Yea, Bazaar Bizarre! (West Coast)

I woke up this morning to note from Bazaar Bizarre that Lucky Bee Press will be at their holiday show! We can't be more excited! It is still a few months out, but we are really excited to be going this year! Amy and I have been busy planning goodies for the shows we are doing, paper is ordered at both locations, and we can't wait to get printing.

On another note, good luck Amy at your show today!

Banner (Midwest)

A quick post here to show off my new 2 1/2' x 4' banner for my Renegade Chicago booth. I put grommets on it today and had it hanging on my screen porch for inspection. Hopefully, it will be easy to hang in the tent. Oh, and let's keep fingers crossed that the Windy City is sans wind for the Renegade weekend.

Peculiar Craft Fair (Midwest)

I am back in Wisconsin after spending a few days in the Bay Area with Laurie. We participated in our second joint craft fair - Renegade San Francisco.

You may recall my first ever craft fair. No? I blogged about it here. The highlight of that fair was the ever popular, and so affordable, lawn spinner. I've been trying to come up with the must have craft item from RSF and am coming up blank. Was it the Rebe coats? Maybe. Was it the stuffed organs and glands? Could be. Or, the scuba kitty t-shirts? Hmmmm...

The thing that I think stood out at the fair was the attendees. Oh, we saw your run of the mill pierced/tattooed people. And, the mandatory crafty artsy fartsy types. But, this fair had something extra special. There was just a little more flair. I'll give you a little taste and you decide...

First we have this dude. I think he is a super hero. Though, I'm not sure which one and I'm certain that crime fighting isn't his expertise. He kept yelling "RUTH! Want a rematch!?!" O...K...?



Here is a vendor who I will call I. Scream.



This guy was just too good. Can you hear me now?



Lastly these chicks kind of summed up the fair mood for me. Bright and fun.



So, here I sit back at my computer with fond memories of chatting with Laurie and Janice. It was a weekend to remember for many reasons!

Getting Organized (Midwest)

I completely blew off celebrating the Nation's birthday this year. Why? My little people and my husband went up North and I stayed home to finish up some work and letterpress details. I spent 8 hours in my office yesterday and today, so far, I'm at 7 hours. I designed, invoiced, printed, stuffed envelopes, babysat the neighbors cat, went for a run, photographed new products, reorganized my Etsy shop and cleaned my office! It feels so good to get organized. This week all I need to do is find a big box and ship my wares to California and then I'm all ready for Renegade.

Speaking of Renegade, I believe I now have 7 new products to display there. I have scads of new mini notepads:




And, I have other goodies fresh off the press already listed in my Etsy shop.

I can't wait to travel back to my old digs and hang with Laurie.

Craftacular (Midwest)

I must write this post quickly as I'm very distracted right now. I'm being lulled by the weather liars on tv. "Come. Come listen to the madness that is the winter weather about to befall you." Ok. They don't talk like that but man o man we are in for some serious weather tonight. Sleet. Snow. More snow. Then wind. Yikes and double yikes.



I had a wonderful day, Saturday, at the Craftacular. We were busy all day. I had a greater number of sales this year, but the total price per sale was lower. So, my sales totals were about the same as last year. One observation. More folks were using their credit cards than last year. I hope for all our sakes that the economy picks up by this time next year.


So, now I am down to small bits of remaining inventory. One koi fish pack, one poppy/twig set, etc. I'm debating whether to reprint or not. I'd like to design something new for the new year. And, there's Valentine's Day after that. Options. Options.

Ok. Off to stalk the weather channel.

Craftacular Preparations (Midwest)

The Craftacular is this Saturday (the 6th). Whoohoo! Preparations for this fair have been the easiest yet. There will be an 8' table and a chair waiting for me at the show. My show box is still packed from Renegade. Most of my inventory is ready. I just have a few new signs to create and then a list of things not to forget. Today I spooled up some candy cane striped baker's twine. The spools look so cute. If they don't sell I won't be disappointed. They will make great stocking stuffers. I'm also thinking I may have some time to create some sort of display on the table. Maybe a clothesline with cards? Or a Christmas tree decorated with gift tags? I dunno. *thinking* An 8' table is a lot of space to fill isn't it? *more thinking...*

Ok. I must go fetch Sam from preschool. It's snowy here so that means it takes twice as long to tote him anywhere. There are stray mittens to find, boots to put on then take off because the snowpants have to go first, snow to eat, mittens to get wet and then be exchanged for dry mittens, more snow to eat, etc. etc. Ok. Off I go.

To Market to Market (Midwest)

Yippee! The next Poppytalk Handmade Market is up today. Guess who has a booth?

Rain-e-gade (Midwest)

Laurie and I have successfully completed our first Renegade Craft Fair experience. I can sum up the fair with one word - wet. It rained almost 7 inches the first day, a record one day rainfall for Chicago, and another 2 or 3 inches the second day. Despite the rain, people still came out. And, when the rain stopped it got really busy. Sales were not bad considering the weather. A huge thank you to those of you who donned your rain gear and came out.



Sharing a booth with Boh Bon Soap Co. was definitely the way to go. Setting up a wet tent in a downpour was much easier with three people. And, we were able to take breaks as often as we wanted.




The time we spent before and after the fair was great, too. Our hotel was very cool and smelled great (seriously).


We bought two day El passes to get around. We ate yummy food at Penny's Noodle Shop, Milk and Honey and CBA. We shopped Wicker Park and Armitage (twice). Yesterday, when the rain was finished, we drove through the Loop and up Lakeshore Drive. I am in love with Chicago. It's a fantastic city.

So now I am home unpacking, drying my shoes, stowing the show tables, etc. It's nice to be here and think about what's next. I have a moving card to print and some wholesale inquiries to follow up on.

Finally, I'd like to thank those who posted about us and Renegade. We sure appreciate the blog mentions. Thanks, bohaute, Poppytalk, Roadside Scholar, Broadway Paper

Off to Chicago! (Midwest)

This week I have been packaging up card after card after card after card after card after card after card (you get the idea). It's time to road trip to the most amazing craft fair ever. It's time for Renegade!

Tomorrow morning after I drop the squirts at school I'm off to O'hare to fetch Laurie for our long weekend of craft fairing, knitting, eating, hoteling, shopping, etc. I don't think we have ever been on vacation together, just the two of us. I can't wait. Of course we will be busy with Renegade on Saturday and Sunday (come see us!), but there is much time to play beyond our fair obligations.

I'm excited to introduce Laurie to Chicago. I lived and worked in the Windy City several years ago and I still miss it. Whenever I'm there I get a rush. Sometimes, I fantasize about buying a loft in Wicker Park as a weekend home. I could set up my loft with fully stocked art studio complete with letterpress area. Sigh.

Back to reality, I need to tidy up a few things and then start packing. Fingers crossed that it doesn't rain as planned.

Say Cheese (Midwest)

Last Sunday Kate picked me up and we headed downtown to do a little photography shoot/walk. We sneaked into the Hilton and headed up to the top of the building. From there we discovered that the top floor party room was left unlocked and unattended! We had to enter. The room had a bar, a bookshelf with arty vases and vintage books, and an amazing view looking down onto Monona Terrace and the lake. My first thought was to mix myself a drink, but then I remembered the task at hand which was learning to take pictures.



I'm still in the initial stages of mastering my camera, so I mainly just try to take a picture that isn't blurry. I do consider the composition as I line things up, but it's pretty much an unplanned let's see what happens approach. Kate talked about where to stand to catch interesting light, and about background color and scenery. It was very interesting. Lots to consider as I continue practicing.

After we exhausted our Hilton photo opportunities we strolled outside and shot flowers. The evening sun was low in the sky and seemed to get tangled in the petals and grasses. Very pretty.



The evening was perfect for strolling, chatting and taking pictures. It was such a nice little outing. I'm glad to have a friend who shares her creativity and skills with me.

Finally, I'd like to send a thanks out to Diana of Pravina studio. Diana creates simple and modern bags and accessories. She also maintains the blog, Heartland, which highlights her discoveries in the Midwest. I met her this summer at the Craftacular and she sent me a note several days later asking if I wouldn't mind being featured on her blog. Hello!?!?? Of course I wouldn't mind. Here is the post. Thanks again Diana. I'll see you at Renegade!

Craft Fair (Midwest)

I had a nice day at the Craftacular yesterday. The attendance wasn't as intense as the Holiday fair last December. But, I ended up with fairly decent sales. I'm reviewing the photos this morning and I think my booth looked way over crowded. I had to slim down to a 4x4 booth and probably should have eliminated some inventory from the display. I had only one snag during the day and that was the result of a small child sucking a lollipop and fingering my cards. We worked it out. Say no more.

This time I kept a tally sheet, a half hazard record of sales, so I could track inventory. My best selling card was the red flowers on pool. This was satisfying since that's my favorite color combination. Other cards that faired (pun!) well were the donuts, scribble bird, pig "hello" and koi cards. I did not sell many soap sets. I probably over priced them. So, now I have to figure out how to move those. I might post a set on Etsy.

Here are some more photos from the day. Remember the venue was inside a bar, so the scene was dark. There was great music and people were walking around with bloody mary's and beer. Nice.



I want one of these skirts!

Soap (Midwest)

Tomorrow is my final day to scramble to get ready for the Craftacular. I must remember to go to the bank and get lots of ones and fives, and then pack up my inventory, supplies, tables, displays and finally load the card.

Here's a peek at the soap/card/tag gift sets I'm going to have for sale at my table. Thanks Chrissy for helping me out with a sweet deal on some super smelling soaps! I'm liking the sweet orange and honey today, but yesterday I was into the lavender and geranium. I have a whole stash horded for my personal use.

Ok. Quick post. I must get back to packaging up hang tag sets. I'm lucky to have an eight year old at home who enjoys being my helper. She's good at stuffing bags and has the perfect sized finger for tying ribbons.

Mother's Day (Midwest)

It's a quiet day here. Joey took the kids swimming while I finished up some major filing, invoicing, printing, and posting on Etsy. It feels so good to clear off my desk.

Laurie and I are gearing up for the next market on Poppytalk, so I spent a good part of the morning photographing all the cards and tags that I printed Friday and Saturday. I even spent some time designing a new sleeve for our card sets. I had some kraft paper on hand which worked well with the cards I printed.

The color palette I'm working with was inspired by, of all things, Candice Olson from Divine Design, and her river rock wall mural. I printed a taupe with a slight metallic shimmer to it, on crisp white. Also a milky chocolate color on pool, and kraft. So soothing. Oh how I love my new ink tubes.



As you can see, I'm slowly migrating away from my favorite, repeated too often, color theme of pool and red. Notice I can't let go of the pool yet.

Have a good week folks.

Announcement! (Midwest & West Coast)

Introducing Lucky Bee Press!

Laurie and I are finally finding another way to work together. Yippee! We have opened up a joint Etsy shop. We plan to brainstorm, design, discuss, chat, gossip, get sidetracked, focus, chat, design some more, etc. and come up with some paper goody designs. We will print at our respective home offices. Hopefully, having two people producing will enable us to be very active on our Etsy shop. Also, this will be a great excuse to get together more often. I foresee a craft fair adventure in our future.



Here is a look at something I printed last week specifically for Lucky Bee Press. I ran a flower silhouette in red ink on several different paper mediums. I love, love how the hang tags turned out. I have posted them here.

Finally, I wanted to mention to those of you within driving distance to Minneapolis/St. Paul the American Craft Show is coming up April 18 - 20. Folks, this looks like a good one. 200+ vendors! There will be some great demos and raffles, but also there will be a focus on Greencraft. If you want more info go to www.craftcouncil.org/stpaul.