Finally Participated In A Craft Show.....sort of

So, after agonizing a lot over whether or not to sign up for a craft show, I bit the bullet, squashed my fears and signed up for a Holiday Boutique.  I feverishly crafted away just to have enough stuff to fill up a table.  So, I ended up having a decent about of things to sell, but I still felt that I should have had more.  So, this experience was not financially successful.  Not because people did not like my things, but because NO ONE CAME!  In my mind, when you pay for a booth part of what a vendor should be able to expect is that the person organizing the event would also Market the event.  I think that the only people that actually came were friend/family members of the organizer.  

Now, I have to say that this girl put on an awesome, very well done event.  The space was great, the food provided was great, she made sure that she had a variety of vendors. She even had a great DJ. She had swag bags for the first 50 people to come in and several raffles throughout our time there.  

What she did not have  was customers.  I am sure she still had many swag bags left over.  

What I learned:

1. This was a Holiday Boutique, not a craft fair.  So, I was basically the only crafter there.  There were some folks with handmade jewelry. But other than that, there was MaryKay, Scentsy, Gold Canyon, Bedroom Kandi, etc.  I sort of did not fit in.  If there had been a crowd, they might not have been interested in my handcrafted items. So, if I do this again,  I will look for an event that is marketed well and marketed to people who are interested in handcrafted items. 

2. I learned that people who do craft shows/holiday boutiques, work really hard to get ready for them.  Its tough when you are a vendor of ready made items. Its even more challenging if you are a maker.  I worked hard to create my inventory and still feel that I did not have enough.  If you are a maker and work full time, it can take a while to build up enough inventory to sell at a fair.  So, I might stick to taking orders from people.






3.  If I do this again, I won't do a first time event.  And if I do,  the booth fee will have to be very low.  I think I will look for an actual craft fair with a track record of attendance.  You can have great stuff and great prices but if no one comes.........
Overall, I am glad I did it.  I had my business cards and passed out a lot of them so if nothing else, I got my name out there. And I learned a lot.  So, I guess I will consider my booth fee as an educational investment!

Finished Newspaper!!!

Done!  After 2 years!  

I started this quilt sometime in 2012.  Then, In 2013 I was so into papercrafting that I did no quilting. But I decided that this is the year to finish up some UFO's from 2012.  This is the first finish!   I made the middle portion by doing the jelly roll race pattern technique, except that I did not have a jelly roll.  I used various fat quarters and some yardage that I collected and then cut them cut them in 2.5 inch strips, with differing lengths and then  went from there.  

For more info on the Jelly Roll Race Quilt Pattern, go here:

Since this ends up as a lap size quilt I bordered it with rail fence blocks because I wanted  a queen sized quilt.  I them bordered that with a white on white print and finished it off with floral print in black, white and red.  I backed it with flannel because I just love the feel of it against my skin. This quilt is huge but I quilted it myself on a tiny little machine.  I am a novice so my quilting/piecing will not win any prizes anytime soon but I just love it!  

I had so much fabric left over so I just decided to go with a scrappy binding.  I like how it turned out as well.

The Scrappy Binding is pictured here:

I am on a roll!  I already began quilting my next UFO so hopefully I will have another finish soon.  Its not as big as this one but its not small either.  Looking forward to more 2014 finishes!

Closing in on a Finish!

I currently have 4 quilts at various stages of completion. Most of them were started in 2012 or earlier. At the beginning of 2014 I decided that I will complete each of them this year. I started with the biggest one. I call it Kim's News Paper because it's black and white and red all over! I believe I got it sandwiched late last year and started the quilting in January and finished it in early March. Over the last two days I made the binding!

Now on to the trimming! And binding!

Sandy over at Quilting for the Rest of US is having a 2014 Quilty Resolutions Check in and there are prizes to be had! So I am linking up over there!  Join in the fun! 

Also Linked up at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday. Check out what everyone is up to!!

Another finish!

This was fun to make and very easy!

I started the Minion last FridayI believe and finished it up a week later.  The hat I started on Wednesday and finished on Friday. Easy and fun to make.  Someone commented on my Piggy post and said that its easy to get addicted to making little amigarumi items and she was right!  I am already on to the next project.  

The pattern for the minion can be found here:

Large Plush Minion

The hat pattern was also free and found on Ravelry here:

Minion Hat Pattern

My next Little Project can be found here: 

Free Bunny Pattern

And today I am linking up here:

Craft-O-Maniac

Show Me What Ya Got

Crafty Weekend

Saturday was a great day! First of all the weather was fabulous. The sun was bright and it was nice and warm outside. I think if that was the only good thing about Saturday, it would have been enough. However, there were many more blessings! First I had a potluck breakfast with some of my best girlfriends from church:

Then my son started T-ball and his first game was Saturday.  Definitely a proud Mommy moment!





Then I attended this month's Craft Meetup.  I was so productive.  I totally focused on quilting this big quilt.  I live in a small two bedroom apartment and my kid has tons of toys. So, quilting this quilt had been taking a while.  So, I dedicated the entire 4 hours of the meetup to quilting this baby and I finished!  Now its ready for binding.  So excited.  And do you see this little machine?  I bought this machine on HSN several years ago and NEVER used it until this year!  Its called the Quilting Machine by White.  It comes in a case and part of the case doubles as a table which helps you to make the machine into a flat bed. Previously I was using this machine in my sewing table which attempts to do the same thing.  I have to tell you, I was sleep on this machine.  When I used it as it was meant to be used, the quilting was much easier.  Its a small machine with a very small harp area.  But with that table attached, the quilt was so easy to manipulate. Plus, as you can see from my picture, I had a whole table to myself! So the table held the weight of the quilt and made it much easier on my body.  I must figure out how to make this happen at home!

I am very new to free motion quilting and will not be winning any prizes anytime soon (many many mistakes), but I am so proud of myself for going for it!  Check out the quilting! I am trying to learn how to do swirlies!

In addition,  I did finish the project from last week!   My little guy named her Pinky Daisy Dot!

All around great weekend.  I realized that crafting is the thing I would do all day and be happy even if I never make any money from it.  I just love making!  I was happy all weekend because of the time I spent making stuff.  Looking forward to more days like this one.  And if I could figure out how to make a little change from it, that would be awesome!

I linked up here Craft-O-Maniac. Hop over there and see all the crafty coolness people are up to this week!
I also linked up here: Show Me What You Got!

Pretty Pink Piggy! WIP Wednesday!

This is my first crocheted toy!  She is still a wip as I still need to make another ear as well as the curly tail and then sew them all on. So much fun and very easy to make. The pattern is from a book of farm animals and I just might try to do them all!  This one will be included with the previously posted baby dress as a shower gift. I just have to make a hat to go with the dress and it will be complete and ready for delivery! I am also working on quilting my quilt and will hopefully have a quilty finish this month as well.

First Crafty finish of 2014!

This sweet little dress for a friend having her first baby. Since March is national Crochet Month, this is the perfect thing to give her. I am planning on a matching hat and a little pink piggy as well. If  I have time I will do booties as well. The baby is due on March 21. Let's see if I make it!! I am going to link up with a few crafty linky parties today! Check out what folks are crafting today here:


Craft-O_Maniac

That DIY Party Time!

Happy New Year!

2014 has begun and I have declared this the year of the Quilt!  Last year was the year of Crochet and Paper Crafting.  I am itching to get at my sewing machine again.  I have about 4 quilts in various stages of progress that I want to finish and then I want to do some new ones this year.  

But first, I am proud to say that I managed to pull off handmade holiday gifting this year. I have wanted to do this for a while now and every year I think about it too late in the game.  It was tight this year also but I did it.

  1. this pic is of everything I made all packaged up

2. These are my from scratch salted caramels. That's whats in the tins.


3. The menfolk each got a beanie.

4. The ladies got either a hat, scarf or both!



My son and I made the gingerbread house from a kit this year. Much easier than me trying to bake all the parts.


My family in our crochet Santa Hats on Christmas Day!

This was a great holiday season.  We did a lot and enjoyed every minute of it.  This year I hope to do more sewing and blogging about sewing and crafting!  

Until next time!