Lucky Me & The Little Things

I am currently procrastinating the things I dislike doing the most when I design products; pricing, naming, and describing them. I find every single time I need to do this I try my very hardest to delay, and delay doing it as long as I can possibly stand it. Especially so this time because there it a deadline attached to it. Deadlines are no fun whether you work for someone else or for yourself I tell you. As a matter of fact I think deadlines are better to achieve when you are working for someone since they will ask and ask you about it until you have it done. Now that I only have myself to answer to it’s only getting worse. I dream of the day that I can pay someone to do this for me. Last year I had really hoped that I would have at least one employee this season this year, but I decided to bite the bullet one more year and shoot for next, all though it’s more evident than ever that I seriously can’t do this by myself anymore.
Hmm, I suppose my time writing in this blog as a means to procrastinate is running out so I had better roll up my sleeves and get back to it. If only I was as creative in names and writing as I am in designing stuff this wouldn’t be an issue, but the fact alone that I ended up naming my company after my pet cat painfully proves that words are not my forte.

Man oh man I got through it all! The 4 shows in 2 weeks, the trip to Atlanta, The Handmade Market- and I am still alive. The trip to Atlanta was fun- though not terribly profitable. I made okay money at the show- but it ad been a pricey one to get into and with gas money, a place to stay, and some (great) eats I pretty much ended up breaking even. Wendy (from WPR jewelry) and I shared the ride, hotel and show booth to save $$, and I had a great time getting to know her better. The 6.5 hour drive both ways certainly didn’t feel like 6.5 hours as we were chatting the entire time about anything under the sun.
The hotel we stayed at was adorable, it was an old little building almost entirely still with original everything. It was located in a great part of town, near Virginia highlands and little five points, and it had probably 20 local restaurants in walking distance, not to mention the boutiques and shops- and that was only down one street!
The first day was pretty much all work and no play. Wendy picked me up at 5.30am and we drove straight down, as we arrived in Atlanta we had to navigate our way around two Peachtree streets before we found THE Peachtree that housed The Biltmore where the show was at. We went in, set up for about an hour and a half and then headed over to the hotel to check in and chill out for a few minutes. We then headed back out to the show to finish setting up, grabbing some Doc Greens on the way over (yum!). When we got back to set up we actually got a chance to admire the building that is The Biltmore. It was really pretty stunning- the room we were in looked like all the chandeliers, crown molding, columns and everything were stunning, there were all these cameo looking faces allover the tops of the walls and the ceilings (we were in “The Georgia Ballroom” look at it, isn’t it gorgeous!)). It looked like Wedgwood China up there!
The show ended at 10 pm, and after we finished packing and breaking down at about 11 we rolled into a kinda grungy 24 hour diner near the hotel, I had a good greasy burger Wendy had something from the breakfast menu and after that we collapsed in our beds.
The next morning we got a chance to walk around the neighborhood around the hotel a bit and explore. There were some great little neighborhoods right there that had giant oaks with the most incredible color fall leaves. Some went from green to yellow to orange to red all on the same tree! We found a apparently popular and great Thai restaurant and stuffed ourselves on their delicious foods before heading back out to Raleigh.

The Handmade Market was also incredible! As you can see in my previous post we got some great press in the Independent, and the day of the market- on Saturday we also got a blurb in the N&O. This and all out other hundreds of advertising efforts caused a line to form at the front doors before the market even opened! The fun continued when we noticed from our tallying sheet at the front door that in the first 40 minutes 140 people had already been counted. We had 250 goodie bags courtesy of the Little Black Book too that were GONE within 50 minutes. Needless to say our hard work advertising the Market had once again paid off and then some. I am still kind of buzzing from the excitement. We have already received a ton of incredibly great reports and feedback from our vendors, which is what counts! I regret not taking a lot of time this market to walk around and meeting all the vendors and checking out their goods. I ran in there a few times, but I was kinda rushed- so I only quickly chatted with a few of the vendors that I already knew, and then ran back out. Note to self- spend a good bit of time in the main vendor room next time!

I still have a few shows left before the holidays but they are all in town and I am not helping organize any of them so those are going to be a breeze. Now I am just plugging away at the spring jewelry collections again. I have finally finished designing the 4 collections, but now I have to time, price, describe and photo them, all in approximately 2 weeks- wish me luck!

Yup- that would be my mug in the papers too!! This may sound like boasting- but I haven’t felt this pretty since before I got pregnant (and that’s over 4 years ago!) So boast I will!! This whole article is great, it’s about us handmaidens to get the city ready for The Handmade Market! You can also find purdy pictures of fellow handmaiden Ileana and her lovely products.

THE HANDMADE MARKET: BECAUSE “MALL” IS A FOUR-LETTER WORD!
Saturday, November 11th :: 209 Oberlin Rd. Raleigh, NC :: 11am – 5pm
www.thehandmademarket.com

This holiday season, you have a choice. You can brave crowded parking lots and cranky cashiers to shop for cheesy, impersonal gifts at the mall, or you can shop for stylish, unique gifts in a relaxed, boutique atmosphere at Raleigh’s The
Handmade Market.

Featuring over 40 local and national artists, designers, and crafters, The Handmade Market is the Triangle’s biggest independent designer market. Come shop for holiday gifts, apparel, accessories, jewelry, kids and baby gear, paper goods, and so much more by talented vendors such as Pink Loves Brown, india*romeo, Lucky Accessories, Pear Threads, and The Handmaidens.

Join us on Saturday, November 11th from 11am – 5pm at Vintage 21. (209 Oberlin Rd in Raleigh, between Hillsborough St. and Cameron Village.) Free parking and free admission.

In addition to the holiday market, there also is a charity raffle to support the The Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC. Bring a canned food item or two for a chance to win a gift basket full of handcrafted items.

Once you experience the handcrafted goodness and easy shopping experience at The Handmade Market, we guarantee that you’ll agree that “mall” is a four-letter word!

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The Handmade Market is brought to you in part by The Handmaidens and BUST Magazine.