Copabananas

Lightning and Lightning Bugs

I took 3 days off from my full-time job as a massage therapist to go camping with Adam at High Point, in the Skylands of NJ. We love camping and I was really looking forward to getting away even though I have 2 different craft shows this weekend and I need to pack my apartment to move in 2 weeks, oh, and I'm closing my store at the end of this month. Getting away seemed like a reaaallllly good idea. Escape it all for a few days...get my nature on. Well, we got a little too much nature. In the form of an unbelievable thunderstorm that ended up passing through Yonkers, NY as "nearly a tornado".

There had been a brief thunderstorm shortly after we arrived at our campsite. We took cover in the Jeep and when it ended we decided to take a drive up to the Veterans Monument before dealing with the soggy tent we had put up right before the rain. We watched the storm traveling east and basked in the warm breeze and sunshine at the base of the monument for more than an hour. That's where most of these pictures were taken. We returned and hung out the tent fly and sheets to dry.

After we ate dinner we took a nice walk around Sawmill Lake. We were sitting in the campsite deciding our next move when the lightning began. It was cool to watch lightning bugs and lightning at the same time but counting the time between lightning and thunder was ominous. We listened as the storm seemed to move farther away and closer at the same time. It was a big storm. Just as the rain began I ran to the tent to grab the pillows and made it to the Jeep just as the skies opened. The storm was intense, and just when you thought it couldn't rain any harder, it did. We wondered about our neighbors across the road. Their lively camp had quickly darkened and only headlamp movement appeared occasionally during the storm. We both took out our cameras and shot pics of each other taking cover in the Jeep. The storm finally ended and eventually we fell asleep.

This morning we decided that despite the early morning sunshine, the forecast was too sketchy and the tent was too flooded to be comfortable enough for another night in the Jeep and we headed home. Though I regretted it the minute I stepped into my apartment, I'm now happy we came back. I worked on new products for the shows this weekend, made a few sales at the store, and pulled my display together for the show Saturday which offers very little space to exhibit. I guess just 24 hours away was enough to inspire me to carry on!

   

Busy Busy

copabananas-Handmade Haven's Artisan of the Day from 1000 Markets

New Product

This week I've been working on using some of the denim jeans I have stockpiled. I experimented making lunch bags with them and finally have one I love. It has a tea towel for the lining and I added  handles, something people have been asking for!

 

Handmade @ Om Baby - Summer Edition!

Promotion is in full swing for our Summer Edition of Handmade @ Om Baby in Point Pleasant on July 11th! Barbara from Capital City Crafts has started a great blog series featuring participating artisans and I'm in the first post! Check it out here, thanks Barbara!

 

Closing Soon

The Village Market- A Spotlight

EcoFair in Montclair

So apparently it's just tradition- it rains for EcoFair. Even changing the date from May to June won't help, it's going to rain! It did stop for a few hours, though, and started again promptly before tear down. No bother, people appeared from everywhere during the break in rain and were enthusiastic and friendly.

The new edition of repurposed books with brown bag covers sold well and that was encouraging. I also did a last minute batch of fused plastic lunch bags because they always sell well and I was glad I did. People are fascinated that I make everything and always want to know how I fuse the plastic!

The show has great potential, if only the weather would cooperate! It's not just crafts, the local hawk watch and botanical groups were represented. "Eddie the Egret" even made an appearance in the pond! Live music by local adult and teenage bands topped of the day! Hopefully next year I won't need my plastic bag raincoat!

   

 

EcoFair in Montclair

Ready For Monday

Brick and Mortar Shop Closing (Again)

When I reopened my store in Upper Montclair I acknowledged that it would be like starting over from scratch and decided that I would give it 2 years before I hoped to see profits and success. Unfortunately I've never had profitable business in this location and I feel this shop is far from successful. While I love it and enjoy my time here, my old customers have not fully embraced the changes I've made and finding new customers to replace them has proven challenging. I am unwilling to take any more risks in this space and although I feel the space has potential for classes and workshops I need to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the option to renew my lease coming up in July. I have so much on my plate now, I've had to go to work full-time as a massage therapist because the store doesn't support me. I hope to expand my crafts business by looking for more wholesale customers, and continue to do craft shows, farmers markets, and run my internet shops. Having the store is just the weak link in the chain right now.

So, starting Monday, June 1st, I will have a closing sale with all merchandise 40% off to start, not including my handmade items as I will still be making and selling those items at shows and online. I will close at the end of July. Fixtures will also be available for sale, including the slatwall, shelving, and hooks.

I am not sad to be closing (again), I only regret that I was unable to find the right formula to make it through these awful economic times and emerge on the other side as I hope others will be able to do.

New Product-Perpetual Calendar

I've wanted to make a perpetual calendar for a long time. Originally I thought it would be embroidered, I remember my grandmother's embroidered perpetual calendar featuring different types of flowers. Then I thought about making a printed one using old cd jewel cases. Those ideas never went anywhere. Then the other day I mentioned worrying that I might forget where I'm supposed to be on a certain day. Adam casually replied that we should make a color coded calendar so I would know where to be, and it could be magnetic, and stuck to a cookie sheet. Who thinks like that? Well, the light bulb went on over my head! I could make collage magnets like I've done in the past but add a number, day, or month to each one and display it on a cookie sheet. And why not make it a baking theme to go along with the cookie sheet. That was the process that led to my new product, the Collage Magnet Perpetual Calendar. Luckily I had enough magnets leftover from the original collage magnet run to make 2 different calendars. Along with the baking theme I made a vintage sewing pattern themed calendar as well. Someone recently gave me a banana box filled with sewing patterns from the 50's and I hadn't done anything with them yet so this was the perfect opportunity to go through them. That one will be displayed on an ironing board for the product shots. They would be excellent displayed on a refrigerator, of course. The baking theme calendar is listed on Etsy and I'll shoot the sewing pattern calendar this week and list it on 1000Markets. Pics of that one in progress can be seen here.

Glen Ridge Arts Festival 2009

I was lucky enough to be accepted to participate in the 31st Annual Glen Ridge Arts Festival yesterday. I was in it last year and had a very successful show, so I was looking forward to doing it again. It's always held on the Saturday before Mother's Day and has an excellent turnout since it's a very popular event in the community.

Due to the fact that I waited until the last minute to mail in my application, I only found out Friday morning that I was participating. Last week I started working full-time as a massage therapist so I was counting on my auto-pilot to turn on and sustain me through the routine. It did, and with the help of my 11 year old daughter as my assistant, and a large dose of serendipity, we had a very successful show. Friday night, after an 8 hour shift at my massage therapy job, I loaded my car so we would be ready to go the next day. Saturday morning we made the short drive halfway across town to the event and, with an eye on the sky, set up our space, met our neighbors, and prepared for the day. I sold out of sock monkeys, almost all of my fused plastic lunch bags, and sold a little bit of everything else. It never did rain and I was very pleased overall with the whole day.

One of the best things about doing local craft events is that I'm able to promote my brick and mortar shop. I can tell people who don't know about my new(ish) location and the fact that all my handmade items are available there as well. I've had my shop for 10 years but only introduced my handmade goods there in the last 2 years. People know me for rubber chickens, but it's fun to inform them that they can also find the coolest sock monkeys around at Copabananas. And the fact that they're Montclair Made has great appeal!

See more pics here.

Glen Ridge Arts Festival Today

I took out the canopy for the first time this year because I'm heading down to Ridgewood Avenue for the Glen Ridge Art Festival today. It's always the Saturday before Mother's Day and I participated last year as well. This picture is from last year. I'm interested to see how last year compares to today. Hope to see you there!

Shop Update

The shop is looking spiffy since we had some visitors on Tuesday from the NJ Tourism website. I was contacted by them to do an interview in the store for a video about shopping in NJ for the new NJ Tourism website set to launch at the end of May. The video will cover outlets, malls, and boutique shopping and will be about 3 minutes long. The interview was really fun and I'm excited to see the finished product!

 

Cinco de Mayo Finds

My Alter Ego

I changed up my banners to reflect my alter ego, Montclair Made. I used the Montclair logo I made last year. I changed the Etsy shop, 1000Markets shop, and the Big Cartel Shop. Change is good.

I Have An Angel

One day recently, out of the blue, I received an email from a fellow Etsyian, Chakra Pennywhistle. She had seen my Etsy listing for the zipper pouches I made from a Massachusetts tea towel and repurposed denim jeans. She makes Custom Circle the Date Patches using the calendar part of vintage tea towels. She asked me if I would like to have some of the cut towels she has leftover from making the patches. Wow! She was so generous and sent me an overstuffed box of wonderful patterns and designs. I started right in on making zipper pouches with the beautiful vintage tea towels. I can't thank her enough, she's an angel for offering them to me.

 

 

Earth Day Celebration

Yesterday at the Essex County Environmental Center the weather was picture perfect and the turnout was great. My plarn totes got a lot of attention and 2 sock bunnies found new homes. My sales were mostly to old customers and other craftspeople and I appreciate their support. It was really nice to be outside on such a perfect day and Abby had fun in the afternoon exploring with Jen's daughter (Jen from GoLightly). All the pictures are here.

 

Earth Day Celebration at Essex County Environmental Center This Saturday

This Saturday I'll be back at the Essex County Environmental Center for their Earth Day Celebration. I'll be in the Green Vendor Tent selling my repurposed handmade goods. The weather is supposed to be great and I'm looking forward to a fun day! Here's their writeup about the event. Hope to see you there!

Join the Essex County Environmental Center and partner agencies for a celebration of Planet Earth. Enjoy the Green Vendor Tent, canoeing, hikes, beekeeping demonstrations, and more! Plus, learn about natural resource and energy conservation and stewardship opportunities. Sponsored by PSE&G. Time - 11am to 4pm Location - Essex County Environmental Center, 621 Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland Fee - Free For more information - Please call 973.228.8776