Clam Festival !

Here are a few pictures to start with "behind the scenes".  My dad was in the area on Thursday (my folks live about an hour away) and while I was planning on some pre-set up on my own, he was able to lend me a hand.  This helped ALOT.  While you can imagine and plan, design and figure before an event, you have to make last minute changes when you get to the actual site.  Dad and I set up the tent, secured weights (I totally overkilled it in that department, I have been through my share of wind and rain storms at the Farmers Market that have left me scared to death), set up the tables and tucked the display baskets safely away.  Thanks dad!

This is all I really set up on Thursday.  I forgot the banners at home, so that will be a job for Captain and I on Friday morning.  I tucked the baskets under the table overnight as I was worried about fog settling on the baskets (this venue is only like 1 mile from the shore).

Here are a few of my neighbors setting up....

Across the aisle from me:  Beautiful pottery, cool and contemporary aprons, colorful baby items, hip belts and t-shirts, leather goods, artwork, soaps & lotions, jewlery, hand knit and felted mittens and much more!

Once Friday morning came around, craft set up was in full swing!  I was extremely nervous and my Captain was great!  He just smiles and does whatever I tell him.  It was very very hot and super humid.  We were sweating in minutes.  I had a great spot for unloading and loading, so that worked in our favor, but still, soap is heavy and there is alot of it to unload.  

This was it for 3 days.  Friday & Saturday 10-9, Sunday 10-5.  My great friend Chris came by on Friday and stayed with me for about 3 hours. She and I were both making sales and that was very exciting!   My other super friend Deede came by and escorted me to a clean and fresh bathroom in a friends office.  Much better than the porta pottys! She also brought me a table from her home that we set out in the aisle with some soap on it.  As a way to lure in those shy shoppers.  This worked great!  Thanks Deede!  Saturday my mom came by and stayed about 4 hours.   Thanks Mom!!! This gave me a chance to run across the street and check out the other crafters (scope out the other soap makers too).  There were about 130 crafters at this event.  I bought a lovely 2011 calendar (which I quickly turned into art for my walls) from Alan Claude http://www.alanclaude.com/ and a beautiful pearl necklace tied off with funky green saddle stitch ribbon, the artist I do not know!  Sadly, she didn't give me a card. 

Here I go!

                                         

The banners are up (behind me) the table is FULL of soap centered in the tent.  I choose these colorful basket and filled them up with soap as sort of a self service soap.  Can you see in the top right of the photo the paper lanterns?  I had 5 of them up there in brown, blue, white & yellow to match my colors and add some fun.  People loved them.  My tent didn't back up to another crafter so I set it up so customers can come in from both sides.  This worked waaaay to my advantage in a couple of ways.  1.  The weather.  It was stifling hot and super humid, I'm talking mid 90's.  Any breeze that came our way made it through my tent.  Those crafters closed in on 3 sides were baking in the mid-day sun.  2. Customers!  I definitely was awarded with more customer "action" with this open tent.

Some close up photos of my display:

All in all, it was a great event.  Exhausting, yes.  The weather was gorgeous and I am very happy it didn't rain. There were a few sprinkles and a threat of a thunderstorm on Friday and Captain showed up to calm my nerves and offer a huge piece of plastic to throw over the soap and baskets if it got to that.   It was super hot (mid 90's) and wicked humid.  I realized last minute that I would be there after dark!  Captain quickly bought me some clip on shop style lights and hooked up an extension cord.  He also brought me a fan to circulate some air in the tent.  I just didnt' think of these things.  I have lots of ideas for how to make it much easier next time.  I really believe I sell alot of soap because I greet every single one of the customers that come in the tent.  I was standing almost the entire show.  I like to have lots of enthusiasm and let the customers know my story, that I hand make all this soap just for them.  I get alot of soap questions, and I am happy to tell folks how soap is made.  Alot of energy was spent on packing and unpacking the soaps.  Next time I will find a way to keep my soap in the booth overnight.  I would say that 1/4 of my sales were credit card sales and I am glad that I can now take credit cards at shows. 

I saw many of my loyal local customers.  I met lots of people and got the word out that I sell locally at the Farmers Markets, and also online to those that came from out of state.  I  met a woman on Friday that was working on a book about fairs in New England and she took close up pictures of my soap in the big baskets (that was exciting!).  I made some great contacts for many other shows in the area.  I had customers make a bee-line for my tent, they were looking for me!  That is all so very exciting!!! 

Now, up next....2 phone calls today...more soaps for Sea Side Creations and The Apple Shed! 

Wow! Back From Clam Fest...

I'm back!  And, honestly, I'm exhausted.  That was an intense 3 full days of selling soap.  What a festival!  I made alot of new contacts, customers and friends.    Thanks to all my local fans that came out to support me at the festival!  It was great seeing you all! 

Here is a quick video to show you how the day started out on Friday.  This is Main St. before the parade, like 6 hours before.  This is the first day of the festival.  Busy and plenty of shoppers, note the chairs lining the street.  People "save" their spot for the much anticipated Friday night parade.   Some of these chair went out on the street on Monday, 5 full days before the parade!

Okay, and here is Main St. minutes before the parade.   My tent is only 20' or so away from this.  Once the parade ended, I was swamped with customers.

Stayed tuned, more posts to come! 

Setting Up For The Clam Festival

  I had the opportunity to set up the tent, tables, banners etc. today (Thursday) and I figured it's going to be alot easier to do it now rather than at 7:00 in the morning along with the 119 other vendors.  My dad just happened to be in the area today so I asked him to give me a hand setting up my tent. Oh, I'm sure there will be other vendors today too and I will snap a couple of pre-festival pictures to share with you.  I won't put out my soap until Friday.  My husband (Captain) will help me with that.  Then a long day of selling lots of soap. 

Craft Show Hours:

Friday 10:00-9:00

Saturday 10:00-9:00

Sunday 10:00-5:00

In the meanwhile, here is a quick picture "behind the scenes"  at Casco Bay Soap Co. of the soap labeling.  I am almost done, only about 100 left to label! 

Each soap is labeled, one by one.  I still print the labels on my home compturer/printer.   I did have the forsight to pre-run a ton of lables so I wouldn't be running of hundreds and hundreds of labels in just a few short days.  I also normally have a generic label and hand write the fragrace of the soap on the label.  This time I added the fragrances and some description to the front of the label and printed it off.  This saved ALOT of time, no handwriting needed!

A Quick Picture Of Bailey Island

I was out delivering soaps to Sea Side Creations on Bailey Island (again!).  They are selling a good deal of my soaps, laundry detergent and dryer sachets. 

I snapped a quick shot of this little harbor tucked into the side of the island.  I just love looking out over the harbor and seeing all the boats.

Photo Shoot

In the middle of the busiest last few day before the Yarmouth Clam Festival, I managed to schedule myself for a photo shoot.  I don't know what I was thinking, as I have loads of soaps to label, list of items to make/fix/find/buy/pack for the festival.  But I squeezed it in.  And, it was totally worth it.

I met photographer Kevin Morris during the Winter Farmers Market in Brunswick.  A few emails back and forth, an initial meeting, and all of that has led us to this:

Casco Bay Soaps spending a couple hours at the Photo Studio!

Here is Kevin in his studio setting up the background, lights and tripod for a shot of my soaps.

Shooting a close up of the soap in a cool stack in a wooden bowl.  This is looking great!  Really rustic and natural.  I love it!

Tweaking a few things...focus, lighting, shadows....

We also tried a different bowl, a moss green ceramic one.  In this shot,  Kevin uses dramatic, darker lighting.  It was very moody, I loved that too!

This last shot/situation, he used a gnarly piece of driftwood that I brought along, placed the soap among the curves and crevices and added soap bubbles.  Very "green" and natural. 

I can't wait to see the final product!

Kevin Morris Photography, Brunswick ~ www.kevinmorris.com/

Soap, soap and more soap!

I have been making soap like crazy.  Next week at this time, I will be setting up for the Yarmouth Clam Festival.  Each year 100,000 people come to Clam Fest. and I will be there selling my soaps.  I have been working for months to build up my soap supply.  Now that I have made all that soap, it's time to label them.  Fortunately I am pretty organized and I have been printing labels all along, so now I don't have to print out like 2,000 labels in one day on my little home printer.  I began today with the labeling.

1 Batch Of Soap At A Time

I often get questions about just how do I make my soap.  One of the parts of my "story" is that I make 8 pounds of soap at once.  So, this is what 8 pounds of soap looks like after I take it out of the mold and before I cut it up into sliced soap for you!

This is Wild Sea Rose, with rose petals sprinkled on top.  Now I will cut it into about 28  bars and they will sit on the shelf and cure for 4-6 weeks!

Hot Summer Nights = Cool Simple Dinners

It's been a bit since I posted a recipe.  As many of you know, I love to bake and cook as well as craft. When I am not stirring the soap pot, I am whipping something up in the kitchen.

I found this recipe by Anne Burrell from the Food Network and made it to go with some grilled chicken and the salad was a standout!  Super easy only 6 ingredients, perfect for a hot summer night when I want to stay out of the kitchen.

Asparagus, Pecorino and Red Onion Salad

Ingredients:

1 bunch pencil thin asparagus, tough bottom stems removed

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 cup coarsely grated aged Pecorino Cheese (or Parmesan Cheese)

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

A splash of Extra-virgin olive oil

Sprinkle of Kosher salt, to your taste

Directions:

Cut the asparagus, including the tips into very thin slices, crosswise and place in a medium bowl. Add the red onion and cheese and toss to combine. Dress with the vinegar, olive oil and salt and toss again. This salad should be fairly heavily dressed. The vinegar will sort of "cook" or tenderize the asparagus.

It is best to do this about an hour or so in advance to let the flavors "marry".

Casco Bay Soaps In A New Shop

My soaps can now be purchased at The Apple Shed in Kents Hill, MAINE.

An adorable little stop along a very scenic Rt. 17  in the Belgrads Lake Region, The Apple Shed has fresh produce, local eggs, jams, jellies and syrups as well as baked on sight pies, cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls, muffins, and a daily entree so you don't have to cook!  (The day I was there, the entree was Waldorf Chicken Salad with walnuts, apples and raisins that also came with rolls to make an easy chicken salad sandwich for dinner, tomorrow it will be Spanakopita or Spinach Pie).

The entrance in the summer is a big 'ole garage door that they open right up.  It is nice and inviting with the red and soft green colors and lots of plants and herbs.

Inside there are large apples crates being used for a variety of things.  To hold merchandise (on the left and right) and topped with a red wooden top to serve as a place to sit and enjoy some coffee and a muffin or cookie.  The cooler cases, straight back, hold all sorts of goodies!  Eggs, Apple Pie, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, 3 Berry Pie, Potato Salad, Entree of the Day and more!

I'm so very please to have my soaps among the other yummy treats at The Apple Shed!

My Trip Out To Bailey Island

Last week I made another delivery to Sea Side Creations on lovely Bailey Island. From Freeport it is about a 40 minute ride, but I'm not complaining.  It is such a nice ride!  Drive through Brunswick, then into Harpswell then three islands connect, Great Island, Orrs Island then Bailey Island. 

(This photo is from when they were just getting set up, a cute little island shop).

(My soaps, for sale at Sea Side Creations).

After dropping soaps at Sea Side Creations, I continued on to the bitter end of the island chain.  I took this funny picture of my GPS to show you how it is indeed an island.  And I was quickly coming to the end.  It gets narrower and narrower. 

And at the end is Lands End.  And there is Lands End Gift Shop.  Off the gift shop is a great big wooden porch complete with wooden benches and Adirondack chairs.  Here is the beautiful view at "Lands End".  It was a beautifully sunny day, the water was calm and there weren't that many people around.  I sat for 5 minutes and enjoyed the view.

Wolfe Neck Farm Art Festival

I had a great time and sold a good amount of soap at the Wolfe Neck Farm Arts Festival.  This was my first year selling at the festival and I do think that I will go back next year.  

(On the way to Wolfe Neck Farm Art Festival.  These are Belted Galloway Cows).

It is a family event, with lots for kids to do.  Little craft projects in one barn, animals to visit in another, ice cream and burgers for sale (Wolfe Neck Farm raises their own beef and sells it locally).  Roaming musicians and singers. 

(Arts & Crafts in the barn).

Vendors include everything from a couple selling bonsai trees next to me, to Jack the pickle guy on my left, potters, jewelers, fiber artists, painters, glass artist and much more.

(The festival, just getting started).

The farm stretches right to the ocean, it is simply beautiful there.  The day was going to be hot. The day before I had at the farmers market in Freeport and was soo hot.  It was hot again on Saturday.  But being on the ocean we did have a nice little breeze.  However, the wind picked up around 12:30 and really started blowing.  I was a little nervous about my tent blowing over.  I do have 2 very very heavy buckets filled with cement that were holding down the corners of my tent, but I was still nervous.   Then, a crash.  A potter lost a shelf of pottery, blown over from the wind. Then I looked down at the first tent, closest to the ocean.  This vendor was holding on for dear life!  Soo windy!  I had a friend stop by and she asked me how I was doing,  I simply replied, "I want to take my tent down".  She was kind enough to help me get that tent right out of the way before anything could happen.  The catch?  It was now only 1:00 and the sun was high overhead.  Thankfully I packed my SPF 30 and slathered it on.  I only got a smidge burned. 

I will be back next year!

I've Been Busy...

I'm back.  It was a busy several days with the Wolfe Neck Farm Arts Festival on Saturday, Fathers' Day on Sunday, and a couple of long work and travel days on Monday and Tuesday.  But here I am! 

Thought I would share with you 2 little birdies that recently hatched. Their "parents" worked really hard to build a next on a speaker mounted high on our back porch.  After knocking it down 7 times and trying all sorts of things (hanging a shiny CD, playing loud music out of the speaker and putting a toy truck with "eyes" up there) we couldn't discourage them from building.  Finally we blocked the whole area off.  This was something we were trying hard to do because we have a cat that is a great hunter that hangs out on the back porch.

But they moved out front. Built a great little nest on top of one of the window shutters.  We used a mirror a few weeks back and saw 3 little white eggs.  Now, my hubby stretched his long arms up to the nest with the camera and got this shot of 2 little birdies that don't even have their eyes open yet!