Weekly Inspiration

I like the overall calm feel of this and the way the background goes so well with the colors of the vase. It's like it's all underwater.

vase turq4, originally uploaded by ClaycrazyPottery.

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Making a Schedule (and hopefully keeping it)

This post is about something I'm not very good at: making a schedule. I've been doing okay with this blog but I did miss Monday's post this week is a good example of this.

I've decided on using Google Calendar for a couple reasons, one is that since it's web based I can access it from both of my computers. The other reason is that there is a firefox extension called Google Calendar Notifier that will pop up reminders of my events for me and since I've got firefox open most of the day this is a good idea.

So why the schedule?

Well if you are good at remembering to do things you may not need one but if you have a lot to do, a less than stellar memory, or are easily distractable (my problem) you need one. I've avoided doing a formal schedule for a while because I don't like them but as Noadi's Art has grown it's become clear to me that like it or not I need one.

What sort of things are going on my schedule?

Posting for the Handmade Business Blog has entries for the 3 posts I do each week, art shows, etc. Stuff like that is pretty obvious. A few less obvious things are scheduling a day for contacting blogs about featuring my work, times for Etsy Virtual Labs chats that I'd like to attend, goals that I want to achieve like maybe X number of sales.



Sorry this was a bit of a short post this week, I'm having a bit of writer's block lately. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment in the Suggestions thread.

Weekly Inspiration

I really like the combination of textures here with the book and dried plants.

Vintage, originally uploaded by DaliDesigns.

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Some Great Videos

Next week things will be back to normal with posting because I will be done with art shows for a bit. Since I don't have time to write a long post this week I pulled up a few great videos from YouTube.

Quick Tip #9 - Bracelet Display

This is something I did just on a whim this weekend at the art show. I draped a couple of my bracelets over large sea shells and it really looked amazing.

Weekly Inspiration

A day early this week so I can spend tomorrow packing up for my art show.

I like the softness of the photo with the cute packaging. The ribbons are such a great touch.

Sample Packaging, originally uploaded by Genevive_Too.

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Some Craft Show Tips

Just a short post today, I'm preparing to do two art fairs in two weeks so I'm incredibly busy. Since I'm working on the show preparations I thought I'd share some ideas to make shows go smoother.

• If you're selling jewelry or other wearables have a mirror handy, people want to see how something will look on them.
• Prepare your packaging ahead of time. I've pre-filled paper bags with my brochure and a business card, the fabric gift bags I use all have a little bit of tulle stuffed inside, and I have pieces of bubblewrap cut to the sizes I use most. I can pack up a sale in just a few seconds.
  
• Have a full cooler of stuff to eat and drink, especially lots of fluids so you don't get dehydrated on a hot day.
• Do a test run setting up your display, take your time to work out the details so the day of the show you can set up quickly.
• Take note of important locations for your own use and to give directions. Bathrooms of course, also the location of the organizers, food vendors, and the nearest ATM. Hopefully you won't need them but also find out where security and/or medical personnel are.
• If the show is likely to have parents with children in tow, consider having some small items like bookmarks for $1 that kids can buy for themselves. You won't make much money off them but it's worth it for the smiles.