Friday, September 17, 2010

Nothing Day

I had to take this cute boy to the airport at 5am this morning, on his way to meet Igor the Hurricane in Bermuda. Getting up at 4:30 in the morning makes for a pretty useless day. I came home and fell asleep on the sofa and pretty much stayed there a good bit of the day. Talked to him several times from the airport, the 7am flight didn't leave until 1pm, wouldn't you think for all the money you pay, the airlines could do a little better than that!
I did manage to get set up with Propay, thanks to the suggestions on taking credit cards in a previous post, I can now accept Visa, Mastercard and Discover, thank you very much! The bank rates and three year contracts were not very inviting, Propay is a once a year $50 charge and no contract. Pretty similar transaction rates, we'll see, I'll let you know.
Speaking of money, Gerry was talking about how much time I spend on my surfaces and not getting back my time in the cost of the piece. Do you ever? I am spending more and more time trying to get these layers, I want these surfaces to look like paintings and I don't know how to do that quickly. I like depth, what can I say. I also am incapable of dipping a pot in a glaze and having it turn out nicely!
I haven't warmed up to this barn yet, but it seems nice. I'm just more used to the white smooth terra sig and this is taking a little getting used to. Gery said it looked like it had mildewed, charming....
I found the middle can in the trash and for some reason thought it would be fun to make some. Well, I was wrong, it wasn't fun, mostly an aggrevation and a distraction, but they turned out nice. Probably the only two you will see unless I get a little crazy one day.

14 comments:

Dennis Allen said...

I started with Pro Pay last week.All went smoothly at both shows last weekend.It was a little odd that people would ask if I took plastic and when I proudly said "of course" Many of them said "oh, I'll just write you a check, it's easier." I do think I had some larger tickets because of it and that little sign adds professionalism to the booth.

Hollis Engley said...

Gerry's right, but - you know - old barns mildew. I think it looks great. I am constantly amazed at how you make up your mind, do something new, then fire the damn thing. I am sooooo much slower than you on things like that. So, where will you be on the weekend of the show. Let me know so we can track you down.

Tracey Broome said...

Hey Dennis, glad to hear Propay went well, and like the sound of selling bigger ticket items, because I will have them! Hollis, if you click on the Festifall icon on the sidebar it should give you info. Basically the festival is on Franklin St. in Chapel Hill from 1-6pm on Oct. 3, not sure exactly where my tent will be but the tents are placed in the middle of the street back to back and in a pretty small area, I shouldn't be too hard to find. That will be so fun to have you guys come by!

Tracey Broome said...

Hollis, my booth is B57, just read it on the festifall facebook page. Guess I should have known that!

ang design said...

the stand looks great trace a simple pear on that will work well!! congrats on the propay i looked into that system but its US only...the iphone app looked good too but i dont have one of those either?!!

Hollis Engley said...

We'll find you, Tracey.

cookingwithgas said...

looks great- I like that little mildewed bard.
Boy that stand looks really great! i hope to see 100 more by ---Monday....

brandon phillips said...

i think the mildew barn is fantastic! i think it adds so much depth and character. you should definitely explore this deeper. if you don't want it i'll take it.

Judy Shreve said...

Your barn & bottles look amazing -- I think you are definitely achieving that antique look -- great stuff! And the pear stand -- wow those colors are wonderful!

I'm going to add a sales gallery to my blog/web page this winter -- should I look into Pro pay for that? If not them, who do you suggest?

Tracey Broome said...

WOW you guys! It's so fun to get up on a Saturday morning and hear from all of you. Thanks a bunch for your replies. Brandon, I really appreciate the comments, and I think that you're right about exploring this barn more, it's not quite where I want it yet, but soooon.

Tracey Broome said...

WOW you guys! It's so fun to get up on a Saturday morning and hear from all of you. Thanks a bunch for your replies. Brandon, I really appreciate the comments, and I think that you're right about exploring this barn more, it's not quite where I want it yet, but soooon.

Linda Starr said...

Hey that surface looks great to me, just like aged wood. the tray came out super. Gary is saying the same thing to me, about how much I could even make per hour, not much that's for sure. Today I told him about Gerry flying to Bermuda and I thought Bermuda was in the Carribean and he said no, he was right we looked on the map.

Liz said...

I think trying to figure out an hourly rate is too difficult in the experimental stage. Your barns are beautiful. The only time I feel comfortable analyzing the hourly rate is with production pieces. Mugs are a no brainer after a while, so the hourly rate on those is higher due to volume. The one off pieces are so time consuming, that there is no way to make a decent hourly rate. But I still do them for the love of creating something new

andrea gardiner freeman said...

awesome, creative, inspired post. You are an inventor and a woman who knows what she wants...love all the testing and discovering you are doing.