Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work day @ The Renton Spring Festival

I did the Renton Spring Festival on Saturday. Last year, after I found my handmade one-of-a-kind items  amidst the likes of Mary Kay and Cookie Lee, I swore I'd never do it again. But this year I heard it would be different - handmade and fair trade only - so I decided to give it one more chance. I'm glad I did.

In the past, I would spend weeks frantically  making things before craft shows. This time, I didn't make anything. Not because I'm lazy, but because I'm busy doing other things that are suddenly more important to me. McKenna was on a bracelet-making kick though, so I set her up with a pile of pipe cleaners and my container of beads and let her have at it. She made 24 bracelets.  I told her she could set up a table in my booth and sell them.

"For money?" she asked.

"Yep." I said.

"And what can I do with the money?"

"Whatever you want."

She thought this was a fine idea and promised to be well-behaved and helpful and no whining or interrupting me when I'm talking to customers. She's always been too young to have with me at craft shows all day before. But we thought we'd try it. She decide to name her jewelry line McKennaMade and charge $2 per bracelet.

Friday night came and rather than meticulously prepare, I opted to have dinner with my ladyfriends, then came home and packed the car with everything I could think of that was kokoleo or a way to display a kokoleo. This was all done around 2 in the morning.

7:42 a.m. I woke up and went back to sleep.

8:54 a.m. woke up again. Showered, hair, make-up, dressed myself and McKenna.

Ack!  My phone was only half charged. I needed a fully charged phone for this. So I plugged it in and make a cup of coffee and ran around the house getting last minute items, twiddled my thumbs and then...

9:59 a.m. We were out the door.

Ack! I had no money.

10:11 a.m. I'm at the BECU machine. I withdrew $40.  Ack! I needed ones!

10:24 a.m. I'm at McDonald's. I'm not hungry, so all I order is an iced tea, unsweetened. I pay with a $20 and ask for all ones back. McDonald's makes a great McBank. Except the line is looooong.

McKenna told me I got a call while I was at the ATM. I checked the message. It's Erik. Our across-the-street neighbor found a tray and a bunch of pipe cleaner bracelets scattered in our street and thought it might be ours.

Ack! I totally drove away from the house with a tray of McKennaMade bracelets on the roof. (In my defense, it was hard squeezing her in to her seat in my stuffed-full car and I was distracted.)

10:38 I turned around and went back to get them.

10:48 We headed back to the show. For real this time. Luckily,  I got all green lights and found a parking spot by the entrance.

10:58 I arrive, find my spot, and with the fancy farmer's market carts (I love those) I fill my spot with the contents of my car. A festival volunteer offered to watch my stuff and daughter while I parked in the garage and I returned within minutes.

McKenna set up her table and bracelets and sold one before I'd even begun unpacking.

I stopped caring about the time and started setting up. It's always at this time that I wish I was one of those crafters that made small things, not giant pillows and massive quantities of kids' clothes with crazy elaborate contraptions on which to display them.

The hectic rush of the morning dissolved as my display took shape. No one was beside so I spread out a bit, okay, a lot.

 I even found some time here and there to slip away and visit other vendors. The Rely on Renton Family Fair inside the Piazza station was so well organized and chock-full of information on local resources for kids and families. I stopped by the Renton Community Center booth and saw the flyers for my summer craft camps on display. I caught glimpses of the performances throughout the day and loved hearing Casper Babypants on the loudspeakers outside.

McKenna sold 9 bracelets and spent all her $18 at other people's booths. I saw glimpses of teenager in her as she took her little purse to tables and picked out things to buy. She got (in order) a pink sugar cookie, a one tiny vial of Jasmine oil from a perfume soap stand, and hand-painted Hello Kitty barrette from from the accessory lady, and a big crayon in the shape of a car from the crayon people, and a purse and bracelet from a lady two booths down.

I did a little shopping and trading too. After McKenna got her tiny vial of perfume, I went back to the booth and bought a lavender one for me.

 From the metalsmith man, I got two decorative metal stars for the planter by my front door where I have the iron dragonfly I bought from him last year. He always gives me great deals. He said Mayor Law bought a big piece from him that morning and it made his day. I got a heart-linked silver bracelet from the vintage jewelry lady. The owner of Candle with Care lady fell in love with my last Sesame Street sundress and I sold it to her for half price plus a candle.

I also bought a $3 bag of Kettle corn and when I went to pay with a $20 the kettle corn couple looked troubled. They asked if I had any ones and I said Yes! I got a bunch this morning. The woman came back to my booth and I gave her $3 and then traded 10 more ones for a ten. The McBank came in handy! She was as grateful for the ones as I was for customers like these:

Before I knew it it was 5:00 and time to pack up. I ended up making the most profit I've ever made at a Renton festival and got a few new Facebook likes for kokoleo. The best part though was that my first-ever Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work day was a great experience for both of us. We both saw our creations go out into the world and with the money we received, we went around and bought other people's handmade and fair trade creations. I have a feeling this won't be the last kokoleo/McKennaMade business collaboration you'll see.

EtsyRAIN Handmade Holiday Recap

The day after Thanksgiving I lugged all my kokoleo wares into the heart of downtown Seattle and spent my Black Friday and Small Business Saturday here:

photo from the EtsyRAIN facebook page

at the EtsyRain Handmade Holiday Show located at the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony and Pacific Northwest Ballet. The show was in their magnificent lobby. Here's my booth:

and my tower-o-accessories and coffee mug pin cushions:

The view from where I sat:

and the view from  the second floor...

 Friday was super rainy, but we still had a line outside at the beginning and it ended up breaking previous Etsy RAIN event attendance records. I didn't take many pictures during the event because I was too busy using my phone to process credit cards for kokoleo purchases. This was my first time using my Intuit GoPayment App and I love it. Who wouldn't love money instantly deposited into your bank account? I made all my money back and then some on the first day and made even more today. The only thing I like better  is knowing a whole bunch of kokoleos are going to be wrapped and given as gifts this Christmas.

Speaking of gifts, I got a few for my family too. Sage is going to love this piece of wall art from pixelparty:

And from Kate Endle, I bought McKenna this calendar and Casper Babypants CD.

I also did some great trades, like a coffee mug pin cushion for this ceramic snowflake ornament (though I can't remember her business' name).

And I traded a necktie headband for a fabulous assortment of  treats from Sweet Coconut Bakery. I tried to save them for my family, but ended up eating most of them at the show.

  

I trade some stuffed ducks I made (for a Renton River Days window display) for this necklace by Cyncity and some magnets I'm going to put in my husband's stocking:

And from Scary White Girl Designs, I traded a Mickey Mouse sundress for this flower barrette and some arm warmers.

It's nice to be home with a lighter kokoleo load, money in my pocket, and a bunch of new handmade things. My best sellers of the show were my Seattle baby tees I whipped together just last week.

Driving home tonight after a fun show, I appreciate this skyline even more.

EtsyRain Spring Show + Space Needles

It's been over a week since the EtsyRain Spring Handmade Show at the Intiman Theater but I couldn't let the event pass without posting a little recap. I was busy in my booth for most of it, but I did manage to snap a few pics. Here's the entrance:

and my booth, outside in the corner:


Here I am in my booth with a furry frogmonster peeking out from behind me:


It was great to finally do a well-known Seattle show and get to know some of the local indie crafters. I doubled the money I spent to participate and sent some kokoleos out into the city. I did some great trades - a kokoleo kid dress for a Public Market screen printed tee by tomato-tomato and a plush bunny for a squirrel pillow from Alise's Pieces, plus I bought some delicious gourmet lollipops from This Charming Candy (but don't tell my kids because I ate them all.) Also, the owners of a couple shops in Seattle gave me their cards, so that's encouraging. Still, I felt kind of like the new girl in school, not really knowing the cool crowd and missing my craft friends from L.A. I just need to get out and do more shows and attend more EtsyRain events.

The forecast called for rain but thankfully it turned out to be a beautiful day, if only a tad chilly. I had a view of the courtyard fountain:


and looking out from the entrance I could see the Space Needle:


Speaking of Space Needles, I designed a new Space Needle applique and have been having fun attaching it to things. In addition to the sundress I showed a few posts earlier, I also made some totes:





and pillows:

(I sold this one at the show)

(This one sold at Happy Delusions, but I made another just like it.)

and whatever you would call this:


A skinny pillow? A plush? Whatever it is I probably won't be making any more. It was pretty darn difficult. More pillows and totes and sundresses are in the works though since people seemed to really like them at the show. What can I say? I've got a thing for needles.

EtsyRain Spring Handmade Craft show

I'm excited to announce that kokoleo will have a booth at the EtsyRain Spring Handmade Craft Show Saturday, May 7th from 11-5 at the Intiman Thater in the Seattle Center.

It's the day before Mother's Day, so stop by and stock up one some one-of-a-kind creations for the one you love.

KB at the JCC

Saturday, I set up a kokoleo booth at the Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center (SIJCC) for their holiday boutique.

A local customer of mine invited me to do it. Thanks Tracy! Here's my booth:

Note the tree growing in the middle. That's a first. I liked having my own little tree.

The event was awesome, not just the boutique part, but the whole kid-oriented affair. There were booths for craft-making, picture-taking, games, a bounce-house, a stage with kid-friendly music by The Hollow Trees (check out the downloadable coloring book on their site), Camp Susannah, and Tree Adams. I didn't get to see any of them, but I heard them from afar. The boutique was too busy to leave! I sold seven (seven!) toddler sundresses, my best ladies skirts (a Raggedy Anne wrap and a Cityscape skirt) and a bunch of other stuff. This lady bought my vintage Barbie eyeglass lens earrings that I recently made:

It was a fun group of vendors too. I saw my NoHo girls Susie and Heidi Bauer of Rock Scissor Paper. We keep running into each other at craft shows and yard sales. I wish I had a sister like they each do - twice the craftiness for your business!

I bought this book for Sage from Madallie.

It has lots of imaginative piratey activities and a flashlight:

and is totally his sense of humor.

It'll be perfect for our trip back east this Christmas.

I traded a with Doris Oswald-Burrell of I can fly one of my Raggedy Anne skirts (which she wore over her jeans for the rest of the day) for a Monkey on Bike dress for McKenna (the same Monkey on Bike print that was on a shirt I got Sage years ago).

With Teresa from Kumquat, I traded a Peanuts sundress for all this for McKenna:

She was having a liquidation sale and I scored!

Okay, no one needs to buy any clothes for McKenna for Christmas. She has plenty now.

I wish North Hollywood had a community center like the SIJCC. Seeing all the cool moms and their excited kids hanging out with all their friends made me realize that my kids and I don't have that. I'm making it my New Years resolution to find something like that in 2009. I long to feel a part of a community (like we did in Shepherdstown) and McKenna and I desperately need some playdate pals.

After the show was over I stopped by the Bust Holiday Craftacular at the Echoplex in Silverlake. I didn't even know about it until a week ago. I'm glad I did the JCC show instead because while there was lots of handmade awesomeness to see at the BUST show, I got the sense from my crafty friends and the vendors I talked to that it wasn't well organized. It was $250 for a tiny booth, there was little advertising, the event wasn't well marked (I passed it twice!), and I heard they opened a half-hour late. Maybe we're all just spoiled by Felt Club, but you'd think a big name like BUST would be a little more on the ball (the one in NYC is HUGE and I've only heard great reviews about it.) One highlight though was seeing my crafty pal Stacy McQueen there filming a video for the event. She's so fun. Next year they should have her be the host.

I hope I didn't just ruin my chance to be in a BUST show now. Don't get me wrong, I love the mag. It was just interesting to see a show from a customer's point of view, especially after having done a few.

Ahhh, the craft show circuit, it's a crazy one - you never know what you're going to get. I guess it's that way with any production. . . it all depends on who shows up.

What Another Weekend!

This past weekend was a crafty doozy! TWO shows in a row -- Foundations School Community Harvest Festival on Saturday, and Felt Club on Sunday. I survived! And sold a lot of stuff too.

At FSC, it was nice to see some of my old students and to see customers from previous years still carrying around their kokoleos.

and even purchasing some more. . .

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this cute mom and daughter duo displaying their new kokoleo purchases in the courtyard.

It was a relatively relaxing show, especially compared to Sunday's . . .

(Photo by Jenny Ryan)

Felt Club! Holy Moley it was packed! I heard the line to get in wrapped around the Shrine and some people wanting to get a swag bag waited for hours. Here's my booth soon after I set it up:

And here's how it was the majority of the time:

I made a new batch of Obama buttons last week and they sold out in the first 2 hours. Other popular items were my necktie headbands and eyeglass jewelry. I also sold some gigantic bags and pillows, which made the load to take home much lighter, and my wallet heavier (quadruple digits!) I got some great feedback and loved hearing "This reminds me of. . ." and "I had this fabric when I was a kid!" from people who stopped in my booth. I saw customers from past Felt Clubs and other shows who told me they still love the thing they bought back then. Some were even wearing those things! Like this lady:

Who bought that headband and Raggedy Anne necklace from me at the Patchwork show last week.

And my former student Lillye. . .

who's rocking a kokoleo skirt that she bought the day before at FSC.

Even my former camper from West Virginia, Rachel, who I recently reconnected with on Facebook stopped by.

We hadn't seen each other in over 15 years!

I had a great conversation with this lady, who bought one of my eyeglass lens necklaces:

I had lots of great conversations actually, one after the other, non-stop talk without a break to eat or pee. It wasn't until the very end that the crowd thinned a little and I snuck away to say hi to some people. Here's Jenny, the founding mother of Felt Club:

Poketo was across the aisle from me. They got to watch me frantically build my booth and finish just as the doors opened to the public. They also lent me a pen, which I lost. Sorry! I owe them a pen.

These people were to the side of me. Their company is Cherished Petit. They also lent me a pen. I have a hard time holding on to pens. Note to self: Bring lots of pens next time.

Here's Stacy McQueen, who hosted last year's Craftmas Bizarre, surrounded by her Grumpstallation:

I always love seeing Christine Haynes, she's sweet. Her book "Chic and Simple Sewing" is coming out in April. Awesome!

I first met Jek, of Jek in the Box, 4 years ago at the Bazaar Bizarre (also at the Shrine) when we traded crafty Christmas ornaments. I wish I would have traded her something for one of those cool vegetable bags she makes out of vintage fabric and doilies. I didn't do a single trade with anyone this time. I was too busy to browse!

I finally met my blog/Flickr/Facebook friend Carrie Sommer from Sommer Designs. Her stuff is gorgeous and so classy, like her.

I also stopped to quickly chat with her vendor neighbors Jennifer Ramos of Textile Fetish and Shari Bonnin. Thanks Jennifer, for watching my booth for a minute before my bladder exploded all over the merchandise!

Shawn an Aldo are another duo I've done many a show with, most recently the Swap-O-Rama-Rama in the spring. Their company Social Studies is super cool.

There are lots more fellow vendor folk I waved to across the crowd or exchanged This is craziness! glances in passing. Suffice it to say, it was a blast. I thought this girl's necklace summed up the Felt Club experience quite nicely:

Colorful, creative, crowded, and completely crazy.