What to Pack for Craft Shows

Tweet
I was over at Martha's place yesterday posting my essential packing list for craft shows.  Go visit the Sunday Afternoon Housewife blog to check it out!

Craft Show Recap: Handmade Promenade at Record Store Day

Tweet

 

Saturday was a cold and rainy day, that’s for sure, but there really was a great turnout for Record Store Day.  Martha does a great job picking out locations for her shows and this one was no exception.

 

 

The hubs was trying to be extra helpful Friday night and loaded up the car for me.  He specifically told me he had the tables and the tent packed already.  Once I had my car unloaded, I discovered I had no tent top and only one of three of my tables.  Lesson learned – double check your car, even if your husband is as wonderful as mine.

Also, even though I remembered my camera and my fancy flash, I forgot my memory card (again).  Sorry about the cell phone pictures.

 

 

After the kids and Kenny dropped off my missing stuff, I rushed to get everything out on the tables (and had a sale before I was even set up!).  You can see my new displays in these pictures, but since I was so rushed I didn’t get to try out the chalkboard paint signs, boo.

There was pretty much steady traffic all day, and I had Shan & Jarod and Misty to keep things entertaining between shoppers.  It did drizzle off and on all day but Martha rigged up a rain catcher between our tents and everything stayed nice and dry.

 

 

 

I really liked the DJs, too – the music was just the right volume and both guys played some great songs.  We were set up in a U-shape, circling-up-the-wagons style, and it was like we had our own little tent village next to Luna Music.  My only complaint was that a few shoppers felt like smoking in covered tents filled with merchandise was perfectly acceptable behavior, whereas I feel otherwise.

If you’re local, don’t miss the Handmade Promenade shows because they really are great both as a shopper and a vendor.  I have to miss selling at the next one because I’ll be hobbling through a half-marathon early the next morning, but I’ll be stopping by to shop!

Craft show season has begun - have you guys been to or sold at any good ones yet?  And how are we feeling about my very white new displays?  Too plain?  I’m planning on adding more chalkboard paint to some of them (like the crayon apron display) to write prices on, but I’d love some feedback!

Excused Absence

Tweet

I tell you what, last week was a hectic one.  We had one ER trip (the little guy, he’s fine) one big dentist trip for me (me, and now I have a broken temporary crown and an infected tooth – is that TMI?), and one bored kiddo (the original Bobaloo, home for spring break).  I kind of dropped of the face of the internet for a while. 

 

 

 

 

I’ve finally been putting all that brand new fabric to work!  I ended with one bolt less than I thought (the blue and orange polka dot one is out of print), but it still feels like a HUGE amount of fabric.  I love it.

 

 

 

 

The pink polka dot fabric makes just the cutest bias tape.  Speaking of, I switched around how I make bias tape this time and it was so much faster.  I usually use the continuous strip method, but this time I cut my bias strips first like this, then serged them end to end.  The serger is so fast, plus the seams didn’t get bound up in my bias tape maker like they usually do.

 

 

 

 

I’m on an apron streak right now.  I just finished up a custom Crayon Apron for an adult who wanted one for her face painting brushes (there’s a picture on the bobaloo! Facebook page) and now I’m working on new ones for the Irvington Iris Tea Room.  Doesn’t that pink polka dot bias tape look adorable?

 

I’ve got our Craft-Night-turned-Sewing-Night at my house tonight and a meeting of the Uncommon Craft Society of Indianapolis tomorrow night, then it’s time to get to work on products for Record Store Day on the 16th.  What have you guys been up to?  I’ve missed you!

It’s (Craft) Show Time!

Tweet
The craft show season is upon us, ladies and gentleman, and my dance card is filling up nicely already!  Since this is my first spring/summer season in business I’m trying to do just a few great shows instead of just signing up for everything all willy-nilly.





In a few weeks (on April 16th, to be exact – go ahead and put it on your calendar) is Record Store Day at Luna Music in Broad Ripple.  This is another show put on by the lovely Martha, the brains behind Handmade Promenade.  There’s going to be great music and I’m hoping for good weather – it’s an outside show.

My crafty buddy Shan of Green Illuminations invited me to participate in an open house hosted at a friend’s house in May.  I’ve never done an open house, but I’m excited.  I think the more intimate setting will be great for getting to know some new customers.





I just found out Tuesday that I got accepted to the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange Summer Show.  This is SO AWESOME.  I’ve been to this show the past two years and am always so impressed by what’s sold there, so it just knocks me over that I’m going to be a part of it.

Although I haven’t managed to send in my application yet, I’m planning on being at the Rocky Ripple Festival again this year.  The 2010 show was my very first show so it’s going to be great to no longer be a rookie!

I’ll probably try to find one more show in July or August to finish up the bobaloo! Summer Tour.  If you’ve got any suggestions, let me know!

Are you a craft show shopper?  Any shows you try not to miss?

Craft Show Recap: Hand Made Market at Little Green Bean Boutique

Tweet Last month, Heather from the Little Green Bean Boutique contacted about participating in a craft show to benefit the Warm Heart Warm Home Foundation at her shop and I signed right up.  This frigid weather has made me very thankful for our nice warm house so it’s great to be able to help those that are not so fortunate.



The show was last Friday and Saturday during the lunchtime hours.  Like most of you, Indianapolis got hit with a whopper of a storm last week.  Indianapolis Public Schools were closed for four days (and they NEVER close).  Then, on Saturday, we got an out-of-the-blue downfall of snow in the morning!  Despite the crummy weather, a good number of hardy souls came out to shop.

The Little Green Bean Boutique is right next to a nice open area that serves as a community space, so most of us set up shop in there.  I brought my cool clothesline display from a few months back but I forgot the clamps to hook it to the table (not enough coffee).  Luckily my inventory is not back up to pre-Christmas levels so I had less than normal to display.



I was next to some buddies (like Martha from Sunday Afternoon Housewife and Shan and Jarod from Green Illuminations) and met some new people too.  You should definitely go check out Sweet Revenge Lingerie – I WANT those striped jammies!

Truthfully, the best part about the show was getting out of the house after being iced in for a week.  My husband referred to it as a grown-up playdate, which is pretty accurate.  Plus, we got to raise money for a good cause – all of the vendors donated 10% to the Foundation and Citizen’s Gas matched that total.

What did you guys do in last week’s winter weather?  Did you indulge in some retail therapy?

Craft Show Recap: Handmade Promenade Last Minute Market

Tweet Last Saturday night was the Handmade Promenade Last Minute Market at Pure Eatery in Fountain Square.  It was loads of fun!  Of course I forgot my camera and only have one picture I took with my phone, so forgive the lack of pictures in this post.  I shamelessly stole a few from other vendors (thanks guys!).  Here’s my table – do you guys like the new clothesline set-up?



My table was in the midst of four lovely ladies, so I had plenty of chatting buddies to stay occupied in between customers.  Let me introduce you to my table neighbors!



To my left was Martha from Sunday Afternoon Housewife, who organized the event.  She has awesome Scrabble tile necklaces along with lots of other goodies.  I bought a few necklaces for some people on my Christmas list and I know they’ll love them.



Martha was sharing a table with Jen from EleanorMac.  She makes these beaded bookmarks, cute little planet crayons, and she had some adorable little Lego earrings!



I couldn’t resist buying myself some body creme from Kimberly, who owns Mocha Tree Organics.  I bought the Lavender Grapefruit scent after trying them all and I loooove it.  Kimberly uses certified organic ingredients, so I think I’m going to try her lotion on my food-allergic, eczema-y baby boy and see if it helps.

Next to Kimberly was Tonya from the CozyRose Boutique.  Tonya’s super cool wrist warmers are sold at the Little Green Bean Boutique, where you can also find bobaloo! goodies.  Since she sells locally, you still have time to pick up a pair for a lucky lady on your list!

I couldn’t resist doing a little shopping at the end of the show.  Besides the lotion and the necklaces, I also bought a ridiculously awesome monster ornament from Mamus, and some beautiful posters from Dan at Mile 44.



Afterward a few of us met up at Dorman Street Saloon.  I met Shan from Green Illuminations – he and his partner JUST started up their business, and whoa am I impressed!  Check out that website – Shan, can I hire you to design mine?!  I also had a nice long chat about fabric lines and designers with Ariane from Mother Tucker Sews.  Car junkies talk about Ford and Ferrari, people who sew talk Patty Young and Nicey Jane.  Rachel from bebito was there too – her toys are so awesome.

All in all, I would totally do this show again for a couple of reasons.  First, although it wasn’t my most successful show money-wise, it was certainly successful enough to make it worth it.  Second, it was just fun.  Nice people, awesome restaurant (the grilled cheese was to die for), good shopping – what’s not to like?  Make sure you check out the full list of people who were there because everything was so great.

I’m working on finishing up some gifts and cleaning my house in preparation for the holiday madness this weekend.  Somehow I have to fit the kids’ four-piece wood play kitchen in our already crammed living room, so send me some puzzle-solving vibes! 

Have a great holiday week, everyone!

Craft Show Recap – Ben Davis Homespun Holiday

Tweet So it finally happened.  I had a big letdown of a craft show experience.  Intellectually, I knew it would happen at some point, but it still stunk.  I didn’t even get to play with my dongle, for heaven’s sake!

 

Let me preface this by saying the show itself was run BEAUTIFULLY.  It was organized so well – the band kids helped unload my stuff, they had free coffee and bagels, the tables and chairs were all set up when I got there.  They even delivered lunch to my booth!  Sadly, this does not translate to people fighting each other to buy Crayon Aprons and Necktie Bibs.

I got there at 7:30-ish (the show started at 9) and set up my table.  It was kind of a challenge to fit everything onto 10 feet of table space, so I put out one of each design and kept extra stock under the table.  Here’s my first indoor setup:

 

My husband had the awesome idea of making the clothesline.  It’s just two blocks of wood clamped to the table – he drilled holes in each to hold the dowels, then cut a slit in the top of each dowel to hold the clothesline.  I think it adds lots of height and makes my table stand out.  I had to ransack my house to find display props.  That’s the stand I usually keep my produce on with the burp cloths on it, and the white boxes are usually scrap fabric storage.

I had a couple people come by right away and buy a few things (all with twenties, I might add – I had my sister bring me extra change, thinking the day would go on that way).  Then nothing.  Nada.  A couple browsers, mostly of the “Oh, I sew!  I can make all of this!” type.  I sat there for six hours, staring at the bejeweled Colts gear across the hall from me, making small talk with the very nice cupcake lady next to me.

 

I think this show just wasn’t the right one for me.  There were a LOT of old-school crafts like crochet doilies and glittery plastic Christmas decorations.  There was also a lot of food-mix stuff and baked goods.  There's nothing wrong with any of those things, but I guess the people that shop at those booths don't necessarily shop at mine.

So after subtracting my booth fee, my hotdog lunch, and the cute earrings I bought from the girl next to me, I made a whopping $27.  I shut down my Etsy shop during shows, so had I kept that open I probably would have made that much anyway.  Oh, well.  It’s a learning process, right?

Anybody else had a bummer of a show before?  I can’t wait for the Handmade Promenade show in a few weeks so I can go back to feeling happy about shows.  I just know it’s gonna be a good one!

Holiday Madness and a Giveaway!

Tweet My very first blog giveaway is going on over at luvinthemommyhood!  Shannon contacted me a while back with some very sweet comments about my shop and I’m so happy to have my inaugural giveaway at her blog.  Go check it out – there’s even a special discount!



Speaking of giveaways, don’t forget my giveaway to celebrate 20 followers that’s coming up right here!  I have a special goody for you guys (and maybe a kiddo in your life) all planned out.  It will definitely help your holiday shopping!  So if you haven’t already, click “follow” over on the left side of the screen so you don’t miss it.

I’ve been sewing like mad to get my Etsy shop ready for the holidays.  I’m trying to make multiples of everything to make the best use of my limited amount of time.  I cut out 27 bibs the other day, people. 27!!  And last night I got to work on a whole mess of crayon aprons.  Those two tend to be my best sellers at shows, so I’m stocking up!  Doing a bunch of the same thing saves time in lots of ways – it’s quicker to pick fabrics, one photo shoot covers a stack of stuff, and clicking “relist” on Etsy when something sells is much easier than writing a whole new listing.



I’m also frantically trying to fill up the ol’ inventory wardrobe because I signed up for ANOTHER holiday show!  I was going to be part of a holiday show at our airport, but unfortunately it got cancelled.  The very next day Martha of Sunday Afternoon Housewife fame emailed me and invited me to be a part of the Handmade Promenade Last Minute Market.  Funny how things work out, right?  It’s going to be way cool – it’s a nighttime show at a restaurant and there’s even live music!  I have a family event about two hours away that morning, so it’s going to be a really hectic day, but I’m REALLY looking forward to it!

Here are a few new products that are coming to the shop this week.  I have so many listings all ready to go that I can hardly wait to share them!

Craft Show Recap – Irvington Halloween Festival

Tweet My second festival, the Irvington Halloween Festival, was another success!  Despite the inclement weather (SUPER windy and pretty stinking chilly), sales were good and I met some great people.  Plus there were load of people and dogs in costume, so I had plenty of entertainment!

When I got there to set up at about 7:30 it was 30-some degrees – not so much fun.  Luckily I had my big ol’ Thermos of coffee and some warm gloves.  I had some help to set up the tent and tables (thanks Mom and Mike!) and I had everything ready by the time the show officially started at 9 am.  Unfortunately, this would be the time I realized I forgot to put the memory card in the camera, so I don’t have any setup pictures – sorry!  You can see in the pictures how the wind just blew my tablecloths around.  I ended up taping them to the undersides of the tables.
 
Thanks were s-l-o-w at first – it took a long time for the weather to warm up, and I was at the very end of the street.  I had a few browsers, but I did a lot of coffee-drinking and jumping up and down to stay warm and not a lot of selling.  Around 11 am the taco truck showed up and seemed to bring the people with it.  It was parked next to me and was EXTREMELY hard to resist, but I didn’t think people would want taco filling on their bibs and burp cloths, you know?

The products that sold were certainly different than my first craft fair.  At Rocky Ripple it seemed like I was selling small amounts of stuff all day long, whereas at Irvington I made fewer sales for bigger amounts.  People were crazy about the portfolios and shoes at Rocky Ripple, but everyone bought bibs and changing pad clutches at Irvington.

 
I met two people that have retail locations around Indy – Heather from the Little Green Bean Boutique and Erin from Enroute Spa at the Indy airport.  I can’t wait to go check out Heather’s shop - It’s brand new and I’ve read some great reviews.  Erin organizes the Hip and Handmade shows at the airport and I’m hoping to be a part of the holiday show.  I’ll keep y’all updated. 

So, here are my lessons from this show:

• Dress in layers when it’s going to be at all chilly
• Make sure your displays are reasonably wind-proof – thank goodness I sell beanbags or I wouldn’t have had anything to hold products down!
• You can’t use fancy phones with gloves on
• Bring weights for your tent (mine scooted over three feet from the wind!)
• Practice with the knucklebuster.  I just could NOT get it right and ended up just hand writing all the credit card slips.  I’ve got the Square card reader for my phone on order – hopefully it shows up before the next show!

Let me know if you guys have any questions!  After selling a good amount of stuff this weekend I get to refill my fabric stash – first I’m going to ransack a friend’s Etsy shop and then tear up Fat Quarter Shop!

Happy Halloween!

Tweet I’m frantically trying to finish a bunch of things today – mostly for the Irvington Halloween Festival tomorrow – and still make it to dinner with my husband’s family tonight.  Here’s a quick rundown on what’s going on ‘round here!

It looks like I’m going to be travelling to some other blogs in the next month or so.  I’ve (tentatively) got a guest post at some point on one of my fave blogs, and a giveaway from my Etsy shop on another blog that I’ve recently fallen in love with.  I’ll give you more details when I know for sure both are going to happen.  Don’t think I’m abandoning the ol’ homestead, though – I’m planning a crafty-related giveaway for you guys here, too!

Our pumpkins turned out AWESOME this year!  We are cheaters and use the stencils and pumpkin carving tools.  The hubs did the cat, I did the Jolly Roger, and Bridget did the cool star-jeweled one.  The kit she used was really cool – it had these little pegs (kinda like a Lite Brite) that she hammered in with a hammer.  It was a little safer for a three year old than mini-saws and she loved it.
 
This week was my totally my lucky week.  I won this huge witch and two of giant vampire Halloween wall clings from Martha’s Crafters on Twitter.  B’s scared of them, but I think they’re way cool.  Then, I won a swag bag from Prudent Baby on their blog giveaway in honor of Jaime’s new book!  I should buy a lottery ticket, right?

Custom orders are coming in like crazy, which is part of the reason I’m so busy today.  I REALLY need to learn it’s okay to tell people it will be longer than a few days for custom orders.  I always feel like I need to do them RIGHT NOW which is just silly.  I would be much less stressed about getting ready for the show tomorrow if I had just given myself an extra week to finish the custom orders.
 

I can’t leave this post without a few words about Project Runway!  I’m not going to spoil it for you in case you’ve got it DVRed, but here’s how I felt about the collections:

• I’ve already forgotten the stuff in Gretchen’s collection, so I must not be all that impressed.  In the interest of full disclosure, I really don’t like her so I probably blocked it out.
• I liked the colors Andy chose and I liked a lot of the looks, but really?  Only two colors for the whole collection?
• I love Mondo and I loved most of his collection (those buffalo plaid high-waist pants were AWESOME), but some of it was crazy in a bad way.  The bejeweled oversized sweater thing with leggings that was at the beginning of his collection was so not good.

Is anyone else swamped right now?  Is this just a little taste of the holiday season?

Reason #1 to Not Give the 3-Year-Old the Camera

Tweet In the excitement of the craft show recap, I almost forgot to tell you guys some good news!  Before I left for the show Saturday, I got an email from a big blog (like SUPER big) asking to link to my fancy burp cloth tutorial.  I think it will be sometime next month, so I'll be sure to post about it, probably repeatedly so I can bask in my almost-fame.  The best part is I didn't even submit anything - they found me somehow, which is just crazy.

I got some product pictures taken this morning thanks to the sucker-bribery technique.  So cute, right?

However, my little monster has decided if I'm taking pictures of her, she's taking pictures of me.  Evidently this is what I look like when someone says, "Look at me, mommy.  Now make a monkey face and think about butterflies."

One part I really liked about the show Saturday is that people gave me lots of product suggestions.  I've got a few things in the works that I'll share with y'all soon.  I have to squeeze in loads of sewing time because (maybe stupidly) I've decided to do the Ben Davis Homespun Holidays show Thanksgiving weekend.  The people in the Etsy forums with all their enthusiasm pushed me over the edge, so I'm sending in the application tomorrow!

It makes me a little nervous to commit to another show when I just did my first one, but I figure it can't hurt.  I've been working on getting my stuff in to some more local stores, so what will probably happen is I'll get a ton of wholesale orders, sell everything at the Irvington Halloween Festival, and have to replenish it all for Homespun Holidays.  Gee, that would be a TERRIBLE problem to have!

My First Craft Show Recap - Rocky Ripple Festival

Tweet

So the Rocky Ripple Festival was a success!!  I am so relieved to have my first craft show under my belt and I could not be any happier with how it went.  I love getting compliments from friends and family when I show them my stuff, but it's even better to get positive feedback from complete strangers! 

The festival started at 11 am, so we started setting up at around 9:30-ish and were done just in time for the first customers.  Things started out kind of slow, but I had lots of interest - people just want to pick up those bunnies, so that drew a lot of people in.  Also, my wonderful husband made me some apron and bib displays that drew shoppers like magnets to the crayon aprons, bibs, and the kids' aprons.

I started to get a few sales, and before I knew it, the booth was looking a little thin.  I gotta tell you, that cheap knuckle-buster credit card machine is a piece of you-know-what.  I had a HORRIBLE time with it (although Mom seemed to have made friends with it).  I felt really inept trying to swipe people's cards, but it worked out in the long run and I'm sure I made a few extra sales by taking cards.  Propay makes it super easy to process the cards, but I did have one card get declined - luckily it was only $18.

Some Things I'm Glad I Had
Granola bars (there was only one food area, and the line was SO LONG)
Diet Coke and Water (the drinks were with the food)
Stickers for the kids
Extra tags and signs (I had missed tagging a few things and had forgotten to make a sign or two)

My daughter's quilt (made a great colorful table cover)

My mom's old doll cradle (perfect place for the bunnies - people made a beeline for them)

Things I Wish I Had Brought
More business cards (I had around 50 and they're GONE)

More snacks

More crayon aprons

More gift sets (these were way more popular than I expected)

I use these spreadsheets on Excel to track inventory and sales, so before I left for the fair Saturday I printed out all of my inventory in a spreadsheet.  I checked off everything that sold so I could balance my money at the end of the fair.  This worked out especially well because Mom and I just put all our money together.  It also made it really easy to open my Etsy shop back up and remove everything that sold at the fair.

I sold probably a third of my inventory, which is wonderful and terrifying at the same time.  Now I have to replace that inventory (plus add more) before the Irvington Halloween Festival in a month.  The kicker is I'm going on vacation for a week in October, so I really only have three-ish weeks.  It'll happen, right?  A few extra cartoons won't permanently damage the kids, right?  I don't need much sleep, right?

I'll give you some more details later this week - it was interesting comparing what sells on Etsy with what sells in person.  Let me know if there's anything else you all want to know about my maiden craft fair voyage!

Last Minute Craft Show Prep

Tweet

Yesterday my wonderful sister-in-law watched my kids all day so I could get some stuff done for the Rocky Ripple Festival.  I know I've said it before, but it is amazing what I can get done in an empty house!  I got everything tagged and ready to sell.  I also made some cute aprons - whatever's left after Saturday will go up in the shop next week after I bribe my little model with suckers.  I couldn't help but make myself a little apron to wear while manning the booth too.

I do have to run to Cash and Carry and pick up bags for those hundreds of sales that are surely coming my way.  I've been trying to prepare myself for the worst and hope for the best - even if I make (God forbid) no sales, at least it's practice selling at a craft fair, and it's getting my name out to people.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful - sunny and 72 - so if nothing else, I'll get to enjoy being outside all day.

Today I'm going to pile everything I need in the kitchen so Kenny can help me load my car tonight.  I went through this ridiculously comprehensive list yesterday and made my own (somewhat) shorter list of things to bring.  Let me tell you, I love a checklist - they make me feel organized.

Disappointingly, my SEO experiment seems to be headed toward failure.  My views are back down to where they were, and yesterday was even slower than normal.  It may be a combination of factors, though - yesterday I didn't add a new listing until almost noon, and my traffic peaks at 9 am.  Then, I was having Photoshop issues and didn't get my second listing up until 6:30 or so.  I'll give you a more detailed recap next week.

This weekend will be slow for views for sure - I'm going to put my shop in Vacation Mode Saturday so I don't have to worry about selling something on Etsy while selling the same thing at the festival.  For those unfamiliar to Etsy, Vacation Mode makes your listings inactive for a set period of time so no one can view them.  I'm pretty sure that's going to put quite the damper on my weekend page views.

Speaking of vacation, I'm not sure what to do when I'm actually on vacation.  Do I leave the shop open with a note that I won't be able to respond for a few days?  Or do I put the shop in Vacation Mode?  I probably won't have much traffic coming through when I'm not posting new stuff, but I'd hate to miss a sale.  I know sometimes buyers don't even read the shop announcement, so should I put a note in each listing?  If there are any Etsy sellers out there with advice, I'd love to hear it!

Look out for the Show Recap on Monday and have a good weekend!

Changing up the Shop for SEO

Tweet Thanks to all that SEO research last week, I made some changes to my Etsy listings on Friday.  First, I added the line "bobaloo! unique handmade gifts for kids and baby" to the beginning of each item description.  Then, I added "handmade" as a tag on every item except for the prints.  I also tried to add more keywords to the item titles which I think looks a little awkward.  If the new titles bring in more traffic, I guess I'm going to have to learn to like oddly long comma-filled titles.

I also rearranged some item descriptions so the most relevant descriptive terms come first.  For example, instead of the Diaper Clutch description starting with "The Diaper Clutch is a stylish accessory for every mama on the go", it now starts with "This listing is for a Diaper Clutch in a 2D Zoo print by Alexander Henry, lined with a cocoa circle print".  I don't think I changed them all, but that's definitely something I need to be conscious of for future listings.  I gotta tell you, changing all that stuff was monotonous.  I had 37 items to go through - I can't imagine what changing 100 items would be like!

I think it's a little early to tell, but I think it may be working.  Here's a screenshot from Craftopolis of this month's views.  The number over the little purple guys is unique visitors, the number below that is pageviews.  See how much higher yesterday (Monday the 20th) was the than previous two Mondays?  I'll give you guys an update later this week.

This screenshot also illustrates the wonder that is making it to Etsy's front page.  See September 1st?  That's the day I was on the front page.  My views stayed up for DAYS.  On Friday the 10th there was a link to one of my products on Prudent Baby, so that's why there's a healthy spike in pageviews there.

I got a fun new toy last week - a little Zyron sticker maker.  I bought it with a coupon at Michael's on a whim since it was less than $15.  I made some cute stickers to hand out to kids at the Rocky Ripple Festival this weekend.  Hopefully I have enough left - my daughter has been sticking them all over herself and her brother all week.  I think I may make labels for my packages with it, too.  I read somewhere recently that the scrapbooking craze is grown women reliving their Lisa Frank and Mello Smello obsessions of childhood - maybe that's why having a sticker maker is so much fun? 

I have a blog housekeeping question for you guys.  Do you prefer I respond to comments right in the comment section, or email you directly?  I like the idea of responding in the comments section, but I know I forget to subscribe to new comments via email when I comment on other blogs all the time.  Plus I like everyone being able to see the conversation.  On the other hand, I don't know how often people come back after commenting to look for a response.  Any opinions?