Shopping Trip: Index-Card-A-Day 2012

My Index-Card-A-Day 2012 for June 11th, chronicles my shopping trip to the craft store with my beloved mom. 

I really just needed ONE white gel pen after mine went missing. So that was the plan when we went into the craft store. I employed the no cart or basket "if I can't carry it in my arms to the checkout then I don't need it" tactic. Otherwise I spend way too much on all the lovely goodies there. I was also hoping to find some embellishments for my travel journal - but not too many. 

I thought my index card for that day should be made with just the supplies I bought that day. I got some Tim Holtz tissue tape, alpha-cards and vial labels, Smash tape, K&Co borders (the tickets), and two white gel pens. The only things on here not purchased that day are the black paper, alpha stamps for the date, ink, and the adhesives used. 

The only white gel pen that's ever worked for me is the Sakura Gelly Roll. I know others swear by the Inkssentials and/or the Uni-ball Signo. Those just frustrate me by not laying down ink and have to be reworked more than I care for.  

The "M" card stands for my mom and the store name Michael's. I tried using most of the lime green part of the tape to tell the story that Mom wore a bright lime green shirt and - as always - matching bright lime green flip flops. That woman owns a pair of matching flip flops for every color shirt she owns, which is on the loooong list of things I love about my mom. 

Also, she actually said "I don't want to hear you lament the loss of your favorite white pen all week. Let's go get one."

She totally GETS me. <3

- Vickie

The Mayday Underground Experience

Looky at the happy people talking about Mayday Underground Crafts + Art! Yippee!!

See? Art creates joy. No one looks angry here, do they?

Right now the next Mayday Underground is scheduled for November 5th at The Main Street Armory. They will announce applications probably in June*. Head over to the website and sign up for the mailing list so you'll be notified when applications go up for the best indie show in Rochester, NY.

- Vickie

* Don't quote me on that.

Lilac Festival 2010

I spent a lovely Sunday at Rochester’s Lilac Festival at Highland Park. The weather was perfect – not too hot, not too cold. Due to the nice weather every single person living in the Rochester metro area was also in attendance at the Lilac Fest on Sunday, too. It was the most crowded I’ve ever seen Highland Park! This giant 10-day festival kicks off the local summer season of outdoor festivals and art and craft shows.

The aisles down the craft show rows were shoulder to shoulder with people. It was kind of hard to see all the great arts and crafts! Plus I dislike crowds so I was having a mini-panic attack. We attempted to make our way to the food tent. The path was just a river of moving bodies inching forward ever so slowly. When we got to the food tent there simply was not room to get inside. So we got out of there (much to my relief!) and went elsewhere for some garbage plates.

I was surprised to see how few local artists I recognized from doing shows here for the past two seasons. My friends Amanda Preske from Beadwork By Amanda, Jennifer Born from PS Enjoy Your Life, and Stefani Tadio from Pine Tree Designs were there with their arts and crafts. And that was it. Most of the business cards I picked up are artists from Pennsylvania, Arizona, or Buffalo. Very few locals. And I picked up a lot of business cards!

Stefani and I have formed a really cool friendship, email a lot, and sometimes do projects together. This was her first big outdoor show with the whole tent-setting-up business and leaving things out overnight. Her tent and set up looked great! And she did really well, too! I’m so happy for her! Plus now I get to pick her brain for when I finally get up the nerve to buy a tent and do outdoor shows.

Here are some pictures of her awesome booth:

Small notecards and adorable hand stitched paper pins

Hand stitched greeting cards and paper magnets

I love Stefani's Sticky Notes Holders!!

My plan for 2011 includes doing outdoor shows like this one. I have no idea how much inventory I would need. Maybe I better shut off the computer and Twitter and get crafting!

Craft Shows Galore

I’m sure you’ve been waiting with bated breath for the craft show update. So wait no more!

This year I signed up for three craft shows in the span of two weeks. Crazy, I know. But we pulled it off. The first was at St. John’s of Rochester, the second was a fundraiser for the Victor PTSA, and the third was at St. Rita’s School. It was our first time at all of these show so I didn’t really know what to expect. All three were very well attended. Overall, I am extremely pleased with how we did.

I was honestly surprised to have gotten in to the St. Rita’s show, as it’s one of the biggest, most well attended craft shows in town. As a jewelry vendor we sometimes don’t get spots because the jewelry spots get filled up early. Maybe it’s because my jewelry isn’t beaded whatnots… it’s different. We were also extremely lucky to have gotten a spot in the gym. Some vendors were in these tiny classrooms. They had three or four booths in these rooms and if there were more than five or six shoppers in the rooms you couldn’t walk around. So I think the traffic in the classrooms wasn’t as good as in the gym.

The location of our spot was excellent - in the middle of a short aisle near the back door where people were coming in. It’s always good to be near an entrance, I think. Spot location is a big factor in your sales totals! We had our best show total ever at this show – beat our last one by a whopping 33%!

My booth consists of domino pendants, Scrabble tile pendants, domino Christmas ornaments, and a few checker keychains. The feedback from customers and the just-looking folks was great. I lost count of how many times I heard the word “clever” about my work! Several shoppers also placed custom orders in addition to their purchases.

The craft show business is still new to me. This is only our second holiday season doing this. I still get all ecstatic that people like my work enough to part with their cash for it. My feet have not really touched the ground yet after the last show. Words cannot do justice to the feeling of gratitude I have for being an artist and all the good stuff it brings my way. People like my work and took it home with them and are giving it as gifts to people they care about. How cool is that?!

We have one more show this year unless I can squeak into something else. Our next show will be at the Irondequoit High School on Cooper Road on Saturday, November 28th from 10 AM to 4 PM. Hope to see you there!

Home Show Success

Altered Vintage Domino Pendants

Altered Vintage Checker Pendants

My twin sister, Valerie, had a home show party last night at her house. She invited me to bring my jewelry to sell. So I have been working my butt off getting more domino pendants ready for the show. And it was a good thing too because we did really well. Might have been our second best show total ever, mind you we’ve only done a handful of shows. The domino pendants and Scrabble tile pendants were big hits. I also sold three microscope slide glass collage pendants, which surprised me. Almost everyone who came bought something from me. Two people came back for more! A custom order might come from this as well.

The girl who was selling purses bought two domino pendants. She showed them to the shop owner she works for. The owner loved them and called me this morning to ask if I would like to sell in her shop! I meet with her tomorrow! Now I have to figure out how to transport these things without getting all the necklaces tangled up.

I sold so much that my Etsy shop looks empty. My mission is to get photographs taken so I can restock my shop. I have to make more domino pendants to do that because I’ll be dropping off about 10 to the shop. So keep your eyes open for new additions to inmyheadstudios.etsy.com.

You should check out what my sister is selling and give her some love!!

Buffalo Indie Market Review

We did it! We did our first craft show in Buffalo! And the drive was not so bad as I had the good company of my hunny and my dad!

The Buffalo Indie Market was held at the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, which is in a very old brick building in downtown Buffalo near the baseball stadium. I adore really old buildings. Over 40 craft show vendors were on hand. This show consisted of 100% handmade vendors, no resellers and no home party vendors. Live music was played throughout the day. Attendance was exceptional! I didn’t know what to expect this being our first time at this show. It was a much younger demographic than the craft shows in Rochester get. That made me happy as that is my target market.

The big sellers were the Scrabble tile pendants and altered domino ornaments. Maybe I should drop some other product lines and focus on making things that sell for $10 or less. The economy is affecting how people spend and I want to adapt to that to stay afloat until things get better.

All in all, I’m happy with how the show turned out and look forward to doing another one soon. This particular show is held on the second Sunday of each month so we will be going back again in 2009. I’ll keep you posted as to when!

First Etsy Sales!

I got my first sales yesterday on Etsy! I am so excited! Someone not far from where I live bought two pendants. Sales to someone who lives in my town somehow feel more special. They're my peeps!

The first pendant is called "Beautiful Flowers". The second pendant is called "Handle with Care". (click the photos to go to the Etsy pages and read the descriptions.)

Both are glass collage pendants, which means they are tiny original works of art sandwiched between two pieces of microscope slide glass that I cut down to 1" x 1" and soldered together. They are different on the backside. Two pendants in one!

That was a very nice surprise to find as I returned home from shopping on Black Friday. I posted those pendants within a few days of October 20th. They took about a month to sell. Could it have been my offer of free shipping that lured a buyer in?

I was actually beginning to get worried about my jewelry as people were looking and "heart"ing but not buying. Now my hope is restored! I was waiting for something to sell to justify the costs of listing more items. Four pendants are about 90% ready to go to market. They need to be sanded and polished. Then begins the photographing, which can be a pain to get right. But I have to replenish my store's stock. I'm starting to feel like a real business person! Yay!

By the way, I only went out on Black Friday to get good deals at the craft store, and my mom and I didn't bother to venture out until the mobs had gone home. I try to stock up while the prices on paper are low! I got some great deals! Plus my hunny bought me a sewing machine for my birthday and Christmas! It was marked down from $299 to $179. Couldn't pass that one up. Now I will be sewing paper together and making all sorts of new things. And shortening pants because I'm not even 5 feet tall. :)

Now I am off for a reconnaissance mission at two local craft shows to look at how artwork is displayed and priced. I'm a bit shopped out so no buying today unless I fall deeply in love with something. ♥

How to Tell if You Have Overdosed on Etsy

I had a terrible nightmare last night that my avatar on Etsy was a broken link and no one could get to my store! The horror! Maybe I should not dicker around online so much today and actually work.

Today's projects include finishing pendants, making chains for them, and writing a short biography for a very nice consignment offer I received via Etsy.

At the craft store today, I managed to spend under $20 even though I was in there for an hour, which is a rather big feat for me. I usually take hours wandering the aisles dreaming about what I could make with this or that if only I had an unlimited spending budget. But today was all business choosing chains and findings for jewelry. I would have ordered them from a great seller on Etsy but I'm in too big a hurry to get them finished. Most of what I bought was from the $1 clearance bins! Love great finds like that!

Tomorrow I have to run to Sears for soldering iron tips after work. I go through them too quickly. If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong with that, please enlighten me.