up and running!

the craziness of the past two weeks is paying off in leaps and bounds. Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles opened on Friday to a great crowd and beautiful weather.

after the frenzy of hurriedly putting together my market stall in six partial work days (broken up by a trip to San Francisco for a dear friend's wedding and the commencement of my summer teaching job), it was a major relief to have it completed. however, even better than the relief is how rewarding this venture is turning out to be. it is always great to make sales, but my favorite part of the last two days has been talking with the shoppers, whether it is explaining the evolution of my work or relating with fellow natives of San Pedro, and expressing our shared wishes for the success of Crafted and the revival of the Los Angeles waterfront.

because i have not posted since giving a hint to my plans for my stall, i'll just give a quick re-cap of its realization. basically, my dad was amazing and helped me with just about every last detail, from constructing a print rack i designed to applying two different stains to the baseboards for my stall to achieve the perfect shade of brown/black. not to mention, using about four cans of spray paint to paint all of the moulding and many picture frames gold. he commented (complained) that his lungs are probably thoroughly gilded by now.

before leaving for San Francisco, i had primed my walls, hung stretched ivory burlap with my dad's assistance, and painted exactly three black stripes. and so they sat for four days, a lonely trio. upon my return, i came straight down to the warehouse every afternoon after teaching my last class, and quickly finished the stripes, planed furniture arrangements, and cut moulding (again, with my dad) until 5pm. then it was straight home to paint furniture, cut letters for my sign, and organize inventory. at last, about an hour before opening on Friday morning, everything was completed. well, for now. i have spent the past two days, between greeting customers, drawing up plans for more displays and making notes on how to perfect my space. hopefully to come soon!

*if you are in the area (or feel like taking a drive), i assure you, a visit to Crafted makes for a fantastic way to spend your day off. and be sure to come see Mome Rath Garden in stall A195!
**thank you to my sister, Lyneigh, for the opening day photos!

dad staple-gunning burlap

stripes in progress

ta-da!