This is my 100th post! Yay for me!

Sunday I did the craft sale at St. James Civic Centre. I think it went well. I had a good time I made enough to go to Micheal's and get my punch for business cards. If my co-worker does indeed purchase my scarf like she has said she will then i will have enough to buy the stamp that I've been coveting off etsy...

I saw a lot of beautiful crafts that were being sold for way too little. It was sad. I wish crafters would realize the value of their work. I saw such a variety of items as well. Magnets and cards and clips and bags and hats and dolls and towels, the items people had went on and on. I was also amazed by how much stock people had for their tables. Dozens of hats and scarves and mitts all in different colours and styles. I learned the importance of business cards and having that variety in your stock. I also realize that craft shows are not the way to make money. All you want to do is spend all your profit! It took great self control not to run around and buy everything.

On the horizon I have some orders for dishcloths. 12 of them! Yes, 12!!! I'm going to get busy on those.

Weeee. I love picture posts.

these are my snowflakes. i adore them. initially they take longer to figure out how to make but eventually they do get easier. there is a lot of counting involved in them. six chains here and 8 chains there and single crochet into 4th chain from hook. lots to remember. The pattern has 10 snowflakes to make and i've been giving them all a whirl. there have been a couple that i haven't been able to figure out. picots confuse me apparently.

the instructions say to starch them. that seems like quite a bit of work, so i don't know if i want to do that and it seems quite 'grannyish' (not that i want to insult my grandma cause she always starches her crochet and it always looks gorgeous--i'm just not sure it's the route i want to take). i think they look perfectly adorable all soft and floppy. but maybe i'm the only one that sees that?

i am planning to make 1 snowflake for each of the children's church kids. there was 16 of the little buggers today! so i've got lots of crocheting to do! i would also like to make some for the craft show and some for christmas. the smaller easier ones i can make 2 or 3 in a night (i think). the bigger more complicated ones take longer. i think i could 1 of those in a night. i don't know if you can tell, but for some of them i've added these tiny little cream beads just to give it some sparkle. i love sparkle. :)


i took a picture of all the ones i've made so far. it's my group shot.

i'm feeling quite proud of myself today. i'm dead chuffed. chuffed indeed.

ps. in case anyone is wondering how i've upcycled these (or if i've upcycled them) the answer is: 1. the hook is handed down to me from my grandma and 2. i bought the thread at a used store.

pps. chuffed = british speak for pleased with yourself

i am going to learn how to cross stitch. hopefully. my good hitched friend, kathy is going to teach me while our children run around amok.

hopefully i'm not a lost cause. hopefully i can count. i got one that specifically says 'for beginners'. i hope they're not lying.

i've also been learning to crochet with thread and the tinniest hook you ever saw. it's slower and more complicated then i'm used to, but i'm definitely enjoying it. i've been making snowflake ornaments. i plan to sell them at my upcoming craft sale (sometime in october? maybe november? i should look into that) for like 2 or 3 bucks. they're super cute and i should take pictures of them. i'm even experimenting with adding beads into the crochet. that makes it even slower! but, i'm plugging along.

Well, I'm not a craft show virgin anymore...but I'm definitely not experienced.

The Bad News? I made 2 dollars profit. :(

The Good News? I paid for the table. I was able to buy a cool little purse thing for my crochet hooks. I got to hang out with Lorien all day. People liked my stuff. Everyone picked it up and talked to me about it. They thought it was cool. They thought it ingenious. They said it looked nice. They said it was sturdy. They just didn't quite like it enough to buy it. I got to talk to people about upcycling and repurposing items. I got to try.

I don't think my stuff is not quite craft show material (at least not the traditional craft show stuff). Most of the stuff is a big investment...something craft show buyers probably aren't prepared to make.

Lorien took pictures. Hope you enjoy.

I’m going to do my VERY FIRST craft sale in early May. I’m sharing the table with another crafter so the investment is minimal—only 10 dollars plus snacks.
Now the questions begin. What to sell? Should I be madly making more crafts? Should I be making different items? How should I price things? How should I display them? What should I use for a money box? What about getting across my upcycling without sounding horribly crunchy? What about business cards? How much change should I bring? Should I buy other crafters stuff? Should I even do this? *Gulp*

There I go. Over thinking again. It’s silly to get so worked up over a craft sale, huh?

I will definitely bring & am thinking of these prices:

• Mesh Bags (I have 3 of them I think)—$10
  


• Plarn Bags (I have 2 of them made—will work on more by May)—$15 to $20 (size dependant)
  


• Dishcloths (I have over a dozen of those)—$2 each or $5 for 3
  


• Scarves & Toques (I have a couple of these that I made. I know it’s the wrong season…but just in case I start running out of product I’ll bring them)—between $15 to $20 (again size dependent)
  

I definitely want to bring more stuff at a variety of price points. However, the goal (as always) is to destash. I have so much thread that I have promised myself that I won’t buy anymore until I use it all (although that is not stopping me from taking free sweaters to unravel)

Things I am thinking of making to sell provided I can find nice patterns:

• Slippers - http://www.craftown.com/crochet/pat1.htm
  http://stashaholic.com/2005/03/03/finally--something-for-me.aspx?62ab45d0
  


• Baby Booties - http://my-pattern.blogspot.com/2007/07/baby-flower-sock.html
  http://megan.cc/BooteeDaisy/
  


• Summer hats (but I don’t have any cotton so they would be in acrylic…which would give them a wintry feel)
  


• Tea Cosies
  


• Fruit Sweaters
  

Really, I just hope to break even.

If anyone has display advice or pricing advice or any kind of craft sale advice I’m all ears.

Cheers!