Still Learning

I am SO glad that I took today off. My workshop is filled with boxes and bins and bags and I was way too tired last night to do anything about it!

Irv and Michael setting up Friday afternoon

Sunday was definitely better than Saturday at the show. I did manage to make enough to pay my fee plus a couple of dollars....and I mean...a couple of dollars, but once again I am not discouraged at all. I learned more at this show and we will put some of it into play at the next show in three weeks.

Me trying to figure out where to put it all

If you factor in the cost of all of the fast food meals and Irv's flat tire yesterday and the cost of my new booth....we are way, way, way in the hole....but it's all part of building a craft show business and it's an expense we are willing to incur. Irv and I both agree that we will make money with this eventually.

Me wishing I had some clips for my hair while setting up Friday

I think people were a little "frightened" to come "into" a booth like mine....maybe they were afraid we wouldn't let them back out. We had to do some encouraging at times, but when we noticed people not even getting in far enough to see the things on the sides, we remembered what Tresa told us last show...and that was to showcase a little of everything out front where people can't miss it. We did and when people saw the "tease" it drew them into the booth.

Arranging and rearranging on Friday

We had to use my check out table to put the little assortment of items on and it was a bit difficult to check people out without that space. I think what we are going to do is add shelves to the front end panel of the booth and display an assortment of things on there rather than on my little check out table. On the other end panel, we will leave the hooks so I can hang some tote bags...oh yes, the tote bags. I sold one. Chee Hoo!

Saturday morning...almost ready

People loved the girls, but I didn't sell a single apron. I did have a lady looking for a style that I have the pattern for but just haven't had time to make. I might find the time now. She took a card and asked when I thought I might have some done.

I had a girl at another booth ask about the vendor apron I was wearing. She needs two of them. It turns out she lives a few miles from me and we are going to be in touch, so I might get a couple of apron orders from her.

Some of the tote bags

Once again, I sold 5 cake stands. People really seem to like them...and the more unique the better. I guess I will keep making those.

Cake stands and one tote bag that was falling off the hook

I did sell some coasters and one little light switch cover. I'm finding that with the light switch covers, no matter how many you have of each style, you never have the right style in the right fabric....I might not be making any more of those.

I thought this looked really cute

I had to laugh when I looked at the pillows after I set them up. First of all I set them up facing the left which is how the compulsive side of me has to have the clothes hanging in my closet....the front of the booth was to the right! Then by facing them to the left, all you could see was price tags! UGH! I got them turned around before the show started and they looked great. I didn't sell any.

How NOT to display pillows!

So, I am headed to the craft store today. I have new things I am going to be working on. I'm not sure if the show coordinator will let me bring them to the show in three weeks since I didn't include them on my application, but if not...they will be on etsy soon and I'll take them to the little church show I'm doing in November.

This is the little "teaser" table we set up. It really helped get people into the booth.

The shows are a lot of work and it is a long weekend. When you are packing up and you know you didn't make a profit....it's a tedious job. I am still waiting for my "break out" show....maybe in three weeks!!

I have to send out a HUGE thank you to Irv, because there is no way I could do this without him and I love doing this! I also want to thank Michael, Bernadette and Tresa for coming to the show and lending their support. I love you all.

I am happy I was able to cover my fee and make a couple of bucks. I'm thrilled that each show I am learning more and more about what I should and shouldn't be doing. I'm excited that I get to do it again in three weeks. I'm not sure Irv is as excited as I am though!!

Almost Done and Dog Gone Tired

We worked hard yesterday and finished up everything for the craft show, except if I want a vendor apron....I'll need to make it in the next four days. I have the fabric......Zzzzzzzzzz.....but I am SO tired. We'll see.

Our trial run setting up the booth went really well...better than we expected. The booth went up smoothly. While it was up, Irv did a little touch up, we figured out where all of the hooks had to go and my little Welcome and My Other Shop signs and we are good to go...and it is only Tuesday!!! Chee Hoo!

The girls look kind of cute hanging there, even though they are naked!

Wrigley kept peeking at us through the gate while we were working.

We finally brought her out to the driveway. She has to be tied to something or she just wanders off and manages to not hear you when you call her. Even dogs can have "selective hearing".

I do need to get some props like bars of soap and candy to display on my little baby "cake stands," and that's it. I put all of them on the kitchen table so I could pack them up. Just don't anyone sneeze! Aren't I daring? HAHA! With some very creative packing and a lot of bubble wrap, I managed to get all of this into one large and two medium bins!!

I looked at everything I've made and smiled. It looks good. Then I looked at the little bin of old buttons and jewelry pieces sitting on my desk....and smiled again, because I can't wait to start on my next project.

Have an awesome day today and I will keep you posted on my vendor apron progress. I put the fabric next to the sewing machine...maybe some little elves will come and complete it for me while I am at work today!

Tick Tock Tick Tock

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope you have a relaxing day planned with your family.

The clock is ticking away the minutes and hours until my very first indoor craft show next weekend! YIKES!!

Irv and I will be doing our "trail run" with the craft show booth today. Irv has it down and on the cart....next we will set it up out in the driveway (to see how long that takes us), then we will take it down and load it on the truck (to be sure the booth and all of the shelves and the check out table all fit nicely in the back of his little pick up truck). Then we will move it from there back to the cart (so it's ready to be loaded back onto the truck Friday afternoon). We want to make sure that when we unload it from the truck to the cart at the show Friday afternoon that it is in the order that Irv wants it in to set it up. Do I have you totally confused yet? HAHA!

The booth all stacked up on the cart. Irv had to glue felt to every piece so it won't scratch the floor if we have to move it around when we set it up!!

I finished up the last of my items for the show, and yesterday I priced all of the new items and did my inventory for the show. The skirts and ruffles for all of the shelves are also done. I even started making lists of what I need to bring.

My tote bags waiting to be pressed.

After our trial run, I will be ironing the aprons and tote bags so they will be ready to pack up. The only thing I haven't done is make myself a new vendor apron and I think I just might have time to do that too! Isn't it amazing what we can accomplish when we set our minds to it?

I put the little ropes on the girls yesterday.

The show is Saturday and Sunday, but they had an option to set up on Friday and Irv and I grabbed it. We are going to work a 1/2 day, come home and load up the truck and the car and head over to set up. What's really nice is that they have security, so we can actually set up the entire booth, items included, on Friday, close up the entrance to the booth with a tarp and arrive an hour before the show. If we have any problems, we will be able to address them Friday, and not when the show is about to open.

Remember the old sewing cabinet I plucked from our neighbor's garbage a few weeks ago? Here it is now. Irv threw a little shelf underneath so I have somewhere to put the credit card slips and some notepads and pens. I think he did an awesome job!
I finished some more cake stands this week too. They have been on the kitchen table all week, but it's okay, we never sit there to eat anyway!

I'm not setting any goals for myself for sales, because I have no control over it. If people are looking to buy what I have to sell, then it will be a good show. If not, I hope to just make enough to pay back my entry fee and pay for part of my booth. I only made 15 aprons and 10 tote bags. I want to see how they go at this show before I put any more time or money into them. I will have my pillows, ceramic tile coasters and light switch covers too.

I made these cute little signs yesterday to hang on the front of my booth.

Have a great day today and I'll chat with tomorrow!

Sooooooooooo BUSY!!

My craft show is in two weeks and I have so much to do yet. On my TO DO list is to finish my last tote bag, make myself a vendor apron, iron all of the totes and aprons, price all of the new things I made, make a few more small cake stands, make the skirts and ruffles for the craft show booth, get everything packed up and ready to go and take down the booth, set the booth up again to be sure it is "easy" to do.

Not much time, but somehow I will make it happen.

So, to be sure that I am able to accomplish that....this is going to be short. I will leave you a picture of step one of the "hangers" we are making for my aprons. This one is just cut out of some scrap wood, but you get the idea. Irv has lots of cutting and sanding and painting to do and then I have lots of faces to draw. For now you will have to visualize.

They will be plain white with eyes and lips drawn on. The aprons will hang on them and then they will be hung on some kind of pegs or hooks using rope attached to the back of the "head". What do you think?

CHEE HOO! Have an awesome rest of the day!

Woe Is Me!!

I bought a new sewing machine this week, and we are building an indoor craft show booth, and a few months ago I bought a tent for outdoor craft shows, and I need a new computer.....do you see where this is going?

I really hated to spend the money after all I have spent in the past few months, but with the focus of myothershop changing to many things sewn, and my very old sewing machine jamming one minute and spewing thread all over the place the next minute, I had to have it. I had my old one cleaned and adjusted and repaired...even though the guy tried really hard to convince me otherwise...but I thought if I could get just one more year out of it.......

If you own your own business, what do you do when you have to have things in order to operate your business, and they just aren't in the budget?

I try very hard to pay cash for most of my materials, but I don't have a money tree in my back yard and things like the tent and the booth and the sewing machine end up on plastic. I hate doing that because I am bustin' my butt to pay down our debt. I have no desire to increase it....but sometimes I need stuff.

So, what do you do? Do you have a money tree? Do you just say, "Charge it"? Do you do without until you can pay for it?

UGH! Share your worldly wisdom and business expertise with us please....

The Vision Takes Shape!

It's not quite done, but I just couldn't wait to show you. I'll show you again when I have the skirting for the lower shelves and the ruffles for the upper shelves done. This is just the most awesome craft show booth ever! I can't believe that Irv was able to take MY vision and MY sketches and create from scratch EXACTLY what I wanted!!

I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing because it is still taking up our entire one car garage. We will be taking it apart and setting it up in the driveway next weekend for a trial run, and I'll get some other pictures then. So, for now, you get it in sections.

The three big shelves on the right are for my pillows. I plan to skirt the bottom shelf for some color and so we can shove some of our bins under it. The four corner shelves are for cake stands. I am thinking I might make little ruffles for the fronts of all of the shelves. There is enough room between the pillows and cake stands for cute little hooks of some kind to hang part of my totes on.

The empty section on the back wall will be where the aprons will be hanging on these funky wood heads/bodies that we are going to make, but haven't made yet. Then we have four more corner shelves for more cake stands.

The big shelf on the left side will be for the coasters and I will skirt that one too, and then it's a little hard to see them, but there are three skinny shelves above the big shelf and that is where all of my light switch covers will go. I am really excited that they will be standing upright facing people rather than laying on a table. It also has two little front sections where I will be able to "showcase" an apron and a couple of tote bags so people can see them as they stroll by.

Remember that cute little sewing machine cabinet I "removed" from our neighbors garbage? That will be my check out table....there isn't much room for anything else. This show only gives you an 8 x 10 spot, and that isn't much in the grand scheme of things. The cabinet is being painted white right now. It will be skirted on three sides and I'll keep my bags and things under it.

So I am sending out a gigantic CHEE HOO to my wonderful husband Irv for all of his hard work on this project....and even if I don't sell one thing...I will have the best looking booth at the show...but that better not happen or I will be in BIG trouble!!

Oh, and just so you don't think that Irv is some kind of God or something...I was teasing him yesterday and he told me that if I kept it up, he wouldn't finish the booth and he would just hand me the keys to the truck on the day of the show and I would have to figure out how to set it up myself! The nerve of the guy!

The Cost of Crafting

Those of you that own arts and crafts businesses know the costs involved in running your business and it usually isn't cheap. If you do craft shows, you know that getting started in that arena isn't cheap either.

Irv and I are preparing for our first indoor craft show. We did two outdoor shows this summer where we made enough to pay our entry fees and paid off part of the nice 10 X 10 tent we purchased for the shows. We didn't do great, but we did okay. The tent and some white sheets to throw over the tables was really all we spent money on for those shows, but that was enough. $$$$$

Indoor shows are completely different. We won't be using our nice new tent of course, but we do need some type of booth. If Irv and I are going to do something, we have to do it right. So far, we have purchased wood....lots of wood....and white stain and lots of screws and other hardware. $$$$$

Irv working on the 10 foot back wall this morning

Once it's built and we know the structure is sturdy enough to support the shelving and product, then we have to buy boards to make all of the shelves. $$$$$ Then I want to make these cute wood "face" cut outs to use to hang my aprons on so we will need that wood too and paint for those. $$$$$

The back of one one the 8 foot wall sections Not completely painted yet.

The booth space is small...only 8 x 10, so we are trying not to use tables. We are going to display things on shelves instead, but then where do you shove all of your empty boxes and bins? Oh, you run to the fabric store and buy 12 yards of fabric to make skirting for the bottom shelves so you can hide your junk under those. $$$$$

I bought a paisley print to skirt all of the bottom shelves in the booth. If I have time, I might make a very small "ruffle" to attach to the fronts of the other shelves. The solid color fabric will be used to skirt the little white desk I use to check people out. They don't match exactly, but they won't be next to each other either, so I thought it would still work. The shelves will all be white. I thought it was a fun print.

The fabric I bought yesterday for the skirting

Meanwhile, I am still working on new items for the show. $$$$$ I am currently experimenting with some tote bags. So far, one is great and one is not so great. The not so great one won't be going to the show. :(

Yep, it does cost a lot of $$$$$ to get started in an arts and crafts business and in craft shows, but the way I look at it is this.....this is an expense of being in business. Sure I could have thrown a couple of tables in my booth and layed out my wares like a lot of people do and not had any expense but my entry fee....but that isn't me. I need awesome...really cool....wow....Chee Hoo when I do something, and that costs money.

The other thing is, once we have the booth done, we will be able to use it for as long as we do shows, and Irv has built it in a way that it can be assembled for different size areas. We can even use it with our tent for our outdoor shows. It's really a one-time expense.

I can't wait until we have it all done so I can show you how my "vision" turned out. Hopefully the booth will be a big hit and will attract lots of lookers who become buyers so we can pay it all off!!

Chee Hoo!!

Craft Show Booth Phase One

Irv and I took a trip to Menards Saturday morning. I have a vision of how I want my craft show booth to look, but Irv hasn't quite figured out how he is going to build it and he is a wee bit frustrated. He didn't like buying materials when he really isn't sure how he is going to construct it.

My vision is to have my booth enclosed on three sides with six foot tall dog eared wood fencing. Then we will attach shelves, hooks to hang things on and some corner shelves as well. The idea is to not have any tables taking up space. The September show booth size is only 8 by 10. Not very big. Even 10 by 10 isn't very big when you get a couple of tables in there.

I want my booth to have a boutique look to it. I'm going to make cute hangers for the aprons and everything else will be on shelves. Even the pillows.

So Saturday we bought 80, 1 by 4 boards that are 6 feet long. We also bought the boards that run across the back that you attach the fencing too, as well as white stain. I don't want the fence to look new and freshly painted, so we thought one coat of stain would accomplish the look I want.

We have a small garage, and let me tell you....there are boards everywhere. There are some laying on the floor, there are painted ones laying on every object that would hold them and there are ones standing all around the inside of the garage!

Irv was out in the garage all day yesterday staining boards. He got more than half of them done! He was pretty sore this morning, but we went grocery shopping and he is out in garage working on it again!

Isn't he just so sweet? I keep calling etsy OUR business, and WE are getting ready for OUR craft show, because it really is. We hope that by the time WE are ready to retire, that OUR craft business will bring in some extra income for US.

Irv told me that after building this booth that this might be HIS last craft show! :)

When Your Head Is Spinning

Time to take a very deep breath....

We took coffee and bagels to Michael and Bernadette's new house this morning. Do you remember your first house? I sure do, because I still live in mine! They are so excited. They closed and moved in Friday and they already have everything unpacked and were hanging things on the walls when we were there. They removed a bar from the family room, tore out some built in stuff they didn't like and have a mental list a mile long of things they want to do.

I am going to go there next weekend to dig out a bunch of perennials that they do not want. Irv is going there tomorrow to cut down a bunch of awful looking bushes and an evergreen that was very poorly placed. Irv will be spending a bit of time there helping them to replace all of the interior doors! Irv loves helping the kids with stuff, so it should be a lot of fun!

The neighbor's dog already jumped their backyard fence to come and welcome them and Teagan! Michael looked out their back window the other day to see the neighbor chasing his dog around their back yard!

In addition to helping them with all of their new home owner fun things, I want to do some painting in my house this fall. I plan to redo my bedroom, the bathroom and the living room. Mostly just painting, except the bathroom needs a new sink and floor. I have no idea what colors I want, so today when we were at Menards, I came home with every little booklet they had with color ideas in it! I have a stack about two inches high, no kidding. I think I am going to buy fabric and make a shower curtain. Irv was also saying that we need to start thinking about siding our very old garage that is aging very ungracefully.

On top of all of that, I have two indoor craft shows coming up. One is in September and one is in October. One is an 8 x 10 space, one is a 10 x 10 space. Irv and I are trying to figure out what kind of booth we want that will be easy to transport, set up and take down...but can be used for both size booths and also be utilized for outdoor shows next spring. We would like to use slatwall, but we aren't sure how easy that will be to do. Irv is very handy, so I'm sure he'll figure it out. Plus I need to make more aprons and I am going to start making those tote bags, and reusable lunch and snack bags.

I plan to start walking Wrigley a mile each morning before work and then get back to my yoga and pilates after work.

Can you tell me how on earth I am going to manage all of this?

This is one of those times when most people would get really rattled and crumble. Not me...I see times like this as a challenge and I love challenges. It is going to be very interesting to figure out a way to fit it all in, but somehow, some way I will.

Tonight when I sit in bed with the news on, I will have my little clipboard in hand and I will be jotting down notes and ideas and schedules and I will be prioritizing for sure. I will have color charts all over my bed and sketches of my indoor booth.

What do you do when there are a dozen things you want to do and not enough time to do it all?

I yell, "Chee Hoo" and dig in!!

It's Getting Better

Well, we are back from the craft show and I am exhausted so this is going to be short. It actually went pretty well. Once again the sales weren't super, but I used Tresa's suggestions and definitely saw a difference. It was a pretty good show too. There were people around all day long. I wasn't in the main area, but still had plenty of traffic.

I sold a few cake stands, a pillow, a couple of sets of coasters, some switchplates and even some pin cushions! I either have to get a nice display stand for my cards, or not even bring them. People won't take the time to flip through them in a display box. Not sure what to do about the photos either.

My next show is an indoor show in September. Irv and I talked today about what kind of displays we want to create. It will be entirely different than the outdoor shows under a tent. I'm thinking, dog eared cedar fence panels painted white for a oouple of the walls so we could hang shelves on them. The space at the next show is only 8 X 10....that isn't a lot of room.

Well friends, I have got to go get my jammies on and chill out for a while. We are going over to Michael and Bernadette's house tomorrow morning. They closed and moved in on Friday. It's their first house and they are so excited! I am so excited for them!!

Have an awesome evening and I'll chat with you tomorrow!

Here We Go Again!

My first craft show a couple of months ago wasn't a tremendous success monetarily, however I learned a great deal from my daughter....the "master of marketing" when she stopped by that day. So, as I prepare for my second show this Saturday, I am making the changes that she suggested.

The first thing she suggested is to NOT price things $5, $10, $15, $20 and $25. Of course, that is exactly what I did because I like things nice and neat and tidy and those prices looked so "clean". She said to always price under those numbers like $4, $9, $14, $19 and $24. It's all about price brackets and how people budget and perceive prices of things. So, I have been changing a lot of prices this week.

She also said never to put your price stickers on the front of your items. If possible, put them on the side, the back or the bottom. Of course, I thought I was making it nice and easy for people by putting all of my prices right on the front of every item.

You actually WANT people to pick things up, to touch them, to feel them and therefore "connect" with them. Think about when you go into Hallmark. You have to pick up every item to see the price. At a jewelry store, the tags are always upside down or tucked neatly under the jewelry. Even in clothing stores the prices are inside the collar or the sleeve.

Lastly, when I set up my booth last time, I had my things grouped neatly on the tables. That meant as people strolled by, they could easily see my cake stands and my light switch plates....but nothing else. If they weren't interested in those two things, why would they even come in?

So, Tresa used the front part of the table and put up an assortment of everything I was selling...a couple of these, one of those, a few of these etc. The funny thing is, that more people stopped to look and more people actually came into my booth. So, I already know that works and I will be setting my booth up with that in mind this time.

Something else I learned is NOT to put things in plastic baggies unless absolutely necessary...like with the pillows. I had all of my light switch covers in zip lock bags and first of all, it really took away from the beauty of the colors of the fabric I use AND when the sun hit them, condensation formed inside the bags and we had to open them all up anyway. So, this time they won't be in baggies at all. If they get dirty, they can be wiped clean with a damp cloth...no harm done.

I have never been to this show. It's in McHenry, Illinois at Veteran's Memorial Park right in town. If any of you live in the area, come on by! Hopefully the fact that this is the 29th year for it means that people like it. I'm thinking of it as another learning adventure! We shall see.....

Counting Down...

My posts are going to be short and sweet this week as we enter the home stretch for my first craft show! Irv and I drove out to Woodstock yesterday to scope out my spot. It's really very nice for having been on the waiting list. The town square is so pretty with cobblestone streets, cute shops and the park right in the middle with a big gazebo. My spot is right across the sidewalk from the gazebo.

I called one of the organizers to ask a couple of questions and found out that people start entering the "staging area" oh, around 2:00 a.m. I had a feeling it was going to be like that. Can you imagine how nuts it must be when you try to get 350 crafters and their vehicles (probably 2 each) into 4 little town blocks? I don't know what time we are going to go sit, but it won't be 2:00 a.m. for sure.

Irv did an awesome job on the hanging dowel rods for my pillows. It's so nice to have a husband that is handy AND supports your efforts. He also made some great hanging foam board displays for my photos and cards.

When I asked the coordinator how busy the park area got during the show...the word "congested" came up. I was more looking for the words "crowded with shoppers."...but congested came up when we were talking about the activities that take place in the gazebo all day. Not sure my spot is going to be the best for sales, but it could be a lot of fun!

It's time to stuff more pillows! Have an awesome evening!

Trying To Smile

Well, Irv took my car in for an oil change this weekend. The guy there said my transmission was leaking. Irv took the car to our mechanic and he said it looked like it and to go to battle with Toyota. We are 2500 miles over our warranty. The car is leased and the lease in done in 3 months. He called Toyota and they said to bring it in...that the transmission would be under the 5 year warranty. Okay, so that was good news.

Toyota called today though and said it isn't the trans that's leaking, it's the power steering and now whatever I need will run $900. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? The guy told Irv he will talk to the boss when he comes in tomorrow and let us now what they can do for us.

What they can do is fix the darn thing for FREE! I am not spending $900 to repair something that shouldn't be breaking at 38,000 miles! UGH! Anyway, I am trying to be calm and wait to see what the guy says tomorrow. Then if it isn't the news we want to hear....Irv will be calling someone else at Toyota.

Then just as I am about to walk out the door at work, the place that I ordered my canopy for the craft show from calls. Sorry, the canopy you want is out of stock and we won't have them in until June! JUNE???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? The show is May 17th. They would be happy to sell me this other one that is actually a better canopy than the one I ordered for less money. Oh, really?? I went home and looked at it online. NOPE...it isn't better. I want the other one.

So, I found it somewhere else and ordered it. It says it's in stock, but I won't have it until the end of April or the beginning of May. That was not my plan. I wanted it early so we could practice setting it up and I could see if my lay out works. I am NOT happy, but I really am trying to be calm. Getting hysterical really won't fix my car or get me my canopy any sooner, so I'll deal with whatever happens.

It was a less than wonderful afternoon. Now I am about to start making the zillion pillows I cut out last night. Here is a sneak peek at some of the other ones I have finished that I probably won't be listing on etsy. I am really lovin' the pillow thing right now!

Breathe.....stay calm.....happy thoughts....smile.....go make some pillows. :)

Can I Do It All In 42 Days??

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I was reading the book, "Lost and Found". The book gets passed along from one person to another via our blogs. You can read about it here. Well, right now the book is on it's way to the UK to my blogging friend, Jam and Jerusalem. I'm hoping it makes it's way around Europe for a while and then finds it's way back to the USA!

I spent the entire day so far buying supplies that I will need to make things for Fair Diddley (my very first craft show) next month. It is very scary to me to spend that much money on things when I really have no clue if any of it will sell. Of course, I am hoping it will, but my understanding is that with craft shows, you just never know....they can even get rained out! I'm looking at it this way.....what doesn't sell at least can go into FourDogDay and MyOtherShop and also be used for the next show. It isn't like it will all just be sitting there.

We did price a tent though and that was a bit more than I am ready to invest, so I will be renting this time. If I do really well at this show, maybe I will buy one for the next show. Today I found a ton of candlesticks and three darling little plates at the Goodwill store to make cake stands with. I'm still on the lookout for more plates though. I bought some darling little cups and saucers to make a new thing with. I bought some boring ModPodge and sealer and about 8 different really awesome fabrics to make pillows. Yesterday I found a big piece of Waverly fabric at a resale shop for $1.00!! The pillows I make with that will kick butt! I also bought tons of ceramic tiles and sweet old Irv is in the garage right now sanding the rough edges down and cleaning them up for me.

So, as you can see...I have my work cut out for me. I have 42 days to make a ton of stuff and get it all packaged and priced!

Wrigley woke me up at 3:00 a.m. to go out and then I couldn't go back to sleep...I spent the next 3 hours sitting in bed with my paper, pencil and clipboard designing my booth for the show and making many, many lists! I came up with some fantastic ideas for the booth that I will share with you at a later date! One of the plans involves Irv dragging a very old and yukky bookshelf out of the very back corner of the garage that is full of gardening supplies right now....and turning it into a nice display piece for my booth! Poor Irv!

Have a wonderful rest of the day!