FS - I'm setting up shop next Sunday

[RootDKJ]

Ok, there's a lot of Jersey folks on here, so here we go.

Mrs Root's parents have fell on some pretty hard times. They are both laid off and her step-father is now on disability. It's been a really bad year. Her step-father has been doing some painting of rocks, slate and saw blades. We're going to be selling these next Sunday 11/22 at the Warren Township Fire Department's Flea Market. I think it opens at 9.

Washington Valley Volunteer Fire Co. No. 4
146 Washington Valley Road
Warren, NJ 07059

Prices range from $5 for magnets to $40 for some of the bigger rocks. I don't have any pics of the slates.

Here's a link that shows a sample of the items. I'm not sure what we actually have for product.
http://s667.photobucket.com/albums/vv35/myriah00/Hand Paint Art By Gary/?albumview=slideshow

We are not shipping anything at this time. The rocks are too heavy and we're just not set up to ship the slate in a manner where it won't chip or crack.

 

[severine]

Good luck to them! Hope the flea market goes well. Sorry to hear about the down times for them.

 

[RootDKJ]

Good luck to them! Hope the flea market goes well. Sorry to hear about the down times for them.

Thanks8)

 

[Glenn]

That's tough Root. I hope things work out for them.

 

[RootDKJ]

Thanks Glenn. They are hanging in pretty well, surprisingly.

 

[gorgonzola]

i like the bangor slater!! (?!?!?!) good luck, i'm sure things will turn around for them

 

[RootDKJ]

i like the bangor slater!! (?!?!?!) good luck, i'm sure things will turn around for them

Hey, if you want any custom slates done, we Gary can re-produce pretty much anything as long as we have a photo.

He made me a cool skiing slate magnet. I'll post a pic up after class tonight.

 

[RootDKJ]

I figured since I took the time to write all of this for another MB, I'd cross-post here.

We did really well actually. Made around $100 and actually had requests for two custom orders. My wife wants to set up there again this Sunday. I'm dreading that. It's really boring when you are there as a vendor. To be honest, I'd rather just hand the in-laws a c-note then sit out there all day again, but they aren't looking for a handout.

Since I won't be skiing, I'll suck it up and score a few more points to be redeemed on future ski trips. Here's some crappy cell phone photo's I took on Sunday. Both of us forgot to bring our digital cameras so this is all I took.

Slate from Bangor, PA

Mrs Root trying to wake up :lol:

And every skier needs one of these on their refrigerator!

Again, sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.



Sad story: I'm bored, so I went to take a walk around and look at some of the other vendors. As I'm walking past a guy wearing a DOT safety vest, I realize I know him, in fact I used to work with him. He was the Director of Safety and Compliance up until a year ago when his whole department got let go. Unable to land steady work, he's Rep-ing the manufacturer of the safety vests and trying to move them at the flea market. He had thought I was let go as well, and was surprised to learn that I wound up with a new (better) job as a result of the re-organization. He's very bitter towards us, and I can't blame him for that. He was an asshole when he worked for us, and at least I can now say that he's still an asshole, but I did feel sorry for him. I mean reduced from running your own department, working from home, traveling up and down the east coast, to selling safety vests at a flea market. This economy sucks.

Reflecting upon that and yesterdays announcement that there are no planned lay-offs in Engineering, I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and will make it a point to mention this story at family dinner on Thursday.

 

[Glenn]

Glad they made some extra money. It looks like he's a really tallented artist too. That's something I could never do...horrible at drawing.

 

[RootDKJ]

Glad they made some extra money. It looks like he's a really tallented artist too. That's something I could never do...horrible at drawing.

Thanks. I kept wanting to tell people that I did the paintings and Mrs Root kept beating me:razz:

 

[Glenn]

Thanks. I kept wanting to tell people that I did the paintings and Mrs Root kept beating me:razz:

"Stop fibbing in public David!"

 

[RootDKJ]

"Stop fibbing in public David!"

Something like that :argue:. All in good fun.

 

[RootDKJ]

We did really well last Sunday (over 2X what we did the prior week).

We are going to do one more sale this Sunday at the Union County Holiday Lights and Craft Show.

I also took some better pics of the stuff we're selling. Really neat stuff.

You can see everything here: Art by Gary

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Your a good son-in-law....what goes around, comes around. Folk Art is still very popular.....I really like the covered bridge saw blade.

Have they checked any local/regional area art/craft co-op galleries? I am sure there is a state folk art/craft organization and their website could have some great ideas for selling.

 

[RootDKJ]

Your a good son-in-law....what goes around, comes around. Folk Art is still very popular.....I really like the covered bridge saw blade.

Have they checked any local/regional area art/craft co-op galleries? I am sure there is a state folk art/craft organization and their website could have some great ideas for selling.

Thanks. We haven't looked into any co-ops. Good idea. I'm thinking about making them a nice website once school is done. Then I need to work out ordering & shipping details.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Here is a list of craft fairs/festivals in Jersey. This is more formal than doing the flea market/farmers market thing but I know other artists/crafters who have done it. I was hoping to find a website for a statewide craft/folk art organization, like we have in Vermont, but could not find one.
http://www.smartfrogs.com/nj.html

 

[RootDKJ]

Cool, thanks. After this Sunday's craft show, I'm done until April, but I'll pass the link along.

 

[gorgonzola]

dude i think you should set up some skier slates in the parking lot at blue after your saturday morning sessions! i'd hawk a few with ya while i have my morning guiness and egg sammich!

 

[RootDKJ]

dude i think you should set up some skier slates in the parking lot at blue after your saturday morning sessions! i'd hawk a few with ya while i have my morning guiness and egg sammich!

That's not a bad idea.