Fingers crossed!

C'mon. Rain rain go away. Come again another day. Like Monday.

T minus 3 Days and Counting

Time is running out. I had to pack up my stuff at 10:30pm last night because I couldn't focus anymore. I think that was due to my lack of sleep the night before.

But good news! My buttons arrived!!!



They are so cutesy. I ordered 200, so hopefully they'll last a little while.

Also, I went to the craft store and spent way more than I wanted to. Originally I was going to pick up embroidery floss and rhinestones, but I ended up getting all sorts of stuff. Including a few fishbowls (shown above) and these glass vase thingies to hold my gift tags and mini cards.


Plus they are a little heavy, so it'll be a good table weight.

And my A9 envelopes and cardstock arrived from The Paper Source, so I worked on packaging those up last night.


I am so tired. I probably should have gone for a venti mocha instead of a grande.

4 days left!

Four more days to prepare for the show. I have to finish up 20 boxed sets. Finish 48 cards that I had started. Make more gift tags. Paint 5 more easels and frames. Print pricing signs. Glue rhinestones onto appointment cards. Mount certificates. Make a table runner. Figure out my display plan. Make some sammiches to bring along. Buy some shelving and more easels and candy and embroidery floss and water and...and...and...


*thud*



Sorry, passed out there for a sec. Thank goodness I'm taking Friday as a vacation day.

The Kindness of Interwebbers

Thank goodness for forums. Not only have a I made great friends and received wonderful advice and guidance over the years, but I've found people who are willing to lend a hand at the drop of a hat.

For example, a few weeks ago I ordered paper bags for the upcoming show. Silly me, I didn't bother to pull out a ruler and measure anything, and I ended up buying 1000 white bags that don't fit my boxed sets. But I didn't want to buy another 1000 bags, considering I only have 50 boxed sets. So I posted a little message on The Switchboards and sure enough, someone came to my rescue. This weekend I received a package of large white bags in the mail, along with a super sweet card wishing me luck for my first show!

They came from Denise at Akemi Designs, a fellow designer and paper lover. She saved my butt! So thank you, Denise! I promise to send a little "thank you" as soon as this show is over!

EEK!!!

Rob went to a get together at his friends' house tonight and I decided to stay home to craft, trying to be good. I've been semi-productive, while watching reruns of The Real World Las Vegas, even though I've seen them all.

But there is a WICKED thunderstorm going on outside, and honestly, it's freaking me out a bit to be home alone. The power went out for a few secs, but thankfully came back on. Me no likey!!! :-(

It's a lifesize melissahead!

More prep last night. I realized that I never posted a photo of my fun vinyl banner! I got it from Wholesale Bannerz after reading a recommendation on The Switchboards. Their pricing couldn't have been better (unless it was free). And despite some slight color issues, I think it came out great!

Check it out, my logo head is lifesize!


I also received my business cards yesterday. I went with a very clean, simple design. I originally wanted something a little more flashy, more creative, more crafty, but this'll do.


Yes, I am a Creative Crusader.

By the way, if anyone else has any pricing thoughts, be sure to share in my post below! T H A N K S !

Pricing help!

I know I don't have a ton of readers, but in case you pop your head in and aren't usually a commenter, I'd love to get some feedback from everyone!

Here's the deal. I have to make sure I'm accurately pricing my stuff. I'm going to write a list of my products and a suggested price. Let me know if you think I'm off. (Click the link for an image.)

Collage Cards - $5/piece (Should I consider "4 for $16" option??)
These cards are my favorite to make, and will probably take up the majority of the table, but honestly I can't make too much money on them because they take a freakin' LONG time to make.

Boxed Sets - $16

Gift Tags (set of 6) - $4.50

Mini Cards - $1/piece

Mini Cards Set of 4 - $3

Button Sets - $2

Key Fobs - $5 (Buy 3 get one free???)

Certificates of Greatness (mounted or with envelope) - $1.50/piece or the set of 4 for $5

Thanks for your help, peeps!!!!

Yay! Productivity!

I finally feel like I had a productive evening. [insert relieving sigh here]

I started by mounting, framing, and taking a quick pic of my new certificates. Just the Certificate of Awesomeness, actually. I also have one for Brilliance, Hilarity, and Gorgeousness. (Collect all 4! Haha!) I scrapped my idea of the certificates a few weeks ago, but I got some great feedback the other day, so I changed my mind again. :-)

Here's one framed. Given to myself, by myself. I'm lame I know.

I'm going to have them at the show two ways. Printed 5.5" x 7.5" and mounted on an 8x10 sheet of cardstock. Perfect for framing. And also printed 5.5" x 8.5", along with an A9 envelope. I couldn't decide which presentation I preferred, so I'm doing both.

My second project for the night was painting one of my little IKEA frames and easels. I wanted to test it out to see how it will work as a pricing sign. I like it! I'm going to have 6 on the table, so I hope it doesn't look too crowded. But since all my stuff is little, I wanted to get some height in there somehow.

Now I just have to make sure I'm happy with the pricing. But that's another post to come.

And my final task was cutting all the paper to make 25 boxed sets of cards. That's 100 freakin' cards! Not only did I have to cut two sheets of paper (to be sewn), but I had to punch all the circles and designs to make the little embellishments. Lordy lordy, these cards take a ton of time. I'll never make enough money on them, but unfortunately for my wallet, they are my favorite thing to make.

Here's the end of the cutting process:


Overall, I feel pretty good! I still have over a week to work on all this stuff. And then it'll be time to knock the socks off those Art Star Craft Bazaar attendees!!!

A week and a half?!?!

That is definitely not enough time to finish all the crap I need to do. I need to make 25 more boxed sets, more gift tag sets, more appointment card packs, all my signage, not to mention figure out how to arrange my table, how to display my items, how to weight down my tent!!!

Christ almighty.

Well, since I always like to show a few photos. Here we go.

Good ole Target had these cute metal basket thingies, which I thought would be perfect for my button sets.


And I also had my first overnightprints mishap. I've heard the warnings, but they've always been okay for me. Until this time, that is. My appointment cards came out looking like poop. I'll let them slide this time since they are redoing them for me without an argument.



Oh, and I ordered 200 buttons with my logo. :-) Basically, just because. And I even bought a cute little fishbowl to put them in!

Cross your fingers for me. Oh, and if you have any words of encouragement, I'd love to hear them!!!

Milton Glaser was right!

I really do love NY! It was a short weekend trip accompanied by rain, but still, a rainy day of walking in nyc is better than a sunny day of taking a nap in my condo!

We went to visit with my friend from the north, Jeope™ and his lady. Highlights from the weekend include a ton of walking, a visit to MoMA, a hilarious Ricky Gervais show, some dancin' in the street (done by professionals, not us amateurs), and some tasty french toast.

I didn't really get any photos. The weather was too crappy for cameras. But on Sunday morning we had a bit of sun while Rob and I ate breakfast at Central Park.


Clockwise from left: have a Starbucks; Rob's bad hat head and my new haircut; goofy face; even in NYC, go Sox!

On (Paper) Cloud 9

I was so excited to get the call from the receptionist yesterday letting me know that I had a package! And I would have been seriously pissed if it turned out to be something having to do with work. But nope! It was my art!

The three prints that I had ordered from Paper Cloud arrived, and they are even more lovely than I imagined.





I'll have them hanging in my office until the new home is ready, which will be half a year still. But no point in leaving them boxed up until then! I'm really digging the chocolate brown and blue.

New boxed set!

I slaved away last night. Not really. I crafted a little while watching tv and listening to a baseball game. But I can dream. One of these days I'm going to get so motivated that I'm going to craft through the night. I can barely make it past 10pm.

You know, I'd be able to get more done if we weren't selling the stupid condo. Because then I wouldn't have to clean up every little thing each night. If I pull out 6 punches, I have to put them back. If I use 4 different threads, I have to put them back. Rob finally got his wish about me picking up after myself. I hate it.

Anyways mayonnaise (as Patti would say), here are the cards I made. I'm happy with this set. I always like the distressed look, so this Basic Grey paper is perfect. Just grungy enough.

Loosen up my buttons.

Got home from my weekend at my parents' house to find a package on my doorstep. My 1" buttons! I've been awaiting these little buggers and they were worth the wait. I can't wait to pin them all over my stuff.



I might tweak the packaging a little bit. Add some oomph. But it'll be something like this.



What do you think? $2/pack?

Dang it!

I had huge plans of bringing all my crafts to my parents' house this weekend so I can get a ton of stuff finished. I packed up all my supplies days early and was all set to go.

Of course I had to forget something. What did I forget? The container with ALL my paper!!!

So now I pretty much can't do a damn thing. That's just dandy.

Did you hear about the fire at the circus???

It was intense. Get it? In tents? Har har har.

Well, speaking of tents, guess who is the proud owner of a 10x10 EZ-Up fancy-pants tent? Me! I guess I failed to realize that by signing up to do an outdoor craft fair, I'd be subject to the elements. Purchasing a tent was recommended. And I had no clue how pricy tents were! Sure, I could have found a cheapo tent from a drug store or dumpster or something, but from reading what other crafty ladies have written, investing in a good tent was a better idea.

Thank goodness for craigslist because I was able to find a brand new 10x10 EZ-Up tent (which usually retails for around $300) for $150. The seller noted that they were purchased for "a wedding that never happened." Awesome.

Check it out. I'll be like a craft show pro!


*awesome watermark not included

Somebody stop me!

I'm trying to save money, really, I am. But after spending all this cash on preparing for my first show (including a $150 tent purchase last night), I should probably cut back on my shopping. Well, I already wrote about the adorable journal I picked up from Freshly Blended Press. Now I went ahead about bought 3 art prints from Paper Cloud. C'mon, 50% off!

I can just imagine these in my new home. I'll have to stash them in my office until we move though, or Rob might flip out.

I bought these three, 16"x16", in light blue on a chocolate brown canvas.



It was such a good deal, I couldn't help myself!

Wallpaper: Not Just for Walls

Or so claims Freshly Blended Press, the awesomest place to pick up a notebook or journal covered in wallpaper. Which I totally just did! Checka check-it out.





I picked up this Mini Wallpaper Journal from the Freshley Blended Press Etsy Store. I can't wait to see it and feel the wallpaper between my fingers. *drool*

Tag, you're it.

My gift tags arrived! Woohoo! And I'll have to say, I'm surprised at how well they turned out, considering they were printed at a random online cheapo print place. I ordered 20 of each design (6 designs in all) and the total, with shipping, was $25. Not bad. I think I may have to order some more, if I get some good feedback.

And here they are!







And these are the 6 designs for the tags.



I'd better get some sunny days this weekend so I can take a few decent photos. I've been trying to take these photos at night by dangling a lamp in my left hand while holding the camera in my right.

If you've wandered into my blog, I'd love to hear what you think about the tags. Should I go ahead and order more or wait to see if these 20 packs go at the show?

"No time! There's never any time!"

My title quotes Jessie Spano of "Saved by the Bell". If you saw the episode, you'll remember. I might need some caffeine pills if I plan to accomplish anything before the show.

So yeah, not a very productive weekend. I finished the pink and black boxed sets, just about. I didn't start any new cards. And I'm a little nervous because the next two weekends I'll be away from home. My mother told me to bring my crafts with me this weekend and she'll help me out. That means I have to get seriously organized so I know what to bring.

My key fob display came in. I think it's perfect! I'm going to start out pricing them at $5/piece, buy three get one free. But if they aren't selling, I'll drop it to $4. I kinda just want to get rid of them at this point.

Here's the display, don't mind the awful photo:


And a detail of some of the fobs:


As Jessie Spano also said, "I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...scared!" That sums it up.

Bald is Beautiful

No, I didn't pull a Britney. When dropping Rob off at work this morning, we spotted a bald eagle flying above his school. Apparently there's a pair of nesting bald eagles in Camden, NJ. Rob's told me that he's seen them from time to time, but he's also one to see a tree stump and think it's a bear. Wild imagination. Anyway, it was pretty neat to see!

A few new cards, made with American Crafts paper.







I'm awaiting the arrival of my buttons and gift tags. Gift tags will be in on Monday. Not sure about the buttons. I bought a display for my key fobs, and they look darn good. Turns out I have way over 100. It's so weird how I go through these craft phases. Hopefully I can unload some at the show.

Give a wink. Click my link.

I don't know what that title is supposed to mean. Got stuck on "Give a hoot. Don't pollute."

Just wanted to let you know that I updated my links. The other day I reorganized my bookmarks, which was a daunting task long overdue. There are so many blogs and message boards and websites that I visit everyday. Just wanted to share.

I actually have 4 separate folders for shopping links in my bookmarks. Crafts, Gifts, Home, and Misc. I might have to make a big shopping link list, but that could take a while. In the meantime, check out the ones (as Beyoncé would say) to the left, to the left.

No papercuts yet...

...and thank goodness, because I've been elbow deep in paper lately. I wanted to make some boxed sets for the show. Spent a fortune at the craft store, but I came out with enough paper to make hundreds upon hundreds of new cards.

This is my favorite. Paper design by Anna Griffin. I think I may have to keep some of these for myself.


This was my first boxed set that I made. But then I found out I had to get permission to use these papers, meaning I have to fax a form to the company per each item, and wait for them to mail a signed approval back to me. Kind of a hassle.


This is going to be another craft-a-thon weekend for me. Less than a month until the show!