Copabananas

Handmade @ Om Baby!

Getting ready for a busy November and December. Today I started working on hats. I got a fantastic pattern for a 4 point dart hat from mchat.etsy.com in Australia and it's just perfect for my style of sewing: forgiving! Here's Abby modeling the first couple I made today. She made sure to grab a gray one for herself!
Handmade @ Om Baby is coming together and it's going to be fun! Abby is coming with me. It's coming up soon! Next week the insanity goes into high gear!

Mother Nature Decides

When I apply to outdoor shows I realize the weather is a factor in the success of the show. Yesterday the weather hardly cooperated. I went down to Medford with the best intentions but that's not enough against strong gusty winds. I'll take rain, snow, most any kind of weather, but I've never liked the wind because of the havoc it creates at craft shows. I've felt this way since doing shows back in the 90's. Yesterday I would have been fine if it had just rained but the wind was terrible and everyone's canopies were lifting off the ground in the gusts despite the extra cinder blocks the staff provided us. Finally by 1:00 I felt it was just an unsafe situation and started packing up. I wasn't the only one because by the time we left half of the outside vendors had already left. Everyone inside the big top tent had no idea what was going on outside. This was my last outdoor show of the year so I'm just drying out my canopy and packing it away until next year. The rest of my shows are indoors so it's back to work and focusing on the future, as always. Here's a few pictures. We were asked to dress for Halloween for the show and I made a little headband costume of the birds and the bees. Adam came with me and I was grateful for his help and good humor!

Handmade Faire This Saturday!

Getting psyched for the Handmade Faire in Medford, NJ on Saturday! The organizer, Abbie, made this for EtsyNJ members to hang in our booths!

Cheapest Real Estate

One thing I love about e-commerce is making sales in my sleep. Another is that it's the cheapest piece of real estate you'll ever own. With those ideas in mind I was excited when I came across a new internet marketplace for handmade products called 1000 Markets. Based in the San Juan Islands of Washington State, the concept is that the website is a group of markets based on a theme or region, building a sense of community within the site. The site is still in "sneak preview" mode but it's very easy to navigate and after a few hours of working on it and being approved by the admin, my shop is now live. I'm very excited to be part of this website from the ground floor up. I believe it's going to grow and become very popular. I'm still working on my shop but I'll be updating it often and I will also be adding items that I currently don't sell in my Etsy shop which will make it even more special. Check it out here.

Promos For Saturday

I made these cardboard packaging matchbook style notepads for giveaways at the Montclair Farmers Market this Saturday. They have 10 blank pages plus one page with my web addresses for promotion. I also made them for sale without the promo page. They're too much fun!

A Few Good Pens

We already had the XXL Pens from Kikkerland but today we got the Retro Pens in sets of 5 and they are so cool!

Return Engagement

The MEDC invited all the artists back to the Farmers Market and this Saturday the 18th is the day! The Montclair Farmers Market is located at the Walnut Train Station and runs from 8am to 2pm. Hope to see you there!

Handmade Faire

The Handmade Faire is fast approaching and I'm working hard to get ready. I made up some new white sock bunnies, lots of the new coasters, and I still want to fill in some other lines like the billfolds and gift tags.

Water Logged

This week we got in this super cool watering can from Fred.

Instant Gratification

I have been working hard on the coasters and got 2 sets listed in the Etsy shop today. I just found out they are featured on the b-line blog tonight. Talk about instant gratification! Thanks Amy!