Craft Fair

I know most of you know this already, but I'm blogging it anyway. ;)  I am an official vendor at the Northwest HS Craft Fair!  It's all happening Nov. 7 from 9am to 4pm.  Northwest is located at 8204 Crown Point Ave right here in Omaha. 

I can't tell you how excited I am for this.  Scared out of my mind too, of course.  But mostly excited.  I've done the small shows at my church that they do every year, but that's basically just people I know.  And I've sold to friends, even had an open house, but again it was people that I know.  So to me, this craft fair will really tell me how I'm doing.  I am constantly wondering if my dear friends are buying to make me feel better.  Don't get me wrong... I don't think my friends would buy things they didn't like, but part of me wonders if they had found those pieces as a store, would they have put them back on the rack?  At this craft fair, 99% of the people that I encounter will be total strangers.  So if they're buying my things, I think I will really start to feel more confident.  Well, confident might be going a little far, but you know what I mean. =)

I have become increasingly aware that I really don't have much inventory.  But there's not much I can do about that right now, so I'm trying to not let that bother me.  Hopefully the next time I do this I will have more to present.  And really, what's the wort that can happen?  I sell everything I own?  Oh darn.  That would just be TERRIBLE.  hahaha

I did mention to Dave that if this doesn't go well then I'm calling it quits.  I really hope it doesn't come to that.  And I would MAYBE try Etsy out first.  But we shall see.  Hopefully I won't have to worry about that.  I think I'll do okay.  There are some things that I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't sell, and some that I'm very confident that they will sell.  It will be what it will be.  I'm TRYING to not stress about it.  (if you know me at all, you know just how funny that little statement is)

So here's to me.  =D

Question

Well, my friends, I have a question for you.  What is the most that you would pay for one of my scarves?  I'm struggling with pricing them, so I would love love love some input.  Thanks!

Baby Bracelets

My darling friend Linda asked me months ago to make a bracelet for her baby girl Lola (not yet born).  It was a little stressful, since I had no idea what size to make the thing, but it turned out really well.  But little Lola has outgrown her bracelet.  So that she can keep the origional as a keepsake, I made a new one and it is SOOO cute.  I'll take a picture of it later, hopefully.  And this lovely friend asked me to make a few others, too.  It's so exciting!  I just love these little bracelets.  I hope they fit (I'm VERY nervous about that part).  And I appreciate Linda so much for drumming up business for me.  It means a lot for a friend to do that.  Happy day people.  =)

Peace.

Scarves!

I finished my first scarf of the year! I really like it. =) I'm hoping to have a really good selection of scarves this fall. Sweet! It felt good to be being productive on my night off from 'work' Dave wanted to watch a movie, so I crocheted while I watched. Awesome multitasking, right? Right.

Peace.

Confidence

It seems I've lost it again. Sometimes I look at what I've made and feel pretty good about it. Other times I look at it and wonder who on earth would ever buy this junk. I drive myself crazy. I'm pretty happy with most of what I've made lately, but I look at the older stuff and just think it's ugly. That's a pretty bad attitude to have when I'm planning on trying to sell all of this stuff this fall. Yikes. And then I hit the problem of not knowing if people are being nice when they say they like something. Basically everyone that has ever looked at what I have has been someone I know. Not that I think my friends/family are liars or whatever. Of course I don't think that. But how do I know if they're giving a totally honest opinion, or just being nice to make me feel better. *sigh* I'm feeling lame-o dudes.

Peace.

Craft Fair and a New Toy

That's right, I've decided to participate in a holiday craft fair this year. I am completely nervous about it, but hopefully it'll be a good thing. I have no idea how much I would need to have in product, which is a problem. I'll basically be winging it. Usually I don't mind winging it, but with something like this it scares the *bleep* out of me! I've been making a fair amount of new items lately, which feels good, but is it enough? *shrug* I guess all I can hope is that I don't make a total fool of myself. (and if you know me at all, you know what a feat that will be!) And of course now I'm back to second-guessing everything I make/have made. Maybe it all looks really ugly and I'm just fooling myself. Very possible. Sheesh.

On a happier note, I bought myself a new toy yesterday. It's a seed bead spinner. Man is it cool, dudes. I can't even tell you how much time it will save me. Not that I work a LOT with seed beads, but now it will be a lot less time-consuming when I decide to. Very exciting. =)

I wasn't chosen for that book, but I didn't really expect to be. It's all good. I've been buying tons of stuff lately, basically soaking up every cent I make, but it's so FUN! I like to think I've been buying smart, at least. I really need to clean up my work area, though, dudes. It's a mess! I realy don't quite have enough space for everything. But that's something I can't really change, so no point in whining about it, right? Right.

I need some advice, dudes. I've sold some jewelry to Family Fun Cutz, which is super great for me. But... nothing is really selling. I'm really disappointed in that. And the problem is that I agreed that if something doesn't sell, then I would take it back and give them something else. But NOTHING is selling. (Except for like 3 rings.) I can't afford to buy everything back, and I kind of fee like if what I gave her won't sell, then nothing else will either. So I don't know what to do. *sigh* If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

I'll hopefully post some new pictures next week. I really have been making quite a bit lately.

Peace.

Book

So... two days ago I was checking my email and randomly read one and only one of the emails there. It mentioned an opportunity to submit a necklace design for a book that will be published next year. The deadline was yesterday. I figured that if the kids gave me the opportunity to get something submitted, then I would do it, and if it didn't work out then... that's cool. I managed to get it done! It's a little exciting, even though my chances of being selected are VERY slim. Worth trying, in my opinion. So that's my story. =)

Peace.