Tag Archives: Craft display

Crafting

Here I am again

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I initiated hourly fees for use of the most expensive sewing machines in my area of the makerspace. We were the only large area not charging use fees. My hourly fees are only $2 per hour, lower than the $10 per hour of other areas because I get more long term projects on machines requiring less expensive repairs or replacements. The fees will go toward things like needles, bobbins, and replacement machine embroidery hoops or specialty parts for the other sewing machines.

I had a serger disappear from the shop. I’ve ordered a replacement. What I don’t understand is why I still have the scrap bin and the pedal. The new machine, as well as the other more expensive machines are getting trackers. That way if another machine disappears, I’ll have a notification and a time frame to check the cameras.

This past weekend, I took part in Bodgefest — a celebration of 11 years as a makerspace. I had a table featuring various zines and handmade books, plus fancy bookmarks and some leftover wristlet key holders I found in with my displays.

I’ve made a few new zines for the sale this month. One is a new Florida Man adventure based on current events. I have not nentioned any names. Another is a short story that includes a recipe for a hearty soup. I’ve also written a small book on diy book-binding,

My son helped me carry in my table and display items. I didn’t make much money. I don’t think any of us vendors did more than a few sales. My last sale wasn’t actually a sale. A really cute little girl came by with her mom and looked over my books. A tiny coil-bound notebook caught her eye. She picked it up and looked inside but the pink flower on the cover is what caught her eye.

Her mom asked how much it was. I hadn’t put a price sticker on that one, but the others were $2. When I mentioned I hadn’t priced it, the little girl placed the book back on the rack. When her mom asked how much, I told her it was a dollar, or free, her choice. The little girl was so happy to get the little notebook. I didn’t lose any real money by not charging for it. The happy smile was worth more than money.

Here I am, setting up. The little girl’s book is on the third row of the rack below the zines.

The zines are an in-going commentary on various topics. The Florida Man headlines make an entire series. I do a couple of new zines every year. Next year I’m going to set up a table at Zine Fest featuring the Insanity Shuffles* series and some copies of my craft booklets that I make for my classes – paper-making, book-binding, soap making, how to read sewing pattern symbols, and a few others.

That’s it for now.

Crafting

Current Mood

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I started this a couple of gloomy days ago. Grey. Grey skies again. Raining – good for plants, bad for me. it’s so dark at 8 am. This will be another day of not getting my shed assembled. I can’t do it alone, but my help is really bad on the follow-through. Is it bad parenting? Or is the alcohol?

My family where I live consists of two people other than me – my son and my youngest granddaughter. I rarely see either of them. My son has to work, made plans with a friend he hasn’t seen in 5 years, doesn’t have gas money, promised someone he’d help them do their yard, or some other equally obnoxious excuse. The only time I hear from him is if he needs gas money or food.

My Granddaughter works, and when she’s not working, watches her younger sister, or hangs with friends. She’s still a kid at 16, soon to be 17. I cut her plenty of slack. I’m not her responsibility. If I call her and say I need her help, she’ll figure out a day and time. But I don’t impose on her.

So my shed is in its component parts waiting. If it wasn’t a two-person job, I’d have done it by now. Enough bitchin’ and moaning. You’re not here for that. You’re here to find out if I ever made it to the Quilt Museum. Yes I did. The Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts, located in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, has been hosting the traveling exhibit 25 Million Stitches: One Stitch, One Refugee.

This exhibit is an artistic collaboration from many different nations and people about human displacement, immigration, and solidarity. It consists of over 25 million hand-sewn stitches, each representing a single displaced human being. The stitches are sewn on muslin banners of varying lengths, which were connected to form banners each 14’ long. Completing this physical representation of this huge statistic required participation from over 2,300 stitchers from 37 countries and all 50 U.S. states.

I spent several hours there at the Museum, actually looking for my panel which I could not find. Several other guests helped after I showed a photo from my phone, but I never did find it. I thought I had, but it was not clearly visible from the floor.

The center aisle of the exhibit.
Some of the panels from the left side of
the room.
An example of some of the intricate stitchery that made of the exhibit.
The center panel of this image vaguely suggests the panel I made. I’m not certain it is actually mine.

That last photo was taken from the floor, looking up at the panel. It seems to be washed out by the overhead light. The picture below is what my panel looked like before I packed it up to send out.

My entry to the 25 Million Stitches Project.

I did find my name on the list of contributors so I know they received it. The exhibit has been traveling for several years not so there’s bound to be fading and damage even though they pack the banners very carefully. It was worth the drive even though my GPS kept trying to get me back on the selected route after I had to detour because one of the bridges was out of service for replacement.

Craft Fairs, Paper Crafts

The sale went great.

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I did well with sales. Some of the vendors had large objects so they undoubtably made more money from a single sale than I did with my many little ones, but I was pleased with the results. I finally found the right venue for selling one of a kind books.

I feel I had enough products to give people choices of styles and sizes and a good variety of book types from sketchbooks, to journals, to zines with different types of binding methods and pages. No one bought the faux leather journal, but that’s okay. There were questions about it and several people expressed an interest in my book making classes.

All in all, I feel I had a successful and profitable sale.

Crafting, Mostly me

I wanted to take it easy today.

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However, I was looking for my cash box which I wrongly remembered as being in the basement. When I didn’t find it there, I went up to the closet in the main room of the half-story. Big mistake. It was like finding a pirate’s hoard, except it was just stuff. I have three air mattresses up there. I found boxes and bins of forgotten yarn.

I already have too many bins of yarn under my bed, and in small bins stashed on shelves of one of three bookcases in the living room. Plus there was a big box of yarn upstairs that was not hidden away. Fortunately, I only have to hold on to the yarn upstairs until the next prison yarn drive. There’s a program that teaches inmates to knit and crochet. I’ve donated lots of yarn for three years. I swear it multiplies in the bins.

I found many treasures up there. Handmade dolls and toys including a couple of dolls I made for my son when he was a toddler. There were dolls I made my youngest granddaughter. And all kinds of art projects from both of them that are carefully put away. I found an entire bin of my granddaughter’s art work that she made on our Saturday afternoons together. I plan to bind them into several books – there are a lot of drawings and paintings.

I did not find my cash box which was the entire reason for the treasure hunt. I did get everything put away and a bit better organized. The yarn got moved to the front so I don’t forget it. I searched a different part of the basement, but didn’t find the cash box there either.

So off to the garage again. I had moved the bins that I previously thought were missing. If I had labelled them, they would not have been missing since they were clearly visible as storage containers, but not as craft show containers. I found the cash box.

I’m making a list for what I need for set-up on Friday, double-checking that everything is priced and in the app for the card reader so I don’t have to use a calculator. It took a couple of hours to verify everything and get additional labels made. There are still a few things to do tomorrow like getting the display items gathered, but for the most part, I am done.

I used the weed whacker to clean out cracks in the concrete part of the driveway and started edging the asphalt and prepping for crack filler. I also used critter repellant in my flower pots because the chipmunks and squirrels were digging in them. Then I mowed the backyard and arranged the furniture.

Now I need to set things up to get an idea of how my displays will look and to swap out containers and supports as needed. I have two days.

Mostly me, Paper Crafts

Now comes the hard part…

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…setting prices for the items I have for sale. The zines and most of the other books are easy to price, the junk journals not so much. Each one is differently sized. They have differing numbers of signatures. Some have cloth covered boards; some have paper covered boards. I’ll figure it out. I have some idea for general pricing.

I’ll do the prep for set-up on Monday. I’ll set the displays just as I want them the days of the sale and take pictures. That way, things will be optimized for my customers. I just hope that the organizer will actually follow the floor plan I drew up for the space. I do have experience setting up vending space inside a room. I don’t have high expectation though. The last I heard there were 21 people signed up for a space that can only hold 14 tables with enough space for potential buyers to move through easily.

In other news, I just found out that the road trip I’m supposed to go on with two of my sisters is supposed to last 6 weeks. No way. I can’t sit in a car for days. I’m prone to blood clots in my legs. They already look like a road map of hell. I can’t imagine them after 6 weeks of car rides. I don’t want to go with my sisters anyway.

Even though they’re younger, they feel free to comment on my life, my eating habits, my (as far as they know) lack of a love life, and my weight. I tried to get out of the trip by using my sick cat, but she died. I’m trying to use the fact that I would have to board the cat I now have. She was temporarily re-homed because she kept attacking the sick one. My friend will keep her while I’m gone. Since I’m providing food, the litter box, toys, and bedding, she says I don’t have to pay her, but I feel I need to give something. She pays me market rates to watch her dog twice a week.

I’m sure my sisters will have opinions on everything else. They learned it from my mother who was oh so nice to me growing up. I’m the oldest, but unwanted. Or at least that’s how I felt my entire childhood. Especially after all the times I was reminded that I wasn’t supposed to have lived past two. After I moved away for college, my bedroom was given away, my stuff was tossed, and yet I was always asked when I was coming back home. I did once when I was getting divorced. It was the worst 11 months of my life.

All seven of my siblings are really close. So close in fact, that they have a group chat that I’m not part of. I know this because occasionally, I’ll get included in a reply to a message I never received. I don’t comment. Don’t care enough, but it does hurt a bit sometimes. I realized a long time ago that I’m responsible for my own success and not to wait for anyone in the family to say “good job.” I never know how to react to that anyway.

Now that you’re all depressed for me, here’s a picture of my cat.

Gingersnap, also called Bitey Thing, Ginny, and Gin-gin

She used to be a feral cat and was adopted by my son. He left her with me when he moved into a no-pets apartment. I’ve told him he can’t have her back even though he can now have a pet.

Y’all have a good day, now.

Craft Fairs

First Craft Show Set-up

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This was my first setup. The table is at an angle to the booth – not my choice. It was the only way to make it fit after my friend had already set up. I’m not sure if I had a sign or not indicating what the prices were for the cats and notebooks. The mat in the foreground was priced at $30 because I didn’t really want to sell it. It was there to fill in space. I made no money that day.

 

I’ve learned more since then.