Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Can the 3rd time be a charm too?

This past weekend I had my 3rd craft show and it was a BLAST! I'm finding out that one of the reasons I really like shows is that I get to meet some really amazing fellow crafters (Hi Dorothy & Becky!), and I just love talking to the customers and seeing what they pick out (usually not at all what I would have guessed!).

My booth space was a little bigger this time - 10x10 - so I borrowed an 8' table and here is what it looked like!
It actually changed a bit by the end of the day - I moved the rack on the left up to the table and pushed the table up to aisle level. It seemed to work better. I also need to get something to go behind me - it gets a little cluttered looking when you can see the people behind me! I'll have to see if I can talk my dear husband into building a contraption that folds up and is not too heavy to carry!

So I'm a sucker for the mountians... my drive up to Longmont was so so beautiful with the sun coming up and just starting to hit the snow covered Rockies.

I like this one. I love Waffle Houses. This might be the closest one to our house and it's about 45 minutes away!


Overall it was an awesome show. I sold over 25 bibs and 10 onesies/t-shirts. I had a lot of questions about bigger sized t-shirts (kids and adults) so I'm taking the plunge! I just purchased a bunch of t-shirts in size 4-12 which will hopefully be on the site within the next few days. The two horsie t-shirts I had sold already! I also bought a bunch of onesies since those make such great gifts too. I may start doing some bib/onesie sets too. The possibilites are endless! :)

Here is a look at the two shirts I had (I can make more if you're interested!)


I also sold out of my bib/burp cloth sets so I am going to have to make more of those too! I think I may make a couple that match the bib that was in the magazine as those have been selling like hot cakes! :)

If you would like to get a quick e-mail when I do add my bigger sized t-shirts to my Etsy site, or if you are interested in a custom shirt (same price as the ones pre-made! They'll be $14), please let me know! You can contact me through my Etsy store (click on the "contact" button). I promise I won't send out a ton of e-mails (I hate spam too!).

Thanks to everyone who I met at the sale - especially the mom with the adorable twin boys who came just because she saw I was going to be there on my Etsy annoucement - you made my day!!

Til next time...
jesi

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Hip Violet is in "equestrian" Magazine!

It's OUT! The November issue of the United States Equestrian Federation's member magazine "equestrian" is showing up in mailboxes all over the country. With a lovely HIP VIOLET bib in the Gift Guide! I'm so excited! The magazine did a beautiful job of laying out the pages, and they only did 21 items so look how big my bib is on page 3 of the spread!!

Above is the page to the right with the ordering info. I'm so excited to see if I get any orders from the ad! I am also trying to scurry around and make a few more horse bibs - I got this great horse fabric a while ago and have yet to make anything out of it!


I'm thinking those would look cute with a little stirrup or snaffle bit applique. I better get crackin'!

In other news, my next (and last) craft show of the season is this weekend! It's the Mollie McGee Holiday Craft Fair at the Boulder Fairgrounds in Longmont, CO. Come and see us and get a jump start on your holiday shopping! It's Saturday from 9-5 and Sunday from 10-4. Keep in mind that strollers are not allowed on Saturday - time to get out the baby carriers! :)

See you there!
jesi

Friday, November 14, 2008

Second Time's a Charm!

I had my second craft show last night and it was a SUCCESS!! Plus it was really really fun and in an absolutely AWESOME venue. I already can't wait for next year!

It was a benefit for the Parenting Place in Boulder, and it was in the evening so it was pretty festive. There were appetizers, drinks (my friend Nicole and I have decided that ALL shows should have a bar... we appreciated the extra sales!) and a jazz band. So fun!

Here was my booth set up this time. Pretty much the same as last time :)
This was in an art gallery though... again, why can't ALL our shows be in galleries? Much much better than in church basements or exhibit halls of fairgrounds :) And warmer too! My friend Nicole and I had booths right next to each other and we were right in front of these huge windows that looked down on the streets of Boulder and the mountains. I can't think of a more fun place to have a show! Here was my view:
Nicole sells amazingly cool felt barrettes (we're now the proud owners of 2 more), beautiful handmade jewelry, and her signature "Twombley" dolls that are sooo cute! We had so much fun - I wish we could do every show together! Here we are posing with our booths and some of the artwork on the walls of the gallery.
Nicole got a bib for a friend of hers, and found out it fit her perfectly ;)

Overall this show was MUCH more successful and MUCH more fun! I sold almost as many bibs and I did onesies - in fact I'm headed out in a few minutes to see if I can expand into some bigger sizes of shirts to applique (I'm thinking 2T-4T). I was really surprised at how many people bought them, and how many people wanted special orders (which I gladly will do!). I also had THREE seperate people ask if I had matching onsies for twins they knew... so I guess I'd better start making some doubles!

I also sold quite a few barrettes and gave out TONS of cards. I'm really thinking about going "corporate" - I think my bibs would make really great unique baby gifts for business owners to give customers. Nicole and I might try out a few networking dinners to see how that goes. How fun!

The other thing I learned at this show is that I need to be more specific to genders when I pick out my appliques and colors. I had made a few green onsies with floral appliques (thinking for a girl) but people kept asking if it was for a boy. And I had a cute off-white onesie with a brown floral elephant and that one also kept getting the boy look (the onesie had ruffles on the sleeves, so I think not!). SOOO I really need to stick with more traditional colors for boy and girl so I don't confuse people!

It's just always so much fun because I love that my booth makes people SMILE. Even if they don't have kids or grandkids or anyone to buy for, it was really cool to see people smile when they saw what I was selling - and to hear that they thought everything was so cute. Yay!

'Til next time
jesi