more moo

My moo order finally arrived and boy am I excited for all my moo goodies! Take a peek!


What crisp bright packaging holding so much kate stuff! Let's take a look inside some of those packages. First off - my business cards:


After running out of cards at my last fabulous finds show in november I knew I'd have to restock sooner or later. I ran into a few issues with the print shops in town and without my graphic designer (quinn moved to the coast) to assist me in my printing, I figured I might as well go with moo. After all their printing is reasonable and consistent, the colours are always great, and their cardstock is awesome (super thick and screams, "I'm amazingly high class!"). Sounds perfect right? Well...not completely ideal. Their business cards are a different dimension than your standard card (moo is 55 x 85mm while standard cards are 52 x 90mm) meaning the wonderful card design quinn made up for me back in 2008 wouldn't do! I didn't want to bother quinn and her fabulously busy life in the big city (and I had a coupon code to save on my order that was going to expire the night I decided to order) so I thought I'd test out my photoshop skills and rework the design to fit the moo cards. My redesigning ended up taking me about five hours to complete (oy!) but thankfully my novice skills aren't noticeable in my fantastic new cards! Oh! And this also means I get to use the showcase business card holder moo sent me for free a few months back for being a loyal customer (yet another reason to love moo). I'm not entirely sure how useful the carrier will be, but apparently it can hold credit cards and it does look fancy:


Hooray! Onto moo product number two - stickers:


I had stickers printed up before my last show and even though they weren't overly popular there, I still think they are super fun! I ended up almost selling out of them at my kate party back in december so I figured I should restock! Since I'm still testing the waters with them so I am not overflowing with sticker sheets, but if I have tons left after the show I'm thinking about selling them in groups on etsy. Since I'm asking $1 for a sheet of 3 it isn't really worth my while to post them individually online (with that 20 cent listing charge and epic shipping costs) but maybe groups of sticker sheets will be a hit! I mean who doesn't love stickers?

Product number three from moo is a double order of mini moo cards:


I use my button illustrations on these little gems and whip them into mini moo bookmarks I give out as freebies with orders. If you haven't seen me make them before you can check out my ultra easy instructions I posted a while back (link). Even though I don't really make money off the bookmarks I feel that they add a little extra nice touch to all my orders and hopefully hey help amp up my advertising a smidge. This time around I ordered 200 cards and bought a whole bunch of fun brightly coloured ribbons to make them with! Fun!

My final moo product from my order was more labware art/postcards:


Postcards aren't the most successful product I offer online and at shows but they pull their own weight. You can frame them for a super fun and inexpensive art installment or send them out and keep in touch with those far away from you! I still have quite a few sets left to sell but the labware cards seem to be the most popular on etsy (hence the restock). I'm super excited that moo now lets you customize the back of the cards too! I added my ciliated bacillus logo under where a stamp would go and added my site url there for a little added branding and personalization! Yay!

Whew - that was a lot of moo rambling but I am pretty excited about all my new goodies! Oh! And if you're new to moo you can use the coupon code "2RB2CK" at the checkout and get 15% off your first order - and if you aren't all about making your own illustrations like I am they have loads of premade designs to chose from. As for me, I best get back to work - those mini moo bookmarks aren't going to make themselves...

Friday Find: mayicarles

Yet another week has come where I find amazingly fabulous felt goodies to share with you! Etsy just seems to be an unlimited source for supremely awesome inspiration and products I totally drool over! Check out the fantastic felt goodness of mayicarles:


Oh my! I want every single item in her shop! The rich jewel tone (and eco friendly) felt is to die for! I'm not actually sure I'd be able to pull off some of the bold hairbands - but throw some of those flowers on a brooch and you've got me. She's even for some DIY kits for the crafters out there and a wicked blog for added projects and inspiration! Mayicarles' shop has also convinced me that I need to get my hands on some sweet high quality felt squares like the ones she uses for my next felt adventure! Anyone know any good felt sources?

Why, Hello Newton and Franklin!

After many weeks of being sold out of way too many button/magnet sets I'm finally stocked back up! And boy oh boy, do I ever have buttons now - take a look:


This is officially the largest batch of buttons I've managed so far and I'm hoping they last me a little longer this time (or at least manage to keep me stocked up for my craft show in march)! This time I even managed to add some new friends to the button crew as well. I've had quite a few emails asking me to remake my set of five famous scientist finger puppets and although I highly doubt I will find enough time to take those on (they are ultra time consuming) I decided to turn my trio of scientists magnets into a quintet! Let me introduce you to sir isaac newton and rosalind franklin:


Hooray! These were some of my quickest buttons to design too - although I did have the puppets to base them off of so I guess that explains their speediness a bit. My original scientist set (including curie, einstein, and darwin) have been stirring up some attention with their appearance in treasuries, blog posts, and on etsy's facebook page/twitter feed so I figured I may as well feed into their popularity! Check out the full crew:


Hehe! I'm really pleased with how they turned out! I'm planning on offering the scientists as a set of five magnets (or button upon request) just as soon as I figure out the best way to package them. Then I just need to take a few pictures and get a listing up (easier said than done - believe me)! I did have some fun getting images of them for this post though - especially because they look so cute holding hands:


Aww - what good little scientists they are! What do you think? Who's your favourite scientist?

even more mirrors!

Preparation for my next big craft show are underway and I'm determined to avoid the last minute scramble this time around. I've decided to work on restocking some favourite hot items from past shows first and if time permits work on some new items afterwords. First on the restocking list? Pocket mirrors! Loads and loads of pocket mirrors in fact! And I've even added a few new designs to the mirror crew:


Bowtie, pipette (and epindorph tubes), squid, amanita, and stegosaurus are the newbies for this round and we'll see how they do at the show in march. I'm also really hoping that I have accurately determined which designs will be the most popular (based on the sales and feedback I've got from past shows) and I've stocked up based on my guesses:


Woohoo! Now I've just got to whip up 100+ felt cases and I'll be set. Speaking of - if anyone feels like hanging out and helping me cut little felt circles OR wants to recommend/lend me several hours worth of dvd entertainment I'd be greatly appreciative! Oh and just in case any of you fabulous readers are unable to attend one of my shows I will gladly sell you whichever mirror tickles your fancy over etsy. I don't think I'll get to posting any of the mirrors to my shop before the show (I'm a busy crafty girl after all) but I'd love to send one your way if you're so inclined. Yay! So which ones do you like best? Any bets on which will be the top sellers?

woo hoo!

The other morning I woke up to find 29 lovely emails in my inbox. I was overjoyed with the prospect of a big sale day on my etsy shop and it was true! I had made 11 sales and had 5 email conversations from buyers requesting sold out items in my shop! I figured something must have been behind such a surge of sales so I went searching. The first thing I found was this wonderful tweet from style sister:


Fun! It links to an amazingly flattering little article on my cute science illustrated goods, which I am over the moon about! Nothing like a blog feature to start off the day. How nice!

As I continued my perusal of the tweets I missed while sleeping the night before I came across an even more exciting one - from etsy:



Forget the front page - all you need to do is get tweeted to get noticed! Oh and it coincides with a etsy status update on facebook too:


Woohoo! Talk about exciting! I can only imagine what the sales would have been like if my shop wasn't experiencing a post-holiday/out of stock lull (which I am working on by the way...). What an accomplishment! And boy! What an exciting jump in site visits (got to love google analytics):


It looks like that one little tweet drew a whopping 1835 people to my shop that morning! I figured that must have been a site visit record for me so I searched back on my site tracking history and...


Yup, it pretty much blew all my other days out of the water. See that little blip in july there? That was the day I got on the front page (and am still overjoyed about). I can't believe it! All over some scientist buttons! Now I'm on the crafting warpath and super motivated to get my shop restocked! However trying to balance life, etsy, and preparations for my second fabulous finds show in march is a little tricky! Alas. I'll just keep at it and see how it goes. Oh. and I also decided since the scientists drew so much attention to my shop I'd work on an expanded set for the near future...hold tight though! I'll reveal them when they're finished!

Friday Find: Heart Felt by nina

Since I've been busy swooning over the idea of owning a gray pleated skirt I thought I'd feature a shop selling gray pleated clutches today! Fortunately these bags are actually obtainable (unlike that elusive skirt) and are available in the etsy shop "heart felt by nina":
Ooo! I love the subtle feminine shape with masculine thick suiting, the crisp pleats, and the wonderful button details! In fact I feel like that gray one in the top right corner is calling my name...but unfortunately I've tapped out my paypal account reordering massive amounts of craft supplies to prepare for my next show in march! Eep! Oh well, another time. What do you think?

Friday Find: Bark

Since apparently I am all about the tea towels these days I thought I'd share another amazing etsy shop with some awesome silk screened goodies! Behold - Bark! And their super adorable cat-a-lope towels:


You just can't go wrong when you mix kitties with mythical north american mammals! What fun! And if you aren't into cats you can always chose the ghost owl carrying a banjo (yes a banjo - how perfect) design or even the the bear riding a bicycle? Heck even if you aren't into dishes they've got loads of fun items to peruse! Further evidence that silk screening will have to become part of my new years resolution! What is your fav?

Fabulous Finds Recap!

Well I survived my very first two day large scale craft show and boy was it ever an adventure! I'm actually still pretty tired from all the madness (even with the time change to help out) but thought I better do an update for all of you in case you were curious how it turned out! Here we go!

So the day started off with very minimal sleep (we're talking less than two hours) after a super late thursday night/friday morning of crafting, preparing, and organizing. Once again I did not manage to learn my lesson to prepare early and avoid that last minute rush, but hey - perhaps one day that will sink in... So up and ready or not I packed the car up and started off the two hour drive to kelowna to set up for the show. There was a lovely sunrise to greet me (which I pretty much never see with my late night/sleep in a smidge schedule I run on). How pleasant!


We ended up stopping in vernon on the way there for an extra kick of espresso and made it to the summerhill winery (location of the fabulous finds craft show) pretty much on time! Hooray! The organizer of the event (the most fantastic rio) had everything organized and ready to go for us so we got to unload the car and get setting up! It is so nice to have such a great gal run the event - talk about smooth operation! Woo!

Time for me to set up my table and try to figure out how it will all fit in! I really wanted to do a dry run before leaving friday morning, but when I was still printing things off at 4:30am I decided a few hours sleep might be a better choice than a well planned set up...but not to worry! I had enough time to figure it all out and I absolutely loved how the lighting turned out! Fraser really came through with his octopus (er...pentapus?) lamp idea and the white xmas lights gave it an extra little pop. The lighting was certainly necessary too (just like rio warned me in an email a few days earlier) since the winery didn't have the brightest convention hall and the first day of the show was in the late afternoon/evening. All that hard work was paying off with a wonderfully stocked table of goodies. Check it out:


Oh so much fun! I am really quite pleased with how it ended up coming together - here is a closer up view too:


I'm also pretty stoked with the budget earring display I came up with using a $1.25 bulletin board, some black paint, butcher string and a few push pins:


Not too shabby! So now for the fun details - the show! I got to meet loads of amazing crafters reminding me just how awesome kelowna is and how kamloops sorely lacks culture! I got tons of great feedback on my stuff, craft shows, and my setup and learned tons about successful selling! I even somehow managed to contain my urge to buy every single item from every single booth at the show! Go me! Soon enough the craft sale started and the customers flooded in the door! My booth was totally a smashing success and the top seller of the event was my felt mustache sticks! When I originally set up I was a little worried they'd get lost in my full table too! I mean they don't exactly pop:


But regardless the very first customers in the door made their first purchase at my table! Before long everyone in the hall was buzzing about all my fun goodies and there were mustached people everywhere to be seen! Other top sellers for me included the pocket mirrors (as I suspected) and my coffee sleeves. I also sold quite a few magnets (thank goodness fraser was there to help me make them) and some buttons, postcards, and plush microbes. The earrings and bags weren't super hot sellers but the owner of one of my favourite kelowna shops (funktional) told me to bring all my unsold goods to her shop after the show to consign! Bonus! Oh! and when we went there late saturday chantel told me I was the talk of the town when she overheard various people talking about my table! Cool! I was so stoked to be such a hit and to actually make a bit of a profit! At the end of the sale I even won a "best in show" bottle of wine as vendors choice for best booth! Hooray! Oh and since we started off with a pretty view I figure I'd end with one too since I realized how gorgeous the summerhill winery was the afternoon:


*Sigh* What a great two day craft show! I gained some invaluable contacts, renewed my love for crafting, and had an absolute blast doing it! And even though the show is over I've still got loads to do making more felt mustaches for frock (another super cool shop in kelowna) before the xmas rush of shoppers hits! Yay!

Friday Find: scientific culture at fabulous finds!

Yup - the big day is finally here! My first large scale two day craft show starts tonight and ready or not I'll be there! And I figured since all I've done is prepare for this show for the last month I will have this week's find as me! and my wares for my craft show! Let's take a peek at my line up:

1) pinback buttons and magnets - my etsy shop staple, lots to chose from, loads in stock


2) coffee sleeves - showing off my mad embroidery skills and your love for hot caffeinated drinks!


3) plush microbes - because everyone wants chlamydia for xmas this year...


4) fabric rings - bright, cheery, and a low price point for the thrifty shopper


5) button clutch - giving you even more reason to stock up on buttons!


6) felt flower brooches - one item I have never actually managed to sell at any craft show...we'll see how they do this time...


7) pocket mirrors - my best seller from my summer of bizarre bazaars is back in full force for the stocking stuffer crowd!


8) art/postcard sets - fun to frame or post!


9) mini moo bookmarks - a big hit with the kiddos and a nice freebie for large orders!


10) mustache on a stick - silly, amusing, and a perfect way for the facial hair impaired to celebrate movember


11) stickers - everyone loves stickers!


12) felt earrings - loads to chose from + positive fan feedback = good seller?


13) tea cozies - my higher price item! Tons of work but super fun! Way to keep those tea pots warm guys!


and....*drumroll please*...

14) little pouches and clutches!!! made from the highest quality suitings salmon arm has to offer these babies have been on the back burner of my mind for far too long. I love the cotton lace detail (almost doily-esque?) and great textures. Oh, and most definitely the reason for my sleep deprivation (hence the sad awful lighting 1am picture). I promise they are cute in real life!


Yay! I've loaded up my totes and am on my way for the show! We're open 4 -9 pm tonight if you're around. Heck mention this blog post and I'll even throw in something extra for you! Wish me luck!

crafty preparation - part IV

I can't believe how quickly time flies! It feels like I was just signing up for the fabulous finds craft show the other day and it is already almost here! Eep! Time is running out! The show is tomorrow! And even though I've tried to get an early start on my goods for the sale, as always I am doing the last minute scramble! I was hoping to get one more new handcrafted project up on the blog for you to check out, but unfortunately that endeavor is still in progress (in fact I bet I'm madly sewing them together as you read this!). But not to worry! I will get done whatever I can and be all packed and ready for the show tomorrow evening. I've even got my lighting figured out (hooray!) thanks to one wonderful boyfriend (thanks fraser). And as a bonus my moo products arrived yesterday (early!) just in time to add to my product line! Behold -

Restocked art/post cards:


More freebie mini moo bookmarks:


And (so excited) my new addition...


Stickers! Finally available in north america! Woo! I got a plethora of my illustrated friends printed up into ultra fun stickers and am going to sell them in little sheets (of 3 stickers - just like my buttons) for a buck. Take a look:


OoOOh! I'm so happy with how these turned out and I figure if they don't sell I can always give them out as freebies with etsy orders or something. Now I just need to figure out some way to display them! Any suggestions?

Holy Pocket Mirrors Batman!

The pocket mirror saga continues as I ramp up for the xmas/craft show season! My adventures in 2.25" mirrors started off strong last june and the sales kept pouring in over my summer bizarre bazaar shows. After a plea for mirror design brainstorming, my pocket mirror stocks are back in full force! Take a peek:


Woo! Once I get some more felt cases whipped up I will be ready for fabulous finds on november 5th and 6th! Oo! And I'm working on some new packaging for these dudes for their arrival to the kamloops art gallery's expanded xmas shop this winter! What fun! I love feeling prepared! Too bad I'm not overstocked in all my illustrated wares...but hey, you have to start somewhere! And for the first time I thought I'd show you all a detailed shot of all the pocket mirrors I have available:


What do you think? I'm loving my new additions to the mirror crew - tea bag and jackelope! Thanks for the suggestion leslie! I'm really hoping that they will be a big hit at the craft show (just like they were at my summer shows) but who knows what the kelowna craft buying customer base will be like! And if you're not lucky enough to be able to attend any of my local shows, not to worry - I'm totally up for selling these babies on etsy too - I just won't be able to create item listings for them for a while. So if you see a mirror you'd like to get your hands on just send me a message and I will gladly create a custom listing for you (just one of the joys of reading my blog). Hooray! Which is your favourite?

The absolute ultimate!

Whenever I see something I'm particularly fond of on the internet I usually save the link as a draft post for the blog. That way when I'm in need of a few more blog posts (blogging every day can be quite taxing on the creativity) I can flip back through my drafts for inspiration! Well today's post is inspired from a link I saw back in july! Perhaps a little dated (as this pertains to summer much more than fall/winter) but let's be realistic here - there is always room for gidget:


If you're unfamiliar with gidget, not to worry. It is a teen movie staring sandra dee (whom you probably recognize from the grease song) from 1959 so chances are either (1) you weren't born yet (and since you are successfully navigating the internet there is a high chance of this) or (2) your parents didn't have an opportunity to expose to to such a masterpiece of pop teen surfing movie culture! Well I certainly love the movie and apparently this one little film and its resultant legacy is credited to have been the single main influence in bringing surfing and surfing culture into the american mainstream! Way to go gidge'!

Being such a loyal fan I'm sure you can understand how ridiculously excited I was to see etsy's blog (the storque) do an article on getting the look of gidget! That's right - after all this time sandra dee is back - in the form of preppy 60's fashion. Forget cleavage and skin - give us the allure of coyness and sweetheart style. Take a look on some of the article's picks:


Looks fun to me! Especially since I am all about keeping it covered up! And if you aren't aiming to go all vintage you can always work a few sandra dee type pieces into your wardrobe for a hint of gidget! Perfect! Oh - and if this post has left you craving a gidget movie night - come on over! I'll get the VHS warmed up...