Cross Stitch Results

Ya'll might remember me telling you here that I was taking up Cross Stitch for the first time. Well, I kept going with until Christmas happened. I managed to do quite a few little things before then and below are some pictures of them. 

Somehow, I miscounted when I tried to do the swag

And miscounted AGAIN on the top swag. One of these, oh one of these days.

The patterns that didn't come from kits came from Pinterest, no surprise right? Well, I was surprised at how many Cross Stitch patterns there are on Pintrest and plenty of ways to use the finished products. 

Link

I'm thinking of doing some necklaces like the one above.

Thanks for coming by and have a great day. 

Some Beaded Bracelets

After I made the bracelet's for our dear family friend Debbie, see here, I got in a bit of a bracelet making kick. I've had tons of seed beads and all sorts of other beads FOREVER and I figured now would be the best time to FINALLY use them. I went on such a kick I think I made nearly 3 dozen in one day. Granted, while they're not spectacular, they're still something.

I'll probably make some earrings to go with them in the near future. You can expect to see more soon.

Thanks for coming by and have a great day.

Bling Bracelets

One of our dearest family friends, Debbie Warren, came to me one day and asked for my help making some jewelry. 

She's what we like to call a Mary Kay Lady. Her proper term is Mary Kay Sales Director. If you're in the North Georgia area and would like an incredible Mary Kay Lady or if you want to join Mary Kay with a Lady who has been so successful she got a car in 1 MONTH, here's her webpage. 

As a director, she was invited to participate in a bracelet making party. She loved the bracelet she made so much she wanted to make more like it. Of course, she's so busy being a director, she doesn't have time to make them herself. Thus, I come in. 

She bought some strings of beads at JoAnn's on sale, (Woo! Go saving!) and some beading elastic. She gave them to me and I went at it. At first, I wasn't very crazy about them. They were too 'blingy' for me. If you know me, that probably seems crazy seeing as how I'm not of slight stature or anything. 

Below are some of the bracelets I strung up for her:

I also made a couple of pairs of earrings to match:

She was so excited when they were done and so was I. They've really started to grow on me in terms of the amount of 'Bling.'

Mary Kay is a great company. They do so much for their employees, after all, what was the color of the last car your company gave you? ;) They also do so much with different charities, they really do Enrich Women's Lives. Debbie is also a great person that has really been able to make Mary Kay work for her. You can be sure she will do her best to take care of all your Mary Kay needs.

Thanks for coming by and have a great day.

The New Year

And here it is! 2013! 

I don't know about you but 2012 has been a huge year for me and I know 2013 is going to be even bigger.

I've been trying new things and can't wait to show them to you. I also have plenty of things planned that I also can't wait to show you. In the mean time, here are some teasers.

Thanks for coming by and have a great New Year!

Goin' Old School

I was perusing through some of my favorite blogs and on Pinterest and I kept seeing the same thing.

Cross Stitch.

The first thing I couldn't help but think was, "My mom and Grandmother used to do that." Therefore, I kinda just shrugged my shoulders and went on. But then, I saw some really pretty and really cute ones and I began to change my mind a little. 

I already had my Grandmother's and Mother's stashes of embroidery floss as well as some of of my own. It was a match made in heaven.

I went to my local JoAnn's and they had these little 'My First Stitch' kits and some other little kits. I grabbed a MFS and another kit and headed to checkout. 

(Side Story)

We all know that I like LOVE to save money. I knew one of the kits was on sale and the other was a dollar. Not too expensive to begin with but, I'll always take what I can get. Back in the summer, JoAnn's had a discount card for students. It was something along the lines of 10 or 15% of you regular and sale purchase. It expired some time in August and I was so sad but, all good things must come to an end. 

I was at Plato's Closet a couple of days before I went to JoAnn's. They had a piece of paper taped to the counter that said when a customer showed their college ID, they got a discount. I could not believe I didn't realize that sooner. That got me thinking about all the places that can and do give discounts to college students. 

Back to JoAnn's, when I was checking out with my Cross Stitch kits, I asked the cashier if they had a discount program for college students. She asked to see my ID, grabbed a form, asked me to fill out a form and gave me a card that is good for 10% off regular, sale, AND CLEARANCE purchases, AND it's good until next year. 

WHOOHOOO!!!!

Since then, literally everywhere I go, I ask if they have discounts for college students. I was at a thrift store and asked and the lady said even though they didn't, she'd give me one anyway!

Moral of the Story: It never hurts to ask. All they can say is no.
(End of Side Story)

I started on the MFS kit and quickly worked through most of the pattern. I soon found a pattern online and used the material from the other kit to complete it.



Even with all the great patterns on the Internet and Pinterest, I couldn't find a pattern of an Owl. (Another little fact about myself, I LOVE Owls). I was perusing the embroidery section of Wal-Mart and I saw the perfect thing. A MFS Owl kit.


I wasn't crazy about the color combinations or the pattern on the stomach so I went my own way. Maybe that's a sign that I'm getting good?! ;)

I most certainly plan on pursuing this but, don't really foresee buying any more kits. Goodness knows, I have plenty of my own string I can use.

Thanks for coming by and have a Great day.

Second Time Around

Dec 1, I did my second Craft Show. I felt a lot more confident going into this one, being my second time around.

This show was part of the Lighting of the Oaks program at Lanier Charter Career Academy at the Oaks in Oakwood, Georgia. Also a part of the program were performances by various groups, a Creative Christmas Tree Contest, a Gingerbread House Contest, a silent auction, and, of course, The Lighting of the Oaks.

This time my Mom and I went in together 50-50. She was selling Christmas bows while I sold my usual wares. 

I had actually set up some of my merchandise in the student run Gift Shop there. For the show, I simply moved them down the hall and set them up on my tables. 

This time was oh so different than my first Craft Show. 

There were people coming in and looking around while most of us vendors were still setting up. This really irritated me because I didn't have everything out and if they didn't see something they liked then, they would have no reason to come back and see the rest of my merchandise. It was just really unfair to everyone involved. 

Speaking of unfair things, as a performer myself, I felt uglier than pooting in church, talking and carrying on while all the different groups were singing. We were all in the same room with the performers and audience on one informal side and the Craft Show on the other informal side

I felt like there were a lot more people at this show than at my last one but, no one was buying. They said all my stuff was cute and neat and such a great idea but never bought. My Mom brought to my attention that most of the people coming through were probably the parents of those who were performing and probably didn't know that there was going to be a Craft Show going on. Needless to say, they wouldn't be prepared to spend money on all of our wonderful products.

I also REALLY disliked the set up of the tables in the space. They were basically set up in L's. We chose an L in the middle of the room. We thought we could get some good traffic this way but I soon found that I had my back to customers a good deal. I would follow my customers as they went around the table then back around as another customer came by. I spent the whole night going in circles. 

Despite all these issues/problems/concerns, we broke even and profited a tiny bit monetarily. I say it like that because another vendor told me about another show in Cornelia that takes place for three days, two weekends in a row, $30 for all six days. I feel like this show could be a really good fit and could do well for me. 

As I have said before, God takes care of his children. In more ways than one. 

My First TIme

Have no fear everybody. This is PG-13. I'm talking about my first craft show.

It all started when my Mom and I were at a Creative Memories representative's Open House. We were hanging out and she was telling us about all the other things she was doing and she mentioned she was holding a Craft Show the following weekend. I asked her to put me on the mailing for next time since I would have loved to participate. She looked up at me and said, "Well, do you want to do it next weekend?" I was so taken aback, my first response was 'no, thank you though.'

We went home and I started thinking about the Craft Show and my schedule and I began to realize, 'I can do this.' I emailed the representative and asked if it was too late for me to enter the show and if there was enough room for me. She said to come on down.

I got all my inventory together and started putting together my displays. 

Once I got all my displays done, I was so tired of looking at everything and working with it and, oh gosh. If it wasn't for my Mom who helped me so much and kept me going, I'm not that sure things would have been a good as they were.

We loaded up our Jeep the night before so, the next morning, we were ready to go. Our host allowed us to start setting up at 8 and that was when we were there. We got set up quickly enough and then it was a waiting game until the show 'officially' opened.

Things started SO SLOW. Oh my goodness, it was pitiful. I sold just a couple of things and was getting discouraged. My Mom tried to keep my spirits up and said, "Things will pick up after lunch." I kept that in mind and kept going. It wasn't long though until I got really discouraged.

I went to bathroom and nearly started to cry. At the rate I was going, I wasn't even going to be able to make up my $15 entrance fee. $15. I reminded myself, though, God takes care of his children, no matter how it turned out, it would be what was right for me.

I went back to selling and the lady selling next to me made a $15 purchase. I went from not even breaking even to making a profit. I was so ecstatic. Words can't even describe. I still get chills and funny feelings thinking about it. I now know that God heard me and worked through the lady selling next to me. The next purchase was $37. The most I have ever, ever sold.

Right before we closed up, I made one last sale giving a total of $60 in sales, $45 in profit. Considering my products, that's REALLY good.

Lucky for me, the other participants of the Craft Show were really supportive and helpful. They gave me lots of advice about my displays and pricing.

LESSONS LEARNED

I was so focused on getting my inventory together, I didn't think twice about promoting the event and promotion is half the battle.

My displays weren't the best they could have been when it came to my necklaces. One lady, that was also selling, pointed out if I turned the display 90 degrees, I would have more room. (Lightbulb goes off.)

Most of my product are for late teens and young women. While this particular age group  was not part of the population that came to the show, their parents were. The $37 purchase was made by our host and her sister as gifts for daughters and nieces. All of this means that you don't always have to sell your target market. You can also target those who would give them to your target market as gifts.  Oh Goodness, my fashion marketing class was really worth something.

Another thing about the $37 purchase was that a deciding factor in what the two ladies bought had to do with the recipients' school colors. I had heard before that I should make things in school colors but, this reinforced the idea. If I was doing a show in Forsyth County, then I could look up the schools in that area and their colors and make inventory for that area.

One thing I really wish I was is more outgoing. I saw a little girl, less than 18 months, coming over with her Mom. I knew I had a bracelet that would match her outfit perfectly I showed it to the little girl and tied it on her. (Good gosh she was so adorable.) She liked it so much, I gave her Mom a discount and made a sale. My point with all of this being, if I had done something similar with everyone who walked over, my sales would have tripled, meaning, I have GOT to work on my people skills.

One of the last things I learned was that, if you can, wear what you make. If you don't seem to like what you make, why should anyone else? By the end of the show, I was wearing one of my t-shirt scarves to show one it's unique feature of going through itself instead of having to tie a knot. You are your own best advertising.

With all these things in mind, I can't wait to go to another show. I'm beginning to think that maybe this is really what God wants me to do, and I couldn't be more excited.