glenolam's madness - April passed away

[aggieterpkatie]

I try to catch the kiddings on MareStare when I can. I watched a couple of Phoenix Risings. I just want to vent a tad. I know they surely know what they're doing, because I'm sure they've done this tons of times. ....but man do they interfere! I'm more of a hands off, let the mom do it kinda assistant. I will only step in if necessary. I don't use those sucker bulbs for the mucous, I use my hands or fingers. I don't clean them off with towels, I let the mom do it! I watched one kidding and the doe didnt' even get a chance to lick the first kid until after the second and third had been born! I guess that's just the way I was taught.....to not interfere with the mom unless there's actually a problem. But anyways, that's just my stupid rant for the day. Different strokes for different folks!

 

[glenolam]

I'll be on the lookout for that picture, java. I think that's more meant for bucklings (which I don't have ) but it still would be nice to see.

I'm with you, katie. I'm more hands off and I did notice they do a lot of touching/prodding/assisting. I guess they just need to be certain before the kid comes out that it's in the correct position.

I have towels ready and do clean off the kids a little, but that's more to get them dried off sooner so they don't freeze. I let the doe clean off as much as she can - I just give a little assistance there.

I don't use the suction bulb, either. I actually just take a towel and wipe off the crap. With Fudgie's kids they just sneezed and coughed up a bit and they were fine.

I did, however, have to lift the 2nd kid and hold her by her back legs to drain some of the crap out. She wasn't breathing/moving too much right after being born, so I grabbed her and gave her a good "drain shake" and cleared out her nose/mouth with the towel. Took all of 3 seconds...then she shook her head and been right as rain since.

 

[Javamama]

Glen - my brain is so fried, I forgot who has what. Too many goat births and not enough sleep.
Yeah, the figure 8 is for bucklings. I'll post it anyway. The does aren't ready yet.

 

[glenolam]

Oh, jav - I wasn't poking at you when I made that comment...I was trying to be funny in saying I have no bucks while you all got at least one.

I still would like to see the 8 so I can plan for future disbuddings....Opi's setting up to kid so she'll prolly ruin my ratio. Currently I'm 100% girls

 

[Javamama]

It's OK. It all went right over my head. Been that kind of day around here.

 

[glenolam]

I'm so excited!

I just signed up for my first craft show! I got a flyer in little g's folder that asked us to donate a puzzle or book to a basket for the annual Spring Basket Craft Show and on the flyer there was a spot that asked if you wanted to be a vendor at the show. I immediately checked yes, included a business card and wrote I'd love to bring my soaps.

Yesterday I got a call from the person in charge and viola! I have a spot right near the stage where all the raffle baskets are going to be, so basically I'm in prime traffic area. It cost $25 to go, but I didn't really care, just the exposure is worth it to me (not to mention I can just write the $25 off). I have to bring my own table, which isn't a problem, and the wheels have started turning as to what I want to do. I've got a bunch of nice spring themed molds so I'm going to do a few batches this weekend so they'll be ready for the show in 4 weeks. I also opted to donate a basket to the raffle, so I was just going to toss in a couple of bars into a nice Easter basket for that. Exposure, exposure!

On the soap forum I once belonged to they had a section filled with info on craft shows so I have an idea of how I want to set stuff up, but I have a question for you all:

Should I do some type of promotion with my bars, meaning should I decrease the price a little or keep the price the same as I usually sell them for and then do a special promotion like $4/each or 6/$20? Or should I just sell them as I have them listed on the website/mail order forms, which is $4 each for regular, $2.50 for guest? What do you think people would prefer?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Awesome! I love craft shows!!!

If I were you I'd keep the price the same as you have listed. You work hard to make them!

 

[valmom]

Yea, a table at a craft fair!

I did my first- a small Christmas craft fair at work- and it was a blast. My MIL helped me (since I had to, you know, actually work. You'd think people would think of that for work related things. I couldn't get the time off because we are pretty short staffed). I sold my soap for the same price I usually do, and did up some guest bars that didn't actually sell as well as the big ones did. I price at $3 for big bars (4+/- ounces depending on the mold) and $1 for the guest bars. We also knitted up cotton washcloths that we hung with clothespins on a little table top laundry line my FIL made for me. We priced them at $5 each (the yarn was $3-something a ball!) and they didn't sell much at all. I still have a whole bunch of them sitting in a carton upstairs. They were cute- we used different stitch patterns for each one- but not practical.

I made right around $100 for a not very big craft fair, and got some pubicity for selling year round to some of my co-workers.

 

[savingdogs]

Price high! You could always come down.

Hand crafted items are special and don't undervalue your hard work!

 

[miss_thenorth]

You could offer a 10% discount off their second order, or something like that, attached to a list of the type of soaps you make--you know, to try and establish repeat customers.