Radford VA Farmer's Market Kickoff April 18th

Sooo, it's that time of year again: time for the Radford Farmer's Market! *dances*

I think I've got everything ready for tomorrow, though I'm sure I'll forget something, as I always do. Let's hope it's nothing important this time!

For a change, I'll be taking my chainmaille and gemstone pieces, as well as my cutesy goodness from my other shop, Kawaii Cupcake. This means that everything will be under the same tent...two COMPLETELY different themes in one place. Wonder if people will be super confused and think I'm odd?

However, this also means more pricepoints and more variety, which (hopefully) draw more attention to my booth. I'll have items priced from $4-$80, so there will be something for everyone there.

I made some business cards today...nothing fancy, just something to give people if anyone asks for contact information. I'm going to get some shiny new ones when I can, but these will do for now. My car's filled to the brim with stuff for tomorrow, including my 800 lb. tent. But, it's much easier to set up than the lightweight one that I had to put together. That was a major pain to say the least.

To all of you in the area, please come out to the market and say hello! There are lots of friendly vendors waiting to have a chat with you. I'll be the one with the chainmaille headband and the aqua zebra print shirt. I rock like that.

What A Weekend...

Whew! That was a LOT of running around to do for 45 bucks!

I spent almost the entire weekend at shows and I made a whopping $45 to show for it.

Didn't make a cent at the farmer's market and sold three things at another festival that was in the middle of BFE. People came to it, but were only interested in themed items, which I had none of, of course.

I'm now out of business cards, though...ok, I have like five left, but still. That's almost out!

I need to reorder them ASAP but that, as we all know, costs money, which I don't currently have much of.

I also need to buy a new tent for the big show coming up on July 12th. That's one that I do very well at so I'm not taking the dinky tent this year.

In other news, still no stimulus check. I've got one custom order in the works and something else on hold to be purchased on Wednesday. That'll help!

I got word a few days ago that my financial aid for college was approved, so now I actually get to go back. That's very big for me, as it's been five years since I was forced to drop out to work full time.

Now, I'll be attempting to work full time (need the $ and insurance) while taking a full course load. Five out of six classes will be independent learning classes and one will be a night class that lasts for three hours on Mondays. That's a long time, but I think I'll just shut up and deal with it.

I need college. That's become apparent in the past few years. I don't want to be stuck at the front desk answering phones and typing for the rest of my life, you know?

If I'm ever going to follow my dream of opening my own shop, I have to do this. If I don't, stuck is where I'll be forever, jumping from one crappy job to the next for the rest of my life. I really, REALLY don't want that.

So, off to college I go! Wish me luck.

Snakes and Spiders. Eww!

Ok, so not so much "eww" on the snakes, but those OTHER things...bleh!! Gross!

The excitement of the day at work was the appearance of a giant black snake in the parking lot. It was only there for a few minutes before it slithered back into the cow field.

So, disaster was avoided. No one tried to run it over or anything, thank god.

The spider, on the other hand, must perish. It's apparently camping out in the men's room, which is WAY too close for comfort.

And of course, being men, they won't squish it or move it. They just leave it there so it can make its way to the front and get on me. Great. *dies*

Now I'll have to be checking under my desk every five minutes for the rest of the day.

On another note, the Foo Fighters are wicked awesome. "Let it Die" is a really good song, even though it reminds me of my ex boyfriend.

That's about all the news I have for today. I've got another Farmer's Market coming up Saturday, so we'll see how that goes. I'll be making new pieces for it tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll avoid any further finger smashing.

Festivals and Shows

So, with the festival and show season gearing up, I think I'll share a bit of my glorious wisdom with you.

I've done many, many shows, all of which turned out a bit differently. Some were great, some ok and some just plain SUCKED.

I've learned that you need to scope these things out before you commit to attending them, as you may find out some very helpful and interesting things about the event that you wouldn't have otherwise.

For example, if you go and see nothing but cheap resale junk or notice that there's next to no one there, chances are you should probably pass on trying to sell there next year.

Also take note of how much advertising you notice for the event. If the only way you found out about it was by your mom mentioning it to you, you may want to skip it. If a venue spends no money on advertising, how the heck are the masses supposed to find out about it and go?!!

Anyhoo, on to the checklist. I'm quite sure it will be incomplete, but it's the best I can come up with, after forgetting just about everything one can forget when selling at a festival.

Basics Needed:

*Tent (you know, unless it's inside or you want to bake outside)
*Tables
*Table Cloths/Table Skirt
*Chair(s) with a tush paid
*Cash box/bag/etc. with plenty of change
*Displays for your wares
*Bottled water/etc. to drink, unless prohibited. Some of these places are whack.
*A snacky, unless also prohibited. Again, some places have a cob up the wazoo.
*Someone to assist, unless you feel like being overwhelmed and stressed the f*@! out.
*Your wares. Don't laugh, I've DONE IT before. I've totally left the house without them. :
*Tape. Tape is your friend. You'll need it, trust me.
*Signage and business cards. Vereh' important. You wanna' get your name out there, right?
*Promo items, if you've got em'. People dig free stuff.
*A mirror if there will be trying on of items. People like to look at themselves, I've noted.
*Knuckle buster (Credit card imprinter) if you're taking cards
*Cell phone with which to call card transactions in on.
*Business card holder(s). We like to look like professionals, now don't we?
*Pen/fine tipped Sharpie. You'll NEED it.
*Calculator, unless you're good at adding in your head. Then screw it!
*Extra tags, in case you've forgotten to tag/need to re-tag something
*Some supplies to work with. People seem to enjoy watching you make things in front of them. It also helps them understand that you did, in fact, make the items you're selling.

That about does it for my checklist. I'm sure I've forgotten things, but that's pretty much what I take with me every time I go to a show and the list hasn't failed me yet.

Don't stress out, have fun and be friendly! Say hello to everyone that stops by your booth. You don't need to ask abouth their life story or anything...just say hi and converse with them if they want. Talk about the weather or something neutral.

If people ask stupid questions, try not to let it get to you. They're just silly and don't know better than to ask "Is any of this REAL?" or "Did you make any of this?"

Even though you may want to bitch slap them, refrain. They'll go away soon, I promise.

Thus concludes Lunachick's Festival Survivor Guide. Maybe I'll add more later, but I'm at work, it's 5:27 on Friday and I'm getting the hell out of here.

Cheers!

Robert Plant: A Review

Last night my best friend and I went to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Though I wish I'd gotten more Robert Plant, it was still a wicked show.

Don't get me wrong: Alison has a GREAT voice. She can be very haunting and she provided several "wow" moments, but none like Robert did.

We wondered at first if he'd lost his ability to pull off those power notes he's so well known for.

And then, he let loose with them and the place exploded. So yeah, Robert Plant's still got it, thirty years later.

His stage presence is odd...he claps his hands a lot and does the Robert Plant dance while not singing, which was really interesting to watch.

You can tell he still loves what he's doing after all these years. And the microphone stand swinging. That was pretty fun, too.

So cheers to you, Robert, for still rocking after all these years.

End of May Newness

Well, not much has been shakin' around Lunachick land lately, but I HAVE managed to get a few pieces made.

I've decided to work the Radford farmer's market every couple of weeks or so. I went once a couple of weeks ago and it went pretty well, save for the wind that kept blowing all my displays over. That part=not so good.

I'm in the process of looking for a new place to live, as my current digs are WAY too expensive and offer no room for me to work.

I have no work space to speak of and I'm tired of hauling everything to my parent's house just to get anything done.

The hardest part is to find a place that allows pets. 9 out of 10 that I've found don't, which doesn't work for me. My two cats gotta' have a place to live, too.

That's that for now. We'll see how much I can get done for the rest of the day.

I'm BACK!

Whew. It's been a long four months, lemme' tell ya'! We won't get into all the personal issues I've been facing. Let's just say there has been a whole slew of them in rapid succession, but I'm doing better these days.

Moving on! On the jewelry front, I don't have any shows coming up until the end of next month, when I'll be attending the Northern Shenadoah Valley Pagan Alliance Gypsy Faire in Stephens City, VA.

I didn't sell much last year, but it was such a fun environment that I really want to go again this year, so I'm doin' it.

I've been on a buying frenzy on Etsy, snatching up groovy cool supplies and turning them into even groovier pieces of wearable art.

Also becoming apparent as of late: life is EXPENSIVE. Thus, I applied to be the jewelry teacher at the local Michael's (again). I taught there for over a year before I went full time and they made me stop. :(

Hopefully, my old boss will hire me back and that will give me a little extra money. I'm thinking of teaching private classes, too.

I finished up several new pieces lately, including the Mage, the latest in my RPG series (Sold so far are The Dancer, The Warrior and The Thief), and a really beautiful necklace, Desert Fire (see above...)

I'm looking forward to creating more new pieces for the Gypsy Faire. I wonder if I have enough displays these days? I may just have to investigate that further.

Be sure to swing by my Etsy shop at www.lunachick.etsy.com to check out all the new additions!

That's all for now. More updates to follow soon!

Upcoming Shows

So, with summer winding down, I'm gearing up for the holiday show season!

Coming up on September 8th, you can come see me at Chateau Morissette in Meadows of Dan, VA. It's a winery in Southwest VA that's pretty dang awesome, if I do say so myself.

After that, stop by the Radford Highlanders Festival on October 13th on the Radford University campus.

To help you spot us (my boyfriend and myself) up top is a pic of what our booth tends to look like. Note the shimmery celestial table coverings and the extremely dinky tent...

In other Lunachick Designs news, more new maille is on the way! I'll be working my little fingers to the bone creating new and intriguing designs, so stay tuned!

I suppose that's that for now, but remember: Shimmer, Sparkle While You Can!

*Abbi*