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xianeSaturday started off badly.
A couple of new readers of my journal probably don't know about my gastric issues, but I have what I like to call "stress-induced vomitus." * I woke up around 3am with HORRIBLE stomach pains and tried really hard to wish them away. At 5am,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
inefficiency came in with a delightful breakfast of oatmeal with cinnamon and walnuts and a glass of water, and I had to turn down the oatmeal after one almost disastrous bite. The thought was lovely, though. *sigh* The water helped somewhat, although I was in some bad bad pain - and I got up and got dressed, like a good business owner does. Rob said that he thought I might not go, but damned if I was going to do that. I invested too much time and money into this to let my stomach foil me.
I was smart the night before and had laid out all my clothing, so it made it much easier to limp through the morning rituals without too much effort. The long, floor-dragging cotton skirt I'd made recently went on with leggings, a long sleeve black tee, and purple striped socks. I made sure to put on sunscreen - my nose ended up pink by the end of the day anyway, but at least I made an effort! I made a trusty PB+J sammich and packed two Luna bars and an apple, in anticipation of possible hunger returning somewhere in the day. I made the smart decision to wear my Docs - you'll see in a bit why this was a good move on my part - and laced them while wincing through the bending over. Gathering up the last of what needed to go in the car [I'd loaded the rest up the night before], I donned my heavier hoodie and a sparkly light scarf for fun and warmth, and I jumped in the car and on my way.
With Icehouse in the CD player, directions in the front seat, pink skies in the distance, and water in my belly, I drove down 74 then 85, with Freedom Park as the goal. The drive was pleasant despite the cramps, with not too much traffic and no problems finding the park. Wow, that section of town seems nice! There's a metaphysical store called Rainbow Path that I need to check out at some point - the owner [I think] came up during the day and introduced herself, that seems like a good sign. The neighborhood seems fairly upscale/college student-friendly, with manicured, quirky streets and LOTS of early morning joggers. The park is nice and evidently pretty huge, too. I never did see all of it. For example - there was also a protest/rally going on at the park at the same time, and I never saw it at all. And although I feared it could have ended up being a bad thing, it was actually really good. There was a lot of crossover between the events.
If you know me, you know I'm the sort of person that always shows up early. Being one of the first people there was excellent. I was able to meet two of the other vendors immediately, and let me tell you a secret here. If you ever vend at an event like this, BEFRIEND THE MASSEUSE IMMEDIATELY. This has happened to me every single time I've worked an event like this and it always ends up being the best thing I ever could have done. I met a Massage Therapist, Stephanie, and immediately hit it off with her. She's a transplant from New York and we commiserated about adapting to living in the South, being Voluptuous Older Women, and being pagan-types in the Bible Belt. We were the first to set up our stalls and set up next to each other, at the far end of the field. This was also advantageous, as we had a sparse row of trees and a path that led to the protest behind us [and the bathrooms, in the distance!] so we had shade in the afternoon and a steady draw of curious people checking us out.
I should mention why I was really glad that I wore my Docs. Getting to the park at 7:30 am meant that it was both cold... and incredibly dewy out. Walking my gear and supplies across the field in several trips ensured that my boots and about three inches of skirt were soaked and covered with bits of grass. People who wore pants were stuck with the wet cloth against their legs, but because I was wearing leggings and boots, my skin was mostly dry.
It didn't take long for me to set up, and I was able to even assist Stephanie with raising her tent. All the time I was still feeling horribly sick, but the more I talked with people the more my tummy tried to settle down. Even better, and a great omen for how the rest of the day was going to go, the first people to come up and talk to me not only were my first sales of the day, but were some well-known clergy-types who were really amazing to talk to, AND talked me up to a bunch of folk/dragged them over to my booth/got me about five more sales. And and and they want me to come hold a couple of teaching circles for their coven. This is a great thing, as it means I'll not only get to meet more people and get the word out about me, but I'll also be able to [hopefully] get people buying their supplies from me. We'll see how that pans out, but I did used to teach some classes at Grandma's Candle Shop, and they went pretty well.
After that I started to slowly feel better, and as people began to show up and make the rounds, I watched the money accumulate in my pouch. The day was beautiful, the people were all very friendly and nice, and I met a bunch of really cool folks. There was another fairly new transplant to the area, Laura, who wants to learn more about herbalism and how to do the things I do. Stephanie the Massage Therapist also was *really* interested in carrying some of my products in her studio and also starting a discussion group and really wants me to join that. And I met another really amazing woman, Diana, and had some candid and amusing conversations with her - and I'd love to talk more.
I was out of catalog/brochures by noon. I ran out of business cards by 1:30.
I had a lot of "event-only" items that I knew would probably do well, like herbed beeswax candles and my Witch Emergency Kits [tin boxes with 12 small containers filled with herbs marked by elemental and planetary correspondences, VERY cute], and some pagan themed charms... I also took some pagan themed books that I didn't want and sold all but three. That was fabulous and also served to free up some shelf space! The emergency Kits FLEW out of there. I think I need to add them to the website. I also had bags of Ceremonial Sage that I was able to offer at a really good price, and almost all of those sold - I made way more than I paid and they were STILL a good deal.
There were requests for more oils, bagged herbs, and *sigh* shower gels. I know, I know. Must get them created. The bath salts, however, got universal praise, and I can't tell you how many I managed to sell just by getting people to sniff the samples I had out. Next time I'll have to have even more sniffing samples available, because this really really helped. The incense did pretty well, too, especially after I encouraged people to smell it and described the ingredients. Rock, I do.
Things I noted for the future - my booth was prettier than everyone else's. Seriously. I was totally colour-coordinated in my purple drapes and accents, and my WONDERFUL Mother-In-Law made me a hand-lettered and decorated sign and display tree that garnered a lot of compliments. I also draped a beaded wire all along the tables for more of a fairy-feel. Next time I need to take my cauldron and actually burn some of the incense. I was correct in choosing not to take music to play, because not only did a lot of other people have music, but I wouldn't have been able to hear the announcements nor the rituals. [by the by, there was a pretty hilarious Discordian ritual. I held one of those once, and they're a riot to do.] Next time I should take less large jars of bath stuff - I only sold one. [however, they were really key in holding down the tablecloth and holding up the tree when the wind picked up.] I should bring more variety of bath salts, and *definitely* bag herbs to sell. Next time I'll bring more oils, because they were popular. And I'll make more catalogs and more business cards!
Oh, and I was totally correct in not wanting to carry bar soap, because there were three vendors carrying it. It is worth noting that only one of them had soap that even looked like it would be competition to the quality of things that I make, but a lot of shoppers don't notice things like that when just wandering around. Not a soul had any of the other things that I was carrying, though. A couple of vendors had stick incense, but none had oils, candles, nor any other herbal product. *score*
I sold half my inventory. This included all but a few bottles of incense, a huge amount of bags of bath salts and milk baths, about seven books, all but three candles, more than half of the charms, and six dream pillows. I also sold a good amount of the incense charcoal that I bagged, in part because I think the cost was good. I walked away with a little under $200, a LOT of contacts, a possible commission for more products, and a feeling of confidence. Oh, and a pink nose and chest. [note that the umbrella I bought needs to be reinforced, or I need to buy a small pavilion-type cover. I don't want a tent because they're a pain in the butt and I feel a bit daunting to enter.]
So! Good day! And I'll post in a bit about what I have left, for an LJ-only post-festival SALE.
*[I've linked it to what's commonly called CVS or Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, and that's as close as I've been able to come to explaining it. It used to be much worse. Now it just crops up when I'm supremely stressed out, and the vomiting portion doesn't generally last as long as it used to.]
A couple of new readers of my journal probably don't know about my gastric issues, but I have what I like to call "stress-induced vomitus." * I woke up around 3am with HORRIBLE stomach pains and tried really hard to wish them away. At 5am,
inefficiency came in with a delightful breakfast of oatmeal with cinnamon and walnuts and a glass of water, and I had to turn down the oatmeal after one almost disastrous bite. The thought was lovely, though. *sigh* The water helped somewhat, although I was in some bad bad pain - and I got up and got dressed, like a good business owner does. Rob said that he thought I might not go, but damned if I was going to do that. I invested too much time and money into this to let my stomach foil me. I was smart the night before and had laid out all my clothing, so it made it much easier to limp through the morning rituals without too much effort. The long, floor-dragging cotton skirt I'd made recently went on with leggings, a long sleeve black tee, and purple striped socks. I made sure to put on sunscreen - my nose ended up pink by the end of the day anyway, but at least I made an effort! I made a trusty PB+J sammich and packed two Luna bars and an apple, in anticipation of possible hunger returning somewhere in the day. I made the smart decision to wear my Docs - you'll see in a bit why this was a good move on my part - and laced them while wincing through the bending over. Gathering up the last of what needed to go in the car [I'd loaded the rest up the night before], I donned my heavier hoodie and a sparkly light scarf for fun and warmth, and I jumped in the car and on my way.
With Icehouse in the CD player, directions in the front seat, pink skies in the distance, and water in my belly, I drove down 74 then 85, with Freedom Park as the goal. The drive was pleasant despite the cramps, with not too much traffic and no problems finding the park. Wow, that section of town seems nice! There's a metaphysical store called Rainbow Path that I need to check out at some point - the owner [I think] came up during the day and introduced herself, that seems like a good sign. The neighborhood seems fairly upscale/college student-friendly, with manicured, quirky streets and LOTS of early morning joggers. The park is nice and evidently pretty huge, too. I never did see all of it. For example - there was also a protest/rally going on at the park at the same time, and I never saw it at all. And although I feared it could have ended up being a bad thing, it was actually really good. There was a lot of crossover between the events.
If you know me, you know I'm the sort of person that always shows up early. Being one of the first people there was excellent. I was able to meet two of the other vendors immediately, and let me tell you a secret here. If you ever vend at an event like this, BEFRIEND THE MASSEUSE IMMEDIATELY. This has happened to me every single time I've worked an event like this and it always ends up being the best thing I ever could have done. I met a Massage Therapist, Stephanie, and immediately hit it off with her. She's a transplant from New York and we commiserated about adapting to living in the South, being Voluptuous Older Women, and being pagan-types in the Bible Belt. We were the first to set up our stalls and set up next to each other, at the far end of the field. This was also advantageous, as we had a sparse row of trees and a path that led to the protest behind us [and the bathrooms, in the distance!] so we had shade in the afternoon and a steady draw of curious people checking us out.
I should mention why I was really glad that I wore my Docs. Getting to the park at 7:30 am meant that it was both cold... and incredibly dewy out. Walking my gear and supplies across the field in several trips ensured that my boots and about three inches of skirt were soaked and covered with bits of grass. People who wore pants were stuck with the wet cloth against their legs, but because I was wearing leggings and boots, my skin was mostly dry.
It didn't take long for me to set up, and I was able to even assist Stephanie with raising her tent. All the time I was still feeling horribly sick, but the more I talked with people the more my tummy tried to settle down. Even better, and a great omen for how the rest of the day was going to go, the first people to come up and talk to me not only were my first sales of the day, but were some well-known clergy-types who were really amazing to talk to, AND talked me up to a bunch of folk/dragged them over to my booth/got me about five more sales. And and and they want me to come hold a couple of teaching circles for their coven. This is a great thing, as it means I'll not only get to meet more people and get the word out about me, but I'll also be able to [hopefully] get people buying their supplies from me. We'll see how that pans out, but I did used to teach some classes at Grandma's Candle Shop, and they went pretty well.
After that I started to slowly feel better, and as people began to show up and make the rounds, I watched the money accumulate in my pouch. The day was beautiful, the people were all very friendly and nice, and I met a bunch of really cool folks. There was another fairly new transplant to the area, Laura, who wants to learn more about herbalism and how to do the things I do. Stephanie the Massage Therapist also was *really* interested in carrying some of my products in her studio and also starting a discussion group and really wants me to join that. And I met another really amazing woman, Diana, and had some candid and amusing conversations with her - and I'd love to talk more.
I was out of catalog/brochures by noon. I ran out of business cards by 1:30.
I had a lot of "event-only" items that I knew would probably do well, like herbed beeswax candles and my Witch Emergency Kits [tin boxes with 12 small containers filled with herbs marked by elemental and planetary correspondences, VERY cute], and some pagan themed charms... I also took some pagan themed books that I didn't want and sold all but three. That was fabulous and also served to free up some shelf space! The emergency Kits FLEW out of there. I think I need to add them to the website. I also had bags of Ceremonial Sage that I was able to offer at a really good price, and almost all of those sold - I made way more than I paid and they were STILL a good deal.
There were requests for more oils, bagged herbs, and *sigh* shower gels. I know, I know. Must get them created. The bath salts, however, got universal praise, and I can't tell you how many I managed to sell just by getting people to sniff the samples I had out. Next time I'll have to have even more sniffing samples available, because this really really helped. The incense did pretty well, too, especially after I encouraged people to smell it and described the ingredients. Rock, I do.
Things I noted for the future - my booth was prettier than everyone else's. Seriously. I was totally colour-coordinated in my purple drapes and accents, and my WONDERFUL Mother-In-Law made me a hand-lettered and decorated sign and display tree that garnered a lot of compliments. I also draped a beaded wire all along the tables for more of a fairy-feel. Next time I need to take my cauldron and actually burn some of the incense. I was correct in choosing not to take music to play, because not only did a lot of other people have music, but I wouldn't have been able to hear the announcements nor the rituals. [by the by, there was a pretty hilarious Discordian ritual. I held one of those once, and they're a riot to do.] Next time I should take less large jars of bath stuff - I only sold one. [however, they were really key in holding down the tablecloth and holding up the tree when the wind picked up.] I should bring more variety of bath salts, and *definitely* bag herbs to sell. Next time I'll bring more oils, because they were popular. And I'll make more catalogs and more business cards!
Oh, and I was totally correct in not wanting to carry bar soap, because there were three vendors carrying it. It is worth noting that only one of them had soap that even looked like it would be competition to the quality of things that I make, but a lot of shoppers don't notice things like that when just wandering around. Not a soul had any of the other things that I was carrying, though. A couple of vendors had stick incense, but none had oils, candles, nor any other herbal product. *score*
I sold half my inventory. This included all but a few bottles of incense, a huge amount of bags of bath salts and milk baths, about seven books, all but three candles, more than half of the charms, and six dream pillows. I also sold a good amount of the incense charcoal that I bagged, in part because I think the cost was good. I walked away with a little under $200, a LOT of contacts, a possible commission for more products, and a feeling of confidence. Oh, and a pink nose and chest. [note that the umbrella I bought needs to be reinforced, or I need to buy a small pavilion-type cover. I don't want a tent because they're a pain in the butt and I feel a bit daunting to enter.]
So! Good day! And I'll post in a bit about what I have left, for an LJ-only post-festival SALE.
*[I've linked it to what's commonly called CVS or Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, and that's as close as I've been able to come to explaining it. It used to be much worse. Now it just crops up when I'm supremely stressed out, and the vomiting portion doesn't generally last as long as it used to.]
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no subject
2006-10-01 20:58 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-02 02:47 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-01 21:05 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-02 02:48 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-02 02:49 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-01 21:24 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-02 02:50 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-01 22:01 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-02 02:51 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-01 22:09 (UTC)I'm so happy for you!
If I would have had $$$, I would have come to see you.
♥ Exciting! =D
no subject
2006-10-02 02:52 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-01 22:39 (UTC)Showergels, for sure. I'd love to find someone who does them without SLS or SLES. Bombshell bath did them for a while, but they discontinued them. :(
xx
no subject
2006-10-01 22:42 (UTC)It went so well that I'm actually itching to do another event. Yay!
no subject
2006-10-02 15:25 (UTC)xx
no subject
2006-10-01 23:35 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-02 02:56 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-02 02:06 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-02 03:05 (UTC)I'm really glad I was able to power through it, because I would have missed out on a seriously excellent and productive day otherwise.
I will be posting up some of the things I have left, as soon as I get some energy back. The regular stuff is at threeravens.net, but I have some oddities too.
So many ideas for things to add to the website!
no subject
2006-10-02 18:39 (UTC)