Wednesday, May 21, 2008

And so it begins: adding inventory

My last craft fair is in late June, and I have a TON of inventory left over from the past 2. So, rather than save all the old stuff, I'm going to add a lot of it to my new etsy shop and Omglia.com. I was up all last night taking pics of my necklaces with my new camera (which, sadly, isn't as amazing as I expected. Or maybe I'm just a terrible photographer. Could go either way.) I've added 3 to my etsy shop and more are coming!

Keep checking back!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Craft Fair #2

Got back a few hours ago from my second craft fair! All in all, I had a great time. I shared a booth with Kayraffla from Etsy and her mom. She's super cool, my age and going to my university next year, and her stuff is AMAZING. We had totally different items (she's a metalsmith) but they were both really funky and unique, so it worked. Our booth looked kickass. However, she ended up making loads more money (she sold a $47 pendant necklace - damn! I need some of that!) and I only sold 4 pairs of earrings and a keychain (to Kayla, haha) totalling in about $6 profit :-/

HOWEVER, it was a lovely day outside, it was a really nice little craft fair and I got some great ideas for my next 2-day fair in a month. Kayla will be sharing the booth again and we're planning a raffle for a mixed bag of some of our earrings. I'm also going to make a ton of little $1 button bobby pins, because Kayla had some wire-wrapped seed bead ones that sold like hotcakes and I want in! My cheapest items are $3 and are popular on Etsy and have done OK at the fair, considering, but people apparently really go for that $1 thing. A bobby pin with a button glued onto it would probably cost me no more than .15 to make anyway, it would make a good loss leader. We also have our booth all planned out for next month (paralell tables with an entryway like a store, hanging stuff from the tent, etc) so it's gonna be awesome :D she's really cool and I'm glad to already have a crafty college friend for next year! Pics if I can figure out how to get them from my camera.

Now I need a nap!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Wallet Contest!

I'm trying something new. My Harry Potter Wallets are being discontinued because, apparently, people at Warner Bros have nothing to do but hunt down innocent crafters and yell at them (bitter? me? Never!). So, there will be no more copyright infringement. From now on I'll be making my own unique wallet designs, using my computer graphics-making skills and quotes and such. Which is where you come in! I need quotes! I've already got some ideas, but I'm planning on making a vast catologue of pop culture referencing wallets! My contest:

1. Submit a quote in this post from a movie, TV show, song lyric, book/series, poem, etc. Tell me where it's from in case the fact that I live under a rock prevents me from getting it.
2. Leave me your email address, or choose the box in the comments that says "send me email replies."
3. If I like your quote and make a wallet with it, I'll sell you a wallet for $10, which is the wholesale price (normally $15, which will probably be going up soon). I understand that not everyone will WANT a paper/tape wallet, though, which is why this is optional.
4. The best quote ever that I love gets a Free Wallet using their quote!
5. Submit as many as you want. GO!

Friday, May 9, 2008

SQUEE.

I'm "squeeing" right now, which is something I NEVER do (sooooo not a fangirl. Of anything except ... maybe LOTR.) But you know what? It is perfectly appropriate, because!
* I JUST finished my LAST exam. Which means I'm no longer a freshman in college! Which means I no longer have to attend this college! Which means no more super-hard long distance relationships and classes about things that make me feel bad for being white/rich!
* I decided to watch Dick in a Box again after reading a blog called Lunch in a Box because
* All summer I'm going to be making Bento lunches for myself! Which basically just means the Japanese word for Lunch, but a zillion times cuter than everyone else's lunches. I got myself an adorable Pink Polka Dotted Bento Box and a ton of awesome bento accessories to go with it. It's portion control, too, so I can lose the obnoxious Freshman 5-15lbs I gained when I was forced to eat College Food (my idea of dessert: strawberries. College's idea: carrot cake fried in oil.) and all of my little Jewish campers at Jewcamp will be totally jealous all summer long.
* I bought a new camera! Because you may have noticed, mine SUCKS. It's 3.2 MPX. Suck! But my new one is shiny and blue and 8.1 mpx! Soooo that means I can take lots of shiny new pictures of all the inventory from my last craft fair!
*Except not all of it, because my next craft fair is on May 20. I'll be sharing my booth with Kayraffla from Etsy! She goes to my college next year.
* I might get an apartment this summer! My dad said he found some sweet apartments for like $300 a month to rent over the summer ...4 minutes away from my boyfriends house! Sweeeet, dude, can anyone say STUDIO SPACE? I'm telling some of my friends who are home for the summer too. It'll be the coolest building ever if we all get apartments there.
Anyway, that's the update from my life. I'm moving but I swear there will be some AWESOME new camera updates next week. In the meantime, check out Omg! Lia? Dot Com cuz ya know, it's working, and stuff.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Craft Fair: The Aftermath


So, that's me ... making a funny face and looking weird at my booth! Just a thought, but the face might have been from the intense freezing cold that was permeating my poor bones (and it was only 8am!) The Chili Cookoff was a total success for chili cooks, but not so much for us crafters .... which was only like 5 people! Lesson learned: only sign up for shows that people interested in buying my stuff will be attending. At any rate, it was an experience. I sat with my sister and her fiance for about 12 hours in 40 degree windy weather (At least it didn't rain) while odd folks in cowboy hats and overalls walking around tasting chili (which was odd, considering I'm from KY and I was in CT, and I definetly didn't expect to see cowboy hats and overalls.) There were lots of little girls with cheap parents who wouldn't buy their kid my stuff (lame) but also some really nice folks including Jillian from Ms. Kitty Fantastico, leader of the CT street team who I met and who is wonderful! All in all, I came out just about even - the entry fee was $50, and I made $41 plus my sister and her fiance bought 3 things which I kind of don't count, hehe. Anyway, in the weeks leading up to my next craft fair (on the 20th!) I'll be posting pics of my DIY labels and signs and whatnot. In the meantime check out My Flickr Photostream for more pics of the fair and what I've been working on!