Sunday, June 26, 2005

My First Blog

I have not done a blog before. I have done journalling before, so perhaps it won't be that different. It is Sunday morning. I'm in California with my daughter. It is early enough that traffic is light on the PCH and I can occasionally hear the roar of the waves crashing on the beach.

We went to the sidewalk sale at Redondo Beach yesterday. I enjoyed strolling and window shopping at the booths. Several months back I had gone to the web looking for the things a photographer would need to do a booth. So I took advantage and watched how people had their booths set up with an eye for what I need to start buying if I am ever to try to sell my photography at these outdoor events.

5 comments:

Henry Melton said...

Ah ha, I found your blog. I'm going to go add a link to this one from my blog.

Karen said...

Me too!

Anonymous said...

Good start, Maryann. Like your bio too.
Have a good 'un.
Bettye

PixelPig said...

Hi Mary Ann. I will tell you a story...long ago (1970s) and far away (Portland, Oregon) I made jewelry & sold it at a regular weekend street fair. In those days, everyone made their booth of wood. It took two people to set up & was very heavy. I often had to set my booth up alone, so I needed something light weight.

I went to the hardware store & looked around. In the end, I chose PVC pipe & built a frame with it. It was like a big box kite, built to the dimensions of the space I was allowed. I used bungee cords to stabilize the squares framed out by the pvc pipe & bought square tarps for the top (flat roof), sides, & back (in Oregon it could rain very hard). I had 2 collapsible 3-gallon water bottles (for camping) that I would fill up with water for weight (my booth tended to want to fly away in the wind).

It worked great! All the other artisans watched with great envy as I set up my booth by myself. Soon, I saw other artisans had switched to pvc pipe (some were using aluminum pipe).

Last year I went to a art fair & was amazed to see all the booths are made of pvc pipe! Just think--if I had had the wit to got into business making booths, I might be richer today!

So, you know, you could make your booth yourself. It wouldn't have that cute pointed roof, but it would be an awful lot cheaper!

Mary Ann Melton said...

That is a cool story, Alberta. PVC pipe is versatile and light weight. I haven't started gathering supplies for a booth yet, but I think if I am going to try to make this photography work as a "career" I will eventually need to show up at some sidewalk art fairs. Thanks for the great idea!