My Shop is Open Again

I took a bit of time to get organized and I am back with some changes. I took some time to look at my goals:

* Adopt a baby
* Save Money
* Build a successful business
* Be a better friend
* Workout & Get Healthy
* Go To Festivals

I have just listed the ones that really pop into my mind. In order to accomplish everything I want I have decided to take my business to part time. What does this really mean for the business? Well I will list things as I make them, though I probably won't have a lot of inventory all the time. I won't be doing as many custom orders. The custom orders that I do will have time limits that work for me. My clubs will now run quarterly. The next club is from March - May and it is already full. I will list the June - August club for sale in mid April and I will only have so many slots available.

Setting better limits to my business will help me be able to improve the quality and timeliness of what I make and send out. In addition to Batts, Roving, and Yarn I now have Bags, and Stitch markers in my shop. More sewn and hand made items will be added as I decide what I want to make and carry. I also plan on having a portion of profits go to the Adoption Fund. I am planning on having certain items in the shop whose profits go only to the adoption fun. To even begin the process we need to raise $5000 to start the contract with the adoption agency. We plan on using Angel Adoption. To help raise the money we have also started a GoFundMe page. If you want to help us with adoption costs you can donate money, link to my page, help fill my baby hope chest, or buy from my shop. Any help is appreciated.

I have some pretty good ideas about how this year will go business wise and personal wise. We are working towards our goals as we can. To help build my business I plan on continuing to create the best products that I can. I also plan to go to Fiber Festivals and to be more proactive online. I have several new and fun threads in my Ravelry group to help it become more active. I also have 2 fiber festivals lined up already. I plan on going to the Fiber and Music Festival on May 12-13 in Charlestown, IN. I will also be going to the Wine & Wool Festival at Sandhill Crane Vineyards on July 28th in Jackson, MI. There will probably be more added but for now this is what I have. Thanks for reading!

Anywhere near Bowling Green, KY? Come to a Ravelry meet up!

So you all know that I am vending at a Quilt Festival on Nov 4 & 5 right? Well I was just told to day that it may be a bit slow on Friday and that there will be plenty of space. My thoughts are to turn the quilt show into an impromptu Ravelry meet up! So if you are anywhere near Bowling Green, KY I hope you will consider grabbing a chair and coming to hang out. I think it would be amazing to have people come to the quilt show to see a bunch of us knitting, spinning or what ever craft you want to do hanging out in the vending hall! The Quilt show is at the WKU Museum from 9:30-3:30 Central time. If you need any directions or have any questions let me know. For all who show up even to just hang out for a bit I will be entering all you your names for a drawing for something of your choice from my shop. If you are not nearby but know of someone who is that may enjoy hanging out please forward this along! I hope to see you all there! I will have my drum carder and drop spindle!

Nov 4 & 5 I will be at WKU in Bowling Green, KY vending at the Quilt Show

This weekend, Nov 4th & 5th I will be at WKU in the Garden Gallery of the Museum vending and doing a presentation. The WKU Museum is located at 1444 Kentucky St, Bowling Green, KY 42101. I will be vending from 9:30am-3:30pm both Friday and Saturday. My presentation will be Friday Nov 4th, at my booth from 10:30-11:30am. It is called "Turning Inspiration into Color" and I will have examples of inspirations and how I translate them into my colorways in Batts, Combed Top, Roving, and Yarn. I had wanted to do fabric as well since it is a quilt show but I ran out of time. Can you believe that what with my amazing time management skills? I can here the laughs now!

This is an early show so come on down and visit then have your night free to do something fun! Also if you are anywhere near Bowling Green or if you know someone who is I would love to see you at the show! Friendly faces are always welcome. I am hoping that people might bring a chair and sit and knit or spin awhile too! I am also bringing my drum carder to the show and I will have my new "Batt in a Bag". These are for anyone who has a carder and wants to make a cool batt with out having to buy pounds of stuff to get the few colors they want. They are also great for felters or even those who like to knit with roving. I will start having these in the shop after the festival this weekend. Batt in a Bag will have any of the following: Roving, Firestar, Angelina, Silk, Silk Noil, Tencel Neps, Bamboo, Locks, etc.. All bags will have 4oz of mixed fiber. I am happy to assist you in layering the roving so that when you get home all you have to do is fluff it out and card it up!

I wanted to also mention that I have had a great time at my first 2 festivals. I was at the Southern Indiana Fiber Arts Festival and met some lovely people! I gave one of my SW Sock Yarns in the colorway "Ariel Wears a Ball Gown" away as a door prize. I look forward to going again next year! I was also at Fiber in the Boro just this past weekend. It was a really great experience and I got to see some friends and meet some people from online! I hope to see everyone again next year! Maybe after the festival we can all plan to go out and eat and talk!

2 weeks until my 1st Fiber Festival (PANIC)

As the days are counting down now to my 1st fiber festival I will be vending at Panic (yes with a capital P) has started to set in! I will be vending at the Southern Indiana Fiber Arts Festival on October 14-15, Friday 1-7, Saturday 9-5. The festival is being held at Harrison County Fairgrounds, 341 South Capitol Avenue, Corydon, IN. I would love for anyone who can to come and say hello. I think I will be there alone and this is a bit of a scary thought for me so I am hoping to at least get to talk to some friendly people! Also will there be anyone else who is a Phatfiber Sampler Box participant (contributor or buyer) there? I should have some Phatfiber cards to give out if I can find them! Mainly I would love to know how you found me!

I have been working on what I am taking with me (though this past week I have not felt well so I did not get much done.. really I am ready to upgrade my body to the new improved model *grin* but I don't think its happening any time soon) and I am slowly getting it all ready. I will be taking batts (smooth, luxury, and chunky), combed top/roving, hand dyed yarn, and a few of my left over silk hankies. I will be getting supplies later this month to restock silk hankies for hopefully the next festival. I have also decided that I will be bringing some small project bags to make kits. I am thinking something like choose your bag & yarn or fiber with a discount for buying both. I guess they would also be for sale on their own but I am not sure how well they would go over. People in my group on Ravelry seem to like them so I will give them a try and see.

I will be staying with a friend in Louisville for the festival because its within driving distance for me. My RV broke down so now all trips will have to have some sort of staying arrangements. Lucky for me for I have a friend to stay with for my 1st & 2nd festivals. The 4th festival in Dec I will be sharing a hotel with some other vendors who are friends so that is great. I still have to figure out something for Nov 4 &5 in Bowling Green but I am sure I will find something!

I am also getting together things like receipt books for sales and for preorders, Business cards, Some sort of Signage so you all can find me, Labels for everything, Visa/Mastercard sign so you all know I can take a credit card payment, the phone jack that lets me take credit card payments, table, chair, stuff to set up.. The list seems to grow but it will be fun I think. If you are thinking of coming and wondering what payments I will be able to take, I will tell you that I will take cash, check, credit cards, and small children left in the booth unattended! I hope to make it as easy as I can on myself and anyone wanting to buy something. I am not sure about bags though.. I never got any and don't really know if I want them. Any thoughts here? That is about all I have for today!

What should I bring to my fiber festivals?

I am preparing for 4 year end fiber festivals. I have some ideas for what I want to bring but I would also like to ask you all. If you were going to my booth at a fiber festival what would you hope to see there? What should I have in my booth? If you have been a vendor at a festival what did you forget to bring that you wish you had? I would love any thoughts, insights or advice! Thanks!

Here is a list of festivals I will be attending:

Southern Indiana Fiber Arts Festival on October 14-15, Friday 1-7, Saturday 9-5 The festival is being held at Harrison County Fairgrounds, 341 South Capitol Avenue, Corydon, IN.

Fiber in the ‘Boro on Sat October 29, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The address is Lane Agricultural Center, 315 John R Rice Blvd, Murfreesboro, TN. I will be sharing a table with jessecreations of Storied Yarns and cmarie14 of Mulberry Fibers so come and see us!

Western KY University’s Kentucky Museum on Nov 4-5 in Bowling Green, KY. There is a really cool Quilt show running from Oct 21 - Dec 10. and I will be vending there and putting on a program on Nov 4th!

Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza on Dec 2-3. I will have batts, roving, yarn -- all the usual suspects so if you leave nearish come and say hello! It will be at the Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs, Arkansas.