Virginia Highland Summerfest & Square!

This was my first year selling at the Virginia-Highland Summerfest and Im happy to say it was Zafiro's best show ever!!   I got very lucky with a premium booth location.  I had a corner spot right at the main entrance, very close to the band and neighbor to King of Pops!  (I had to show my support by eating 2 chocolate sea salt and one blackberry ginger popsicle! Mmm)

In addition to great placement under a huge tree, the weather was unbelievable.  This annual June festival is usually hot and sticky, but this year was just beautiful.  80 degrees and sunny.  I think that can make all the difference when it comes to shopping/trying on jewelry.   The wide street was jam packed with people...and the people watching was spectacular.  This is a major party crowd too; lots of house parties were going on during the festival, plus the margarita/hurricane stand across from my booth told me he had record sales.   I had a front row seat to the music and even stayed open 90 minutes after the artist market closed on Saturday because I still had tons of traffic. 

I don't think that I have ever been as tired as I was when the show ended last night.  I was standing for 10 hours each day.  Ernesto was with Mateo so I was there by my lonesome. Does that sound like a complaint?  It's not.  There were constantly people in my tent and I met some great customers. 

 I have been accepting credit cards for years at my shows.  I don't even want to imagine how many sales I could loose by only taking cash.  I started by entering cc info through paypal when I got home.  It was easy enough, but occasionally I would copy a number incorrectly or a card would be declined.  Then I would have to call the customer...yada yada yada.  Of course Paypal has come a long way since those days.**

Have you guys heard of Square?  This was my fourth show using the little plug in credit card reader and I have no complaints.  In fact, it works great every time.  Fast, easy and without a doubt....COOL!  Customers love it.  

Here is how it works;

Plug in the card reader to your phone [headphones jack] and open the Square app.

Enter sales amount on keypad, enter item description (or better yet, take a picture of it) and swipe card.

You have the approval in seconds and the customer signs right on the screen.  You can then email or text the receipt.  Amazing.

The rate is 2.75% per swipe for all major credit cards.  No monthly fee.  No start up fee.  Square will mail you the card reader for free.  Your sales will be deposited into your bank account the next day.  It works with iphones and Androids.  You can sign up here.  

**  Paypal also has an app and card reader for iphone,  but I heard about square first, and honestly, it's just way cooler:)

Zafiro Jewelry at Inman Park Festival 2011

This years' show season for Zafiro kicked off with a bang at the annual Inman Park Festival.  After a weekof storms and tornadoes in the area,  Atlanta's weather held out for the 2 day show.  As a matter of fact it was perfect: 80 and sunny both days!  People flooded the streets.

I enlisted the help of my sister Jenny.  We were due for a girls weekend anyway, so she flew in from Ohio on Thursday morning.  We did some shopping/thrifting, got pedicures, plus got in a few workouts.  (Oh! And I made her and Neto this delicious chicken meuniere dinner from Giada de Laurentiis) 

Inman was a very well run show, hats off to the organizers!  I had one of the easiest set-up/take-downs ever, partly because I had 2 great helpers but also because we live just 2 minutes from the park.   Also, a trick I used in preparing for the show was to stack all of my jewelry boards on top of each other [with the jewelry on them] and then cover them with plastic wrap the night before.  Wow, what great time saver! After we set up the tent and tables we just unwrapped the jewels and we were ready to sell.

And sell we did! Thank you to the patrons of Inman Park Festival for making this one of my best.  I had many new designs and gemstones after coming home from Tuscon Gem Show and my customers loved them!    The most popular style at this show were the bib necklaces and wire shape earrings. The most popular gemstones were the London blue topaz, kyanite, pink sapphires, and rubies.  Unfortunately I was only able to photograph a few of these before they sold.

{PINK SAPPHIRES ON GOLD -$170}

{BLACK GARNET AND SPINEL ON GOLD - $150}

{ARIZONA TURQUOISE ON GOLD - $110}

{GEODE LARIAT ON GOLD - $120}

{VIVA INDIA EARRINGS - London blue, yellow topaz and green amethyst - $68}


I will be showing Zafiro this coming weekend as well.  I hope to see you there.

21st Annual Colors Festival of Arts
Historic Town Square – Roswell, Georgia
May 7 & 8, 2011
Mother's Day Weekend
10 A.M. – 6 P.M.

Weekly Update and Smilebooth

I know that it is Thursday, a bit late for a weekend update, but guys I am a working woman now and just can't blog all the time.  Sorry.  I started last week on my temp job as a Crew Leader with the 2010 US Census, and so far I am liking it.  I was in training all last week and this week I am preparing to teach a class next week to a group of enumerators (people going door to door).  After teaching the class I will be assigned anywhere from 8 to 18 enumerators to supervise.  The majority of the people coming to work this job are unemployed professionals like myself.  People who want to work.  A much better pool of people than in previous census years I have been told.   The job is until June 14th and could be extended if the project is not finished by then, which seems likely.  I should be assigned to work somewhere close to where I live. 

Speaking of...I love the area we live in Atlanta.  It is called Old 4th Ward.  We actually live one block from Martin Luther King's house. I think that is pretty cool.  It is a historic area and is very centrally located.  I can reach anywhere I need to drive in 15 minutes, including the airport.  We can walk to several different neighborhoods and we live right off the Freedom Park Trail, which is great for running. 

We learned just last week that the Studioplex, a string of lofts and businesses one block from our place, holds a "third Friday of the month" Artwalk.   We strolled over at about 630pm and were pleasantly surprised at all of the action.  There was a band playing in one parking lot and all of the business/galleries had there doors open to welcome everyone.   

One salon called Aviary Collective hired a cool company called Smilebooth to be at the event.   It is like a photobooth, but so much better.  The set up is compact and stylish (a big SLR camera enclosed in a white box, and a light box both on a little metal stand).  It sheds a soft white light that is nothing short of flattering.   You hold the remote and just click away. 

I am holding up my complimentary bird bag from the salon which also had some goodies inside.   "I like birds"? I mean, how perfect is that?  You can rent the "Smilebooth" for events - 4 hours for $1500.    Ernesto and I decided we should look into this business.   We had fun playing in front of the camera. 

Pictures from all Smilebooth events are posted online for anyone to see, and nothing can be deleted.  At a St. Pattys party you can see as the night goes on, the people are more intoxicated and the pictures get a little crazy.  Im sure this guy is very sorry about that "can't delete" rule.  (scroll to bottom of page and look for Silence of the Lambs type pic....expect to gasp!)

Also this weekend was the annual Inman Park Festival, and in my opinion, the best festival in Atlanta.  It rained ALL day Saturday, but Sunday was gorgeous weather.  It was really different to actually walk around this show rather than work a booth.  Although I would have rather been selling my jewels,  I enjoyed partying with my neighbors.  I realized what a party this festival truly is;  I think anyone who lives in that neighborhood is obligated to have a party based at their house and the guests wander out in the streets of the festival.  It was packed.   

I saw my cousin Ken and Treff at the Pluma Jewelry booth.  It was really nice to see them and her booth looked awesome!  She gave me some great advice and really inspired me to change some things around for my upcoming Zafiro shows.  I really paid attention to all the jewelry booths at Inman and the Dogwood Festival, which was held the week before.  For example, it seems essential to include a glass case in the front of the booth, also to have a big banner or picture hanging somewhere.  I laid awake Sunday night from 3a to 430a thinking of jewelry stuff.  I designed a simple piece of furniture in my head for the glass case to sit and Ernesto said he would be happy to build it for me.  Thanks mi amor!  More updates on that coming soon! 

El Festival de Verano Transitarte

While living in Atlanta I had many online resources for finding out what is going on in the city. Daily Candy, Access Atlanta, Atlanta Entertainment. There are a few blogs that are informative, but I find the best info is in the local newspaper. Either that or I talk to friends who read the newspaper. Diana told us about San Jose's annual Festival de Verano Transitarte in Parque Morazan downtown. The festival is organized by the Municipality of San Jose with the goal of re-infusing the country’s capital with art and culture.  Actually the festival lasted three days, stretched between four parks and included literary readings, crafts, live concerts, visual and urban art, workshops and even a boxing championship. I think it was was one of the best cultural events I have seen in San Jose.

Although I didn't know any of the bands playing (mostly local rock) they were really good.  They had the best venue, a beautiful dome in the middle of the park, called the Templo de Musica, funny enough.  We got there at 5p, so it was still light out.  The jacaranda trees are in full bloom here (see purple flowers) making a perfect backdrop for the stage.  

 We met Diana and Samir 

As the sun went down, the lights on the stage changed colors.  

New band. New color.

My favorite part was a performance by the French group called Puce Muse.   They have been well known in France for 20 years, and put on a show of lights and music.  This is their first performance in all of Latin America. Way to go Costa Rica!

They created a one hour light show on the Edeficio Metalico, a building constructed in 1856 of cast iron sheets that were shipped in from Europe. Here is what the building looks like during the day.  It's an elementary school, can you imagine?   [this photo by Talavan]

I know we have all seen a light show, but this was a bit different, the lights and the music were controlled by 25 trained "musicians" with...Joysticks. Its called "Meta-Instrument" On their website they describe it as 'Live Visual Virtual Music'.

I describe it as trippy.

It was awesome and so precise, a science really.  Each person was controlling a part of the show with their joystick. All in perfect sync.

They even spelled out words and created pictures. It says CERRAR (to close)

Unfortunately, I didn't see this blog until yesterday.  It listed the 3 day schedule for the festival.  It turns out my favorite salsa band Son de Tikizia played an outdoor concert Friday night. Ugh!  We missed it.  Salsa dancing under the stars.  Oh well, next time.

Craziness at el Tope in Palmares

The Lonely Planet travel guide describes Las Fiestas de Palmares as "a 10 day beer-soaked extravaganza with carnival rides, parades, a tope, fireworks, discotheques, bands, exotic dancers, fried food, guaro tents and the highest proportion of drunken Ticos you have ever seen."

I looked up this festival in my travel book after Marco was talking about it one day at lunch. I had to be involved! It sounded fun and crazy...also very bloggable. I invited myself to go along with him and his friends. (sometimes you have to do that) Thursday was the kick-off day of the parties, and it all starts with el tope, which is a horse parade. Im not able to compare this to any parade I have seen before in my life. Imagine, if you will, 3000 horses streaming by you in a 4 hour period. Yes, 3000 horses. What does that look like you ask? Well, funny you should ask...I have plenty of pics, so sit back and relax. Please start by viewing this short video.

The town of Palmares is only about 30 minutes from San Jose (with no traffic) but with the amount of people coming to the festival, this could take anywhere from 2-3 hours. There are "party buses" that bring loads of people from the surrounding areas. Marco's friend Augusto, or Gusto for short, lives in Palmares and he hosted 8 of us at his house. We arrived the night before to avoid any traffic. That also worked out prefectly because Gusto's mom made us a delicious breakfast of eggs and gallo pinto. This has been a tradition for them for many years. To ensure he has a prime viewing spot of the tope (horse parade) Gusto pays a guy to sit in that spot on the sidewalk overnight and relieves him at 9am. Here it is early that morning, before everyone arrived. Across the street was a Pali (store) where I purchased my drink of choice for the day: Corona! The place was jam packed and we had to wait in line. They stocked the store with extra Imperial Beer and cowboys hats (hanging) Of course I came prepared with my own. wink wink

Here Marco me and Gusto smile as the sun finally came out. I cracked beer #1 at noon. Pacing myself was the name of the game. I did a fine job.

I met some great people (thanks again Marco) This is Ana, she and her boyfriend Diego live north in Guanacaste region and work at the Four Seasons.

We made plans for Ernesto and I to go visit them soon. (Get down here mi Neto!) She is Brazilian and I was picking her brain to see how she got a "real job" here (ie: paying) as a matter of fact we had some pretty serious conversations considering the atmosphere.

Now I was told it was tradition for the cowboys to get beers/drinks supplied to them by the crowd. I also saw the cowboys passing bottles from horse to horse. As you can imagine as the parade went by it got crazier and crazier. Horses going in different directions. Notice the cowboy standing on his horse. (far right)Im not even sure how long the parade route was, but I just kept thinking that there can't be this many horses in this small country. 4 hours of non-stop horses. Amazing!Speaking of crazy, I didnt like this at all when it went by. A blue horse? This girl was with Pepsi. Bad Pepsi! I realize dye doesnt hurt the horse and Im sure it comes right out when they bathe him, but I felt embarrassed for the horse. Im sure he felt it. Pobre sito el caballo. Pepsi's counterpart in red, was rubbing off on this pretty white horse. Nope, don't like it. Not cool Pepsi.

The "people watching" was amazingly entertaining. Besides the cowboys on the horses, the crowd was also in western gear. Here is Juan Carlos (juanca) with his hat that breaks out once a year for the tope. My hat is not exactly western, but it did the trick.

Another tradition is for the cowboys to pick up women on their horses. I knew right when I heard this that I had to get on a horse. I was really being too choosy, it had to be a Paint. Brown and white....and I didn't want an old cowboy. For hours I was watching and finally Diego told me I was being too picky. He whistled and pointed me out to the cowboy and he waved me over. I had to climb over the yellow metal fence.
Once over the fence, I mounted that horse like a pro! HA! (I did grow up next to a horse farm)

I liked the fact that he let me take the horse on my own, where as all the others I saw were riding the horses with the "guest rider" I went down the line a bit and turned around. It was so fun!I shook the cowboys hand and thanked him, he really made my day. El tope was complete!!The tope ended at dusk, by the end of the parade, you could really see a difference...there were a lot of drunk people on horses. I saw quite a few people sliding off. The crowd was just as bad. That quote from Lonely Planet was the truth, "the highest proportion of drunken Ticos you have ever seen." The night just got so funny. Here is a good example: This random cowboy wanted a photo with me.

OK... not that funny....but 5 minutes later I see the same random cowboy like this:

...and then like this:

That is where I will wrap up this cowgirl's story. On a scale of one to ten, I would say this is a 10 for a unique experience, nevermind one of my most entertaining days in Costa Rica to date.

Buenas Noches damas y caballeros! Come and see me sometime!