Finding Our Place

This year has been a year of trial and error with craft fairs. That is okay. At the first of the year, we decided that we would do a few shows throughout the Puget Sound area to find our niche. Although I think we have found more fairs that are not for us - it has been nice to find a few that are.

And the ones where we didn't fair as well - we at least made our money back... it was the time that we lost. Of course, this investment in time isn't a total loss either. We gain exposure in the community and a little extra education in what works and what doesn't. So, all in all, we have yet to have an unsuccessful showing.

Add to all that the company of my new EtsyRAIN friends... and these craft fairs have been a lot of fun. This weekend a group of sellers from EtsyRAIN showed at Showcase Tacoma. I had a lot of fun. The picture at the top is our 4 space booth prior to the opening of the show. I think we had a great looking space. Marlo from Tote2go & I Make Cute Stuff (pictured wearing my adult dinner armor bib) brought her fabulous totes - I love those things! Julie from Crackpot Mosaics and Common Object Jewelry brought her fabulous mosaics pieces - including some that were Magic 8 Balls! Trina from Woven Chains had her beautiful chainmaille jewelry - if you haven't already, you should check out her store. Jonah from Maluhia Designs had her handbags, wristlets, and more - she uses Japanese fabrics that make her items super cute and fun! Laurie from Loud Life brought her mixed media pieces - this was my first time meeting Laurie and it was a pleasure - her work is even more beautiful in person. Meghan from Baubles by Hand and It's Made At Home showed her one of a kind jewelry - she has been incorporating her mom's pottery pendants and the result is stunning. Add my things to the mix and we had a great variety!

I'm nearly done with summer shows. I have one more that I'll be doing with another group of EtsyRAIN sellers in September. That one will be a little closer to home - in Edmonds, and it will feature recycled items. I'm really looking forward to it! It's called Green Edmonds and if you are in the area on September 13th - you should come check us out!

Kasey and I are trying to figure out what shows we will participate in for the holiday season... so stay tuned!

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Working with kids

Many people have asked me how I do it. How I get so much sewing done during the day when I have two kids. It's tricky and it's hard for me to maintain a balance of time for them and time for me. But my key is to involve them in what I'm doing. Involving them helps them feel a part of my work, gives us additional time spent together and makes it easier on me (they are working with me rather than against me).

So, I thought I'd share a few of my secrets in the hopes that maybe they can help others.

Sorting - I use this a lot and it might be unique to my situation as I have TONS of different things that can be sorted from buttons to tshirt strips, sleeves to yo-yos, and fabric scraps to yarn. The kids love this because they get to touch and feel all the different textures and they get to work with the same materials I do. Not only that, but my daughter has learned matching and colors by doing this with my son. He's the best teacher ever!

Play - I allow them to play in my sewing area - with limits. I allow them to play with the sleeves of the tshirts I've cut. I keep them all in a bag and the kids love to just throw them up and let them land all other them. I let them play in the bin of unsorted buttons. They love the feel of running their fingers through the buttons (so do I!). And allowing this play in my work area also inspires me. My daughter wearing a sleeve on her head produced the Mohawk.

Involvement - Whenever I can, I allow the kids to help me. Sometimes it's having Robbie help me pin patterns to fabric. Sometimes it's my daughter sitting on my lap removing pins as I sew. Sometimes it's asking their opinion on what color combination they like best, or where they think things should be placed. They are involved in 50% of my projects and it gives them a sense of ownership over the things we sell... which later helps when I need their help modeling them.

Treasure Hunt - when all else fails and the top three things don't work - we do a treasure hunt. I list three items that are somewhere in the house and they go searching for them - so a dinosaur, something red and something that starts with the letter G (for my son only). I sew while they are searching. When they come back, we go over what they've found... then they race to put everything back. It's fun and I still get work done while they are running around the house.

It's not to say that these things always work. And it isn't to say that they haven't backfired every once in a while. My kids definitely feel comfortable in my work area. Currently, we have an ongoing mystery of the missing pin cushion. It seems that my daughter took it upon herself to hide it somewhere. I'm not proud - and I'm a bit worried about where all those pins are located... but at least she knows how to handle pins. A few hours before they went missing, she was scolding me for having the pins hanging out of my mouth when I was trying to adjust something. Perhaps she did what I do when they are using something incorrectly - I take them away.

You can bet that I'm using all these tricks this week while I'm preparing for Showcase Tacoma. I hope they can help others as well.

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Temporarily Closing Up Shop!

www.NueToMe.etsy.com

will be closed August 7th through September 4th!

So, I've made a decision that my NueToMe site will be closed from Thursday evening (August 7th) until we return from our vacation in September (around September 4th). There is still over a week and a half before we leave... and I could repost everything after the show this weekend... but why? I've been wanting to bulk up my inventory and make a few changes in the store and it seems like now is the time to do it.

This is only the NueToMe store. I haven't made any decisions yet on the other two stores. But I'm feeling good about having some time to get ready to leave (we'll be in California from the 15th through the 2nd of September), prepare for Robbie's birthday, make things without a ton of pressure and complete a few custom orders.

I'm really excited about some new designs I have been working on and would love to have the time to make accurate patterns (I often make them up as I go). I'm also in the process of adding two new sizes - size girl's 8 and size 12-18 months. I'm just waiting on confirmation they fit so I can make any adjustments before I start making them for the store.

Just a reminder - I'll be at the Tacoma Showcase this weekend with several of my new EtsyRAIN friends. I'm looking forward to it. We have even decided to stay nearby in a hotel so we aren't dragging the kids around at ridiculous hours... or if we are, at least we won't be in the car doing it!

I'll have my NueToMe line with me. I'll be bringing some crowns too, but I'm not sure there will be room for them on the display. We'll see how it goes!

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Late Again for Muffin Tin Monday

I promise, we did this one Monday, but I've been having trouble finding the time to sit down and blog. And I also didn't have time to do the theme - "Party". The kids did make this into a picnic in the backyard after they went swimming and Robbie declared it a pool party. So, there you go.

You'd think I'd at least have time to take a decent picture of my kids (I was going to upload the one I did take, but blogger keeps rotating it on me)... but alas, I didn't. I'm not sure why, but Blogger seems to think that my muffin tins need to be portrait rather than landscape. I think this is the second week it's done it to me.

Contents: pepperoni (becoming a staple in these as the kids LOVE it!), sea fish crackers, grapes, carrots, string cheese and honey roasted peanuts.

Lyssie ate the pepperoni and crackers and proceeded to shove the rest of it into the cracks in our deck. Robbie didn't have a crumb left!

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EtsyRAIN turns 1!

Who is EtsyRAIN? It's a group (street team in Etsy terms) of local Etsy artists that have joined together to help promote each other.

Today marks the group's 1 year birthday and it's been a very busy year! But what is most exciting is what is in store for this year!

But to thank Etsy for being so great - we sent them a reverse birthday present. You can check out pictures of all the goodies here. I am envious... the box contained some really great pieces. I contributed a crown and the dress I have pictured here.

Happy Birthday EtsyRAIN!

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