Thinking in Sets

This week I've been concentrating on getting my shops stocked (and open). I have a lot of inventory to list - but not a lot of time (or desire to photograph, edit and post). So I've decided to try posting more sets. In the World of Whimm shop the Super Hero Sets seem to do well. So I'm also going to try them in NueToMe.

I hope to have them listed tonight or tomorrow (provided the photos came out okay). I also have several Super Hero Sets for World of Whimm - just cape and mask sets this time.

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Mill Creek Festival 2010

This Monday finds me exhausted from a long weekend (and a previous week with an aggravated herniated disk), a little excited as I have two weeks ahead of me where I'll have a break from the kids (they will be visiting their grandparents in California) and a bit sad (it's the first time I'll be away from them).

But, I'm hoping that these couple weeks will help me get caught up on some things that just keep falling off the list of priorities and let me get a little, much needed, R&R.

So, here's the weekend recap. I love the Mill Creek Festival for many reasons. 1 - it's close to home, just a 5-10 minute drive across the freeway. 2 - it's run by some really nice people and they have always add a personal touch... coming by several times a day to make sure everything is okay, taking a picture of you in your booth (which they later send with a thank you) and even sending volunteers around to ask if you need water or anything. And they have a ton of teens available at the end to help you load up. And 3 - we often do very well.

This year wasn't our best year as far as sales... but it also wasn't horrible. There are several things that could have contributed. They moved the festival location this year - although, I don't think this was a factor in our lower sales as there still seemed to be plenty of foot traffic. We were located at the end of the street and there was really no other reason to bring people down our way. Most people turned about three booths from the end to see the Pet Plaza which is a popular feature every year. I believe this was a big reason for the decline in our sales.


But we still had a great time. We had our bag of Reese's Pieces to get us through each day (yum) and we had fun people watching (how cute is that little baby hanging out of that tiny little wagon - can you call that a wagon?).

This was our first double booth... and I loved it! I was able to take two shops and not feel like they were crowded. Thanks to Marlo (IMakeCuteStuff) for letting me borrow her canopy. I wasn't sure how the double booth would work out, so it was nice to not have to invest in another one. Each booth had plenty of room for browsing (people were able to get wheelchairs and strollers into the booth), we had lots of room to display all of our merchandise so that it could be seen and the two shops looked cohesive (in my opinion). It looked professional enough that many people asked if we had a brick and morter store.

NueToMe:

World of Whimm:

In the center of the two booths, we had an area (about 4 ft x 6 ft) for us to store our personal items, take a break and for the kids to hang out in. It was a nice area to have put aside as it also sheltered us from the wind. We had great weather, however, not only was our booth at the end of the street, it was also in the shade. I wore a jacket the entire weekend - and I believe the tempurature was in the mid 70's.

This is my daughter taking it into her own hands to get people into our booth. She decided to stand out in front of the booth and show off the super hero costume. So cute and so sweet.

Later this week, I'll share some of the new features of my display as there are many. Too much for one post (and I'm hungry for breakfast :)). All in all, a good weekend. And even though we had less sales, this festival has proven in the past to give us business several months following it. We handed out many cards and show schedule flyers (I was proactive enough to print up a schedule of the shows we have coming up).

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etsyRAIN Spring Craft Show

We have been organizing etsyRAIN's first craft show of the year and it's approaching quickly. Next weekend (the day before Mother's Day) we will be featuring 64 etsyRAIN artists at the Intiman Theater (same location as our holiday show). This time we have chosen to support LifeLong Aids Alliance, so we are asking for a suggested donation of $1 at the door or a non-perishable food item.

Today I have to figure out what inventory I'll be taking (I'll be showcasing both my World of Whimm shop and NueToMe). It's been a while since I've gone through the inventory, so I have a big project ahead of me... and I suspect that I'll be doing some sewing this weekend as well. I've been working on a new design for World of Whimm and I'm hoping to show it next weekend. I'll post pictures once it gets out of the prototype stage.

The kids and I will be solo this weekend as my husband travels. I'm hoping to have a crafty weekend, we'll see if I can pull it off!

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Works like a charm!

The weather here in Seattle is getting cooler... especially in the morning. These last two days Alyssa and I have been escorting Robbie to the bus (his daddy normally goes with him). So I insist on the kids wearing warmer clothes (cover the entire leg).

But Lyssie has other plans. She insisted on wearing her "blap blap" this morning. While I didn't convince her to cover her legs (note to self to make more of those leg warmers from socks) - I did convince her to put a shirt underneath. Yes, I know, it's a small victory.


But I was pleased to see that wearing a shirt underneath my dresses works great! I'll see if I can't convince her to put a long sleeve one underneath next time (I haven't pulled out our warmer clothes yet).

I'm still working on dresses with sleeves. But I love this style and I'm glad to know that it works layering it.

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Green Edmonds

This Saturday, I'll be participating in yet another festival - Green Edmonds! I'm a bit excited about this one as I get to take my NueToMe line of recycled clothing. I'll be doing this festival with a few other EtsyRAIN artists...


Marlo (Tote2Go!)
Ellie (HappyJack jewelry)
Tara (RevivalInk)
Julia (Entangles jewelry)
Dawn (ScaryWhiteGirl)
Kayce (NueToMe)

It should be a great time! I'll be doing most of this show without Kasey as he has other commitments with the kids. He'll be there to set up and tear down... other than that, I'll be on my own (with my fellow artists). I love Edmonds and I'm looking forward to a great show. If you are in the area - stop by!

I'll also be offering $1 off for t-shirt you bring me. Check here for more details!

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How Do You Like Them Apples!

One of the Creative Challenges for EtsyRAIN has "Apples" as the inspiration. I normally don't get a lot of time to participate in these challenges as I'm usually busy getting ready for a show, filling an order, taking care of the kids... well, you get the idea. Creative Challenges are a challenge for me to fit into my schedule.

But I love them and I love the idea of them. I love seeing how many people can take the same idea and all come up with something completely different in all types of mediums. Not only that, but it's a way for me to help my fellow artisans promote their Etsy shops.

Anyhow, while on "vacation" I had to make a dress for my daughter to wear at our family reunion. I didn't intentionally set out to make an apple dress - but that's what I got! And I LOVE it! I'm so glad that it's hers and we get to keep it. It even has a matching bib (watch for those to show up in the store).

I was on a roll, so I decided to also tackle another Creative Challenge - "Sci-Fi". I made a really cute Yoda dress - but I was playing around with putting in sleeves and I wasn't 100% happy with it. I'll be trying another one... but in the meantime, check out the fun apple dress! Oh, and my daughter loves her apple dress... just not as much as her Manny dress (she loves Ice Age and I made her a dress with the characters on it - it's cute)!

I'm still working on getting the stores up (okay, I'm working on motivating myself to get the stores back up). I hope by the weekend I'll be back in business!

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I just couldn't do it

I couldn't wait until the end of the week to start loading things into my new shop. I've been sewing and unpacking (from the show over the weekend), taking and cropping pictures. I just wanted to see them up and in the store!

I'm glad I did. I've received a positive reception already. I started posting mid day today and I already have 14 people that have hearted my shop. Yippee! So, check out the new shop... I'll be letting the recycled dresses and stuff lapse in my old store before I move them to the new store, so currently, you can get recycled items in both OnaWhimm and NueToMe.

It's reassuring and motivating to know that people are enjoying what I do. I also have new ideas circulating in my head for World of Whimm. I'm hoping to be able to start bringing some of those ideas to fruition by next week. And no, I haven't forgotten about my own Creative Challenge.

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NueToMe

In addition to making tons of recycled tshirt dresses, capes, bibs, smocks and such... I've also been working on giving my new line it's own identity. I'm calling it NueToMe - and I am going to separate them into their own store. What do you think?

I made price tags for my items this weekend and for the most part, I love how they came out. I used boxes from my pantry and cut them out freehand. I printed the logo on some of the throw away paper that accumulates around our printer. Of course, my printer is terrible and the color didn't print clearly - but it seemed silly to keep reprinting it to get it right when the point was to save paper. So, I used them anyhow. I like them.

I'll be printing new business cards soon too. They will have the NueToMe shop on one side and World of Whimm on the other.

My final problem to solve is the labels. I want to keep these items completely separate from World of Whimm... so I haven't been using the labels. I want to make labels for NueToMe but I also want the labels to be made from recycled materials. I think I'm going to be ordering a custom stamp and using fabric ink... but I've posted an Alchemy request to see if someone out there can make labels for me. I think the biggest hurdle is the recycled material. So far, the bids haven't used recycled materials. If you have any ideas... I'd love to hear them!

I'm still very excited about these tshirt items. I'm constantly designing new styles and new items. Right now I'm working on an apron... and it's super cute! I can't wait until I get it to the point where I'm happy with it so I can post one in my new store.

I hope to start posting items in my store toward the end of this week. The items I currently have in OnaWhimm will remain there for now. I have enough new items that I can start fresh with the new store. The only bummer about moving over to a new store is that I lose the feedback from the items I've already sold. I figure the sooner I move them over, the better... so I can start receiving feedback in the new store.

Exciting times!

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