…okay, I took more than usual, cope.
Anyway I know you’ve seen the picture of my booth 324562389046052 times but I am SO proud of it! I designed a new sign, got it printed, & sewed it to the front canopy of the booth. I winged out the sides like I’ve been wanting to for _years_, which gave me SO much more space, & I got new sidewalls sewn. I bought one of those all-weather indoor-outdoor carpets — plastic, yes, but after Estrella this year? Hell YEAH I want a plastic carpet.
The backdrop fabric I sewed is just visible at the back of the booth, & off to the right, on the table, is the set of shelves I got done. I wish I’d gotten a better picture or two of the whole effect, but I’m REALLY happy with it, & it worked VERY well.
There’s a lot yet to do, mind you. I need to refrotz the sidewalls so they fit better, & probably do hooks & loops along the top to connect them to the roof fabric better. I need to finish the shelves with linseed oil. There’s another whole set of shelves to be done, & I’d like to put some sort of spikes or something atop the front two upright poles so the banner could hang _above_ the booth.
BUT. The new look drew people in, & the new layout made more room for them. Having the tables at an angle makes my stuff more visible from the road. Having the banner means people can see who I am. The backdrop fabric & the new shelves just made things _look_ better, & the new shelves fit in the van MUCH more easily than the old sets, & they’re much lighter to schlep along, too.
I did more business. I sold more stuff. & I got to hang out with people more, without having to worry that customers might look at a booth full of my friends & keep going cos there wasn’t any room for them.
Basically it all worked more-or-less how I wanted it to, & how often do you get THAT lucky?
Also it was a specially buggy year, so I sold the hell outa bug spray.
One of the big bottles in that picture sold maybe an hour after I took the shot; I kept the other one for myself, because ALSO the tester was empty. o.0
In other news? I was in the PERFECT spot to watch the sunset.
& just a couple booths down were horses!
I managed to slip down to watch the horses a couple times, cos the random kids who hang around my booth, while not necessarily the same from year to year, have collectively gained enough knowledge to more-or-less run the place for me for a bit if I ask them to.
Another awesome thing about Battlemoor (although I haven’t got pictures of it cos, well, it was dark) is that I actually had the energy to go out in the evenings. It’s been pretty constant, since I started merchanting, that I’d close up the shop & immediately go to bed, because by the end of the day, I was exhausted.
I went out EVERY NIGHT at Battlemoor.
I hung out with my old roommate Jon, & my dear friends Dwen & Morgan, & a goodly chunk of Dragonsspine. I got drunk at a party with a couple other merchants, helping one of the potters ‘test’ his new pottery drinking horn. (It holds rum punch, & also delivers rum punch to one’s mouth, so yes, we declared it acceptable.) I hung out with Corvus twice, & twice was present for Midnight Bacon, which is the best tradition possible. I had a LONG, very necessary conversation with Amice, who I’ve known since she was, like, twelve.
It was a very, very good war.
This was posted originally to my Patreon, a little over a week ago.
If you want to see these posts sooner, & not incidentally help support me & my cats in our travels & such, the way to do that is to sign up as one of my Patrons for as little as a buck a month.
I’d REALLY like that.
