2009 Craft Shows in Review

You know how when you have a vacation day or a trip scheduled, you feel like you couldn't possibly go another day without it? Craft show season has that same sort of self-fulfillingness to it. Thank goodness yesterday was my last show of the season because I just could not do another one - I'm exhausted!

Except I'm not really - because I did 15 shows in 2008 and just 9 in 2009. Some of that was by design - to do fewer, but bigger shows. I did outdoor shows for the first time, which tend to be bigger, multi-day shows. The mack-daddy of all shows was Letchworth - 3 super busy days in October, that I canceled out of at the last minute when Steve's mom died. Not only did I lose all that revenue but I had turned down several shows around that time, based on wanting to have enough inventory for Letchworth. (The show refunded all of my entrance fee, which is more than I had hoped for, even though it was the right thing for them to do. I'm grateful.)

In 2008, when I did 15 shows, the lesson learned there that I was over-saturating the market a little bit. You could have seen the light bulb over my head by the time I'd heard this several times: "Oh yeah, I just saw you at (insert show here) last week!" Better to pace oneself. I know, it seems obvious, doesn't it? I thought I was being ambitious and hard-working. There are lessons and steps to go through for every learning process, right?

The good news is, even without Letchworth, my total show sales for 9 shows in 2009 was 3% higher than 15 shows in 2008. That says it all.

I'm sorry to say that my heart wasn't in yesterday's show at School 46. I don't think it showed though - hope not. In my head, I'm already in 2010, planning and plotting and scheming. New products, new venues - I'm very excited.

A woman introduced herself as the producer of the Lilac Festival, took my card and said she'd send me an application. That is a show to which I'd planned to apply for 2010. The Lilac Festival is a big deal around here - runs for 10 days in May. (The craft show part is only on the weekends.) I believe vendors can sign up for 1 or 2 weekends. My vendor friends who participate now, recommend doing both weekends. The only downside is that the weather in May around here can be a real crap shoot, running from rainy & cold to sunny, warm & summer-like. And yes, we've had snow in May, on rare occasions. Still, I'm ready.

I had a couple of people tell me they came to the show just to see me. I love when that happens. I received a few good suggestions for future product ideas - some of which I've already been thinking of, so the confirmation was good.

I did go to the Alternative Fair held by Metro Justice, at the First Unitarian Church on Winton Road Friday Night to vet it as a possible venue for the 1st weekend in December next year. Granted, I got there right at 6:00 when they opened, but holy cow, it was busy! Nice to see all the hippie kinds of vendors (vegan stuff, social change stuff) - I can't even remember what else. It was so crowded!

Ultimately, I decided it's not for me, at least not now. Vendors rent a table, though you can bring your own set-up and you can get a double (table) space. I was struck by how small the vendor spaces were and how crowded they were together, cheek-to-cheek. It was all very sensory overload for me.

I have a good (highly coveted) spot in the gym at the School 46 show so yesterday I committed to that for next year. The only downside is the spaces are only 5' deep by 8' wide. My tables are 6', plus I need a lot of walk-around space for my two sided Sticky Notes stand. Thankfully they aren't very strict about keeping within the space because the aisles are really wide. So my table overshot the 5' mark by 1'. I had Steve take the other table home - I just couldn't make it work. So I had all my table-top product (pins, magnets and cards) on one table, rather than spread out over 2 tables. Little cluttered for me but it worked okay. So while I had all my usual product out, it still felt like it was an abbreviated version.

I requested a double booth space for next year but there isn't currently one available. My current space is right by a door so that actually gives me additional viewing area. So if the people on my other side don't commit for next year, I can have their space - or maybe something in the middle will open up. I prefer being against a wall, but I'd gladly move if I could have a double space. I paid for one space for next year but the organizer made a note that I'm first on the list for a double space if one opens up. (Note to my curious vendor friends reading this - the entrance fee is only $45 so even a double space is very affordable.)

I slept until, gasp, 6:30 today - 8 hours. By then my mind was racing about what I wanted to do today. Now that I'm up though, my energy is lagging. I guess this is supposed to be a recovery, recharging kind of day. Plus I'm going to my friend Nancy's house for lunch today, with Kim and Kathy. So there's a few hours of relaxing with friends built in to my day already.

Recharging is a necessary and good thing. I've learned to embrace these days!

RMSC Follow-Up

This was my booth space at the Museum & Science Center show. It's not the best photo but I think you can an idea of how big my space was. I paid for 10' x 10' but could use all the space within this little display alcove so it was quite roomy. Seemed a little tacky to whip out a tape measure but I am curious as to it's size. Thought about "walking it off" to estimate but a gal like me strives for accuracy in her numbers, don't you know?

I'm not 100% happy with my display of magnets but I'm getting there. Those are little gift tags on the top row - not a Christmasy one in the bunch, which I thought was going to be a huge problem. Not one person mentioned, "Don't you have any gift tag designs for Christmas?" I told you, it was a ladybug and sunflower weekend! I'm still hoping to get some holiday season tags made for Saturday's show but we'll see.

This display is by my new friend Allison Barry, who creates wonderful machine embroidered towels and other items. I lifted this photo from her website, Graceful Living. I've run into her at several shows but really had a chance to speak with her this past weekend - and she'll be at Saturday's show at St. Jude's too. We bonded over the magic of our respective machines. It sounds like her embroidery machine (she's just ordered a 3rd!) allows her to create quite like my Groove does. Files/designs are available to buy but we create our own. If we can create it, the machine can make it.

Look at her display - how nicely it displays so many towels. It's a wall of colorful towels - very visual. Genius!

Look at the way she sells her towels - 3 to a clear topped box, with ribbon. And her merchandise bags are clear so other people see her purchased product walking around at shows. Genius! She credits her husband with the display and packaging ideas.

She was invited to participate in the Mackenzie-Childs Home Again for the Holidays, which is a pretty big deal. She has two little girls, so her life is very full. I kept telling her she's doing everything right and I'm so proud of her. She's so humble, I had to finally tell her, "Don't you roll your eyes at me, young lady!"

It's so much fun hanging out with like-minded creative people!

Way Cool

This is the test stitching of a new pattern. Not totally new, it's a variation on one I was stitching when I was poking the holes by hand. The pink thread doesn't show up well enough on the purple, but it's just a test anyway.

I don't like to brag . . . okay, yes, I do. My sales for this past weekend's craft show were beyond my high hopes based on what I thought I had sold. My sales were up 86% over last year. And I smashed my show goal by 161%. Take that - bam!

Thus the setting up of a new pattern for my Groove to cut. Must stitch more! Luckily I have many Sticky Notes just in need of embellishment so I'll be in good shape for next weekend's museum show. Plus, like I said, I took Thursday and Friday off this week from the day job.

39th Annual Holiday Bazaar
Friday November 20, 5:00-9:00

Saturday November 21, 9:30-5:00
Sunday November 22, 11:00-4:00

Rochester Museum & Science Center Holiday Bazaar
657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607

Old & New Business Cards

It took forever and a day but I finally got my business cards set up the way I want them in Publisher and the Groove. I printed and cut 250 yesterday and will give them to Mom this morning at breakfast to stitch.

I originally intended to print them on white paper, same as I've been getting from Vistaprint. I have two weights of white paper, one is very heavy (120 lb) and one is heavier than text but not quite cardstock weight, 67 lb I think it is. I hate flimsy business cards. I know the Groove can cut 120 lb paper (right, Darcy?) but I couldn't get it to work nicely.

I had considered using colored cardstock but I really like the multicolored thread we use. And I want the cards to be all the same color, not mixed up. In reviewing my paper supply, I noticed the gray you see here. I actually bought 3 shades of gray quite a while ago but have hardly used them.

I love printing on textured paper. Plus then I realized (love my Groove!) I can resize the design to anything I want. I actually love the new card more than the old now. The holes are smaller but look how they don't even show after being stitched! (Heck, they are hardly show before stitching. Mom, you'll get used to them, I promise!)

After I printed 250 cards, I did nudge the text down a hair so it's more centered.

My KNK Groove Kicks Ass!

What's this, you ask? This is how well the Groove conserves paper! And I guarantee all my crafty friends reading this are thinking, "Wow, I wonder what I could use that for?" Some nice collage? A stencil? Am I right?

63 peace signs cut in 10 minutes!

These other two photos are a bit blurry. Try as I might, I was unable to hold the camera steady tonight. I must still be trembling with excitement from the progress I've made using my new computerized KNK Groove cutting machine. I highly recommend this machine and I have Darcy to thank for emailing me last year to tell me about it. I had never heard of this particular brand until she mentioned it. Darcy has patiently answered my questions this past weekend, as has Sandy, the real KNK guru. I've been watching her tutorial videos, learning something every time. They are both very generous with their time and expertise. I'm discovering a whole new community out there for this machine.

Once my brain got in gear with how it works, you should have seen the lightbulbs over my head popping off all weekend. I'm fairly obsessed with this machine. I think about it in the shower. While driving. All the time.

Sunday night:

Stefani: How can I possibly get to sleep when my Groove is in my studio, just waiting for me?

Steve: It will be there in the morning. Go to sleep.

One of my "signature" (ha!) things is that I love to stack layers to make thicker elements, especially with black as the bottom layers. It adds such dimension. When I was cutting these peace signs with my QuicKutz Revolution, I was figuring out how many layers to make each one. I had decided on 2 blacks, topped with a colorful peace sign, because that's a whole lot of die cutting. But now that I can have the Groove cut sheets of them at a time, I'll stack 3 black layers with a colorful one on top, which I think looks much better.

I have more stuff to show you sometime but I need to get to bed soon. Just wanted to surface for a moment and say that I'm having more fun with this machine than I thought possible. I had high expectations and they've been exceeded.

1. I am thrilled with how easy and useful it is to change the size of designs. That alone means the sky is the limit, over the vast collection of craft punches I own, even.

2. I knew this machine is super precise, but I had no idea how intrigued and happy I am to set up diagonal guidelines mathematically. It's exactly how my brain works.

3. It's fascinating how I have to change my thinking. As Darcy says, you can make designs that rely on cutting away portions rather than gluing bits on top.

4. I had no idea this machine could trace existing elements to cut out. That's how I made this peace sign project. I scanned a peace sign I'd punched out with my Revolution. I scanned a butterfly (remember, I kept breaking the punch?) to cut, but I ended up tweaking it. Another lightbulb!

5. I can't bear to look at my poor neglected Tivo. It's maxed out it's 40 hours capacity. I have been on my computer for days, not watching TV.

Life is changing. Life is good.

Business Cards

I love my business card. Customers love that it has actual stitching on it. I usually 'fess up and tell them that I've outsourced that responsibility to Mom, who stitches most of my cards for me (and lots of design elements too) these days. Some people ask permission before taking one!

I received a phone call last week from a woman who was camping the previous weekend with some girl scouts, and found a backpack that didn't belong to her group. She was going through it for clues as to the owner and the only identifiable thing she found was 3 of my business cards! I don't know any girls around the age she was asking about and I told her a lot of people take my business cards. I wonder if she ever found the owner?

Just the other day I was remembering back when I came up with this idea of stitching a design on each business card and tried the first one. You know how you get that ka-klung (like the Law & Order sound) in your chest, in your heart, when something is so right? Yeah, that happened.

I was very intrigued to run across all these very cool business cards yesterday! Wow, such creativity! They are clearly more expensive than the average business card but I bet they are kept and the businesses are remembered.

I collect business cards of my vendor friends. I keep them in a notebook filled with those business card sheet protectors. I think of them as little works of art in themselves!

I'm having a little trouble getting going with my KNK Groove. I emailed Guru Sandy so I'm about to look at some of the things she suggested about the settings. At first read-through of her email, I feel like I've done those things but I'm going to slowly and methodically make sure. Yeah - me - slow & methodical, I can do that. Can too!

(Darcy, I may be in touch with you too!)

My first order of business will be to cut and pierce sheets of business cards. I gave away tons this past weekend. I found myself rationing them a little bit towards the end. I have 8 left. (Mom - help?)

Pine Tree Designs Labels

My logo and label has evolved over time, mostly to include more and more info. I want people to be able to reach me and order more, of course. I have 2 other configurations, with spacing left for a magnet or a pin back. But this is the one I use for Sticky Notes and cards. I started out with all labels being white. Now I make them in all sorts of colors so I can co-ordinate them with the item on which they are being used. Good way to use up odd color sheets I find myself with.

I started with the lower right, plain circle - used that for a few years. Then I accidentally figured out I could use a slightly larger scalloped punch to give it a little frame - upper right. I love that. Naturally, I had to try an even larger scalloped circle background - upper left. Nice too. Finally I realized that my scalloped punch gives me a nice effect while being less labor & materials intensive than using a separate piece for the scalloped part. (My Stampin' Up pals will recognize the scalloped punch, lower left.)

If time wasn't a factor, I'd use the upper right one, it's my favorite. But for now, I'm sticking with the one-part scallop, lower left. I thought about offering another poll (I love polls!) to see which ones you, my vast loyal readership, prefer. But my mind is made up. Mostly. Because seeing that upper right one has me trying to justify it to myself, "So what if it's twice the amount of paper - it's only pennies! and it's just gluing 2 pieces together, it's not that time consuming." Oh - and when I finally have a moment to get my KNK all working nice, it could cut the scallops out for me.

Did you see that? You just watched me change my mind, I think.

I would be interested in your thoughts if you care to share them in the comments.

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Now, some old business - the results of yesterday's poll.

5 Votes


4 Votes


8 Votes

Because 3 friends (+ Mom) concurred that they liked the middle one, calling it my come hither look, I used that one on my Facebook profile. I didn't even know I could "do" come hither! And notice the new photo, in the upper right corner, as voted by my vast adoring public.

I Got the Message

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Other than she is young, thin and blond, this looks just like me. My massage therapist uses these hot stones - love them. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my Wednesday appointment due to financial considerations - just not in the budget at the moment.

The reason I bring this up though, is because last week I received a post card from a massage therapist near my house. I went to her once several years ago, because she had an introductory special. I liked her very much, but at the time, she didn't take my insurance so I went elsewhere, eventually ending up with Mary, who is now my friend - and a fantastic message therapist.

But the postcard says this, "Schedule your next appointment now and bring this card for a savings of $25 off a full message session!"

As much as I'd like to save $25, I just can't go to someone who sends a postcard out with such a glaring typo. Yes, I'm that kind of person - just can't do it. (And Mary would kill me if I went elsewhere. And really, why would I - she's the best!) (And yes, she occasionally reads this blog, but I would say that anyway. I've referred two people to her.)

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You know how sometimes you have those weekends where you feel like didn't accomplish diddly? I didn't have one of those weekends at all! After Saturday's dog walk, I cleaned up part of the garage, washed my car and finally put the clings on my windows that I bought late last year.

Doesn't that look fantastic? It's on both back windows, the inside. I bought them from Ernie, on Etsy. Very reasonable I thought - $40 for both including shipping. Except you know what I realized? Now I have to be a good driver. Darn it! I really didn't think this through first.

I got my hair cut. I cleaned up my studio and spent lots of time getting my new laptop set up. It's not there 100% but pretty darn workable. This thing sings! And that photo of my car? I just took it with my camera, stuck the memory card directly into a slot in the laptop - and voila! I'm back in business with downloading photos! I'm so relieved because we leave on vacation in a few days. (We're going to Maine for a week.)

As I moved my old laptop out of position on my desk and moved the new one in, and plugged things into to the USB ports - holy cow! They are so tight and secure! I knew the old ones were shot, but I had no idea how sloppy loose they were. I'm very happy with my new computer.

I still have lots of paperwork to catch up on before we leave and I have to make sure I have plenty of pieces ready to stitch on vacation. I always worry about that more than any other element of vacation. Socks & underwear? Whatever. Stitching? Must have! Since this year, like last year, we're driving to our destination, Steve drives and I stitch. Plus there's plenty of down time in the hotel. Just like at home, I'm stitching during every available free moment - and loving it.

(Mom, I may or may not get more business card punched for you to stitch - we'll have to play that by ear.)

And all my old email is still on my old computer. So Dad, I'm half-thinking I may end up taking my old laptop on vacation with me to work on cleaning it off. I have such an incredible backlog of email - and plenty I want to keep - but I'm not sure I want to transfer all of that big mess to my new laptop. But you can definitely use it when I return, or sometime soon.

I must say that the setting up of this new computer could hardly have gone smoother. I love the "fresh start" feel. I, like lots of you I'm sure, go through stages where I purge blogs that I read, newsletters, etc. Then I have a run where I find all kinds of interesting things that I must know about and the glut begins all over again. (Disclaimer: I never discontinue reading blogs of my core group of online friends on purpose, just get too darn busy to check as often as I'd like.)

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Check out that new badge in my sidebar that tidies up my Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc. links. I found that on another blog this morning.

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New Things

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I cannot wait until this Saturday show is over and here's why: I need to get this first outdoor show behind me so I can stop obsessing. I'm overthinking things so much I am even boring the snot out of me. Poor Jen at work - I'm surprised she doesn't run & hide when she sees me coming. (Wait. Maybe she is, some of the time. How would I know, right?)

I sucked it up the other day and peeked at the forecast for that area for Saturday and it's 60% chance of thunderstorms. Not regular rain, people - thunderstorms. Hey, shit happens and I'm going to run into this from time to time with outdoor shows - might as well get some experience from the gitgo.

I think the biggest hurdle is the often-mentioned tent weights. Leaving them until the last minute was making me crazy.

I finally decided on a 2' length of 3" diameter PVC pipe, filled with sand and capped at both ends. We'll use 2 straps on each to attach it to each of the 4 legs of the tent. White, unobtrusive, heavy, quick to make - very do-able.

I bought the fixins for one the other day to test my theory. I used the primer and the cement and attached one cap to the pipe - worked great. But it said to let it cure two hours before putting weight on it so Simon filled it with sand and capped the other end when he came home from work, after I went to bed.

I was worried it wouldn't be heavy enough even though I know sandbags are heavy. This morning when I checked the one that Simon finished last night - dang, that's heavy!

This morning he went to Home Depot and bought the materials and made the other 3. Bless his heart, he did a great job.

I didn't get as much practice with the tent as I had planned but oh well. It's not hard.

I feel guilty dragging Steve to Syracuse with me for a little over 24 hours. He'll have plenty of Steve time to work on his laptop and read in the hotel room, the same stuff he'd be doing at home.

Enough, Stefani. Shut up already.

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My laptop is wheezing it's last breaths of air. I mentioned in another post that it wouldn't recognize my camera so I couldn't download photos. After the quilt show, it didn't recognize my credit card reader, which momentarily scared me because I had over $300 in credit card sales in there. I had the customers' phone numbers but I didn't want to have to call them for the rest of the credit card number after impressing them at the show with my handy-dandy card reader. (It worked fine with Steve's laptop, just like my camera did.)

Then I realized I hadn't had sound in a while. I fiddled with the settings - everything is grayed out in that portion of the control panel. It could not be fixed.

That's the 3rd strike I was waiting for I guess - time to buy a new laptop. I went to the HP website, just to get an idea, and built the machine I wanted. I printed the spec sheet. It was $711. Not too bad. I was tempted to order it right then and get on with it but I forced myself to wait and check with the guys at work. Sometimes we have access to "deals". My friend in Purchasing found me the exact same unit I was looking for, nice & beefy, for $445.

Thank goodness cooler heads prevailed and I made myself wait a few hours - and saved almost $300! Talk about a no-brainer, eh? I was stressing over spending the $700 even though I use the hell out of my laptop - it's an integral part of my business and my life. But I can spend $445 without batting an eye. I'll have it Monday.

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And I just got back from the eye doctor's. If my eyes were any more dilated, they'd be inside out, I think. I pick up my new glasses next week. I had new lenses put in my old frames 4 years ago, the frames I had purchased 6 years ago. I don't know diddly about fashion but I know I have been dying to get new frames!

My current glasses are wire at the top, rimless at the bottom. In my head I'd been envisioning my new self as the naughty librarian.

Turns out I'll be the naughty librarian with GREEN Banana Republic frames! I was looking at dark frames when I remembered I'm an eccentric artist so I started looking at more colorful frames. Get this though - the most colorful frames are for kids and younger people so they aren't made to accommodate bifocals. What's up with that?? Thank goodness they always provide a helpful person to steer you in the right direction. A mere mortal could get overwhelmed at the volume of frames available. I kept saying to her, "You'll tell me if I look stupid, right?"

The frames are tortoise shell with a green rim or something. They don't look atrocious at all, quite the opposite. Snazzy, I dare say. I tried to find a picture online but I didn't catch the name of them and even the frames online are all starting to look alike to me. Guess you'll have to wait for the grand unveiling next week.

I need a haircut too, which will add to my sassy new look.

I think it's time to spring for a new Stefani photo too. I knew I couldn't use that one (upper right of the blog) indefinitely - but I was going to sure try!

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Saturday, June 20, 10:00-5:00

Unity's 8th Annual Arts & Crafts Festival

300 West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY 13207

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Little Autobiographies

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I love, love, love biographies and especially autobiographies. Even as a kid, that's the first section I headed to every time we went to the library. That's why I love blogs so much - seeing how other people live their lives.

Along those lines, here's a site I found the other day that I keep going back to, to see the newest postings.

I love this one too. In my head, I alternately think, "Me too!" or "Wow, that's nuts!"

Here's one I've posted about before. I thank Gretchen for it because it was due to her recommendation that we visited the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore last year. There was an exhibit of Post Secret postcards trailing throughout the museum. Some brought tears to my eyes.

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I'm not sure I told you the conclusion to the Steve/Stefani tiff. I texted Steve Sunday from the show and asked if he wanted to be reinstated on Team Pine Tree Design. He said yes, he had been about to text me to see if I wanted his help packing up after the show. Things were still a little chilly but we talked later that night and I felt like we were both heard. That's all humans want, to be heard.

Over the weekend I had become a bit panicked about the next show, my first outdoor show - in Syracuse, about 90 minutes from here. I had not bought my tent yet and wasn't sure I'd have time to practice putting it up, etc. I had been thinking I had 2 full weekends between shows but it's only 1. I'd still like to make more stuff too. I have enough but I'd like to have more than enough.

So I emailed the co-ordinator to see if my space could be switched from an outdoor space to an indoor space. I figured it was a long shot - and it was. The indoor spaces go like hotcakes. So once I knew Steve would be going with me to help with the tent, I decided to suck it up and get moving.

I bought my tent yesterday. Depending on the weather, Simon is going to help me set it up the first time today or tomorrow after work. I want to have set it up and taken it down 3 times before the show. I need to figure out the weights for it too.

I ordered a canvas sign to hang outside the tent.

I made our reservation at a hotel. We'll drive to the venue late Friday afternoon, set up the tent, stay over and get a fresh start in the morning - I'll set up the inside. Steve can stay behind in the hotel and work on his laptop or read. It happens to be a pet friendly hotel so I wish we could take Reggi. To my knowledge, hotels that accept pets don't allow the pet to be in the room unattended, which is kind of a drag. We've only taken her with us to a hotel one time and we loved it, as did she.

The unexpected thing is - now I'm really excited about this show. I had been feeling all along that I really wanted to get my first outdoor show behind me because the first of anything is always the scariest. I'm happy I had so much experience working for MJ at her outdoor shows. But she and her husband always put the tent up and took it down. I was just there for the busiest part of the show hours. So I guess the tent part is the only thing I'm a little anxious about. But I know it will be fine. Like I said, I'm excited!

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I mentioned being interested in the Pennsylvania National Quilt Show, so I emailed them to get on their mailing list. They emailed me an application yesterday, for the 2009 show. My show schedule is already set for the year so I was thinking 2010.

However, I did up a little spreadsheet on how much a big show like that might cost me, including fee, gas, hotel, meals, etc. My quick estimate was over $1500. Do you know how many little stinkin' notepads I'd have to sell to make it a profitable show?? It's 4 full days so I'd have to have a truckload of product available! I'm not ready for a big show like that. I think I was getting a little too big for my britches. Got a little heady with success, I did.

But I also took the opportunity to review my costs and decided I'm happy with my profit margins. A couple of people at last weekend's show told me I was charging too little. I do get that sometimes. Sometimes I'll joke and say, "For you, then, $7.00!" This time I said, "I try hard to keep my prices reasonable. I am making a profit. It's all about finding the right balance." It's almost like when I say that, they understand I do take it seriously, have done the research and "run the numbers" and I'm not just making prices up off the top of my head.

Anyway. Enough rambling out of me.

Saturday, June 20, 10:00-5:00

Unity's 8th Annual Arts & Crafts Festival

300 West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY 13207

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The Weekend Rocked!

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Look Ma! My name in lights!

The only "complaint" I had to enter on the vendor evaluation form was it would have been nice if the pipe and drape was behind each booth too. But I'm sure customers didn't notice - they are looking at our stuff.

So what do you think of my new 2-sided rack for my Sticky Notes?? Isn't it cool? Way better than customers having to paw through them stacked 4 deep in my old acrylic riser set up. It holds 126 notepads. This is the 3rd time I've used it but I made that new Sticky Notes sign for it recently - looks 100% better than the smaller sign I originally stuck up there. It was a huge attention getter.

I sort of wish the racks were closer together but this is how it came and I could put cards in there too. Better to have flexibility.

The little green signs say:

Hand Stitched
Sticky Notes
(Refillable!)
$5.00

Those are the signs I used on both sides before I made the big teal Sticky Notes signs. I used them Friday night then decided they weren't right. I made new ones to use that left off the word refillable. I had originally thought that would be a big selling point but it turns out, not so much. By not stating it on the sign, it gives me an opportunity to tell the customer about it, thereby engaging them in conversation. :-)

So my new signs feature the words Hand Stitched in bigger letters, with the price. Being a quilt show, lots and lots of these people are machine sewers so even more so than usual, people assumed I used a machine. And even though I still use my big white sign that says hand stitched, they haven't gotten that far yet because the Sticky Notes are the first thing you see in the booth.


These are the black shutter doors I'm using for my framed art and now for my magnets, which you see on the upper right there - 3 frames full. Remember my aversion to magnet clutter on refrigerators that I finally got over? I didn't sell a single magnet until mid-day Saturday. I was mentally writing my next blog entry, "One magnet, people? One lousy magnet?? I finally made the damn magnets, now where are those magnet people??"

I sold 2 framed pieces, both brand new paper quilts. Selling framed art always makes me happy.


This is my new table set-up. I say new because I used to have all my plates of pins flat on the table in a grid (naturally!) but decided I wanted to add some height to the display. I found 6 glass candle holders at 2 dollar stores. The tallest 2 are each 2 candle holders glued together. The shorter ones are just 1 candle holder high.

I didn't glue the plates to the candle holders because I wanted to be sure I was happy with this arrangement. I'm very happy, it turns out - it worked exactly as I envisioned. And now I don't think I'll glue the plates in place anyway, so I have added flexibility and they are easier to store unassembled. People pick the pins up very gingerly so I'm not worried about the plates falling off the candle holders.

Those are little square gift cards to the left. I only sold a few of those. I was thinking maybe I won't make those any more but 1) it's too soon to say that and 2) I think they will sell better in the holiday season, especially when I make them season-appropriate.

This is how my table looks from the front. That's my free drawing in the lower right, 70 people entered, most of whom gave me permission to add them to my mailing list! A lot are from out of town so I really need to do a better job of keeping my Etsy shop well stocked. How I'll accomplish that, I'm not sure. Always good to have goals, though. :-)

I'd forgotten how quilters love to take bus trips to shows and events together. When I pulled into the parking lot Saturday morning and saw a big bus idling in the parking lot, I didn't want to get too excited, so I thought maybe the bus was related to a college event. (The show was held at Rochester Institute of Technology.) Then I realized, duh, the college year finished in May. When Pam arrived an hour later, there were 3 buses in the parking lot she said.

At the very end of the show I was looking around my booth and noticed the Sticky Notes piece of the free giveaway trio was missing! I looked in the floor rack, under the tablecloth, then I thought someone must have stolen it! But realistically, I bet dollars to donuts that I sold it without realizing. A bunch of people asked me if I had any for sale so I explained I just made it for the show and had no idea it would turn out so darn cute, but I would definitely be making more. I was so brain dead by the end, that I bet someone who bought a stack of Sticky Notes, had it among their purchases and I didn't notice. I'll just make another one.

This is the single smartest thing I did for this show. I started using those drawers late last year I think it was. I put the drawer from my cash box in the top drawer during shows, misc stuff in the second and spare bags in the bottom one. Otherwise I fill it up and tape the drawers shut for transporting. During the show, the smart thing I did is, I put the drawer unit on top of one of my tubs, covered with that cloth. Now the cash drawer is the same height as my director's chair where I sit and stitch throughout the show. No more backache from leaning over to reach the cash drawer! I'm a freakin' genius!

I bought 1000 flat Kraft bags a few years ago and am just now finishing them up. Last year I bought a smallish amount of turquoise flat bottomed handled bags that I use for 4 Sticky Notes or more - or framed art. I'm almost out of those too. Vickie had told me she gets her bags at the dollar store. (Again with the dollar store! It's just never on my radar screen until someone mentions it.) I didn't see any in the 2 stores I was in recently, but I found some clear plastic "snack" bags in Target. So I bought 4 packages which is 100 bags.

I had been thinking I needed to upgrade my bags when I used up the old ones and I'd been thinking clear would be a cool way to go. These little bags expanded more than I thought they would but they are also perfect when not expanded, for little items like 1 or 2 Sticky Notes and/or pins or cards.

I was really happy with them - - - until I remembered that I'm anti-plastic! So I'm going to look around online for similar bags that are either made from post-consumer recycled product and/or recyclable themselves, preferably both. I bet I can find something.

The bags came with twist ties but I didn't use them. I'd thought about tying them shut with ribbon but it seemed like way too much work until my smart friend Pam suggested a way to do it. So I may try that next time

Steve had a cold last week but I knew my body would hold off getting it, if I was going to get it, until after the show. It's happened before. I love that, btw. I started taking echinacea right away. Sure enough Sunday, I started feeling a tickle in my throat. I was still flying on adrenaline a bit yesterday as I told Jen and others at work about how great the show was for me. Today, I feel worse, got my period dammit and have solidly crashed from the weeks of adrenaline. Hoo-boy, it's going to be a long day.

I'm happy to report that this weekend was my 2nd best show ever! As I've said, quilt shows are definitely my new market. This show had 60 vendors. Yesterday, I emailed for information for future Pennsylvania National Quilt Shows - they have 200 vendors!

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Good News from Buffalo!

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On January 31st, Steve and I drove to Buffalo for jury day for the Jr League of Buffalo's boutique in association with their Decorators' Show House. I was told I'd be notified by email if they were interested in my goods. Instead this week I received snail mail from them which said I was accepted. It said see attached for which items they'd like to sell and how many.

100 Sticky Notes
24 Greeting Cards
24 Tins

Wow! I didn't know it worked like this. Even from my limited experience with the Jr League of Rochester show, I should have known they would be totally organized. I thought it was going to be a situation where I sent them a dozen of each, then when they ran low, they'd email me to send more, all very seat of our pants.

This boutique is consignment, but even making 60% of above would be the equivalent of the sales from a decent craft show. (I did raise my prices slightly for this event.) And with this many items being ordered, I think Steve and I will drive the order to Buffalo. I had planned to ship it, which would still be cheaper than gas & time, but driving the order there feels like the right thing to do. I'll have to scout out some other things to do while we're there to make it a fun day trip. (Plus I think I'll take a few of my small acrylic racks to see if they want to use them for the Sticky Notes. I imagine they have a very professional set-up already, but never hurts to ask.)

In a way I was surprised they wanted my cards because I did see a couple of other card vendors there. And they didn't want my paper jewelry pins, which is fine. I have a feeling this is all pretty upscale and they'd rather have real jewelry.

I really should have continued reading to see when they need these things. The boutique runs April 25 - May 17. Good thing I'm in hyper productive mode these days. Yowza.

A note about those tins. I ordered some reed diffuser liquid from a company but they mixed my order up with someone else's and sent me 48 of those tins instead. They are about 3" in diameter. I'm a nut for little containers. When I called the company, I said I'd be willing :::twist my arm::: to keep them for a reduced price. Voila! I'm really happy with how they turned out. I don't really know what anyone would use these for but I think they are cute as can be. (The tins are sold to candle and soap makers.) Gee, I wonder what else they have that I need . . .

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Cheesey Art

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I follow Demi Moore on Twitter and her tweet led me to this video.

FYI - I found her by following Ashton Kutcher, who I found by following Tina Fey, who tweets a bunch of hilarious one-liners. I'm turning into a regular Celebrity Twitter Stalker. I found these 3 the day before Ashton outed Lawrence Taylor about being on Dancing with the Stars next season. I've now seen that bit in the news twice so I know Twitter is pretty darn mainstream these days. And I felt terribly in-the-know since I'd already read his tweet and come to the same conclusion.

Heck, my 70-something parents both Twitter!

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I just received an email from CraftyCoach and thought I'd pass along this resource to my art/craft business friends. I'm a new subscriber so I really can't vouch for the site just yet but the topics look right up my alley.

And that Start Your Arts & Crafts Business online class I'm taking at Ed2Go.com? So far it's a bit disappointing because I really haven't discovered any new material. But there are 3 bits of good news. 1) The twice weekly lessons don't take up much of my time because I can skim each one fairly quickly. 2) It confirms I'm on the right track already. 3) She provides good resources at the end of each lesson so I think I'll find those useful as I have time to explore.

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