Alameda Flea Market

I just discovered that there is a Flea Market in Alameda located at 1150 Ballena Bay Rd. Anybody have any information about it. Can't find an actual website for it, just a contact phone number. Fill me in.

I recall many years ago, we went to the Island Drive In Flea Market down on Webster in Alameda. The drive-in movie close down in the late 70's I believe, biting the dust the same as all the other drive-in's across the country. After it closed it left the Flea Market as the remaining tennant.

Chabot College Flea Market

We are 'officially' into winter as of today....even though winter did arrive a couple weeks ago with the cooler 35 degree tempertures, colder rain and snow on the hilltops around the Bay Area.

Fortunately, we had a nice break in the weather yesterday, allowing us to sell at the Chabot College Flea Market in Hayward. We arrived there a bit on the early side and it is now a good idea to do so as the parking spots are not as wide as they used to be. I have a small Windstar van and it fits within the two spaces with about 1 1/2 feet to spare. Pity me if the people on the left and right of me both arrived before I did.....then I would have problems squeezing my van in there AND pulling out the 5-foot high/long grids from the pack would be impossible,

In case nobody noticed, the spaces now run north-south instead of east-west. Maybe the weather gods will find this to be more favorable to them. Or maybe the money gods figured they could 'squeeze' in more spaces and improve their cash flow.

It appeared like they only used about half the parking lot for the booths as not that many vendors would brave the December weather and were fearful of rain. Sales started off very slowly as it was a late crowd that arrived. My hands were long-frozen, quite cold from the 35 degree temperatures we had during the early morning. Most of the vendors probably arrived later than usual preferring to stay under their warm blankets at home. I guess there was a decent crowd that stopped by the Flea Market and bought a lot of lower-priced items....$1, $2, etc. Since our items are new and many of them were created by us, we did not do so good. The vendors with the 'closeout bought' groceries appeared to do the best. At 2:45, we began packing and were gone by 3:30 as were a good number of other vendors. Fortunately, we did not do one of our 3-hour setups for this shortened selling day.

We'll probably be back in February or March. If you want to order one of our shell necklacesm, or cowrie chokers, etc., please visit our website www.DandLCREATIONS.com where we have secure, on-line ordering, If you wish to find out more information about Bay Area Flea Markets, click here. I have a listing on my other website. Check Events and Festivals for info on upcoming shows. Click here to see OUR 2009 event schedule.

Whiskey Flat Days - Kernville, CA

54th Annual Whiskey Flat Days, Kernville, CA. Feb 13-16, 2009. website and vendor application info. One of the most popular Festivals in all of Southern California. A short 3 hour drive from Los Angeles to the Lake Isabella recreation area and the quaint town of Kernville (50 miles east of Bakersfield on Hwy 178). Whiskey Flat is a leap back to the good ol' wild west days when the area was settled by gold miners, cattle ranchers and trappers. Join us when Kernville reverts to its old name "Whiskey Flat" for four nostalgic days of fun for the entire family. I quoted this from their website.

This event is not listed in Craftmaster's yet. I guess that they get around 50,000 visitors for the event. They have a really nice parade and other festivities. Great show if you can survive the drive through the Kern River Valley and if you can find an inexpensive motel room. Lots of curves. It snowed here 4 years ago and they often do get some rain, but not much. Kind of cold in he morning.

Please check my review of this past year's Whiskey Flat Days.

Quite a large number of vendors do this event. They come from L.A., Bay Area, Modesto area, Sacramento and other places. Good crowds.

Tips for sellers

I have just completed several pages on Starving Vendors. Maybe you can pick up some ideas for your next craft fair, festival, flea market or even a yard sale.

Crafts Fair Basics Crafts Fair Basics; choosing the right one for you

Garage Sales Make $$$ at your garage sales. Tips, etc.

Flea Market Sales Tips for Selling at Flea Markets

and of course, we have our link to Bay Area Flea Markets and Upcoming events, Events and Festivals

Chabot College Flea Market - December 20

DandL CREATIONS will be at Chabot College Flea Market this weekend and we will be selling our newest hand-made products made of shells. SPACE 400-401. These make great Christmas gifts and make wonderful gifts for weddings, anniversaries, etc. We will also be selling our necklaces for $5.00 and up; shoulder (sling) bags at a reduced price of $10.00. The weather looks pretty decent. According to reports, we will have some sunshine, but it will be a bit cool. At least we probably won't have any rain on Saturday and Sunday. Come on down and take a stroll amongst the booths and take care of some inexpensive Christmas shopping. We also sell these online through our website: DandL CREATIONS. We also sell hand-made, custom-sized shell and semi-precious necklaces. Any size from 13-24 inches. Cowrie Chokers priced from $8.95. Very popular and hand-made also. Wrap-around skirts. Shoulder Bags

Please be alert

I found this in a forum back East. You have to be alert at all times. I guess you just can's place your purse down anywhere.

My mother was in walmart today and had her purse stolen. She was in the ladies room, turned for a moment to dry her hands and a woman snatched her purse and ran. The police are aware of a tag team who are working the major stores together. She was lucky she was not hurt, but she was heartbroken. In her purse was a special rosary which I made for her. It has beads that are cancer survior beads-glass with pink ribbons in each bead

Festivals in the Philippines

We have just completed a page on our website called Philippine Festivals which list by month, events and festivals in the Philippines. I think you will just love it. Check here before traveling back 'home'. Will be including all months of the year shortly.

Indio Tamale Festival, Napa, Tucson, Berkeley

Does anybody out there have anything to report on shows they were in or attended this weekend or last weekend. There were quite a number of events....Indio, Napa, Tucson, Berkeley, Oakland, etc. If you were a vendor, how was it. If you were attending the festival, tell me about it. I want to read some comments.

Will work for food

Find crazy things like this on The Funny Farm Page of our Starving Vendors website, We have reviews of shows we have done in past years and upcoming events. Lots to read. So grab yourself a cup of coffee, a roll and put your feet up and check it out,

Most Visited pages on DandL CREATIONS

Please visit our website, www.DandLCREATIONS.com for great buys on shell necklaces, cowrie shell chokers, wrap around skirts and a whole lot more.

These are the most visited pages on the website (as of 6:00PM, Dec 13):

1. Shark's Tooth Necklaces
2. Puka Puka
3. Cowrie Shell Chokers
4. More Necklace designs
5. 70's Syle Puka necklaces
6. Wrap Around Skirts
7. Puka Accents
8. Show Schedule

Excellent quality necklaces. We use Beadalon 7-strand beading cable.

Antiques by the Bay, Inc.- Jan 4, 2009 - Alameda, CA

Antiques by The Bay, Inc. Next show: June 4, 2009. The show is located on the main runway at Alameda Point - click here for directions vendor booth applications website


over 800 outdoor dealers selling their merchandise on the first Sunday of every month at the former Alameda Point Naval Air Station in Alameda, California. Everything sold at our show must be at least twenty years old and there are no reproductions allowed. The Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire entered its fifth year as of September 2003. The show has grown in leaps and bounds, giving Northern California the largest antiques and collectibles faire ever. In 1998, the show started out with 250 booths and an attendance of about 3300 antique shoppers. This year, we broke all of our records with 800 booths and a growing attendance that recently topped out at 10,000 customers. No pets are allowed as we are adjacent to a National Wildlife Refuge. We have grown in reputation as well as size. The Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire has been featured in Sunset Magazine, as well as Home and Garden Television's antiques show, "Flea Market Finds,"and attracts buyers from as far away as Japan.The Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire is co-produced by Betsy and Jerry Goldman and Allen Michaan and Sandra Michaan.

Glendale Chocolate Affair - Looking for Criminals?

The promoters are subjecting their vendors to a background check to see if they are criminals and actually forcing them to pay them $60 for the favor. I recently posted this to one of my other blogs, Events and Festivals and I decided that we need more exposure on this. This fee is on top of the $475 they are charging for spaces at the Glendale Chocolate Affair.

Glendale Chocolate Affair. Vendor Applications I was just looking through a number of event listings on a website and I noticed that vendors are forced to pay $60 for a 'background check fee.' They are charging $450.00 for an Arts and Crafts booth...at least they supply the booth, but that, my friends is pretty darn high, especially in this life and times.

Let's dwell on that $60 fee for a background check for a few seconds. I am certain that vendors will have to provide their SSN, Drivers License Number and probably some other material for them to run a trace on. Now, here ya go. We have somebody paying $475 for a 10x10 spot to sell their artwork, Do you think that somebody selling their lovely artwork at this show should be subjected to having a police check on them looking for warrants, etc. Do you really think these people are criminals. Only reason these people are not objecting is that they need to make money and moreso, enjoy displaying their artwork for people to see.

These individuals are being treated like criminals. A year ago, I (and several other vendors) had to shell out $25 for a 'police permit' which is the same thing and I felt that my rights were violated. Seriously, do they consider vendors to be criminals? That would piss me off if I was extorted like that for $60 in order to run a background check on me.

I know for darn sure this does not cost $60 and I find this to be a slap in the face of vendors. What are they doing.....feeding the person a nice steak dinner while that person sits at his computer and enters the person's name into some software. They do not have the right to force vendors to fork over the $60. Seems to me that the promoters of this event are the real criminals. I have nothing to do with this event, but I read about it and I am perturbed and I really frown over things like this. Vendors should voice their disapproval over this and demand their $60 money back. Sorry. Not right by any standards. Heck, these people could get away with charging vendors a $50 bathroom /porta pottie fee and get away with it.