What's Up Wednesdays :: In Preparation

I haven't posted in a while mainly because I was off to Nebraska for my brother's wedding.

Now that I'm back, I'm getting ready for another craft show.

This time, I have a two day show November 6-7th.

So I'm gearing up & getting stuff cut, sewn & labeled so I have enough inventory. I'm also presenting a new item at the show, so I want to have a few samples for sale.

I'm also spending money! I recently got more business cards and I'm gonna purchase a bigger & better bag display for this show. I had a decent display last time, but since I mainly make bags I figured I better put my best foot forward.

I will be very busy for a while, but I will try to post more often... now that I'm home & in the craft room.

P.S., I'm still waiting to hear back from The Big Crafty... I know some have already received their acceptance... I'm sure I will be waiting up until the last moment. Sigh...

What's Up Wednesdays :: The Takeover

Recently I rearranged my room. The last time, I was just in one corner and I expanded to half the room. This time I concurred the entire room!

And I had to... the half of the room I was using became messier as m. ranae got busier.

I added another table to lay things out. The two tables were centered in the room and I spaced everything else around them.



I added two shelves I bought from Ikea (I HEART IKEA!). I used these to sort my fabrics... I finally have enough of a fabric stash to sort them by color.



I also scored some great deals at Goodwill, Dollar Tree and Dollar General for bins, drawers & baskets.



I keep all "office" related stuff on one side of the room and supplies & such on the other side.

I am still having trouble finding where I put everything, but it's so much roomier and I'm able to spread out and work more efficiently.

So now that I've taken over most of the east wing of my house, I need to start planning how I'm gonna take over the world (one handmade bag at a time).

Cough, sniffle, cough...

I am home sick from my 9-5. This is good and bad in so many ways.

I am actually sick enough to not work, whether it's at my 9-5 or at my sewing machine. Trust me I tried last night, even though I wanted to sew it became tedious and painful after a few minutes.

But my brain is moving! I received a general, mass letter from the Big Crafty peeps about the show. To summarize, it said if you were for sure not accepted you would know by now, if you still don't know then they are waiting for all the applications to come in before making the final decision. So I'm either on the "maybe" list or my rejection got lost in the e-mail. I choose to believe I'm on the "maybe" list. Woot!

So my brain is going over the show, if I get in.

How is my table gonna be set up...
Do I have enough stuff...
What stuff should I make...
Do I have enough things to help make my table look awesome...
Can I afford my current list of needed supplies...
Can I do this...

So even if I can't slave over the machine, I am still plotting my possible show and how I want it to go down.

And BTW, according to my general, mass letter from the Big Crafty... I should know if I got in or not by this coming Tuesday, October 27th. Gulp.

Please, oh! please love me!

So I've been busy lately; creating.

I've come up with three new designs. One of which I finished last night, but I am still unsure of it. More on that later.

But I've been creating in hopes of building an inventory I can be proud of. I'd like to branch out into the world of craft shows. And honestly, I'm nervous. And I'm sure that it's mainly insecurity.
Am I good enough?
Will they love?
Please, oh! please love me.
It's nonsense and I know it. People can either take it or leave it. I've seen crafts that I would never, ever purchase. But someone, somewhere thinks it's awesome and will buy five of 'em. So I shouldn't be nervous, but I am.

So I've been creating. And I'm brainstorming things like only having certain items at my shows and only certain items online. I'm hoping this is incentive to look at both & purchase from both. Plus I'm brainstorming & hoping for a nice holiday season.
But mainly, while brainstorming, I'm creating.

This includes an item I finished yesterday. It's suppose to be a "derby bag." Like a little satchel or bowling bag. Anyhow... I built the pattern and overall the pieces went together perfectly. But I'm unsure about it and the structure of it. I wish I had a mentor or something, but really I just mentor myself. Nonethelss, it's an interesting design and maybe I just need to work on it... make more... see what happens.

In conclusion, I am hoping to be in a show soon. I'm not sure what the definition of soon is, but soon would be nice. I'm gonna keep an eye out for upcoming stuff... usually that's all it takes to get me motivated.
Until next time...

The Big Crafty :: Phase One & Two

This is a pre-post to The Big Crafty.
I'm going today to check it out and see if it's my cup of tea.
And if I feel okay I will try out for the next one.
The fee is $65 and you have to be juried to get in. That's the part that scares me. Everything is great until someone starts picking apart what's good & bad about your product. Bleh...
So... we'll see.
I'll post later (after I get home) about my thoughts & feelings.

OKAY... it's later.
We went and it was damn hot. Miserable, to say the least.
But we did a quick run through, mainly because it was so hot.
It looked awesome! I only saw one vendor who was selling bags. And another was selling zippered pouches. So I might have a market.
The show is juried & that freaks me out. So I think I'm gonna build my skills & inventory and prepare for next year.
That's it for now.
Oh! Wait... did I mention how damn hot it was?

What I'm doing...

So I have been working on my to-do list most of today. I started it last week and it seemed to, at the very least, leave me feeling like I have a little more exposure.
And today's to-do went just as well.
I am gonna finish up my owl bag today so I have something to add to Etsy next weekend. I may even start on some new projects.
That's about it.
I haven't been going out during the weekends anymore because I'm really trying to get stuff up & running with m. ranae designs... so hopefully my friends forgive me and it all pays off!

My birthday loot!

Well, happy birthday to me! I'm pushing 30... but still young!
My family knows me well and they often get me crafty stuff for my birthday... this year I received some cash (cha-ching) and a gift card to a craft store (also cha-ching!).
So at the fabric store I bought the above: some purple suede, red denim, strippy cotton, blue linen & purple polyesther... I'm very excited about what they might become.

At the craft store I bought a corner embosser, some paper, lots of metal charms & chain, some more fabric and some stickers.
I've got big plans for the paper and I decided to use the charms as zipper pulls.
I just love birthday loot!! Thanks mom & grandma for supporting my crafty/fabric habits!

This is a Good Sign, I Think...

So I have been "officially" creating stuff to sell since October.

Now I've been sewing for so many years, but it wasn't until October, that I realized that I might be able to create something to sell. You know, something that someone would actually buy.

So after this epiphany, I started making stuff.
And the stuff has grown to abundance.

I'm now at the need to sell it or else.

Why? Because the cute little tomato box I have been keeping my creations in is now overflowing. It's actually quite funny, because of all places to store my stuff, I have chosen a tomato box. I initially chose it because it was sturdy and it had handles cut into the cardboard.

But now, I don't know what I'm gonna do. It can't hold another item. And I don't have another tomato box.

I guess I could go to Target and get one of those tub things... with the lid and all.

It doesn't have the character of the tomato box, but it'd be bigger. And I could get a couple and stack them.

It sounds so dull, though.

I'm sad for my tomato box.

Four Days!

Okay... as soon as I get done blogging, I'm gonna work.

I swear!

And I am excited about this because I have four days to produce & work on stuff because of the XMas holiday. I'm off  from my "day job" today, tomorrow and my usual Saturday & Sunday.

Plus, my husband (who is sometimes a lovely distraction from my crafts) has to work today and tomorrow. So my #1 distraction is at work.

Now I know that Saturday & Sunday is gonna be tough because "the distraction" will be here, but I think I can work through the madness.

Now... the goals of these four days is to get at least three items from each of my website's categories to sell on Etsy next week! 

Woo hoo! That's right, I want to be up and running by next weekend! Yay!

This also means, that part of my work in the next four days is creating an inventory with prices. I feel it is important to stay organized during this process, especially if I want to be successful.

Oh! I do want to be successful!!

So, I'm gonna quit blogging now and go get to it. Woo, I'm pumped! Woo!