Sommer Designs

Weekend Recap...and, the end is near

The thing I love about multi-day events is being able to load-in, set up and leave it for several days in a row. It's awesome. It helps so, so, SO much. But it's still really exhausting. Thank goodness I was surrounded by my pals, who kept me entertained when things were slow.

I mean, seriously, how could I NOT be entertained?

We had fun.

 

I worked on some Monkeys. These events aren't gangbusters all the time; meaning, the crowds are there in waves, so we always refer to these as 'slow and steady'. In the end, it was a very good event for me and I came home with empty bins, which made me really happy. I have been in the mindset that I want to clear things out and start fresh in the new year. So I've been very careful about replenishing between shows; only adding what I know will sell and it's worked out well. I had two returning customers come in the last hour and buy half of my tote bag stock on hand (move those bags - love that)!

Tomorrow I'll set up for my second to last event, which is Wednesday. And then Thursday & Friday are up in the air. They are predicting RAIN, and it's an outdoor sale, which sounds lame, but it isn't. It works out really well. Obviously, if it rains, it doesn't, but we'll cross that bridge later this week! If you don't live in Southern California, then you don't understand how rarely our weather predictions are correct. We could have a heat wave by Thursday. I doubt it, but it could happen.

Today, I predict some couch-laying, heating-pad-using and tea-drinking.

Sandpipers Holiday Home Boutique!

Yesterday was the first day of the annual Sandpipers Holiday Home Tour Boutique - 3 days of shopping, schmoozing and chatting :) Thank goodness Joelle is on the ball - she was showing me her SNAZZY new camera (seriously, drool-worthy) and took a bunch of pictures yesterday. That overacheiver already had them up on Facebook last night, so I snagged a few! Here's a little preview of the weekend so far...

 
 From left: Kelley, Cynde Daniels, Me, Joelle

My pin girl - doesn't Joelle take amazing photos? I'm guessing these are straight out of the camera. Don't worry, I'll interrogate her today.

(heel flap of Monkey!)

Me - bet you didn't know I cut my hair shorter!   

I was bad with my own camera yesterday, but hope to fix that today and tomorrow! The Sandpipers Holiday Home Tour Boutique is open to the public and located in the American Martyrs Gymnasium, 701 15th Street, Manhattan Beach from 10-5 pm today and tomorrow. There are lots of great vendors, many of which are handcrafted. If you are local, please stop by!

I'll be back on Monday (I hope!) with more pictures. Have a fabulous weekend! XO

(photos all courtesy of Joelle Leder)

Ojai Holiday Home Look In Event

It's 5:30 a.m. on a nice, cool Friday morning and I'm almost out the door! I know, it's warped, but I have to *try* to miss that wonderful Los Angeles freeway traffic!

This weekend, starting today, I'll be at the Ojai Holiday Home Look In, benefiting the Ojai Music Festival. More information is here for you local peeps!

Have a great weekend! ♥

P.S. The Marketplace is open to the public!!

Right on schedule.

I can't believe tomorrow is Wednesday. This week is already getting away from me, but I've accomplished a ton in the last two days (see what happens when you stay away from the computer? Interesting observation.). The picture above was my set up on Saturday at St. Martin of Tours Fall Festival. I had not done this event before and was pleasantly surprised - nice people and nice venue, and I was right next to my pal. That helps immensely.

Sunday was another trip into LA, but this time Hollywood for Temple Israel of Hollywood Hanukkah Boutique, which was a little slower, but after I came home and went through my receipts, just as good. Nice surprises all around! I started a little freak out on the way home Sunday night thinking about what I had to do this week. I went through a bunch of pouches at both events and realized I was low on lavender liners too.

Somehow, I mustered the energy to cut out 30 lavender liners Sunday night and then have spent the last two days making 24 pouches, 32 card cases and I just stuffed and rolled 18 lavender liners. As you can see, I'm really into numbers right now. It's all part of the inventory-fill-in-freak-out mentality. I just have to package said lavender liners, and a few aprons, and I'll be locked and loaded for this weekend. See? Right on schedule.

Oh! You have to see this.

My new lavender sachet basket. I love it. I have been searching high and low for this thing and finally found it online here last week. I put it in my shopping cart, and just couldn't bring myself to hit the buy button! $69! Plus shipping! I decided to hold off and check Home Goods the next day; if they didn't have it, I'd buy it online. Guess what? $29 at Home Goods.

Score. Don't you love that?

LAST DAY to save 20%

Hello! What a week! I'm just popping in here right quick to remind folks that today is the LAST DAY to save 20% on my website with promo code SWEET - here's the pretty graphic:

I know, I repeat myself. It's the Jewish mother in me.

ANYWAY, sorry it's been quiet here, I'm getting ready for back-to-back events this weekend!

Saturday, I'll be at St. Martin of Tours Fall Festival Boutique (11955 Sunset Blvd., LA - near the intersection of Bundy, I think), from 11 - 5 pm; and Sunday at Temple Israel of Hollywood Hanukkah Boutique (7300 Hollywood Blvd., LA - between Fuller & Martel, 3 blks west of La Brea) from 9-3.

Stop by if you're in the neighborhood!
 

Hanging with my Girlies

The best part about being rejected from a craft fair is getting to GO and shop the craft fair! Yesterday Kelley & I met up with Shari to walk and shop Handmade Brigade at The Camp in Costa Mesa. By the way, The Camp is a thoroughly awesome place - not too many shops, but all of them are super cool leaning towards sustainability and the handmade. My favorite shop was this converted Airstream.

The event was very small with a few vendors scattered outside (it was a gorgeous day),

We just loved walking around and seeing people we knew from Twitter and Facebook and all over the vast crafty blogosphere.

Since it was November 1, Kelley wore her cool Day of the Dead shirt and found an appropriate backdrop:

I didn't get any pictures of the indoor area, but that's where we found vendors like Mincing Mockingbird, Frantic Meerkat & Hearts and Laserbeams. I also found one of my favorite vintage clothing vendors from Etsy, Salvage LIfe, where I picked up a sweet vintage black beaded cardigan.

This is Cynthia Morehouse, who, besides sporting a perfectly coiffed Beehive, has some of the funnest jewelry and had the most awesome mini-EZ Up Tent that was HOT PINK! I forgot to ask her when she found such an amazing thing.

All that walking and socializing wears us out - lunch was at Native Foods, which was delicious. Look at my crafty girls, aren't they awesome?

 
 
 I love hanging with my crafty folks!

I also love not working every craft event I hear about :)

ETA: Here are more pictures from Angry Julie! (yes, she really is angry!)

Two days in Costa Mesa: Artistic License Fair

I had such a great time in Costa Mesa at Artistic License Fair! It's one thing to be stuck in a beautiful park for two days; and another thing to be stuck in a beautiful park for two days with a myriad of talented, artistic, likeminded folks. Both are wonderful and relaxing, but the latter is unbelievably inspiring.

One again, I was next to LoriMarsha, with her amazing refashioned clothing & accessories

If I could just shadow this woman for a day, my life would be complete. Simply amazing. My two favorite local yarnies were there, Lori Lawson from Capistrano Fiber Arts...

who gave me a mini-lesson on spinning (which I will NOT be getting into, but it's amazing to watch!)...

and Michelle Hoffee, from Made by Lovecraft.

I also made a new friend, Mary from Button Box (does not have a website!!), who had an amazing booth - so creatively merchandised with apothecary boxes and bins, brimming over with vintage button jewelry - so gorgeous!

I saw old friends - Shari stopped by first thing Friday morning with Flick & Summer (the cuties)...

...and I finally got to meet an online friend from Flickr, Graygoosie, which was really one of the highlights of the day for me!

I can't begin to tell you how blessed I feel to be able to meet so many of the wonderful people I've met online. When I'm spinning my wheels and wondering why I do what I do (why I bother to do what I do), I think about these accidental friendships and it really sustains me. I know, totally corny. But totally true. I don't know what artisans did before the internet.

Of course, I spent money. More sock yarn and superfine merino/cashmere blend for...I don't know yet, but the colors were gorgeous.

 I also bought two LoriMarsha originals that I can't wait to wear when it cools off a bit. They are amazing, and totally out of my comfort zone (fashion-wise), with their bright colors and mix of textures, but they are gorgeous and after two days with all these people, I am ready to step it up and make an effort, even if it's just to go get the mail.
 
So many of the outdoor fairs (and even the indoor charity boutiques) include vendors who simply resell merchandise they buy (including replica goods). As a handcrafter, this is hard because, in my mind, it's a mindset thing. I think it's difficult for people to understand the work and detail that goes into making your merchandise, and then to see buyers swarming the table with $2 jewelry from China...it just makes you wonder why you bother in the first place?

That's why I love this event; it's heavily juried and all handcrafted, and represented by the artist. They have their followers, and it's amazing to see the same people return year after year (this show has been going on for over 40 years!) to support it. I'm so grateful to be included. I can't wait until next year.
 

The Finishing.

These are those 4 remaining bags from about 3 weeks ago that still needed to be finished. I did, finally. I was tired of looking at them on my worktable, and they were taking up precious space. I'm glad they're done, and of course, it took no time at all because they were completely ready for sewing. Quite by accident, the side seams on the two middle bags almost match up perfectly! Don't you love when that happens? Even bags have a good side. :)

My studio is in dire need of [yet] another complete clean up. It gets into such a state in the middle of show season, and right about now, I start to feel that crawly claustrophobic thing happening. Nothing is in its' place. 'Where'd I put my scissors?' 'All five pairs are missing?'

I did accomplish one thing towards organizing and cleaning. I had a bunch of fabric cards (they might be referred to as color cards, but I can't remember such things) from a company I used a few years ago for some linen. I was at the Textile Show, and they allowed you to order as many samples of fabric as you wanted/needed, each sample being about 11 x 14. I had them clipped together, hanging off a cabinet door. They were pretty.

They were also pretty useless at this point. Another easy, brainless TV (House, this time) activity for me (as you can see, I cannot sit still...hands must be moving) is fabric flowers. They're almost done - just need the pin backings and we're good to go!

I ran out of fabric-button-maker-thingy's, so I had to dip into my vintage button stash. Another thing that needs to be sorted and cleaned up. 

After I finish those lovelies, I'll begin sorting my bins and getting things together for my event tomorrow in Costa Mesa (Artistic License Fair). It's not a long haul, but I have to leave at 6 a.m. to beat the traffic and then it's two days of fun and inspiration! Kelley and I are overnighting it, and once again I am next to LoriMarsha - could a girl get any luckier? I doubt it. 

Weekend at a glance

 
Snapshot: Friday afternoon.

I had been dealing with horrible lower back pain for a few weeks, and finally went to see the chiropractor, who informed me that I had a pulled muscle in my lower back. He told me which one, and it promptly went in one ear and out the other. After a painful adjustment (which, surprisingly felt better after) I went home to spend most of the afternoon on the couch with the heating pad, reading. Luckily, I was blessed with gray skies and for some reason, Miss Molly decided to stretch out on my lap. If I could have coerced one of the dogs into making me a cup of tea, it would have been a perfect afternoon. 

I tried to take it easy on Saturday, heat on for 20, off for 2 hours, but it stills hurts. I know I have messed it up badly, and possibly permantely, with all the moving, lugging and physical work involved in my everyday business activities. That blows. I had an event yesterday, and my sweet Scott did most of the manual labor for me.

The Lunada Bay Harvest Festival - a lovely community event, very small, but big on charm. Local kids (and I mean, KIDS!) took to the stage performing - singers, a pint size band (seriously, picture a 12 year old singing 'Hotel California'), a local dance troupe, and my favorite, the little cheer team, how cute are they?

I didn't get a lot of other pictures, but I did make a new friend.

Her name is Sandy, and she's 9 weeks old. I died.  

I have about 2 weeks off before the next event - hoping my back heals.

We're expecting rain this week, guess what I'll be doing? Oh, Miss Mollllllly....

Recap: Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair*

 
Another craft fair in the bag! That's my booth on Saturday, just before opening - you can't tell, but I was still setting up. This is such a fun event and I'm always so happy to have the opportunity to participate.

 
The fair opens with the Mira Costa High School Marching Band, which I love - it's such a community draw, and it really brings the people out, so the fair is crowded from the get-go.

I was really curious to see how it went this year, with the economy the way it is and unemployment so high. I went with the mindset that sales would be a little lower this year and I was okay with that, because I knew that exposure would still be high.

I made sure I had a lot of lower price point items, many of which are one-of-a-kind, and I still had some aprons from a large production a couple of years ago that I marked down considerably.

For me, this was a good move. I thought the fair was more crowded than normal - I think people were attending more for the entertainment than the shopping, but, I was swamped busy almost the entire time - many of the purchases being those lower price point items (sellers, that's something to consider for your holiday shows :)). In the end, I was pretty happy.

As always, I had lots of friends and repeat customers stop by - and had time to get in a few photo opps!

Krissy, with her new little bundle!

Leigh, with her new little bundle (lots of little bundles out there!!)   

Jill  and Joelle  stopped by during a late Saturday afternoon lull - it's so fun being at fairs with friends! If only we could arrange to be right. next. to. each. other....

...because then we could ham it up all weekend :)

And my big surprise on Sunday was my friend Marguerite & her sister Cynthia, coming all the way from Yorba Linda! Love you guys!

It was so much fun, so much work - my back is still screaming, and even though I had the foresight to schedule a massage for yesterday, I'm still zonked.  This week, I'll be replenishing and cleaning tablecloths (Sunday was SO windy) and most likely, doing some knitting. I can't wait to show you my finished Ishbel!

*Sorry about the delay - had to recoup yesterday!