You know when you think you have everything under control and then suddenly you realize you don't! It's not a nice feeling, at least in my book. I don't like such stress. Each time something happens, you learn something though, whether it be how to do something better or to be more aware of whats going on next time, ask more questions and don't beleive what anyone says, get it on paper, in writing, names dates, blood type, name of first born, grandmothers maiden name! Seriously though, you just can't beleive that anyones going to take care of things for you. A simple handshake or "Your good to go!" doesn't suffice anymore. It's a shame we can't trust someone in a specific possition to do THEIR job the right way. Instead we have to double check to make sure it was done correctly.

St. Nicholas Greek Festival 2011

Wow what a great weekend! The 4 days at the festival were a little tiring but we made some sales, we made some friends, we received some invites to other fairs and festivals, we even got some ideas for doggy soap! It was wonderful. Now I have to focus on what soaps I have, what soaps were hot sellers and what customers asked for that I didn't have. I thought I had a good soap for men, Beer and Lime, I added real beer and real lime juice and shredded rind but for some reason there was no smell. Everyone thought it was a great idea but when they smelled it, nothing. Sandlewood and musk were mentioned so I'll be ordering those essential or fragrant oils soon. Oh yes and the coffee didn't smell either. I think I should have ground the coffee more and maybe added brewed coffee also to it.

The rest of the family were wonderful. Each helped out in their own way whether it be at home or at the booth. Leona actually sold soaps and talked with the customers which was nice to see.

Now off to make more soap, order more stuff, get more ideas!
Thank you to all who came to my booth!

Festival Day 1

First day of the festival started out terrible. The sun was shinning bright, low heat and humidity but the wind was blowing hard. We unloaded the truck and began to set up the tables. I had found two fabric tableclothes ( and I'm lucky I did! ) and wrestled with them for at least 1 hour. If they were plastic they would have ripped like mostly all the other vendors. We attached the plastic grippies to the table then the wind blew and off snapped some of them along with the tablecloth! I didn't take a tent with me because I figured at 5 o'clock the sun wouldn't be so bright and might be behind the trees. I was wrong! I had my daughter bring the tent to us and began to fight with it to put it up. No success! The wind was too strong. I was almopst impossible to put that up. So for a good part of the evening we fought the wind, trying not to lose anything and put the displays of soap out covered with baskets so the sun wouldn't ruin them! I felt horrible but luckily there was a nice vendor that came over to talk to us and gave us a few pointers and commented about how nice we displayed everything for being a beginner! She also offered us a place at another event in August!

The sun slowly went down behind the trees and the wind died down. People began coming, not many but that was expected for a Thursday night. We gave out some brochers, talked to some people, made some freinds and actually sold 1 bar! All in all it wasn't that bad!

I need to run out to find some things for tonight. I need stronger grippies for the tablecloth and maybe a cheaper tent. It's not supposed to be as windy as yesterday so the sun will be a bigger problem today.
Wish me luck for day 2!

Festival

I'm so nervous! Today is my very first soap event. A 'soapie' friend sent me her check list and I gathered up most things on it. Things I wouldn't even think of taking but should have with me. Thank you Aubrey!

Today and tomorrow the Festival runs from 5pm - 9pm so it's not that long. Saturday noon - 11pm and Sunday noon - 9pm. I have about 30 different types of soaps; most are bath size packaged with cigar band, label and organza bag, others are ovals with just labels and then I made little soap balls. I will be taking most of my crocheted items with me also. The weather will be great the entire 4 days, I was afraid it might rain or be chilly.

This is the first time in 22 years (ouch!) that I will be working outside of the house and the first time ever I'm working on my own. I've always worked for someone else. So this is a big time in my life! My youngest will be helping me today and probably tomorrow. My oldest said she would come after work, then Saturday and Sunday I don't know. I'm hoping to sell at least something. I keep thinking what if I sell everything! That would be great! But I don't want to get my hopes up too much, reaching for the stars is fine but the let down hurts much more that if you just reach for the tree tops! This will definitely be a learning experience for me, in more ways than one. I will hand out business cards and brochures with all my info. Hopefully that way I'll start getting the word out and more people will visit my website and blog.

I need to get a few display baskets before this evening. Then I'll start packing everything in the jeep except for the boxes of soap, they shouldn't be in the heat. I'll be double checking Aubrey's list to make sure I have everything I'll be needing.

Wish me luck!

I've ordered bags, a banner and business cards. I have a good supply of soap curing, we chose a bunch of pictures for the labels, we have a table and a tent. Now I have to print out the cigar band labels and the ingredient labels, I need to cut the corners of the soap, closer to the festival date we have to package the soap. So I think things are under control....right?

Festivals

So it's finalized, I will be selling at the St Nicholas Festival in June and in Sept.. There's so much to do! I have to increase my stock, print out brochures, business cards and labels and later in the month I have to start packaging everything. Luckily I have a table and tent and a calculator. Everyones so excited. We've never done anything like this before so it will be interesting to see how everything goes. I will also take my crocheted shawls and baby blankets to sell them. I hope it will be nice weather those days for a good turnout. If all goes well, there's also other Greek Festivals throughout the summer. I could be selling at all of them!  

Mother Nature

I am always amazed with nature. The trees and grass at our house have just started to wake. My hyacinths, crocus and daffadils have started to bloom. The trees in our back yard have tiny green buds on the tips of the branches. The grass has just started to wake. Yet upstate which is further north and in the mountains, things are quite different. The trees are a little more green and the red maples are a little redder. The daffadils, hyacinths, and tulips are almost in full bloom. The meadows are a beautiful shade of green. Is it because we're closer to the sun? Or is it because mother nature is in a rush to feed the wild animals after a long hard winter?