The fair....

Hi Everyone!  It's been a long and fun weekend!  The Arbor Day Fair was this weekend.  I didn't take as much as I normally do since I'm having the Open House for my Studio in a month, but I did take a variety of items.  It was a good weekend, but not a great one. Just a warning, this post is picture heavy but I thought I'd show you what my booth looked like.

 Set up started Friday at 4pm.  Mom, Dad and I were there a little before 4 pm ready to set up and get out of there as early as we could.  This little bench was the first thing we unloaded.  Just as soon as it was set down, it was sold.  It had a twin that I brought last year to this same fair and the gal that runs the fair bought it and bought this one too.

 My little headboard turned shelf with pegs sold as soon as we set it down too....also to the same gal that bought the bench.  The two items really went well together and were the very first thing you saw as you entered the room.  I could have sold them both to at least 4 or 5 other customers.  They stayed in their spot the whole weekend and brought me several orders and a wonderful new business contact (I'll share more on that later).

 I took a couple of mirrored windows (none of them sold).

 These bead board frames were new this year and two of them sold.

 The black chicken wire frame came home with me.....

 ....as did this green backless bench with storage in it and a stained top...

...and so did my bird bench...

 ...I sold a few sheet music rosette magnets...

 ...and one white and one grey crate, several of the plain pillows, several chicken wire frames, and the numbered peg sign...

 ...the foot stool was liked by a lot of customers, but came home with me as did the large window mirror...

 ...as did this bench with storage that was painted with dark walnut paint (I've already decided to repaint it in Old White)....

 ...I sold a set of wooden love birds in white...but the rest came home with me...

 ...these burlap rosettes on clothes pins were also attached to the message boards, but the packaged ones didn't sell...

 ...and neither did the tree slice numbered tags...

 ...or the blank note cards...

...and neither did these hand painted totes...so it seemed like I didn't sell much, but I did okay and I'm alright with the amount of items I brought home...they will all be for sale at my Open House next month.  So now I have to replenish some of the items that sold and finish working on my studio to get it ready for the big sale.  If you happen to be in Southwest Iowa over Memorial Weekend, please feel free to stop by and say hello...email me for directions. 

I want to say a great big thank you to my parents for all of their help and support this weekend.  I couldn't have done it without you!  And now, I'm going to sit back with my feet up and rest for one evening before I start getting ready for the Open House.  Thanks for stopping by!

Craft fair in review....

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all having a great week.  I'm still trying to get over the fair this past weekend...not to mention the last couple of weeks getting ready for the fair.  It was a great fair.  The best I've ever had.  Here are some of the pictures....

 This bench sold before the fair started.  It has storage in the seat and is the prettiest shade of green.

 I took 6 benches and sold 4 of them. 

 The basket ladder sold as did the cream bench that is next to it.

 My trio of dandelions paintings sold to the sweetest gal.  I was a little sad to see them go.

 I loved this little black bench.  It has storage in the seat.  Two ladies bought it for a gift for their mother.

 The black peg board and the cream peg shelf both sold.  The cream bench with the saying didn't sell, but the black Jenny Lind bench with storage did.

 This black bench with storage didn't sell, but everything on the seat did.

 This framed artwork sold.

 I sold lots of ornaments.

 But this cute sign didn't sell.

 I sold several decorated trees and lots of sheet music ornaments.

 I sold 18 undecorated spindle trees.

Neither of these sheet music wreaths sold.

 I sold a few hand painted signs. And four of the mirrored windows.

 My family tree painting sold.

 But the wooden pumpkins didn't....and neither did the white shelf.

 My yardstick table sold as we were packing up the booth.  You gotta love last minute sales!

 All of the artwork in this last two pictures sold, but not the white peg board.

It was a really great day!  I had the chance to meet a lot of really wonderful people, including some readers which is always great!  I handed out almost an entire box of business cards.  And received a few orders too. 

Now I have to put everything away and set the studio back up since I took almost everything out of it.  I normally have one more fair for the season, but I decided last year to not attend that one since it hasn't been that great for the last couple of years.  It is really strange to be done with fair season so early.  I'm thinking of having an open house at the studio.....must think serious about it and get it scheduled....just another thing to add to my to do list. 

So that's some of what I've been up to the last month or two.  Anything that didn't sell will be listed in my Etsy shop over the next week or will be for sale in the studio in case you're interested.  Thanks for stopping by.

Unique pumpkins....

Hi Everyone!  I hope your weekend is going well.  After work today I started working on items for the next craft fair which is less than a month away plus I have a few custom orders to finish that I got at the fair.  I thought I'd share with you a couple of unique pumpkins that I made for the craft fair last weekend.  I've been making these for a couple of years now and they've always been a great seller.
In fact, I've almost used all of this unique wood.

 These pumpkins are made from wood that was once part of the legs of a feed bunk for cattle.  My grandpa feed thousands of cattle over the years from the feed bunk that topped these legs.  I cut them down to make these pumpkins.

 I sanded them really well, painted a base coat of black and a top coat of pumpkin orange spray paint.

 Then I sanded them to reveal the black.  I just love the way the grain shows up and all the holes and dings that were in the wood.

 The stems are parts of spindles that came from a deck that was torn down.  Then I added the little signs.

This is the only picture I could find of them at the craft fair.  I will be taking these to the Clarinda Craft Fair in less than a month.  Now I need to get back to work.  I need to finish a couple of signs that were ordered last weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Fall is finally here....

Hi Everyone!  It's the weekend!  Autumn is here....yeah for football games, crisp air in the morning, sleeping with a light blanket on the bed, the color change of the leaves and the end of mowing the yard (okay not yet, but soon).  I love fall.  And after the summer we've had I'm ready to move on to the next season, I just hope it stays for a while.  In honor of fall, I made some wooden pumpkins to take to the craft fair last weekend. 

 I took an old post from the farm that my grandfather had saved and randomly cut it into different size blocks.

 Then I went to the drill press and using a spade bit I drilled holes into the block of wood close to the center but not exactly in the center.  Then I sanded them, painted them with a base coat of black and top coat of orange.  Then I sanded them again to reveal some of the base coat.

I took a branch that had fallen in the last storm and randomly cut it apart to make the stems.  I glued them in place with Gorilla wood glue.

 Then I tied a piece of jute around the stem and inserted a couple of wires that I had curled....

 to give them a little something to finish them off.

And here they are at the craft fair before I added the jute and wire.  Just a little something for fall.  I don't normally decorate for fall so I will be taking these to the next craft fair.  I have a couple of other pumpkins so show you tomorrow.  But tonight I'm going to enjoy this nice fall weather and take the dogs for a run in the pasture.  Thanks for stopping by.

Apple Jacks Craft Fair...

Hi Everyone! Wow, it seems like forever since I actually sat down with lots of things to share.  Where do I start?  I guess tonight I'll just share with you pictures from the Apple Jacks Craft Fair and then in the next couple of days I will share individual items that you haven't seen before.  My coworker and his wife and my mom helped me set up the booth.  Thanks Shane, Brenda and Mom.

I know it's a little early to pull out Christmas items, but I had them ready and I did sell some of them.    I sold a bunch of ornaments, the decorated music tree and a bunch of undecorated trees. 

Here are the two big headboard benches.  The black one has storage in the seat and the other one doesn't.  This is the first fair I've been to that I didn't sell a bench at so I have a head start on the next fair.

It was a long two days and it didn't seem like I was selling much while in the heat of it, but after looking back at the pictures and tallying up the money, it was a good fair.  I usually judge how a fair goes by the benches that sell, but since I didn't sell any of them, I had to wait until the money total came in to judge.  And it was good. 

I still have a bunch of things to make for the next one including a couple of benches.  The next fair is the Clarinda Craft Carnival in a month and I have never brought a bench home with me.  It's a completely different crowd at that fair.  They come to buy and the last three years I've almost sold out my entire booth.  So here's hoping for the same results!  Thanks for stopping by!