Gainesville Heirlooms and Blooms Festival

This weekend will be several "firsts" for us - an out of town show, the Heirlooms and Blooms Festival in Gainesville, Florida; which means that we'll have to cram a suitcase amongst the booth goods (plus snacks and drinks), and hope to god that we have brought what we need to the show; plus it's a three-day event, so I've got to make certain that my trusty checklist has actually been gone over and that we have enough small bills, bags, and wrapping paper - how's that for optimism? - for the entire run. We actually put the shade canopy up out back last week so we're sure that it goes up without a problem, and we packed the canopy in with the frame - what a brilliant idea! - instead of taking it off. The last time, the canopy was sitting on a shelf in the garage, and we had the empty frame with us at the show. Dope slap to the head! Plus, I've got gallons of water and bungee cords to anchor the whole business down to the ground, because we're expecting that we won't be able to drive any stakes down and will be setting up in a glorious parking lot. You kind of have to expect anything, and hope for the best.

Can you tell I'm a bit nervous? Traveling away from home, doing a long show, not knowing what the business climate will be - it's a whole bunch of uncertainty, my least favorite aspect of life. I like predictability, bring it on! I love certainty, my good friend!

Instead, I'm doing what I can to prepare for this beast. Restocking my jewelry inventory (from my own castoffs) - a scramble as this is a reliable source of sales for us. I noticed at the Tarpon Springs show that another dealer was using a throw pillow to display her selection of pins - and had remarked how much better they were selling from there than from her cases. So last week I hit the charity shops and found a sweet, ivory lace-covered pillow - I believe it was meant as a ring pillow for a wedding ceremony. My pins look very enticing on it, and it's freed up all sorts of room in the display cases for more earrings.

Another idea I had was to pull together some faux greenery to put in the planters and vases that we have for sale, since this is a garden-themed show. That way we can feature them on the tables and be in keeping with the spirit of the show. I'll take some photos if this effect is well received, and post them here.

Fingers crossed that Gainesville opens her welcoming arms to Time Travelers this weekend.

thud

And that was the sound of the recession officially hitting the Time Travelers' business, I think. Today was the last of the Anna Maria Island Privateers' Thieves Market, and it was a dismal place. Absolutely crammed with vendors. Overflowing with people walking around. Note: not shopping. I'm pretty certain that only the food vendors did well today - from all accounts, none of the other merchants like ourselves did at all well.

It certainly was a sobering day.

Compared to the same event held in February, we did about a third of the business. Now we could argue that many of the seasonal residents have packed up and gone back north - except that there were SO many people there today! (OK, so most everyone was wearing a bathing suit; we are on the beach, after all.)

I guess that these are the tough times - whether it's the beginning of them or this is a hiccup, or it's only going to get much worse, well, you got me. I know that we are not going to be going to all the garage sales, estate sales, auctions, and rummage sales that are currently going on, because our inventory levels are just fine where they are; and I'm not too keen on putting out much more money if so much less money is going to be coming in from now on. It just seems to make sense to me right now to batten down the hatches for this ride. I keep a sharp eye on what we've sold, so in any case if we start to really run low on anything, I won't NOT go shopping.... but for now, I'm going to leave the treasure hunting to the other people out there. The treasures will just have to hunker down and wait for me to find them later.

In a couple of weeks, we'll be doing the Heirlooms and Blooms Event in Gainesville, which will be a three day show for us! Another first - a small booth space (10' x 10', just large enough for our shade canopy), so we'll bring fewer tables and hopefully have to replenish from our stock that we'll bring along to the show. Also a first in that it will be our first overnight stay away from home for show. I wonder what we'll forget to pack and bring for this one!

Shortly after that show we'll be doing another out of town event at the beginning of May at the West Palm Beach Antique Show. This is a monthly event that we'll be trying out for the first time, in the hopes of making it a regular stop on our show calendar. For this particular show we'll also take the opportunity to visit with some family on the east coast (they'll get to see what's left of us at the end of a day after a full day spent at a show!). It's not a pretty sight.

And the week after that, we'll be trying out an indoor event (this is a year of firsts for us, after all), at the Black Pearl Antique Show in Port Charlotte. This is also the first time for this show, so it's pretty exciting to get in on the initial event. This is a one day show and we'll be able to drive down and back in the same day - whew!

(You know, I really thought that the season would be over for us by now. See how much I am learning!)

The stars aligned

The Dade City Spring Antique Faire (man, I hate it when they tack on those "e"s at the end of the word fair!) was just a lovely, lovely show. What a pretty setting - one of those rare Florida towns without strip malls, or the mega stores - but the older lay out of the city center has been preserved. Of course, most of the businesses are antique stores! - but that makes for a natural draw for a show. And though the faire itself was held in the town parking lot, it was under the shade of Live Oak trees, dripping with Spanish Moss. No wind, no rain. Truly, the stars, or at least the meteorologists, aligned to make this past weekend's show just about perfect.

We debuted our collection of teapots, and devoted an entire table to about half of them. They really were a feature for the booth, and I am so glad that I went with my instinct on this investment. We sold four teapots - and selling four of anything is pretty remarkable. It's a very encouraging sign, and it did give me a flash of an idea that perhaps I should group together some teacups and creamers and sugars on the table as well, if we have room at the next show.

At the shows we're doing we're starting to recognize dealers from the area. There's one woman in particular whom I remember from our first ever show at the Tampa fairgrounds, because she was so critical of a picnic tin that we had to sell. "Oh, look how dirty this thing is," she said. "And the lid doesn't fit straight - it's all crooked. Do you really expect someone to pay $xxx for THAT?" And off she huffed, leaving me speechless, and regarding this tin, which up until that point I'd thought was a pretty nice tin! It took a while for it to dawn on my befuddled head that it was something that she desired - and she was attempting to get me to drop my price for her.

Well, she was at the Dade City show. And of course she zeroed in on that tin, which has drawn lots of attention but no serious buyers at the shows we've taken it to. It's a bulky enough item that, at some point, you start to get a little concerned that it's going to become shop-worn, with being packed up and unpacked repeatedly. So when the dealer started in with her refrain of the unfavorable condition and high price of the tin, I asked her, "Are you interested in buying it?" and then, "What would you consider to be a fair price?" And so we were off on our negotiations. I asked what her plans for the tin were - I knew that it wasn't something that she sold in her booth, so it would be for her private collection. Well, she had a vision for her kitchen; picnic tins nestled between models of cows, and having antique milk bottles perched on top of them. Our tin was a missing and critical piece of her vision. Once having asked about her interest, there was no stopping her bubbling over in her enthusiasm about the different colors and shapes that the tins come in. We were able to come to an agreeable price and made a transaction - another happy customer, and I made a new acquaintance among dealers.

Aren't people funny? Starting by saying one thing and putting you off, and then, when you gently ask the right question, they open up like a flower, revealing their true nature and desires. I do really love this work. It took a while to get that flower to open, and I wasn't sure that she would at first; but I had the confidence that I had nothing to lose by asking, and if nothing, I would at least learn something (whether or not she wanted the tin in the first place, and what she thought a fair price would be). I was always in the position of being able to say "no" if I wanted to - we've had plenty of people who think that the fair price of any given object is far less than what we think it is. And when that happens, we smile, and say, Sorry, but no thank you. It's our right to decide to sell or not, and we're quite comfortable with it. There's never any shame in passing on what we consider to be a bad trade.

The next scheduled show is the last Privateers Thieves Market on Anna Maria Island, on the 12th of April.

So THAT'S what "Trash to Treasures" means!

Yesterday we were at the "Trash to Treasures" show in Tarpon Springs - I never did find a suitable link to put up - and now we know that it means you bring your trash to the show, and people find their treasures in them. (Cue dope slap to self's head.) Instead, we brought our usual array of inventory, set it all up on our tables, and were dumbfounded when we walked around the show to find a load of junk for sale.

Well, almost. I did find 2 treasures - a Crown Staffordshire hand painted teacup and saucer in a lovely yellow with sprigs of forsythias on it, and for childhood memories' sake, 4 small Beatrix Potter books. But most of the stuff for sale was truly awful.

So our booth, and several others, were rather like diamonds glinting in the garbage heaps. We didn't hear any deprecating remarks about our prices, or our selections. It wasn't a great show for us, and in the future we'll be certain to bring our less wonderful items. Things that, at other shows, sometimes I'll unwrap to put on the table, then think twice about having it out, and wrap it back up as being unworthy for an antique and collectible show. Items such as these would have been perfectly suitable and might have found a home, at the right price.

People are really on the look out for silver these days. Sterling, plate, just about anything will go - and I'm always looking to add these items to our inventory. It's quite incredible what you'll find at a rummage sale, covered in tarnish; and it really isn't until you've spent some time with polishing paste and some elbow grease before you can find out what shape the item is actually in. So there's a certain amount of risk there, but quite often the initial investment is not too terribly great. It's the cleaning time and materials that are the true investment. I do admit to feeling a wonderful little rush when the gleam of a piece of silver starts to show as a result of a little bit of effort!

The only drawback to yesterday's show was really the capriciousness of the weather. It was sunny; it was warm; but there was a constant breeze that would build up to some 25 mph gusts (which I think were the tail end of a violent system that the day before had swept through Georgia, with tornadoes in its wake there), and we lost 2 pieces to the wind. I think every single vendor there suffered breakages as we did. Of course, we had also just received our shade canopy, which can really be a godsend as the springtime quickly moves into summer weather down here. Unfortunately, we found ourselves having to hang on to the frame as it promised to take off like some kite across the municipal parking lot several times. We were able to inch it a bit closer to a patch of grass in order to bungee cord it down to some stakes, but ultimately, we were forced to take the whole thing down before the heat of the day was in full force. Some passers by were kind enough to help us lift up and carry the whole frame and canopy over our the tables off to where we were able to take it down in relative safety. Nonetheless, for the entire day, I was on edge every time a gust of wind would come up, and we kept on having to take one thing after another off the tables and stow it away in the storage tubs, to keep it from blowing away.

Packing up at the end of the day was tortuous, as the lids of the storage tubs were liable to fly across the parking lot, as were the wrapping materials. It just felt like it took twice as long and four times as much effort to safely pack up and stow everything away. By the time we got home, ate some take away Thai food (I don't ever attempt to cook on a day when we've done a show), I showered my wind-burnt body, took a bunch of ibuprofen, and fell into bed, where I slept for 11 hours. Whew!

So for now, it's back to the Teapot Project, as I've come to think of my latest TIAS fling. I'm halfway done with the addition of the various teapots on to the website, and I'm increasingly pleased with the acquisition, as it's such a great variety.

Here's a picture of a wonderful pot in the shape of a dragon, being ridden by a wizard. It was made by the Clay Art Company of San Francisco, which was known primarily for their cookie jars and masks. Just beautifully made in very rich colors, with great details.

Teapot Acquisition

Well, I'm so excited that I just couldn't wait to take a picture and post it. Here's our latest acquisition - a lot of teapots from an avid collector who needed to make some room, and wanted to pass on her old friends to their new homes.

I couldn't quite get them all in the photo - one was in the kitchen, getting cleaned - but I think there are 39 in total, not counting the teapot shaped purse, the framed picture of a teapot, or the lamp decorated with teapots. There are miniatures, a musical teapot, a Mickey Mouse tea-for-one, a couple of elephants, a dragon with a wizard as the lid, a Hall, a Sadler, a Villeroy and Bosch, a Mikasa... well, you get the idea. Something for everyone, I believe.

I'm just in the process of giving them a clean and then I'll be taking pictures, doing some research, and putting them all on the Timetravelers website store at TIAS - they'll be in their own department. They've all been lovingly cared for in their previous home, and I'll be sure to see that they're sent off with suitable fanfare to their new destinations.

I'm just so very pleased to have these lovely pots as part of our collection! Take a good look at the photo and see what you can find.

I've started to photograph, research, and add the teapots to the store. I issued a press release after I'd put about 10 of them into inventory (this will easily become the largest category of items we carry, until such time that I get around to entering the rest of our vast array of stock). Though not every single pot is of high value, I think there's a great variety in terms of size, and quirkiness! Not to mention that a high-priced teapot isn't necessarily what the average customer might be looking for - maybe they're just wanting one with the right colors, or one that has fish on it.

I'd say I'm about half done with the process. Luckily, I got the lighting problem with the photo studio resolved - well, kind of. After trying multiple internet vendors, plus a local lighting specialist, I was unable to find the correct replacement bulb for one of the two lamps that had blown. I contacted Hammacher Schlemmer, and their customer service department kept on trying to get me to order the bulbs from yet another online vendor - I pleaded with them that the information supplied on the bulb was not sufficient to get a suitable light. (I kept on receiving bulbs that fit the appliance, but cast the wrong color light, and was a flood and not a spot light.) Yet there was no other information supplied with which to order the bulbs - I kept going around and around, receiving bulbs, sending them back, ordering other ones, sending them back. Argh!!

Finally, the folks at Hammacher Schlemmer felt pity for my plight, and they sent me two replacement bulbs that are the correct type for the lamp. Now, they didn't come in any kind of packaging - merely bubblewrap - so I'm still completely in the dark as to what on earth I'm supposed to order from a lighting vendor!! But at least I'm able to take pictures indoors again, and the colors are true. So I'm happy. Kinda. For now.

Chased off by the weather

I guess it was inevitable, but we were finally chased off of a show by inclement weather today. The Privateers' Thieves Market on Anna Maria Island is being held today (maybe? we don't actually know), but the wind gusts are currently at 35 mph! I'm pretty sure that would pick up one of our tables in no time, and blow our stock to pieces. We've been fortunate so far that the weather has been cooperative with our outdoor activities, so we can't really grumble.

And it was so nice to go back to bed at 4:30 this morning for a few hours more!

Dunedin, Florida

Yesterday's Antique Fair went very well. A great turnout of people - the fair is located right beside the Pinellas Trail, so there were walkers, people on bicycles (not shopping), in addition to the antique hounds. We do feel that there more people walking around there than shopping - you really didn't see many folks with bags of purchases. I'll admit to having an uneasy feeling that people generally are not wanting to spend money at the moment; with a poor economic picture being painted every day in the news, real estate values in a reverse trend, and increasing prices at the gas pump and in the grocery stores. That said, we did just as well at this show as we have at the others we've done - they are all about the same. Dunedin had a far larger turnout than the previous ones, so we would have expected a larger number of sales, and that just didn't happen.

And, I'm only going to say this once, but there's always someone - just one person - who makes the point of stopping by the booth to spill their negative viewpoint about a show. "I don't see any antiques here," they'll say, or, "How can they call this an antique show? This is all just junk." It never fails - no matter what's on offer, there will be an Eeyore in the crowd, looking about at all the wonderful merchandise, and moaning that it's not Good Enough. (Here's the secret about that message: that customer will never be happy, no matter what you present them with! Smile and nod, and thank them for stopping by.)

So, more shopping this week - garage sales, rummage sales, and we'll see what crops up. We're looking forward to next Saturday's Anna Maria Island Privateers Thieves' Market again - on the beach! In Florida! In March! We're lucky, lucky people to be doing what we enjoy.

This item sold at the Dunedin show - another gem found at the auction house. Pink satin glass with a wisteria design painted on one side.