Craft Shows and Birthdays and Baby Showers!

It's been an eventful couple of weeks since I last posted.

I wrapped up the craft show season the weekend before Thanksgiving:

But when that was over, I also made a couple of sales on Etsy.  Hopefully there will be more this month, but the inventory in my shop is a bit thin and I haven't had time to take more pictures.

I also had a fabulous 30th birthday at the end of the month!  I took a half day at work, and then had to go for an ultrasound during the afternoon.  My doctor was a bit concerned that the baby might be measuring small, so he wanted to have a growth scan done, and it turns out everything is perfect, and she's not actually small.  She's measuring in the 48th percentile, and we were able to double check and make sure she's definitely a girl.  I know mistakes are rare, but people apparently just LOVE to tell pregnant ladies about someone they knew who was told the wrong sex. ;-)

After a successful ultrasound, my husband and I met up with my parents, his parents, and his youngest brother (who shares a birthday with me) for some hibachi and sushi.  I like California rolls and all, but after I have this baby I am going to eat soooo many salmon rolls and spicy tuna rolls!

When dinner was over, Glen and I met up with some friends at The Bookstore for dessert and drinks:

They were able to make me some super tasty non-alcoholic drinks, and the creme brulee was delicious.  So much fun. :-)

The day after my birthday was the baby shower.  The date wasn't a surprise, since given the schedule I keep there is a good chance I'd have missed it if I didn't know to keep the date clear, but I wasn't clued in on any of the details.  My mom, mother-in-law, best friend, and sister-in-law all did an amazing job, and I had such a great time!

Of course, now Stormageddon's nursery is a bit of a disaster area:

Oh, and for the record: those pictures were taken AFTER my mom helped me "organize" things.  I definitely have my work cut out for me.  But I won't complain, I am just so grateful that this baby already has so many people who care about her and want to get her off to a good start!

One of my friends helped get us stocked up on cloth diapers - she bought us a bunch of prefolds and covers, and turned them into "diaper babies" complete with googly eyes.  How adorable are they?!

 

And since I've fallen behind on belly pictures (we missed week 30, but week 31 is a pineapple, so it's all good because pineapples are delicious!!), here's the one picture I actually have from the shower so far, of my belly with diaper baby googly eyes on it:

What's the verdict on that picture: cute or creepy?? ;-)

Hey Sandy

I can't decide whether the title for this blog post was painfully obvious, or if what it's referencing is a bit too obscure for it to be ubiquitous/cliche.  (Also, that's my second blog post title in a row that references Pete and Pete.  Seriously, my love for that show knows no bounds.)  But either way, Glen's use of #HeySandy on Twitter seems to have resulted in him gaining Mark Mulcahy (lead singer of Polaris and Miracle Legion!!) as follower.  So that's pretty awesome.

Anyway, by some miracle, we managed to survive the storm without so much as losing electricity.  The extent of the damage was a few branches in the yard and some shingles blowing off the roof of our already-falling-apart shed.  Our dog even handled the storm like a champ.  He spent most of it napping on the recliner, occasionally lifting his head to look around when a particularly strong gust of wind blew by.

In light of all the damage that occurred south and east of us, we are feeling incredibly grateful that all we have to deal with now is minimal driving in order to conserve gas, since the gas stations in our area are insane at the moment, and we'd likely waste as much gas as we'd be able to buy just by waiting in line.

Despite the fact that my area wasn't hit nearly as hard as the coast, there are still a lot of places without electricity.  My main employer has been closed since 2:00 on Monday and will be closed again tomorrow, so I've just been working at the library in the evenings.  Since I only live about a mile away, I've been able to cover additional shifts, which is a win-win for everyone.  The library has enough staff to stay open, and I get extra shifts, which means extra money, which is great since as I mentioned in Sunday's post, Glen needs a new car, and sooner rather than later.  (A venture that has been further complicated by the storm, since not a lot of dealerships are even open, and the one we were originally looking at was in one of the harder-hit areas of NJ.  We think we found one nearby though.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!)

And what have I been doing with my free days?  You'd think I'd be working on getting ready for my craft shows on November 10 and 17, or perhaps working on further converting my office into the baby's room, right?  But alas, I've been a lazy lump and have spent most of the past 3 days sitting on the couch and watching TV.  Tomorrow, I become productive again.  I'm putting it out here on my blog so I have no excuse to have yet another lazy day: I'm going to record my sales from last week's show and prep for my upcoming shows, move the rest of the things on my old desk to my new desk, and clear out my office closet to make room for baby things.  No excuses. ;-)

What Calm Before the Storm?

This weekend has been an absolute whirlwind of a weekend, some good, some not so good.

Things started out on a pretty sour note, when we found out that Glen's car is in need of a new transmission.  In light of the fact that he drives a '99 Kia Sephia, that's not an investment we're willing to make, so now we're on the hunt for a new car for him.  Not happy about having to spend the money, but excited that we will hopefully have not one, but two, relatively new, reliable cars.

We actually got the bad news about Glen's car in between his cousin's wedding ceremony and reception.  I spent the cocktail hour commiserating with my sister-in-law, because as you will see if you hop on over to her blog, October has not been a good month for the Tickle boys' cars.  Despite being bummed about the car situation, the reception was a good time, as evidenced by one of Glen's tweets from that night:

Gotta love swing dancing with my father-in-law!

I was up bright and early Saturday morning for my first craft show of the season:

I was pleasantly surprised by sales for the day.  October shows are usually a bit slower, since people aren't necessarily thinking of Christmas shopping yet, but I made a decent number of sales, and things usually pick up a bit more for the November shows.  I originally hadn't planned anything for December, but I'm debating trying to find a show on December 8.  Maybe my big 7-months-pregnant belly at that point will give sales a nice little bump. ;-)

After getting home from the craft show, we had to run some errands to make sure we were ready for the upcoming storm, making sure we were stocked up on dog food and degu food, as well as non-perishables that can be cooked on our gas range, should we lose electricity.  Lots of canned soups and Chef Boyardee, as well as pasta and oatmeal, and fresh fruit.  

Once errands we done, we took a drive down to Philadelphia for our friend Eric's 30th birthday party.  We haven't seen him since December, which is way too long, especially compared to the days when we all went to the same college and he and Glen were roommates.

Here's Glen with the birthday boy:

Don't be fooled by that casual pose.  They spent a disproportionately large portion of the evening hugging one another. ;-)

Glen and I spent a good chunk of the night hanging out in Eric's back yard, which was all brick and greenery and twinkly lights.  The weather was gorgeous, and even my chronically-cold self was comfortable without a sweater for the earlier part of the party.  Here's an cute photo Eric took last night and sent to me this morning:

We didn't get home until nearly 3:30 this morning, but it was totally worth the lack of sleep!

Now I'm just relaxing at home, recovering from the busy weekend and trying to figure out the odds that I'll be going into work the next couple of days, seeing as the governors of both NJ and PA have declared states of emergency due to the havoc Hurricane Sandy is expected to wreak.

I hope all my fellow northeasterners stay safe these next few days!  Is anyone out there hosting or attending a hurricane party?? ;-)

Maternity Monday: 24 Week Belly Pictures and Finished Curtains!

I'm finally not running multiple weeks behind on belly pictures!

As of today I'm 25 weeks, and these pictures were taken about midway through week 24:

 I'm pretty sure the papaya from week 22 was bigger than this cantaloupe...

...But my belly is way bigger than it was 2 weeks ago!!

 Sharing a shot from the front this week to illustrate how different I look from this angle.  

This is why most of my maternity clothes are still too big. ;-)

In nursery decor-related news, the curtains are done! 

Glen and I spent Saturday afternoon weeding through and organizing the storage spaces in the house so we can start to make more progress in the office-to-nursery conversion, and I've started gradually moving my jewelry stuff into the bottom section of the secretary desk.

I'm amazed by how much of my supplies fit in there!  Once I finish moving the rest of my supplies into the desk, I might have to do a post about how to fit an entire small business into a single desk, because aside the display supplies I use for shows (table, risers, tent, and a Rubbermaid container of tablecloths and jewelry stands), all of my office supplies and raw materials should all find homes!

Speaking of the jewelry business, my first show is this Saturday!  Eek!  It's going to be a busy week, but *slightly* less busy than expected, since my band rehearsal for tomorrow evening got cancelled.  I still need to fill in some gaps in my finished inventory - I desperately need to have more earrings on hand, and I still have an entirely new style of necklaces that I'd like to have available in a few different colors by that time.  If I have time, I also want to try out a new idea for added my logo to the gift boxes as well.

On top of that, I have a childbirth class at the hospital Tuesday night, an appointment with my OB after work on Wednesday followed immediately by a movie night at a friend's house (I will be bringing jewelry making supplies to the latter!), my usual Thursday night library shift, and a wedding on Friday.  And of course, putting in my 40-hour week at my day job.  Needless to say, I'll be spending most of Sunday napping!

Fall Craft Shows!

I officially have three craft shows scheduled for this fall!

I doubt I'll do more than that, except for probably hosting another open house, since i don't want to overextend myself.

I did, however, manage to bunch the all three craft shows within 4 weeks of one another, so late October/early November is going to be a pretty crazy time for me!  Here's my schedule:


Oct 27 @ Pohatcong Township School in Phillipsburg, NJ, 9:00am - 3:00pm

Nov 10 @ Easton Area High School in Easton, PA, 9:00am - 2:00pm

Nov 17 @ Palmer Moravian Church in Easton, PA, 9:00am - 3:00pm


If you'll be in the area, stop by and say hello!


I also managed to put some more listings back on my Etsy shop.  It's not a lot, but I'm hoping to add more listings over the next month or so.


Check back here on Monday for belly pictures, some nursery decor updates, and Stormageddon's big gender reveal!  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!


P.S. For the Whovians out there - Check out this awesome bookcase!

I saw it on Bookshelf Porn the other day and it was love at first sight. ;-)

It's That Time Again...

Fall craft show time!

I've definitely been neglecting my jewelry business for the first half of the year, but I definitely want to try to fit in a bunch of shows this year, since I'm not sure what exactly will be happening next year. ;-)

Nothing is confirmed yet, but it looks like I'll be doing one show in October and two in November.  I'm on the fence about trying to find a fourth in December.  I'll post details for my local readers once I get confirmation on those shows.  I'm also debating hosting another holiday open house, since last year's was such a success.

Of course, this means that I need to start using my evenings wisely and making more jewelry!!

Pieces like those above seemed to be my big sellers last year, and they've made up the bulk of what I've sold so far this summer, so I'm mostly going to focus on variations on that theme.  I got some neat vintage beads over the past year, and I'm hoping to incorporate those into some of my designs.


I also need to stock up on packaging, specifically boxes and bags.  I didn't realize how much I went through last year! 

I'm leaning toward ordering boxes like this one from Rio Grande.  The 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 1 seems like an ideal size.  Large enough to accommodate a necklace like the ones pictures above if I wrap them around the inside of the box twice, small enough that earrings won't look ridiculously small in them.  I used to use the 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 7/8 for earrings, but when I started making my own earring cards.

I was so sure I had a close-up photo of said earring cards to share, but alas that is not the case.  And since I'm not at home at the moment, I can't take a picture to share.  You can get a glimpse of them in this post, though!

P.S.  Hopefully over the weekend or early next week I'll be able to share photos of a new (to me) car.  Assuming the deal doesn't go sour within the next 24 hours, that is.  We've been negotiating on this car for about a month and half now, because (as Glen will tell you) I am incredibly stubborn.  But the dealer finally budged on both the price and what they'll give us on a trade-in, so I'm prepared to walk in with a check tomorrow.  Wish me luck! ;-)

Gardening + Jewelry = A Match Made in Heaven?

Since warm weather decided to make an early appearance this year, I've already managed to fall horribly behind on my gardening.  The amount of weeds in my yard is absurd.  But at least some of the pretty stuff is also growing.

Here's the blue flax:

The clematis is already a couple of feet high:



And the cherry tree in the back yard is in full bloom:

And so far all I've managed to do is clean out our pond and replace the filter on the pump.  Funny story about that, by the way: I assumed our fish were all dead.  Imagine my surprise when I dumped a bunch of  decaying leaves on the ground next to the pond and found a little orange and black goldfish flopping around!  I returned him to the pond.  No idea if any of his buddies survived, but I will have to pick up a few more, just in case.

Anyway, this year it looks like I'll be merging my love of gardening and my love of jewelry, starting with the cherry blossoms.  I've decided to start pressing the flowers that grow in my garden, and using them to make pendants.  I've used pre-made pendants with pressed flowers to make necklaces such as this one, and they always seem to attract a lot of attention (and sales!) at craft shows. 

I think it will add a special something to my pieces if I can say I grew the flowers myself, as opposed to simply buying the pendant as-is.  I'm definitely planning on using the cherry blossoms and the blue flax.  I might try the rozannes for big, chunky pendants.  I haven't figured out which annuals to buy for my gardens this year, but whether they will look good on a pendant may factor into my decision.  Anyway have any suggestions??

Also: I finally did inventory!  I don't know why I insist on waiting so long.  I've procrastinated so badly on doing inventory for all 3 tax seasons that I have had this business.  And all 3 times, it's taken me no more than a couple of hours.  I just dread it so much!  But now I can finally finish up the 2011 tax return and really start moving ahead with projects for this year!

Puppy Love

I was hoping to have clean the dining room over the weekend so I could share a before and after at the beginning of this week, but things were much busier than I expected!  Glen and I went out to dinner Friday night with some friends, followed by bowling, and Saturday I went to Ikea to pick up some more SLOM jars, which are amazing for storing food.  Keeping rice, lentils, barley, etc. in plastic bags secured with rubber bands was just not cutting it, organization-wise.

I felt like I was starting to get a bit of a cold on Sunday, so I spent the afternoon napping (and woke up feeling even worse!), but I still managed to go to Glen's show that night.  Yesterday I worked 12 hours, because I got called in for an extra evening shift at the library.  Needless to say, by the time I got home, this was pretty much all I was feeling up to:

Elvis is an excellent snuggler. :-)

Goals for this week include:

• Clean/photograph the dining room.
• Do inventory!!  This is the longest I've waited to do it, and I can't file my taxes until it's done.
• File said taxes.
• Put up the window film on the laundry room door, so I can at least feel like I've made some progress on my laundry room remodel.

Hopefully putting this goals in writing will motivate me to accomplish them!

Sushi and Shoes

I may or may not have mentioned this previously, but Texas is stealing my college roommates.  Over the course of a single year, three of my nearest and dearest friends/former roommates have moved to that state for one reason or another.  It's a big change from having them live within an hour and a half of me, and a HUGE change from them living in the same apartment as me.

However, one of those lovely ladies (whose wedding I was in this past summer) is in NJ visiting her parents this week.  I had the day off from work, so we got together for lunch and shopping.

We gorged ourselves with delicious sushi at East Japanese:

Sadly, all the seats at the conveyor belt were taken, so our dining experience wasn't quite as adventurous as it could have been, but everything was still very tasty.

And big news:  After months of searching, I FINALLY found a pair of brown pumps:

Not the greatest picture, but they were on clearance at Macy's and I couldn't find this pair on their website anymore.  But they are super cute, super comfortable, and were marked down from $75 to $31.  I'm a happy camper. :-)

Apart from the ridiculous traffic on Route 4 and almost getting rear-ended by a speeding bus in the parking lot of the Garden State Plaza, it was a wonderful afternoon!

Hopefully the joy of those new shoes will be the happy thought that sustains me as I start working on the tax return for my jewelry business this week.  I always dread doing inventory, but once I get that done, I'm planning to finally add some listings to my much-neglected Etsy shop.  Wish me luck!

Open House: Success!

Today I hosted a holiday open house for myself and 5 other local crafters/vendors.  This was the first time I've ever done anything like this and it was exhausting, nervewracking and fun.

I completely flaked out on taking any pictures of the event, but I was pretty impressed that my relatively small house was able to accomodate 6 crafters and vendors plus a bunch of guests without feeling too claustrophobic. I had to rearrange some furniture, but some things, including the fireplace and the piano, served quite nicely for people to display their wares.

In addition to making a nice little profit for the day, I also got some Christmas shopping done.  I won't post pictures of any of the gifts I bought (don't want to ruin anyone's surprise!) but I did purchase a nice little piece of holiday decor from my friend Hannah, who just started making wreaths:

She doesn't have a website or online shop at this point, but if she does start one, I'll be sure to post the link here! :-)

Other wonderful crafters and vendors at this event included:

• Krystyn of KameKnits, who makes gorgeous scarves, hats, gloves, blankets, and even stuffed animals! 
• Kristin, a Miche Bag rep (Check out her website for great Cyber Monday deals!)
• Jo Marie, an Arbonne rep (Also check out her website.  She's super nice, and I think I may now be an Arbonne convert!)
• Sue, who doesn't have a website or online shop, but she designs BEAUTIFUL handmade greeting cards.  If you live in the Lehigh Valley and would be interested in checking out her work, send me an email with your contact info and I'll pass it along to her.

It was definitely a nice way to close out my 4-day Thanksgiving weekend.  Other festivities included not one, but TWO Thanksgiving dinners, a trip to the dog park, playing with the Easton Municipal Band at the Peace Candle lighting in downtown Easton, and a pre-birthday outing at The Bookstore.



Lilly (Kristin's dog), Molly (my "niece", who belongs to my older brother-in-law and his wife), and Elvis



At the candlelighting ceremony.  It reminds me of something that would happen in Stars Hollow.



It generates quite a crowd!



Another Openin', Another Show!

Ok, actually it's just another craft show, this post has nothing to do with the theatre, but Sinatra Night 2011 is just around the corner and I've been listening to (and playing) a lot of Cole Porter pieces. ;-)

Anyway, I've officially added my 8th and final show for Fall 2011. I'll be at Holland Township School on December 4 from 1:00 til 4:00. If you're in the area, stop by and say hello!

And if you're in or near Lopatcong, NJ tonight, stop by the holiday bazaar at the middle school between 6:00 and 9:00!

I'm Gonna Need a Lot of Coffee...

...if I expect to make it through the rest of this month!

This past weekend wasn't too bad, especially since I had Friday off from the day job.  I did, however, have a holiday bazaar from 6-9 that night, and that went fairly well.  I switched up the display just a little bit though.  I've kind of starting to not really care for the acrylic easel-style displays I've been using for the past two years, as seen on the risers here:

I decided to swap them out with the velveteen easels that give the buyer a better idea of how the necklace will look on.  I think it makes the display look less cluttered, as well:

Anyway, that show went well - I made a decent amount of sales, and I found out about a group on Facebook for local vendors and crafters, so hopefully that will help me find lots of shows to do next year!  I worked at the library on Saturday, and Glen and I spent Sunday afternoon doing yard work.  There was a solid layer of leaves covering our entire yard.  It was pretty bad, I'm still kind of sore from all the raking.

My schedule for the next week and a half is pretty crazy.  In addition to working, I'll be going to Glen's show tonight, I have another holiday bazaar Friday night, a craft show Saturday, possibly attending another of Glen's shows on Sunday, band rehearsal Monday, Thanksgiving, playing with the band at the Peace Candle lighting ceremony Friday, and I'll be hosting a holiday open house for some local crafters and vendors on Sunday the 27th. 

I'm quite excited about that last one.  It's a relatively small thing, just 4 crafters and 2 vendors, but between the 6 of us we should be able to get lots of friends and family to show up and do some Christmas shopping.  I'm planning to serve coffee, hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and plenty of appetizers and desserts.  And we recently inherited a LOT of old Christmas records, so perhaps I'll put some of those on.

Of course, Elvis will be banished that afternoon, possibly to play at the dog park.  I'm sure he'd love to hang out with the visitors at the house, but I don't trust him to not knock over someone's display or steal people's food. ;-) 

And speaking of the pup, we went to Petco the other day to pick up his food.  We feed him the Synergy variety of Natural Balance because of the high protein content, it's the only way he can keep weight on.  While Elvis and I made our way through the dog food section, I saw this:

Seriously, Natural Balance?  SERIOUSLY?!?!  I can't think of a single good reason for this.  But then again, there are probably people who can't think of a single good reason to save bits of filet mignon for their dog, but Glen and I do that... So I guess to each his own?? ;-)

How Bazaar

Do I win a prize for lamest blog post title ever??? ;-)

Seriously though, it looks like I'll be doing quite a number of holiday bazaars/shopping nights this year in addition to the usual Saturday craft shows.  My show on November 11 is a holiday bazaar at an elementary school, and I just sent in an application for another one at a local middle school that's going to be held on November 18.  And I just got another email about a third bazaar that's being held November 17, which I'd like to do as long as I can switch my usual library shift to another night that week.  At this point, I'm really liking the whole holiday bazaar/shopping night thing because they only take up a few hours on a weeknight, as opposed to an entire Saturday. 

If I am able to do both of those bazaars, I'll be up to a total of 4 shows in November alone, and 7 shows for the entire season.  That's on top of my regular full-time job and my part-time job at the library.  And it occurs to me that it might be a good idea to bulk up my inventory a bit, since I was only anticipating doing 4 or 5 shows.  Plus I still haven't gotten around to posting any new items in my Etsy shop, which I would really, really like to do before Thanksgiving.  Think I'll be tired by the time December rolls around??


Edit : I completely forgot about yet another tentative date for a holiday bazaar - I got an email about one that may be taking place on December 4.  So make that a total of 8 shows this season.  Eek!

Cherry Truffle

Usually when I dye my hair, I opt for Natural Instincts in Cinnaberry. My natural hair color is medium to dark brown with red highlights, and Cinnaberry gives those highlights a nice little boost without looking unnatural.

However, I needed to go a bit more red for my Halloween costume this year, so I went with a L'Oreal color called "cherry truffle."

Also, I switched brands without doing a patch test 48 hours before dyeing. I like to live dangerously.

My hair's still wet so I can't share the results just yet, but I'll definitely post photos of my new hair color (and my Halloween costume!) after this weekend.

Oh, and the craft show this past Saturday went pretty well! This one was well established and there was a decent crowd, so I made a pretty good profit for the day. And I processed my first credit card purchase! It's kind of silly how excited I was about it. My next show is November 11, so here's hoping I make lots more sales, credit card or otherwise! ;-)

UPDATE: While my hair is redder (more red?) than before,it's more mahogany than cherry truffle. I managed to take a quick picture between jobs tonight, and you can see that it's actually quite red where the light catches it.

I guess this means I'll have to spend a lot of time directly under bright lights during the party on Saturday?? ;-)

Shameless Promotion (and Elvis Update!)

My second craft show of the season is this Saturday:

It's also the first craft show where I'll be able to accept credit card payments!  If you're in the area, stop by and say hello. :-)

I'm also going to shamelessly promote my husband's monthly show at SteelStacks.
Here he is promoting the show on SteelStacks Live!


The next show is November 6 at 8:00pm.  Also stop by this and say hello!

Last, and certainly not least, Elvis' blood work came back okay!  He hasn't had anymore seizures, either.  He did have a brief stint on Valium to prevent future seizures, but oddly enough it made him hyper.  More hyper than usual, that is.  He spent 1:30am - 4:30am Tuesday morning wandering aimlessly around the house and getting stuck on furniture.  It was a long night.  Needless to say, we discontinued the Valium after that. ;-)

Highs and Lows

Fortunately, this past week has had more highs than lows, but it started on a bit of a low note.  Namely a general lack of sales at the craft show, despite lots of compliments on my jewelry and lots of people taking my card.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.  And who knows, maybe some of those folks will show up at my other craft shows later this season and decide they need to buy some Christmas gifts! ;-)  Seriously, though, I have found that the closer a show is to Christmas, the better my sales seem to be, so hopefully that will hold true again this year.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my display, although I feel like it would look better with more of the busts for necklaces. The necklaces look so much nicer that way, and it seems a bit sparse with only three.  I think I need to make it a point to pick up a couple more next week.

My big high note for the week was finding out today that I got accepted to that juried show I was talking about! 

Other good stuff from this week included lots of hours at the library (including 4 more tomorrow afternoon!), finding out my dog is going to be interviewed at the super cute blog Coffee with a Canine, and my decision to finally join the 21st century and get an iPhone. 

That last decision was prompted by the fact that with an iPhone I can accept credit card payments at shows using Square, which just takes a percentage of each sale, with no monthly fee.  Since my business is pretty seasonal, it just didn't seem worth it to pay montly fees when I only do shows maybe 4 or 5 months out of the year.  An added bonus is that going to get the phone this weekend will also give me a chance to finally take advantage of the discount my employer provides with AT&T. 

I'm off to work on some much-needed signage for my jewelry display (including one saying I accept credit cards!).  Tomorrow I'll be going to the farmers' market, working, and getting dressed up and going out for drinks with my husband.  What are your plans for the weekend?

Let the Fun Begin!

Craft show season kicks off for me this Saturday at the Alpha Volunteer Fire Company, 10:00am - 3:30pm!

I'm definitely excited to see what shoppers think of my new display, and hoping it helps me make lots of sales! 

It's going to be a very busy couple of days leading up to the craft show, though.  I'm spending Wednesday - Friday at a government auditing seminar (gotta get those CPE's!), and I'll be working at the library tomorrow night, which leaves not nearly enough time to prepare for the show.  Wish me luck. ;-)

P.S.  I went to DSW over the weekend.  They didn't have those wonderful shoes in my size.  I hate ordering shoes online, but I just may have to do it this once.  I did, however, have better luck at Macy's last night, where I picked up a super cute pair of ballet flats marked down from $70 to $34.50.  Plus I (ok, my mom) had a $10 coupon.  So I guess I can't complain too much, huh?

Jewelry Display Sneak Peak

Today I mailed out two more applications for craft shows.  One of them is juried, it's only the second juried craft show I've applied for so far.  I'm nervous!!!

Anyway, the application for that show requested photos not just of individual pieces, but also of our display.

As you'll recall, I picked up some new pieces for my display recently, including new jewelry stands and a new mirror.  Also, last week my wonderful father-in-law built a couple of risers for me, which will work wonders in making my display more versatile.

But, this also means all the photos I have from previous shows are outdated.  So yesterday I set up a somewhat scaled-back version of the new display in my dining room and had a little photo session.

Check it out:



I love that I can work more vertical display elements in beause of the risers!

Extreme close-up of the new mirror!

This shot mostly shows off the color scheme of my dining room. 

And I just realized I need to straighten that picture.  Oops.

So, what do you think?  Any thoughts or suggestions?? 

Office Clean-up

One of my biggest obstacles to productivity is a messy workspace, and recently my office has been getting out of control.  (Well, by my standards, at least.  The photos that follow don't show as dramatic a difference as I'd hoped, so maybe it was mostly in my head!)

 BEFORE

Ok, so I'm sure most of you have seen worse, but this situation was starting to drive me crazy!  I've had my laptop since June, but the old computer is still just sitting there under my desk, not doing anything but taking up precious space and creating a giant tangle of wires.  Until recently, the old monitor was on top of the desk as well (also doing nothing but taking up space), but my husband borrowed it so he could edit some footage for an upcoming show. There were papers strewn about my desk, as well as 2 pairs of shoes, a sewing kit and a bag full of earring cards on the floor, and don't even get me started on the bookcase!

AFTER

 

I think moving the computer (which, for the moment at least, is just sitting up against the wall on the other side of the room, but is still out of my actual work space) made the biggest difference.  Straightening up the stuff on the bookcase so it wasn't quite so haphazard was a big help, too.  And I made slightly better use of the cork board by putting more papers up there.


Oh, and remember this post, where I talked about the things I wanted to add to my display, including a new mirror that was both cuter and takes up less space on the table than the old one?  Well, I decided to go ahead and buy it, and it was 50% off! When it's not being used for shows, it will reside on my desk along side the dress form necklace stand and one of the centerpieces I made for a friend's bridal shower back in May.

Now here's hoping I can keep it looking this nice. ;-)

So Much to Do...

... and for a change I actually feel like I have time to do it all!

Despite the fact that I didn't have much time to devote to the jewelry business over the summer, I've managed to get a relatively early start on the fall craft show season.

I already have 3 shows scheduled, you can find the details on my website. My goal is to do 2-3 shows per month between October and December. I want to make a decent amount of sales, but I also don't want to do a show every single weekend and end up too exhausted to enjoy the holidays, either!

I'm also giving a lot of thought to how I'm going to display everything. I think I may need to build some sort of a riser for the back of my table. Typically, my setup is something along these lines:


But I really think I'd like to have the necklace and earring stands along the back set up higher so I can get more creative with the stuff up front without worrying about blocking everything in the back.

I'm a big fan of this cute little dress form jewelry holder from Hobby Lobby:


I picked one up last week, and I think I may get another one. They be perfect for displaying necklaces like these, since they don't really need to lay flat for the customer to get an idea of what they look like.

While I was at Hobby Lobby, there was an incredibly cute little mirror that caught my eye. It would take up considerably less space than the one I've been using, and it better matches my jewelry's personality, if that makes sense. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a picture of it on the internet, but I will post some pictures if I decide to buy it!

I hope you're all having a wonderful Labor Day weekend! I'll be spending this evening at my parents' house for a little cookout, then it's back to the grind tomorrow morning. ;-)