This Weekend

Just a quick note to say that I won't probably know any more about my Bumbershoot location until set-up on Friday. We're getting squeezed into some little leftover corner, and probably around the Alki Court area, but I'll post Friday afternoon when I get final word.

I'm sharing a space with a friend, so I have only a half-booth to set up in. I won't have the sprays or lip balms, and I'm not sure what else. It's a work-in-progress this week to figure out what I can take and what I can't fit in. Plus I need to make sure that I'm not over-extending myself this weekend, and that I have enough inventory to set up the Puyallup Fair next week. It's a crunch.

Bumbershoot is Seattle's biggest music festival. Probably the entire Pacific Northwest's biggest music festival. It runs Sat through Mon at Seattle Center. You have to buy tickets and they are cheaper online now than they will be at the gate. I think. Hours that the gates are open is 11am to 10pm, although some concerts run later to 11pm. You just can't get in past 10pm. There are lots of indie craft market booths all over the place - the fountain, the covered walkway, Fisher Plaza area etc. And there are food booths all over too. It's a really big deal and there will be so many people there during the 3 days, whew.

I'll keep you posted here, but if you already have tickets and are looking for something specific to pick up there, then give me a holler by phone or email and I'll try to accommodate requests.

The year of no tomatoes

It's the "year of no tomatoes." Well, to be fair, there have been just a few and they were awesome.

But this past week the weather has already changed. It's cool, cloudy and dry. The lack of heat stopped the tomato plants cold. They were just putting out a bazillion of green tomatoes - some half formed and some fully ready to start ripening. But now they have gone on break. Probably permanently. Without rain for a while, the whole garden is starting to just give up and die out. Leaves are falling and there is dead stuff everywhere. It's so depressing. Summer is over and we're heading back to the grind - fall and school and work and work and then holidays and winter, all happening so fast you can almost hear it rushing by.

Maybe I'm feeling it a little more intensely because I'm in full fall mode anyway. I've been working on the new fall products, and this weekend is the touch-ups on the fall newsletter which will come out probably by the end of the week. I've got website updates and email letters to work on too. All at the same time I'm trying to get a pile of stuff ready for the Puyallup Fair (starting Sept 10th).

Oh, and a little other tiny thing happened yesterday. I got a half a space at Bumbershoot. I was fully expecting to have one more long weekend to truly get ahead of the game for the fair, and this little gem popped up. I'll be totally scrunched for time and inventory, but it's an amazing and wonderful opportunity which I just couldn't say no to. I'll do a bigger post in a day or two when I know more. But this is a gigantic show in Seattle and I'm thrilled to get a chance to display there - even if it's a little half of a booth in a corner somewhere. More soon . . .

Art in the Alley

I'll be at this little Art in the Alley show this afternoon. It's organized by the Columbia City Gallery, and is outside in Dorothy's Alley. Sounds like fun. They'll be selling cold drinks, snacks and otter pops inside, and there's a sausage cart outside. Goes from 4pm to 9pm.

I don't get a big space here - we're lined up in an alley. So I'm bringing just the basics. Most of the regular soap bars, the balms, maybe a few sprays and/or salts if I can fit them in. So if you're looking for something specific - give me a call before I head over there this morning. I know that's last minute.

This is just a little quickie show, that's right near my house. I love this neighborhood and wanted to spend an afternoon seeing what's going on over there.

Anacortes Arts Festival

This lounging flip flop photo? That's the exact opposite of what I'm doing this week. Maybe later . . .

This weekend is the humungous hoopla that is the Anacortes Arts Festival.

On August 6, 7 and 8, 2010, the streets of Anacortes fill with 260 outstanding juried Booth Artisans, first class Fine Art Exhibitions, Culinary Art with an international selection of foods, and a creative Youth Activities area for the youngest artists. It's their 49th annual festival, with live music and entertainment all over the place too.

They are expanding the number of Booth Artisans this year to include a Garden Art area between 2nd and 3rd Streets just north of the Main Stage. Nine Booth Artisans will provide a great selection of artistic creations for your home. Artists come from throughout the Northwest and as far away as New York, Florida and Arizona- it's really a huge event and one of my biggest shows of the year, so this week is pretty hectic trying to get it all packed up and ready to go.

The info:

Dates: Friday through Sunday, Aug 6-8
Hours: 10am-6pm all days
Soapworks booth location: Same spot as always. west side of the street, south end of the 400 block, almost at the corner of 5th street - just north of that intersection in front of the space that used to be La Vie en Rose Bakery. Map Here

I'm trying to get tons done. Really. Tons. For this show I can't even get enough inventory in my car to sell for more than a day. So I drive back and forth home each evening to re-load the car with another day's bundle of goods to sell. I'm never exactly sure what's going to be the best seller each year. But after all these years, I know which ones I need to have bins and bins of. So I'm working like crazy to get tons of it piled up and ready to just load out the door. This is still never quite enough though. And I end up working in the evenings and working again in the early morning hours before I have to jet out the door to drive up in time to open the tent again. I'll be toast by Monday. But fingers crossed the weather is good, the crowds are huge and I make enough money to cover my butt for little while.