In the Barn at the Alaska State Fair

Yesterday was a slow sort of day at the Alaska State Fair -- the crowd was light until after the Charlie Daniels concert.  And even then, the demographic was all wrong for the kind of things we sell. 

I took the opportunity to visit the animals in the barn.  Ever since I've gotten to know Pricilla and Abby, there is a special place in my heart for goats.

The goats were especially cute this year.  They love a little head scratch.

And fresh hay is always welcome.

How about this little cutie?

Who added this sheep to the mix?  He/she was exceptionally soft.

As I said, yesterday was slow, so we ate a lot.  We ate a seafood platter (fried, of course) and it was delicious.  We also enjoyed a bunch of Macho Nachos with the works - chicken, beans, guacamole, olives, cheese, jalapenos, sour cream and salsa.  And the day wouldn't be complete without a batch of freshly baked cookies from the Hoop 'n Hula cookie booth.  They provide hula hoops for you to practice with while you wait for your cookies to finish baking.  Quite a treat, really.

If you are interested in all the food we have to choose from, have a look at this page.  Every day involves quite a few decisions.  And just in case you were curious, we did indeed eat a bucket of donuts from the Rollin' Donuts booth the other day.  The bucket was cute and now it's empty.

Alaska State Fair -- The Weekend Report

Opening weekend at the fair is always crazy-busy.  The unseasonably cold cool weather and rain on Friday and Saturday made those days a little less crazy-busy than usual, but that's ok.  Sunday was gorgeous and warm.  The crowd was huge and in a buying mood.

I took this set of photos before we opened last Thursday.

These are our short sleeve t-shirts.  Love the colors we chose.

And our long sleeve t-shirts.  Not loving these colors as much.

Cindy's metal art is always a great attention getter.  We've already sold the sheep that you see between the 2 doors, the rooster on the ramp and one of the "Bad Dogs".

I have not yet eaten a pork-chop-on-a-stick, but I did have chicken-on-a-stick (from the same booth) last night for dinner.  It was steaming hot in my mouth, hence the stupid look on my face :)

You don't really want the whole list of stuff we ate during the first 4 days of the fair, do you?

Alaska State Fair

I've been very busy getting ready for the Alaska State Fair, which opens tomorrow.  Eek!  Our fair building is pretty much ready to do business, with just a few last minute details to take care of.  I managed to remember to take a few pictures of my jewelry displays in the booth.

Here's the main part of my display.  Above, you can see one of Cindy Shake's metal ravens, which have proven to be top sellers for us over the past few years.  They practically fly out of the building -- yes, I made a funny.  Below, I've displayed some of my hand knit scarves (on a cleverly disguised broom stick).

This is a smaller jewelry display area, which tends to be a bit dark.  I love the green lamp Carol contributed to the display.  Above is a view of our ceramic mugs, insulated travel cups and plastic water bottles (BPA free, of course).  The color selections on those items were wonderful this year.

Lastly, my earring display, with another metal raven for protection!  Off to the left you can see a snippet of our brand new lovely pink fleece vest.  We're hoping it will be a big seller for us.

I plan to share more photos of the inside of the building and of the fairgrounds in general. And my coverage of the fair wouldn't be complete without a photo of me eating a pork-chop-on-a-stick!

Work Table Update

Now that the necklaces are completed, priced, tagged and stored, it's time to get back to making earrings.  I spent most of last Sunday making pairs of gemstones, adding to the batch you saw in the necklace post.  I really have my work cut out for me with this huge number of pairs!  It will probably take most of a week to complete this batch of earrings.

Click on the photos to see some finer detail.

Do you see any pairs you really, really love?  Most of these pairs will end up in my inventory, waiting for craft shows, the state fair or wholesale/consignment orders.  A few will probably get photographed for my etsy shop.