Phew, I've finally had a few days of rest now that the craft shows are over with. Its been nice to not have anything to do on a deadline, other than a school exam. (I also cleaned my room top to bottom, it is SO organized now!)

Tomorrow I'll be going to Rockland, to see the new consignment store thats opening up and will be selling some of my jewelry. I'm very excited to see it, it sounds so awesome and Juanita (the owner) is so enthusiastic about it that you can't help but get excited too! Its quite a drive from here though, so hopefully it doesn't snow anymore. Luckily I'll be driving our car, not the van, which should help.

I've been selling a few blocks and have a few requests for some, so that will keep me busy over the weekend.


The Russell Cadets Craft Show was last weekend, and it went pretty well! It wasnt as busy as I was hoping or expecting, but I met some nice people and had some sales, so it was good in the end. They had a nice variety of stuff, though there was a lot of things that weren't crafts at all! Maybe I'm out of touch with the craft show scene, but that seemed a little weird to me.


If you havent already, become a fan of Plain Mornings on Facebook! (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Plain-Mornings/174059787608) You can also follow me on twitter (www.twitter.com/plainmornings) and check out my etsy (www.plainmornings.etsy.com) ! Stay connected!

Craft Shows!

In the last two weeks, I've participated in two craft shows. They were so much fun!

The first was Craftilicious, a great show down in the Glebe. I brought crochet items and our glass light blocks, and surprisingly only sold crochet! I still made a respectable profit for my first show, the organizers were so great, and everyone was so talented and fun. Here I am at my table:


woohoo! Some closeups:



(everyone loved those cupcakes, but little kids kept thinking they were ice cream! ha ha) The hats were my biggest seller, and I learned that I really only need to make the large size.


blocks, brooches, and cowls. I love that blue cowl, but it didn't sell at this show.


more cowls, those ones are so neat (at least I think so!)

Craftilicious was a really long day, but overall it was a great first craft show experience.


Yesterday, I participated in a show at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Ottawa. I got a bigger table for a better price than at Craftilicious, so I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, the turnout was pretty low and only two of my sales came from people who weren't also selling there! Again though the organizers were super nice (and yet another shoutout to the bake sale ladies who gave my twin sister and I free kool-aid!) and I still made an alright profit, so I would do the show again next year.

My table:


Close-ups of my displays:




this is my earring rack I worked up the night before - a frame, some scrapbook paper, and some ribbon. I love the way it looks, but some earrings kept falling off so I'm going to have to think of something different for future shows.


a long box + a scarf = my necklace display board! I was pretty happy with how that looked, and then I just sat my few bracelets on the tablecloth in front of it.


I learned a few things about craft shows this month, and got some good ideas for my next (and probably last of the season) one coming up, where I'll be selling crochet and glass block present lights, like at Craftilicious. The show is December 5th at the Russell High School in Russell, about 20 minutes or so from Ottawa.

I can't sell my jewelry there since they already had plenty of jewelry sellers signed up, but if you're interested in anything you see here it will either be on sale in my etsy shop once I can get it photographed (www.plainmornings.etsy.com) or will be for sale starting in December at a great new consignment shop thats opening up in Rockland, which I'll be posting all about soon!

:)

oh no, I really fell behind on updating this blog! I've been so super busy with school and crocheting insanity in preparation for my shows, that I just kept forgetting!

I got a lot of stock built up for the first show. I'd like to finish a few more things next month, since I have the yarn to do some quick things, but I'm mostly all ready. I have business cards now, but I still have to design my signs and figure out pricing. I don't want to underestimate myself and the value of my hard work, but at the same time Im a thrifty person so I'm not so good at 'regular, appropriate' prices.

Yesterday afternoon I landed here in Atlanta, to spend the next three weeks with my boyfriend Blake. I'm on top of the world! He's at work now, so I'm catching up on homework and reading and also cleaned our room which will be a nice little surprise for him when he gets home I think :) I'll be doing the domestic thing while I'm here, doing more cooking since eating out all the time got expensive last time. Tomorrow is spicy nacho dorito chicken fingers for supper, which I havent made in awhile but they're super easy so I figured it was a good dish to start off with. Also planning some pasta suppers, chicken and stuffing, stirfrys, things like that. The challenge is getting vegetables/healthy things into this boy!

Things with our start up Etsy Team slowed to a stop for a few weeks, but I emailed everyone and we have the ball slowly rolling again. We've finally chosen a name, so stay tuned for updates on that and as soon as its available, the link to our group blog.

Seeing as how I'm in Atlanta and all my stock is at home, my etsy shop is in vacation mode (so mostly hidden, and nothing can be purchased) until I get back. I may be doing some custom work while I'm here though, to mail out from the states to save money, so that'll be something fun.

I'll definitely get back into the swing of updating, though it may not be too craft related while I'm here.

Busy day!

Yesterday I ran a couple errands instead of doing homework... oops! I made a little progress on it today, so I'm not too worried.

Today has been busy. There's been a lot of back and forth emailing from the members of our soon-to-be Etsy group and we're really taking shape! I'm very excited to get it up and rolling.

I made a cute mesh cowl out of this chunky, soft, BRIGHT yellow yarn! I really like it, and I'm looking forward to taking the pictures of it to list it. I still have enough yellow left for something small, or part of something a little bigger, so I'll have to brainstorm on that.

I messaged three different groups about Fall/Christmas craft shows, so I'm really hoping to hear back from them in the next couple of days so I can start planning and getting everything together! Mom will probably come with me because we work together on these great light up christmas 'gift' glass blocks, so it will also be something fun to do together.

Looking up more of the business side of things... its so confusing! Luckily mom has some experience with it so she'll be able to help me figure things out and get the forms and show me what to do. We'll probably work on that tomorrow night or later this week, since I'll be out tonight.

I have two scarves to do the finishing touches on (adding the buttons to my cranberry scarflette, and adding the decorations to a scarf I'm keeping under wraps til its done :) ) and I have two possible orders from livejournal friends for hats and a scarf! My hooks are going to get quite the workout.

Despite the fact that I desperately need a nap right now, I'm up doing this and probably my crochet work. Phew!

So much to do...

so little time! Today I really need to get started on my Archives assignment for friday, and I need to do some wii fit since I haven't in a couple days... I'm definitely improving though, awesome!

What I'd really like to do is work on some new crochet ideas I have for my shop, and figure out how to make a suitable banner.. I don't have room on my netbook for photoshop, I may have to break out the old laptop and get it there. I'd like to get some new music anyway (Mika and Brand New, to start) so maybe I'll boot it up and let it run for awhile. I'll probably finish my cranberry scarflette/neckwarmer today though, since I only have a few rows left and then adding the buttons (which I havent chosen yet).

My sister has promised me a trip to Sassy Bead co. for my birthday present, I wonder if she's free today... Ive got some ideas brewing and I'd like to see what they've got! (Sassy Bead co. is a great bead shop, but its usually a bit more expensive than I'd like so I don't get out there much. They have really great and interesting beads though, so its great for inspiration)

So many ideas in my head, now I just have to make it happen!

So today hasn't been as productive as yesterday, but its definitely much more sunny!

I took some new photos of my newest listing, a lovely butterfly charm on a delicate pretty chain, and I think they look alright. I also started work on a really nice burgundy scarflet, I'm just trying to make up a pattern with some bobbles and stuff to make it more interesting.

Looks like I'll be starting an Etsy team with a group of other sellers. I'm really excited about it! We're going to help each other promote and learn and grow our shops, it should be really great.

Going out for chinese food with the fam tonight for my aunts birthday, so I'll be making her a birthday present today. I get to drive in and back on my own since my mom can't come, which should be fun because I adore driving.

Alright, back to work!

Wow, yesterday was a great day! I got all the glowsticks Blake and I should need for our moon jellyfish halloween costume (I bought 210! Thank you Michaels!) AND a dress that I should be able to easily tailor for my nurse costume for our ww2 sailor/nurse kiss costume too. Hooray!

I also picked up a little book of Pablo Neruda love poems (I couldnt afford the big one with just my gift card, unfortunately), and my favourite raspberry passion tea lemonade - I even got a grande instead of a tall because he 'poured too much'. Woohoo!

Today I definitely haven't done as much, though I did really well on the wii fit (the distance run and a dozen weak pushups!) and spent a long time talking to Blake and being happy, so no real complaints here.

Bones and The Office tonight, looking forward to those.

I really really want some all dressed chips but we have none and I have no car today, so I think I'll go eat a popsicle.