welcomed more attention after I hung several examples along the walls. The fabric in the corner is hiding my tent weights, which were five gallon buckets filled with sand ($26 for all four corners combined) The front pair were masked by drapes, and the other corner weight was behind my counter.
Below is a glimpse at the view behind the scenes. Here's where the vendors in my row took a breather now and then. The folks on either side of me were friendly non-smokers, for which I was grateful.
The weekend was a fun retreat and a successful venture, with visits from friends and family who were enthusiastic supporters that were careful not to impede business.

I'm hoping for the opportunity to return to this fantastic festival next year.

Being Strange

I'm looking forward to a fantastic weekend of strangeness!

Click for driving directions.

Prep Time

Strange Folk Festival is just days away, so I've been working on preparation. On Saturday, my other half helped me set up the tent I bought via Craigslist a few months ago.

The grid wall panels were also a Craigslist bargain. They will hold bags and purses for sale. The spinner rack is for headbands, key fobs, and wrist cuffs. The extra white walls in the back corner are to create a changing area, where there will also be a full length mirror and hooks. The "counter" will hide supplies for transactions and re-stocking. On the right hand side of the booth will be racks of clothing I've appliqued.

Now, we are just hoping that the weather forecast changes for the better before next weekend. Rain would be a real drag on my family's fun, and income.

At a party over Labor Day weekend, I mentioned my yen for an old work truck so that I could haul my own mulch for the garden. Cooincidentally, one of the guys I was talking with said he was willing to part with this 1982 truck for a mere $300. With Strange Folk next weekend, my husband was eager to go pick up the truck so that hauling all my gear and merchandise would be simpler.

As Seen on TV

Today, Autumn Wiggins, the woman who invented and runs the Strangefolk Festival in O'Fallon, Illinois, appeared on KMOV's Great Day St. Louis to publicize the most amazing and fun craft festival in our region. See the video here. Autumn's segment begins 10 minutes into the show, and my jacket's moment comes around 12:45.

This is exciting for three reasons: the more exposure and advertising this event gets, the happier I'll be in my little vendor booth; it means that Strangefolk is just around the corner; and she wore one of my jackets on TV! It's barely visible in the shot above, but this is the jacket she chose to wear.

Thanks, Ms. Wiggins, for putting one of my products, and my shop name, under the limelight!

A Day at the Races

The Tour of Missouri bicycle race began this afternoon in downtown St. Louis. We got to watch several loops of the criterium course. It was awe-inspiring to see the big names in cycling ride through our fair city. Since the Tour of Georgia folded, our state race is second in prominence only to the Tour of California.

Between laps, we explored the merchandising areas, scooping up free cowbells, bike pins, bumper stickers, back packs, wholesome food samples, and other goodies. We also explored City Garden. (More photos of that sculpture/fountain/garden/play area another day.)

New Banner for my Craft Show Booth

The other day, I sewed up a banner to hang above the entrance of my craft show booth. A length of bedsheet leftover from backing a quilt was just the right size for the top layer. Many flashy fabrics beckoned, but this quiet paisley flannel seemed to offer the right color mixture to go with my business cards. I sewed the flannel to the back of the blue sheet, then traced letter outlines in pencil. After sewing along the penciled outlines of letters, I cut them out (reverse applique).

Fancier fonts certainly appealed to me, but I decided to go with the most readable lettering.

Now I just need to iron it, slip it into the EZ-Up banner sleeve, and roll it up until the Strangefolk Festival.

More Jackets for Earth Lovers

Labor Day weekend has been filled with friends, fun, and freedom. In between outings, I appliqued trees onto two denim jackets.
This is a bag I made recently, with pockets galore both inside and out.
Here is a long, dark, denim jacket I'm inclined to keep for myself.

A Day at the Zoo

Last weekend we visited the wonderful St. Louis Zoo. This was my son's first solo carousel ride, and he gloried in the independence. After the ride, he took the photography reigns and carefully snapped photos of every species of bird found in the zoo.