vendor virgin no more

so i survived the silverlake art, craft and vintage fair. i should seriously make t-shirts that say that for all those who survived along with me; shoppers and vendors alike.
the first time is always the hardest, isn't it? well, so is the case in this situation. however, well worth it, which looking back i can't say that for other virgin no more experiences.
i was super organized, which helped. i packed up purses, ties, hats, clothes, shoes and jewelry in big tubs. we packed the truck strategically and left with plenty of time to arrive and set-up. we had already tested the tent a few times to get the hang of it (although our vendor neighbors talked us thru the set-up on the day of - thanks, tim!). we were all set!
but hot damn! talk about butt-a** hot! after barely surviving set-up in 100 degree weather at 9-ish in the morning, shoppers started finding their way around. 3 pendants sold in minutes. the green swim cap was purchased within 20 minutes. awesome, there goes a straw bag within 1 hour! my mom played cashier. i was the welcome committee. we always work well together.
as time slowly melted away, shoppers were coming in small spurts. the gorgeous yellow dress went home to a skinny minnie who paired it up nicely with a mint green belt. the whale tee found its new home with the same sweetie-pie that picked up the fabulous black strawberry necklace. loose pendants were a hit as well, only $3! the mystery bags seemed to be a hit with teens, kids and the adults! for only a buck, they couldn't be resisted by the shoppers.
i met some super cool people and was happy to see some pals turn out to show love and support. we managed to hang in there until about 2:30, but after almost passing out and being beet red for hours, we decided to call it a day and head back into the valley, where it was 2 degrees cooler. all in all, it was a great day and i had a blast. we'll definitely be back when the weather decides to chill out a bit.

yes, still talking about the fair this coming saturday!

i may sound like a complete broken record by now, but i'm just overflowing with excitement and enthusiasm! i am finally taking my "boutique" on the road and going to set up a public shop for the day. i've purchased my 10x10 tent, have stocked up heavily on inventory, and am in the final process of decorating my booth.
i found a chain-link fence a couple months ago in the backyard of our semi-new house after removing a large metal gate and have been dying to put it to use since its discovery. i'm thinking that the fence will be perfect for displaying the bags and purses!
oh yes, the bags and purses...uh, what should one do? i have purses coming out of my ears over here! i counted 101 purses a couple weeks ago, of which maybe a 1/4 were posted and have since been deactivated for repricing. since that last count, i have purchased at least 20 or so MORE purses, including this beautiful royal blue beauty!...so i'm not sure which to take out with me and which shall stay...or should they all go? i don't know! argh! the stress, the pressure!
i also decided to take a look into the jewelry i've accumulated...which turns out to be a lot. i have over 20 loose pendants and charms and only a couple chains worth using. so do i sell the pendants as is or spend more $$ on the chains, thus marking up the prices on my charms? then how vintage of a price can i offer? the agony! the confusion!
oh my geez, then there's the shoes! heels, boots, kids, men and women...even freakin' moccasins! hey, where did those come from anyways? must have been another manic day...when, then or now?
oh yes, trucker hats and ties for the guys. i can't wait! i have been having so much fun shopping for ties. there are some super cool digs out there. the boys in my life have been taking first pick, but luckily for the shoppers they are conservative and left the bold ones for, well, the bold ones!
i'm feelin' pretty lucky at this point. mom will be there working the $$$ and mother in law will be there, too. hubby and pops are expected to make an appearance as well! just keeping my fingers crossed for the love and support of my family and friends and the eagerness of shoppers to come out for superb saturday shopping at the silverlake art craft and vintage fair!

jewlery, jewelry and more jewelry!

i've been preparing for my first public appearance which will be on saturday, august 29. i've purchased a booth space at the silverlake art and craft fair and in anticipation of this great weekly event, i've destroyed my home upside down and have been pulling out purses from ungodly places. ok, not really ungodly places, but my god! i have over 160 vintage bags!!!

as i was going thru the goodies, i came across necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings and pendants that i forgot i had. DOH! how selfish of me! my purpose is to find them new homes, not hoard them!

so what's so special about my jewelry? well, for starters, check out those handmade sunkist earrings! they are made from recycled sunkst cans and padded with a foam-like lining on the back. the heart-shaped earrings are on silver hoops. or how about screw-back wood earrings or red dots?

ok, let's talk necklaces. although hard to see, not only do we have big junky necklaces, we also have glass bead necklaces perfect for layering, scrabble pendant necklaces, and domino pendants with vintage pics and hilarious sayings!

bracelets are there too! gold bracelets, silver, beaded and more!

this is one example of the many vintage finds that will be available at our August 29th booth in silverlake!

painting on leather is rad!

i've always wanted to enjoy painting, i just always had so many issues with it. maybe it has to do with the fact that i failed, yes failed, my first painting class my 1st year of college...i failed mainly because i never showed up, and i never showed up because i didn't like the professor, and i didn't like the professor because he was so negative about art that was not done in his exact manner. one which i prayed to never obtain. sure, the man was talented, otherwise he would not have been teaching a painting class. but he was just as lame as his boring paintings and became in my mind a mini-hitler: pissy about his crappy paintings so he took it out on his artists. yes, that's a large accussation to make, but it's funny and it makes me laugh, and this is my blog!

so! moving on, the above story does have a meaning to this blog, unlike many other i tell. after i failed that art class at 18 years of age, i never felt the same enthusiasm about a paint brush and canvas. many years later i had found photography to be artistically fulfilling, and there was a positive response to my pics, so i let that consume me for a few years. but, like everything else i experience, i got bored.

ok, i'll get to the point! i started painting on vintage bags. blah, there it is! my first attempt came out pretty clean. i took a white leather clutch with a wrist strap that needed a little "vavoom!" only having had purchased the electric blue paint, i followed along lines already present in the purse. this paint i'm using from eco-flo is fun because it glides on smooth and evenly and colors include bright yellow, hot pink and neon greens! once the paint dries, a water protector is applied to the paint to keep it sealed in and protected...forever!

today i finished my second bag. this one is a black leather purse with leather interior and silver accents and a great design that was getting lost in monotone. although i've since purchased more eco-flo colors, i found myself gravitating towards the electric blue. following the vertical and horizontal lines on the bag, the black handbag got a makeover too! it's been posted on my etsy site and can be seen here.

i went through the 101 purses and pulled out 8 more bags that are set up to get a makeover. stay tuned, my goal is to knock one out by tomorrow!

Silverlake Indie Swapmeet

yeah, i might be a little late on the bandwagon, but at least i finally know! saturday i went to the silverlake art and craft sale/swapmeet with the hubby. he was excited to browse through records and i was excited!

when we entered the gate, there was this woman playing flute and reading what looked like very old sheet music. it was so pretty! it took me back to my flutist days...you never appreciate what you have until it's gone, huh?

heading past the flutist, we came across a booth of 3 gals, one of whom was selling these adorable tie-dye baby tees with felt designs. i was shocked to learn that she hasn't been selling her items on etsy! she said that she wasn't sure about her designs aftering viewing the current etsy sellers, but i strongly and honestly disagreed with her. so hopefully she will just go for it and see for herself!

moving on we came across a girl sitting at a small table with 3 vintage dresses and really funny cards. she is a seller on etsy and i giggled at her most popular seller that read "Congrats, Bitch"in beautiful cursive. i then purchased her 3 vintage dresses for $15. whatta steal! still haven't decided their fate. i'm thinking they are gonna be added to my wardrobe, being that i possess 1 vintage dress, 1 skirt and 30 vintage purses...yeah, i need some clothing.

we darted straight past the massive racks of vintage and retro clothing. so overwhelming! at this point i had lost gino. i stumbled upon a booth of all sorts of trinkets and goodies. lots of fun stuff, and one purse labeled "Space Girl Purse." oh, look! records! and gino!

gino joined me, knit kitty in hand and 20 bucks later. we passed by this oh-so-clever guy with a sewing machine and clothing galore! what a clever fella! you could create your own dress, right there on the spot! you pick 3 different vintage fabrics, mainly old tees, and choose from 3 styles of dresses, hand on over to mr. clever, and...wah-lah! your very own, custom-made, vintage dress. that was probably the highlight for me.

we passed by jewelry and art....i picked up black crystal earrings for 12 bucks, and gino scored a magnet. we made our way around the back end...ooh! what is this? 5 and 10 dollar racks! i scored myself an adorable house-dress...yes, i made my status of housewife official!

we passed by more vintage booths, but a little too chaotic to entice us. we got a good laugh out of someone trying to sell a destroyed "X"album for $100 and made our way back to the entrance and the flutist.

what a great time! i'm thinking about trying out the swap meet for myself, and seeing if i can have any luck selling my vintage goodies. my current active inventory consists of 68 items, plus i just counted out 101 purses that are still in the "warehouse".....now which weekend should i choose? hmmm...

101 Purses

a couple weeks ago i moved my vintage inventory from the guest room into a new, larger storage space. in a matter of weeks my inventory had grown out of control, as i had been buying more than selling. it took almost a day until i was able to see the guest bed (ok, it is a twin, but still!)... and that is when i discovered that i had some unposted items...well, a lot...

after this realization, life went on and so did my purchasing. my new storage space was much larger, so i kept packing. i took on a couple consignment gigs. then, next thing i knew, my new storage was a mess of a place.

after many awful nights of sleep and irritated eyes that burned at the sight of the sun, today i finally awoke after a decent nights sleep with energy... and decided to review and organize my backed up inventory because i'm thinking about doing my 1st swap meet.

tackling only the purses, i scoured every nook and cranny in my home for bags. yes, my madness is that bad. painted purse in one corner, stack of clutches in another, straw bags covering the dining table...

HA! so after pulling every purse out, I just had to take a photo of what still needs to make its way into the boutique. i'm wondeing how long it will take to photograph, measure, describe and post 101 vintage purses...

to be continued...