Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pittsboro First Sunday - May 3rd

I just wanted to share a picture of my front yard. It has been beautiful here in North Carolina!
Yesterday I had a black and blue butterfly land on my hand and stay there for 20 mins.
This is my first Spring not living in an apartment and I am loving every bit of it!

I wanted to remind everyone that I will be at the handmade craft show in Pittsboro this weekend. It's called First Sunday and it's on May 3rd from 12:00 to 4:00!

http://www.pittsboroshops.com/FirstSunday.htm

See you there!
Kate


Sunday, April 26, 2009

Lesson Learned



I spent a long day yesterday at the Raleigh Flea Market.

Lesson : Choose your venue wisely!

I was told by a number of local people that the Raleigh Flea Market would be a great place for me to sell my pendants. I decided to go there and see how it would work out. I have never been there before just to shop around so I really had no idea what kinda stuff was being sold and at what prices ranges.
That was a big mistake!
In the future I will definitely go to a venue first as a shopper before getting up at 4:00 am to be able to be a vendor. The customers were not looking for hand made unique items at all. They were all looking for something dirt cheep. I can understand that, but after all the hard work making something, I wasn't ready to lower my prices. I did get some nice comments and I made sure a bunch of people took my card but I had ZERO sales. That is disappointing after working so hard all day.
The booth wasn't too expensive so the financial loss wasn't that bad but in the future I am going to make sure that the venues I choose are the perfect fit for me.


On a good note:
I think all the cards did do me some good! I had more visitors to my Etsy yesterday than normal.

Have a great week!

Kate






Saturday, April 25, 2009

Raleigh Flea Market


Hi there peoples!

I will be at the Raleigh Flea Market today selling my jewelry.
I have put my Etsy shop on vacation mode just for today. That's why you probably see a big white empty square on the right side of my page.
Sorry about that.
I will be back tonight around 9:00 pm eastern time.

Have a great Saturday!
Kate

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Garden and Etsy stock


I have been very busy the past couple of weeks. As many of you know, I was laid off from my job almost two months ago now and I have been trying to create as much as I can during this rare time without work.
I planted a garden last week and just this morning the lettuce is peaking through the soil. YEA! The two tomato plants that you see I bought from a local farmer. They were already started so I can have some early tomatoes. One plant already has a tomato! The big pole that you see in the picture above is going to be a pea tee pee. I have planted peas around the bottom and then I'm going to run string to the top of the pole so they have something to climb on.
I will post pictures through out the summer as the garden grows.
I have planted string beans, cucumbers, green peppers, red peppers, lettuce, broccoli, peas, onions, basil, and tomatoes.

Art Update:
I was speaking with people on
Etsy this past week regarding how much stock I should carry in my shop. They convinced me that the more the better, so I have been working like crazy to get a bunch of pendants made. I am putting the resin coating on today, as you can see in the picture above. I will start posting them in my shop a couple per day starting the end of the week.

Have a great day!
Kate

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

New Jewelry has Arrived!

Picture of me working on the resin coating process.
Here is one of my favorites.

Hi everybody! I have been working on the designs and process to make these necklaces for about a month now.
This necklace is made on a piece of hardened leather, with hand painting and a pen and ink design. Then when all of the extra hand painting is finished on the surface, I coat the front in resin for a durable and glistening finish.
Please check out the link on the right side of the page.
I have a many colors and designs posted on Etsy.

So, I went to my old job yesterday to throw ideas off of them and get some constructive criticism. I got some really helpful input which is just great when you make something new.
They also surprised me by buying a total of 6 of them from me.
Thanks Guys! You really made my day.

I will be getting a table in Pittsboro the first Sunday in May so if you are local and can swing by I would love to see you!

Kate