A little organization (finally!)

After the past few weeks of craft shows, school starting, and a hectic schedule in general, my craft area (and living room...) began to look pretty messy... It was getting to the point where I couldn't find much of anything when I needed it, and I was afraid to walk in my room in the dark for fear I would step on something sharp or breakable... SOOOO, I decided that it was due for a thorough cleaning. The cleaning itself took me about 3 days of on and off organizing, and a few trips to the store for some plastic containers, but I finally have it organized and acceptable.

Here's a few before and after pictures for you to enjoy...



< --- This is the disaster that I had before I started cleaning.











And here's my cupboards, nicely organized and clean:
It is SOOOO much easier to find things when they're organized!












And my clean desk!! I can't really guarantee that the whole area will stay clean like this for very long, but at least I know that it CAN be clean/organized :)

Making the most of the rain...

I was at SCMN Pridefest earlier today, with my little booth all set up and pretty, and customers searching through my baskets of buttons and pendants, when... rain comes. And wind. And some more rain. So after about 30-45 mins of sitting behind my booth watching customers walk by because everything of mine is covered in a sheet of plastic, I decided that Iwould probably be more productive if I came home. It seems I wasn't the only one that felt that way, as the lady next to me was packing up as well, and on my way out I saw several empty tables that had once been occupied.

Since I am home and have the remainder of the day completely off from anything else, I figured I would use the time to my advantage and get a few things accomplished. With that said, here is a little list of what I would like to do, both for you to look at, and for my benefit as well!

1) Clean out my craft show tote and dry off things that got wet.
2) Finish cleaning up my craft area (it's a disaster -- pictures to come later)
3) Make more buttons
4) Photograph 10-15 items
5) List 2-3 new things on Etsy.


I believe that is a sizeable enough task for one day. Perhaps I'll even find some time for a little nap and work on my current puzzle for a bit :)

Rock Bend, and some new items!

This past weekend was spent at the Rock Bend Folk Festival in nearby St. Peter Minnesota, sitting under my tent, braving a little bit of rain, and seeing the first reactions to some of my most recent creations.

For starters, I finally got the button maker I've been wanting for ages, and it has been a constant source of amusement for me! Since I got it, I think I've made over 100 buttons :)
I've also jumped on the bandwagon for scrabble tile pendants (cliche, but they're fun!). I'm also working on glass pendants as well, which I like the look of better. And coming next is some of those little glass marble magnets that seem to be common on etsy.


Here are some pictures of my little set up at Rock Bend. You can see some of the new pendants I've been working on, as well as my little basket of buttons. My table is a little empty and sad -- that is the result of my excellent procrastination skills....


I sold out of almost all of my buttons the first day, so I had to make more in preparation for the next day. I had to scramble to make more earrings as well, to fill in spaces on my table that had been emptied.It was a good show, and I made about $250 (which is really good for me, although it seems like a small amount to a lot of people who do craft shows) If I am in the country next year at this time, I will definitely be at this show again. The music was nice, and minus the booth next to me that was selling imported items from Thailand, I was happy with the atmosphere. People were extremely helpful when I needed assistance setting up my tent, and even more so when I was scrambling to take down my tent and load up my car when the rain started pouring... I also made a few good contacts, got info about some other good shows, and even got invited to a show the next weekend. If I wasn't already prepared for Pridefest this coming Saturday, I would have accepted the offer.

I will have to say that my craft area is in a sad state of affairs after all the intense/stressful/last minute crafting that I did in preparation for this weekend. That mess also spread out to the living room quite a bit... But more pictures and explanation of that will come later...

Until then, check out some of the new listings in my shop, and keep an eye out for more things to be listed all week (as I get the time and energy to photograph and list things...)

All moved in!

Well, Dave and I are all moved in to the new place! It was a long day last Friday when we moved, but thanks to some awesome friends and co-workers, we got everything moved in before Dave had to go to work, and on Saturday I even had help unpacking :) It's nice to be out of the college apartment scene -- the neighborhood is quiet, there's no loud parties, and a police officer lives across the street. There are three guys that live downstairs, but they don't seem like they'll be any trouble. We share a washer and dryer with them, in the basement, which is much nicer than the coin-operated ones I have been using for the past year.
We also have a lot more space -- I'm used to cramming all of my stuff in to a tiny bedroom, and now I have a full kitchen, living room, and bathroom to spread things out - not to mention a nice big closet in the living room that I've pretty much taken over (sorry Dave!). I have yet to fully unpack all of my craft stuff, but with 3 craft shows coming up in August and September, I need to build up my inventory again!

Oops...

Sorry, I haven't posted in a very long time again... I've been so busy with my class, internship, and job that I haven't had time to post much...

Anyway... I am moving on Friday (YES!), so my life is currently filled with packing, organizing, and trying to get rid of as much excess stuff as possible. Luckily I have freecycle for that! Freecycle is also helping me get some new things for my apartment that I will be needing. My crafting/Etsy stuff is currently on hiatus until I move, since my desk is covered in boxes right now. My big festival time is right around the corner, so I'm getting all of my applications turned in. I will be at Pridefest and Summerfest for sure this year, and hopefully Rock Bend Folk Festival as well. I will keep you all updated, so you can stop out and see me and all of my stuff in person!

Mankato Solstice

So, on a whim I decided last Friday that I would set up my booth at the Mankato Solstice festival on this past Sunday (which also happened to be father's day). I made a mad dash to add some more stock to my inventory so my table wouldn't be TOO empty, and I even threw some Bohemian Kitty stuff in there to see how that would go over. It ended up being a loooong day (the vendor portion of the event ran from 12-9, but I had to be set up by 11 or so). I had two tables, but once again no tent :( It wouldn't have been too much of a problem, but it was VERY sunny, and VERY warm on Sunday, and I ended up with quite a bit of a sunburn. The people were all rather friendly though, and I saw quite a few people that I knew. The booth next to mine ended up being someone I know from Anthropology, so it gave me someone to talk to, someone to watch my booth if I needed to go away, and of course, the much needed shade that I didn't get enough of... Overall sales were pretty good. Devil ducky earrings went well, of course, and I sold a few pieces that I've had sitting around for a while that I wasn't entirely sure would sell. I also sold a few matchbook notepads -- I brought them hoping they'd be a good low price point for people, and they seemed to work well for that.
All in all it was a successful event -- definitely a show I will consider doing next year. I'll admit that I didn't really know what to expect when I signed up, but between the vendors, the music, and the absolutely beautiful day, I had a great time :)

(sorry, I forgot my camera, so no pictures...)

Always starting, never finishing...

I've noticed more and more lately that I tend to START a lot of projects, I just end up getting distracted by one thing or another before I get a chance to finish it, then when I get free time again, I forget about the original thing and start something. I have so many half-finished craft projects, video games, articles.... I really need to start finishing all of those things. I bought a little cross-stitch kit at Hobby Lobby the other day, because I haven't cross-stitched in awhile. I started it a few days ago, and I've been working on it for a little bit every day. I'm almost, and I'm excited that I am actually going to COMPLETE something... I think maybe it is because the weather has been sort of rainy and gray here for the past few days. I find it easier to sit inside and work on projects if the weather isn't that great. When it's sunny and nice outside, I usually want to go to the park to play frisbee or go on a walk -- something to enjoy the fresh air, nice breeze, and warm summer weather.

All this talk of nice weather has me wishing I didn't have to go to work in an hour... Oh well, at least it's gray and gloomy again today.

Have a great day!