Consignment Attempts

Well, this weekend, like I said in my post on Saturday, I brought some of the Katelynjane bags to a local store. As soon as I had finished ironing them, attaching tags, and worked up the gutz to actually go, I drove down, took a deep breath and asked for the owner.

To make a long story short, she said that she normally doesn't take crafts that she tries to stick with vintage products and wholesale items from larger companies. Another point she made was that she has tried to sell bags before but they haven't moved fast at all. She said to let her think about it and to call her early this week...so we'll see what she says then, but I'm not too hopeful.

That's what I get for living in a small town (: There's one more store that I could try, but I'm not sure if I'd want to sell my bags there, so we'll see.

Drag drag drag. I was really hoping the first store was going to take some of my bags!

Oh well, next goal!

Thanks for all your best wishes for this attempt though! It was really encouraging!!

I'll write more later...after I have my coffee (: Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Etsy Fave

I haven't featured an Etsy store in a while and I found this great store yesterday. Somavenus has these funky journals or sketch books, covered with colorful collages and abstract art. I love it!!

One of my favorite things about this store is that they use their original photography to decorate the covers of the journals, not all of them, but some. And great prices! $30 bucks for a freaking cool journal. I think it's a great idea for a present for a teen, they're always so hard to buy for I find.

Etsy Attempts

It's been three days since my last entry...what have I become?!

Have you ever tried to get an Etsy Treasury? I have. I've never actually been successful, but I've tried! I just lately found out that it's easier to get a Treasury West treasury, so I'm attempting to grab one of those today.

I've been working on more gift tags this weekend. I'm going to try renewing four items a day in my Etsy store, I hope it will bring more sales and views into my store.

This past week and weekend I've been focusing on getting more hearts and views into my store. One of the ways I have been pursuing this is by participating in the Etsy Forums more often. I used to comment all the time in there, but have been slacking in that department lately. I'm pretty sure that this is what brought several more hearts into my collection within the last couple days.

Last night I had a dream that I had sold a bag. I checked my Etsy store this morning and it hadn't sold...drag! I was hoping it wasn't just a dream...

Invitations and Snow

I decided to use Tricia's engagement (the new sister-in-law-to-be) as an excuse to buy some new colorful paper, a stamp and ribbon, to design some wedding invitations. They're simple enough, nothing too fancy, and so much fun to make! I made some while I watched A Midsummer Night's Dream last night. Maybe we'll make one of these options for Tricia's wedding, maybe not, either way it doesn't matter, I just love working with paper!









It's snowing again. When will this winter end?!

Another Wedding!

My new sister-in-law-to-be has asked me to be in charge of her wedding decorations (Yay! Another one!) and I've been brainstorming for ideas. Her colors are Chocolate Brown and Voilet. I have yet to find out if this is a deep color or light so mostly I've been concentrating on the brown and coming up with original favor ideas. Here's what I've come up with for the favors:

Personalized Jones Bottles
Personalized M&M's


I know, I know, it's not that original. But I'm just getting started (:

Then for table centerpieces I'd like to go with the picture below as well as walnuts and t-lights. The table itself would be mostly browns and then I'd like the chair covers to be white or ivory with a violet bow.



We'll have ivory tooling from the ceiling to make a tent-like atmosphere, perhaps some violet colored Chinese lanterns here and there to bring in the color more.

More ideas to come!

I was looking through Style Me Pretty, an amazing blog with great wedding ideas (my husband has to keep reminding me that I'm already married) and found this link to a really cool stationary store.

I'm addicted to stationary. It's my dream to open up my own brick and mortar shop one day, filled with creative and unique paper, writing utensils, journals, etc. At one point I had even designed my own business card, drawn the floor plan and decided on a name. I just don't think that my little home town of cowboys would be able to support a fancy store like I have in mind. It might be worth looking into one day though.

In the meantime I'll stick to buying multiple journals and paper, just because I love the color.

I've posted another blog (it's weekly!) on FMB. Remember to leave a comment when you visit! I'd love to have your input!

Promotion and Store Exposure

Do you ever get into that mood where you want to write something profound? I get like that every now and then. Now is one of those times. But there's nothing amazing to write, not yet anyways. Maybe something will come to me in a bit.

Ok, while there's nothing profound to write about there IS something exciting!!

After I posted about the Poppytalk Market the other day, I mentioned it to my husband. The cost of it was a bit of an issue. In the long run, it's a great deal, but at the moment, it's a bit too much for us. I decided to wait for a few months to sign up for the market, to help our bank account out a bit.

We didn't have to coach ball hockey last night (spring break for the kids) so I was cruising on the net and noticed I had received a convo on Etsy. Christy, this amazing artist, had written me asking if I had booked my table for Popptalk yet. She went on to say that we could split the costs and book one together. Brilliant!!

So that's what we're doing. Half the money, double the exposure. I'm so excited!!

Organize!

I knew I'd find it!! Remember other other day, when I mentioned I had stumbled across this great site for classy office organization thingys? I found the site! Finally. I must have been blind. Anyways, here it is!! Be prepared to want to organize (and spend lots of money!).

I was reading in one of my daily blogs (Make It) that the author was being featured in the Poppy Talk Handmade Market. I was looking at it this morning (at work...shhhh! Don't tell!) and there's a lot of great artists from Etsy. Check it out. Here's a link with more information on how to get your own items on there, what the costs are and what it all entails. Looks like a good investment!

Has anyone else ever heard of Indie Parade? I hadn't until today. It's a super cool blog featuring...you guessed it!...indie artists. Some of the sellers are from Etsy, some not, and they're all worth checking out!

Remember to check out this link to submit your own items!

Summer Dresses

We have a wedding to go to this summer and I've been looking for clothes to splurge on for it.



Fifth Avenue South is a super cute Etsy store that I've stumbled across and I'm totally in love with this skirt!!



I do really like this one too by Maisy Brown. I have a cute little grey top that would look great under it...now to find some heels! And to chose between them!

I think that Blogger must be having some issues...all of a sudden my pictures on my entry about my favorite store wouldn't show up! Hopefully it will resolve soon and I can re-post that entry (:

Does anyone know where I can get funky blogger banners? I think I'll need something with code, not just an image. Do you know of someone who does work like this? Please let me know! I really want something to add some spark to my page!

I've decided I need to take a class, something creative; painting or sketching or design...something to work my creative side a bit more and to build up my strengths. It's hard to find classes like this in a small town, but hopefully the art gallery will have some good ones available.

As usual I've been brainstorming on thinks to create...things that I could sell and make a living with. Not all my ideas are going to help me make a living, but they will hopefully bring in more pocket change invest in my bigger ideas.

Big Things To Buy:

- Gocco Printer
- Heat Transfer thingy
- Items for silk-screening

Small Things To Buy:

- Wedding Decorating Books
- Floral Edging Punch
- Bone Folder
- Carpet pieces for bulletin board (sounds weird, but check out this link!)

I have so many ideas, so many things to do and try, it's hard to know where to start!

Brilliant Business Plan!

Today has been a rough day. I just don't want to be at work, I need to be handing out resumes and getting my next job rolling. Not even that, I just don't have my heart in my work anymore! But it was cheered up with the delivery of a raspberry yogurt thingy which totally made my day. One of the girls here at the office got it for me...so sweet!

I love raspberries! They make it feel as though summer is here. When I was little we used to gave raspberries and ice cream at my Nana's house in the summer, so I think it all stems from that. I planted raspberry bushes (ok, twigs!) in my garden last year so I hope they have a couple more berries on them this year!

Ok. Business Plan #1: There's a company here in town that individuals can present their business plans to and if they approve them, they will fund you for 54 weeks of pay while you get set up. They will also fund for business cards, rent of office space and start up supplies. One of the girls the other night suggested that I try doing this with my wedding planning stuff. I'm really considering trying it! If it doesn't work, well at least I spent 54 weeks giving myself a head-start, I can always get a job and keep trying the wedding planning on the side.

We'll see how it goes.



I love this pictures. It's by Irene Suchocki. You gotta check out the rest of her store too...it's amazing!

Treasures

I have a great-aunt that is obsessed with sending our family large boxes of household items, whether they are in good condition or not. At first they were boxes of old things she thought we would like; table cloths, ugly lamps, old books...just stuff that she wanted to get rid of. Now the boxes have graduated into collections of junk.

It's kinda sad actually. She can't really afford to send us these things and we keep telling her that (not only are we worried about her financial situation, but most of the things she sends aren't things we want) but she doesn't listen. She's even got to the point where she's going out and buying us bundles and bundles of face cloths and tea towels. Like I said, mom has told her several times that even though we love receiving the boxes, it just isn't necessary, she just doesn't listen.

While I was at my parents house yesterday I looked through a couple boxes and was able to snag a few treasures! The beginning of these boxes were actually quite cool, filled with some great stuff.





I seriously love the red and cream fabric and can't wait to make it into a pillow or even a bag! Some of the items I brought home need a bit of cleaning up. They have the odd rust colored stain on them, but I'm sure I can get them out or work around them. I can't wait to get started!

The Romantic In Me

This place is my dream. I'm such a romantic. The beauty of a place like this could keep me happy for hours upon hours. I seriously don't have words for how satisfied I would be to visit Tuscany or any other beauty destination like it. Sigh. We're saving for a trip ....hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later (:

I'd love to go to Greece to see the sites, I don't have a huge interest in the BIG sites, but I'd love to visit little towns and stay off the beaten track. My thoughts for our trip mostly have to do with photography. The hubby needs the history, and I'm totally up for that too.

I have family in England and have been there several times. The last time we went there we visited several castles and mansions in the area and were given the whole tour and background of the the properties. The history was AMAZZZZING!! Battles, kings visits...you name it! It was so incredible. I came back to my Socials teacher (I was still in school at the time) and was so mad at her for teaching us boring ol' Canadian history. Hopefully this next trip will be even more rewarding! I can't wait!

Etsy Furniture!

The hubby and I have been looking for new furniture for our living room. We're in the renovating mood and need to do some updating! I decided to look on Etsy for something super unique and funky...and look what I found! And CANADIAN too!! Lunar Lounge Design is a seriously awesome Etsy store based out of Winnipeg. The pictures I've posted are just the tip of the iceberg so go and check out the rest of the store!

I was cruisin' through Flickr, just minding my own business..well actually no, I was minding other peoples business because that's what you DO on Flickr...and I came across this great profile and set of pictures by Art4Friends. There was a link to their Etsy store so I clicked and checked that out too. The art in this shop is so amazing!! Everything is funky-modern. There's cards, there's mirrors, there's buttons...go look! You'll be impressed!






Oh, and I've also added another creature to my Etsy store (: Vincent is up for sale!

I need labels. I don't have any for my bags or toys (Yay! I'm a toy-maker-person!) yet, but I neeeeeed to get some. Here's some funky ones I came across in Etsy (where else?). The Dancing Needle has some great labels...custom made so you can get exactly what you're looking for!

The Creation of Beaumont

I made several new toys this weekend! Beaumont is my favorite so far. I don't know what it is about him that I like so much, but he's super cute (: He's up for sale in my Etsy store now! I'm working on another guy like him and he should be up by tomorrow (:

Beaumont has a zipper for a mouth and it opens into a pocket that is the size of his body (9" tall x 7.5" wide). His ears can be used as handles. His eyes are two buttons and he has a striped tail.