Fans and a Photo Shoot

Tweet I don't know about you, but the heat here in the Midwest is making me so sloooooow.  I haven't been to the gym in a week (so much for that half-marathon training), I can't seem to do a lick of laundry, and there's no way I'm taking the kids outside.  The heat is supposed to get a little better today so I'm looking forward to eating far too much Fair food tonight with the family and not worrying that the kids are going to melt into little puddles of Cheerios and sunscreen the minute we step out the door.

So my Facebook page is up and running!  There's a button to Like my page on the left sidebar and you should definitely go check it out.  As of this morning I have 23 fans, which excites me to no end - there are even a couple non-friends and family fans!  I'm sure I need to do something to get some more Facebook love.  I'm thinking about offering a discount to Facebook fans once the shop opens, or maybe a special preview of the shop just for those people?  Hmmm...

Kenny persuaded me to shoot a bunch of product pictures yesterday while he wrangled the kids so I have a little Facebook product catalog started.  We have these long, low white storage benches in our pool room/sewing room/office that I used for the pictures.  I just draped a piece of cotton batting on the bench and set up my camera on a tripod in front of it.  I'm not 100% happy with it - it's a huge hassle to squat down in front of the camera (probably more of a pain since I haven't been to the gym in a week) and I feel like it may not be professional enough.

I do love that orange background even though it seems to get pretty muddy when I upload the pictures to Facebook.   I edited the pictures in Photoshop and used the "save for web" option to save them as a smaller jpeg so they wouldn't take too long to load, but I'm afraid it may have compromised picture quality too much.  I'm wondering if maybe Facebook compresses the pictures and that's the problem?  I'll have to wait and see how they look on Etsy.

Etsy allows you five pictures per item and I just have no clue what those five pictures will be for every item.  I think I need to take some "in action" shots, so I'll probably try to get my nieces and nephew to model a few things for me.  I'm also considering buying a child-size mannequin.  They're only about $30 on Ebay and I think one would come in handy for both product pictures and for a display at craft fairs.

Speaking of craft fairs, I'm starting to freak out about the one at the end of September.  I have about 50 items in my inventory and I'm 100% that is not nearly enough.  I need to arrange a sitter for a couple days here and there before then so I can have some uninterrupted work time.  Our gym does a Parent's Day Out a couple times a month where the kids can go and play for a couple hours - I'll definitely be taking advantage of that on Friday.  But for now, I have an important tea party waiting for me in the living room.  Happy Monday everyone!

Fairs galore

Tweet I don't know if you noticed, but I added a business goal on my sidebar - add 15 inventory items by July 31st, which just so happens to be tomorrow.  I've added 8 since that goal was set, so I have my work cut out for me.  I also have my culinary entries for the State Fair due Saturday and photo shoot with my beautiful new niece tomorrow.  I am counting the felt flower corsages that I will be selling at the Irvington Iris Tea Room in my inventory goal, so I think I'll probably make it.

If you visit your local fair every year, it's definitely worth entering some of your own creations if it's anything like Indiana.  For $35 I can enter up to 35 (!) items in Home and Family Arts, which includes sewing, painting, photography, antiques, knitting, culinary... pretty much anything I'd even consider entering.  You get a shot at the cash prizes for the top awards, plus 6 tickets to the fair.  The tickets alone are worth more than the entry fee.  The cash prizes aren't huge - I think I won a grand total of $14 last year - but it's still fun.  Oh, and for some culinary categories the awards are in pounds of butter!  How awesome is that?!  

On to some big business news - I officially signed up for the Irvington Halloween Festival.  The hubs talked me into it.  He made a good point; if I'm not ready for it inventory-wise, I don't have to do it and I'm only out $32.  This will be my first craft fair on my own since I'm sharing a booth with Mom at the Rocky Ripple Festival in September.  I gotta say, it makes me a little nervous just thinking about it.

Yesterday the Groupon here in Indianapolis was $15 for $30 worth of merchandise from Skreened, a custom screenprinting website.  Kenny and I both ordered one so we can make Bobaloo tshirts to wear to the craft fairs.  I'll let you know how they turn out when they get here.  I think they look so cute on the website's preview that I might wear it around town.  I figure it's advertising, right?

Calm after the storm

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This past week has just been ridiculously hectic!  First up was Craft Night with the ladies on Thursday.  We made these adorable bib necklaces.  Since I had already made one for myself (I have it on in my profile picture) I made one for Bridget that is so cute I want to puke. 

Next up was Bridget's 3rd birthday party on Saturday.  Every year I tell myself I'm not going to go over the top with the food and decorations, and every year I get myself in over my head.  Everything turned out great and it was totally worth the effort.  I mentioned before that I decided at the last minute that B needed a Sleeping Beauty dress for the party.  I am SO GLAD I made it because she was just thrilled.  Princess Barbies have now overtaken our house thanks to all our friends and family.

For the past few years I've entered clothes and food into our local State Fair.  This year, I entered seven items of clothing (including my favorite jeans, which I'm sad to lose for a month while they're at the fair) that were all due this weekend.  In the hectic rush to finish a jacket for B, I forgot to take pictures.  I promise I'll share what earns me a ribbon when I get everything back.

On top of these two deadlines, I had the opportunity to present some of my accessories to Miranda, the owner of the Irvington Iris Tea Room.  Unfortunately, I didn't have anything made, so I had to whip a few things up so I could meet with her after the party on Saturday.  Everything turned out well, and some of my stuff will be in her shop when it opens later this summer!  It's the first time something I've made is going to be out there for people to buy, so I'm really excited.

Due to all this craziness I've barely made any business headway.  Luckily this week is nice and quiet, so today is the start of a mad creative blitz so I can amp up my inventory.  I really want to make some sort of catalog of products, plus I need some marketing materials.  I have about fifty to-do lists lurking around my house - hopefully I can cross some things off soon!