craft show

On Saturday, March 31st we did our second craft show! Our friend Alyssa (the one who came to Chicago with us) came to help in the morning until mid-afternoon and it was so fun to have her there! That's one of the most important rules of craft show-ing: good company is a must.

For this show we did a make and take craft (we made InstaBooks, of course) and it was a smashing success! It was far and away our most popular thing (our best-selling button earrings were a distant second) and it was just fun to spread the gospel of InstaBooks with the world. I made a hand-out to go with the craft and was immensely pleased with how it turned out. The front of the handout had illustrated instructions for how to make an InstaBook and the back had a short list of suggestions for variations. Braeden hand copied the instructions from the handout on to a poster (see pictures below) that we could display at the booth. We also provided rubber stamps and stickers for people to use to decorate their InstaBooks. It was fun to see the kids get so excited about the books, though admittedly most of them used the books just as sticker books more than anything else. There was at least one girl who was so excited about the InstaBook concept that her mother was sure all her scrapbook paper would be gone within the week.

Check out that beautiful banner courtesy of Melissa Eaton:
it looks so profesh!

This is me laughing because Braeden made a funny
face while taking the picture.

Some of our wares...

Some more! (Can we tell we like food boxes...?)

The make and take station.
Brown paper was the best idea.

We're looking forward to the next craft show with bated breath!

craft show

So I have a booth at the Sycamore Craft Market at the end of this month. This is the same craft market that I participated in last fall. This year, just like last year, they did a commercial on local-access TV but this year, unlike last year, I had it together enough to send them pictures to use in it. They had an over-abundance of photos from vendors, so they couldn't use all of them, but the picture of my jello box books made the cut! And in the very first shot, too! Pretty exciting stuff. If you're in the Iowa City area on March 31st, you should swing by the Sycamore Mall and check it out! We'll be there all day, making InstaBooks with the kiddos and (hopefully) selling some button earrings and box books. Yay!

craft show! it happened!

Hey look! It's me! At my craft fair booth! Looking all profesh! This picture was taken around 8 in the am, and look at me all awake and things! Today, for the first time I think ever, I got out of bed before Braeden! This time I was the one who got to jump on the other and say, "Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!"

The earliest we could enter the mall to choose our booth space and start to set up was 7 am, and, since it was just down the street, I felt like it would be silly not to get there as early as possible. I'm glad that was my attitude, too since by the time we got there around 7:20 almost all the prime spots were already filled! Luckily I was able to snag one of the last good ones for my and my booth-buddy Melissa before they all filled up. I figured that was the least I could do since she told me about the fair, signed us up for a booth, brought chairs for us to sit in all day AND printed me up an amazing banner for my booth. She is magical.

Me and Melissa. We're cool. You can tell because of our posture.

I didn't make a lot of sales, especially of books, but from what I gathered it was a pretty slow day for most people. My best seller today? My button earrings. I did not see that one coming, folks. It was a little disheartening that the item that took me the least amount of time and creativity was the most popular, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes. Did I mention it was also the cheapest? My cereal  box books and cereal box folders did get a lot of attention, though, and I did sell two of the books and one of the folders, and the folder was even sold to someone I didn't know! Be impressed.

There's a Christmas craft fair a few towns over at the beginning of next month and I think I'm gonna get a booth there. I'll make some more cereal box books and some Jell-o books for it to help round out the selection a little bit. Since they're smaller, the Jell-o books will be a little cheaper than the cereal box books so they might sell more. Plus, with Christmas that much closer hopefully people will be looking for gifts and be willing to pay a little more for things.

But, all in all, it was a success! I covered my costs (barely) and had a great time! Braeden was super supportive (surprising no one) and I couldn't have done it without him: I probably would have cried trying to get everything set and ready at least once, that's for sure. As it is I am dry-eyed and bushy tailed and excited to go out there and do it again!

dreams

Last night I went to bed at 9:30 pm. I've been trying to get to sleep early all week, and I usually feel like I'm tired enough around 9 or 10, but then Braeden and I lie in bed and talk for like 2 hours and then it's midnight. But last night I actually fell asleep! Sure I woke up every once and a while to Braeden elbowing me to move over so he wouldn't fall out of bed, but other than that it was a great night sleep! A great 12 hours of sleep, in fact. It was lovely. Plus, I had a really weird dream where I saw Ryan Gosling (you know, of Young Hercules fame) and he was bearing his testimony about how he wanted to get his life together and go on a mission in a giant stake center that I have never seen where the pulpit had a spotlight and he had a huge beard and fluffy hair and I only recognized him later when I saw him in the gift shop where I was working (yes, in the church) where he was friends with someone in a wheelchair who I was pushing around the store and almost into things and then when they left my friend in my dream leaned over and whispered in my ear, "If I was evil I would pull that person out of their chair and pretend to be them so I could be friends with Ryan Gosling."

To be clear, I am not some kind of giant Ryan Gosling fan: in my dream I was a little confused about why he was there, but I didn't go introduce myself to him or anything (although I will admit there was a lot of staring). I think he's been on my mind because of this amazing blog I've been following recently called Feminist Ryan Gosling. I highly recommend it.

PS My craft show is tomorrow! Exciting/nerve-wracking/motivating. If you're around the Sycamore Mall in Iowa City any time tomorrow between 10 am and 6 pm you should come check it out!

i voted

Today I voted. I also went to class, made some books, went to work, went to a study group on campus, wrote on a chalkboard, wrote an article for the SLIS webpage, and started to freak out about my craft booth this Saturday. How am I going to package my purchases? Is my branding cohesive? Will I have enough product? Will people even buy anything? These are the things that have been keeping me up. That is all.

practice

Braed and I did a practice pre-craft show set up today to get a handle on what I have, what I need, etc. We came up with an inventory and pricing list and made goals for additional things we want to get made this week for the show on Saturday. I am so lucky to have a husband as supportive and amazing as Braeden, and that's a fact. He took a task that had been niggling at the back of my mind ever since I said yes to this craft show invitation and brought it into the daylight to show me that it wasn't really a scary thing at all: he completes me.

Here are some photos of the tentative booth set-up. (Our dining room table is somewhere between 4.5-5 feet long, but the booth table will be 6 feet.)

The display as a whole...

A close-up of my new business cards!
You know, for my business.
Exciting.

I was really pleased with the idea to use these old Pepsi crates I already had to display various books.
I like the look of it and that the books fit so nicely inside!

This lil knit bowl that Braeden made will house the button earrings.
Behind the bowl is a cookie cooling rack I'm using to hang the dangle key earrings.
(You can't really see it in any of these pictures, but, trust me, it works!)

I was worried that I wouldn't have enough stuff but it looks like I'm going to have plenty. I feel good about the variety of merchandise and pricing we've got going on and hopefully the customers will like it, too! Pricing is what makes me the most nervous: I'm such a cheapskate and when I look at something and think, "Hey, I could make that" it makes me even less inclined to buy it from someone else. The catch when pricing my own stuff is, well, I actually did make it myself, therefore I wouldn't buy it from someone like me: it's a weird spot to be in. However, I think between Braeden and I we've been able to come up with some fair pricing. Cross your fingers!

i will be here.

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