Birke Baehr on the problems with our food industry

You might have noticed from my last post that I've been thinking a lot about food lately. I've been struggling with the cost of maintaining a healthy, ethical, nutrient-rich diet, especially with student loans looming.

This 11 year old finally said what I needed to hear. "We can pay the farmers, or we can pay the hospitals." Well darn. I guess that 'bout settles it!

Seriously, this guy has so many good points it's pretty hard not to agree with him.




P.s. I like Kale chips too. In fact, I'm about to make a batch!

I came across this video while reading Crystal Nelson's Blog.

Fall Craft Fair Schedule!

Don't get too excited...my computer is still in the shop. I can't say I have anything nice to say about the Geek Squad at Best Buy...so I'm not going to say anything!

I'm not quite as busy this fall because it was difficult to organize everything from abroad, but here's the plan! I hope some of you can stop by! There may be additional dates, so this list might grow a bit...

Sep. 19 Pawling Arts & Crafts Fest, Pawling, NY
Oct. 3 Hudson High School Craft Fair, Hudson, NY
Oct. 10-11 Warren Fall Festival, Warren, CT

Oct. 17 Hillsdale Farmer’s Market

As always, if you've got any questions or need directions don't hesitate to ask!

RobinMarie [at] Soasadesigns [dot] com

Soasa Calendar!

Late Summer & Early Fall 2010

September 19 Van Houten Avenue Street Fair, Clifton, NJ
September 21-23 Fall Northeast Art & Craft Show, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY
September 26 Haverstraw Street Festival, Haverstraw, NY
October 2 Hudson High School Craft and Home Expo, Hudson, NY
October 3 Warwick AppleFest, Warwick, NY
October 9-10 Warren Fall Festival, Warren, CT (one of my favorites!)
October 23-24 Connecticut Renaissance Faire, Hebron, CT
October 26-27 Thanksgiving Northeast Art & Craft Show, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY

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Spring and Summer 2010


Edit 6/24/10:

This should be it. For real. See you there!

June 25-27 Oldsongs Festival of Music and Dance, Altamont, NY
July 18 Nyack Street Fair, Nyack, NY
July 23-25 GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, Trumansburg, NY
August 5-8 WOOL, Lake George, NY
August 28-29 Old Bethpage Village Craft and Gift Show, Old Bethpage, LI, NY
September 4-5 Eisenhower Park Craft and Gift Show, East Meadow, LI, NY
September 11-12 Bayville Waterside Craft and Gift Show, Bayville, LI, NY
September 18 Pawling Art and Craft Fair, Pawling, NY


There will be more events for October - December!

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Winter 2009

Nov. 21st Valley Central School, Montgomery, NY
Dec. 4th Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Dec. 5th Hawthorne Valley School, Harlemville, NY

If you decide to stop by don't forget to print out this coupon and save 15% off your entire purchase!

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Fall 2009

I'm not quite as busy this fall because it was difficult to organize everything from abroad, but here's the plan! I hope some of you can stop by! There may be additional dates, so check back around the end of the month.

Sep. 19 Pawling Arts & Crafts Fest, Pawling, NY
Oct. 3 Hudson High School Craft Fair, Hudson, NY
Oct. 10-11 Warren Fall Festival, Warren, CT

Oct. 17 Hillsdale Farmer’s Market

As always, if you've got any questions or need directions don't hesitate to ask!

RobinMarie [at] Soasadesigns [dot] com

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Summer 2009

I'm currently in Buenos Aires, Argentina on study abroad. I will be back in the states on August 2nd, and hopefully geared up for a good fall season! I have jewelry available on my Etsy site RobinMarie.Etsy.com that my mom has kindly agreed to ship out for me!

Have a happy and healthy summer!

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The holiday season is here!

Nov. 21-22 Housatonic Valley Waldorf School Holiday Fair, Newtown, CT
Nov. 29 Jewelry Sale at Off The Beaded Path, Great Barrington, MA
Dec. 5 Bard Craft Fair, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Dec. 6 Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School Yultide Fair, Harlemville, NY
Dec. 13 Sheffield Market, Sheffield, MA
Dec. 20 Sheffield Market, Sheffield, MA

If you've got any questions or need directions don't hesitate to ask!
RobinMarie [at] Soasadesigns [dot] com

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Come find me this Fall, I'm going to be all over the place!

Sep. 6+20, Oct. 4+18 Hillsdale Farmer’s Market
Sep. 14 Mountain Music Festival, Bethel, NY
Sep. 20 Pawling Arts & Crafts Fest, Pawling, NY
Sep. 21 Earth Day Festival, Bethel, NY
Oct. 4-5 Hudson High School Craft Fair, Hudson, NY
Oct. 11-12 Warren Fall Festival, Warren, CT
Oct. 18 Green Meadow Fall Fair, Chestnut Ridge, NY

As you can see there are a few dates that are doubled. In those cases my Mom will be working the Farmer's Market for me, so you should really go keep her company!

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It's going to be a busy one! I'm incredibly excited about how much everything has progressed in the last three years, and this summer is just a whole new level.

Every 1st and 3rd Saturday from June - October I'll be at the Hillsdale Farmer's Market in Hillsdale, NY
June 26-29: Old Songs Festival of Music and Dance in Altamont, NY
July 17-20: Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, NY
July 24-27: Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, NY
August 23: Blueberry Festival in Ellenville, NY

I've also got quite a few events booked for the fall, but I'll let y'all know about those as the dates get closer.

Death and Taxes

This past weekend I officially registered myself for a tax ID. I feel...watched.

I also feel like I'm going to spend a bazillion dollars on wholesale glitterzzzz!


On a less federal note, I'm doing a bunch of events this fall that I'm really pumped for! I'm at the point where failure isn't so scary, having lost a ton of money and dealt with the rain on several occasions, I'm beginning to just let it roll off my back. Ahhh letting things go, a glorious feeling.
So far my season looks like this:

Oct. 6 Hillsdale Farmer's Market, NY
Oct. 6-7 Warren Harvest Fest, CT
Oct. 13-14 Hudson High Craft Fair, NY
Oct. 20 Hillsdale Farmer's Market, NY
Green Meadow Fall Fair, NY (Probable)
Nov. 4-5 Taconic Hills Craft Fair, NY (Possible)
Dec. 8 Hawthorne Valley Yuletide Fair, NY (Probable)

Additionally, I've got a foot in the door with a couple shops in town, so I'm going to be running my work by them soon.

October 20-21 is also the weekend of the Rhinebeck Gem and Mineral Show which I will be attending as a glitter-lover.

A profitable weekend, a busy day.

Saturday was crazy. The farmers market was a near disaster, several people lost their tents to the strong wind, and I, forever fearful, took mine down just in time. After three long hours of standing in the freezing wind trying to keep my jewelry on the table, I was ready to give up and move to our second site of the day. I had made all of sixty five dollars, frozen my butt off, and bent a display piece. I was not a happy camper. Then one of those customers came along who
can completely make your day. A customer with great taste, and a flexible budget. I was five minutes from packing up, and frustrated that this man seemed to be looking at everything but not buying, when suddenly he called his wife over. I realized she was the woman who'd been eying my mushroom piece the last three markets. He asked what she wanted and there was no hesitation. Off went my mushrooms! I was sad to see them go, I was close to running over and telling her I wanted them back, that they weren't for sale, or something equally childish, when she came over with a camera and asked to have her picture taken with "the artist". Well, shucks! She was wearing them with her very practical red sweatshirt. I know they won't go in some box in the back of her closet. I'm thrilled.

My mom came ten minutes later and helped me pack up and move two miles down the road to Community Day. It started out slow until the rest of our row was established and then people came:) It was a good afternoon, not really busy, but comfortable. I met a few interesting people and was happy to have time to talk to them. I cut my day short (after a solid 9 hours of standing in the sun) when I was informed that I had a terrible sunburn. Boy oh boy was it bad. I managed my whole beach vacation without a burn, but put me in a field in the freezing cold for 9 hours and I look like a tomato.

It's seriously crunch time for Musefest. We leave Thursday morning, ready or not! Today I visited AAA and got some reliable directions, spent my second to last day at the bead store churning out cell phone charms, and this evening mocking up what I can of my booth in the living room. Barring rain tomorrow I'm going to re-waterproof my tent, (that's a story and a half, that I haven't told you yet) set up in the dark to test out my lighting, finish mocking and mapping and labeling and pricing and packaging, and try and fit everything in my car. That's all after work, mind you. At work I'll be making as much jewelry as I can humanely manage. Wednesday I've reserved for laundry, figuring out lighting if I need more, packing for school (I'm supposed to start classes Thursday, but I'm going to try and be back in time for my Monday classes, don't ask how) and all the other little details I know I'm going to have to deal with. I also have a class that evening. My life is absolutely insane right now, but if all goes as planned this should be worth it.

I know there's more news from these last few days, but I can't quite grasp it right now. Maybe tomorrow.

Inventory check, and why I'm suddenly almost sane

Ahoy!
There are two major breakthroughs that have just occurred and made my life a lot less stressful.

One, strawberry season is over. While this means I won't be making as much money, it also means I can drop down to two or three days a week on the farm, instead of six or seven. Thank the lord, because the weather is heating up, and the farmers market is kicking into gear.

This brings us to two. The first farmers market is on the 7th, and I was sorely afraid I was unprepared. Having since mocked up my booth and taken inventory, as well as spent several long evenings and mornings and free moments churning out pieces, I finally feel that I have more than enough. And I still have more than a week left!

I'm working on a whole bunch of different styles that I've experimented with in the past, and I must say I love wire.

I still have no pictures, but I promise I'll post some as soon as I do! Also, new listings on Etsy will have to wait until after the market. Check out what's still in my shop though, and if there's anything you particularly like grab it now, because I can make no guarantees for what will be left after next weekend.

Long overdue!

Hello world, it's me, Robin Marie!

I've been swamped with work. Completely and utterly overwhelmed. Juggling three jobs isn't always physically challenging (though being on my feet or bent over in a field picking strawberries all day is) but it's certainly an emotional challenge. At night I dream of work, and in the few hours I'm not working or sleeping I'm remembering to eat. Very little in the way of jewelry is getting done, a fact that terrifies and frustrates me. Terrifying because starting the 7th I'll have my booth set up in town every other weekend, open to the hordes of New Yorkers that frequent this town. I'm not at all ready this year. Once or twice a week I get to indulge in the calm quiet of the bead store. Those 7 hours are what keep me sane. Last week I made 40 pairs of earwires, 11 pairs of earrings, and a gorgeous necklace. This week I have a custom peyote sleeve to finish.

I've taken today off, away from my other-life jobs in order to attent to my life. I'm mocking up my brand new booth, about 10 million times improved from last year! I'm doing my laundry, I'm taking stock of my jewelry and supplies, blogging, cleaning my room, and sitting down while I eat.

Pictures of my booth (assembled in the living room) will follow shortly!

Peace, love, and an oasis of free time!

Robin Marie