Con Review: Konsplosion

Convention Name: Konsplosion
Date: Nov 15-17, 2019
Cost: $300, 1 8-ft table
Location: Ft Smith, AR
Grade: B-

This con was a little deceptive, and I'll explain what I mean by that.
Their website looks great! There was their great website, good pictures, and some great reviews on the previous years that I was really looking forward to attending this con.  It was a 3 hour drive away, but that didn't bother me much.
The artist alley information on the website was a little vague (to me, at least) on one of their rules. I wanted clarification before applying, so I used the "Contact Us" link on the website to ask my question. After a couple weeks went by and I didn't hear anything back, I still wanted that clarification, so I reached out again via the website, just in case I didn't submit right or it didn't get through (there was no automatic email or onscreen indication that the message was sent or received). I still didn't hear anything back. Rather than keep wasting time, I went ahead and applied and submitted the application online (again with no email confirmation the application was received). I may have applied twice, since I didn't hear back anything.

After several more weeks of not hearing back on the application, I looked to Facebook to see if I could find any information as to if invitations had even been sent. I found a Facebook group for the con, so I applied to join. Once in, I was able to locate an email address for someone with the con. At this point, I had no confidence in anything on the website, so I sent an email directly. 

I got a reply! However, I was told that they were full on artists and vendors already. I also inquired about the fact I never heard back or got a confirmation. Apparently they do not send out emails unless someone is approved, but that they were full by May (this is in September). 
I bit my tongue and didn't respond because I didn't want to burn any bridges, but it would have been nice to know this months ago rather than keep waiting to hear back on anything. Well, that was the right call because a couple weeks later there was a cancellation, so I was able to get a table, after all. I responded that I wanted it! I sent another email a couple days later asking for payment options.
Then after a couple more days I was asked to send the fee via Paypal friends and family to avoid fees.  This struck me as very odd, and I didn't feel comfortable doing this, as I wouldn't have any protections. I did send the money, but normally and I sent  a few extra dollars to cover the fees.

Fast forward to the weekend of the convention. There were no emails that went out to the vendors to provide any information. I got to the convention center and had no idea where to go. After wandering around a bit, I found the right area, and went to the desk to check in and see where my table assignment was.
Turns out, there were no assignments! They just let me pick the table I wanted, first come first serve style. This, again, struck me as odd. There is no way to prevent tables of similar items from being near each other. Plus, if you show up late, you will have a horrible spot.

Luckily, I had a pretty good spot.

That closed door behind me is actually one of the doors to the vendor room, so not only did I get that traffic in and out of the vendor room, but I had the room to put up my big display (which I wasn't expecting to have room for, bonus!).

I was expecting a lot more traffic/sales for this weekend. I checked a map of the con, and it looks like all the panels were on the opposite side of the building, so that could certainly contribute to the low traffic. Even with the traffic we had, though, it just seemed like many people just weren't buying. I've never done a con or fair here in AR, so I don't know if this is typical for the area. One of the con volunteers mentioned that there were others complaining of low sales, too.

Overall, I did better than breakeven, so that's good. But it wasn't so great that I would want to drive 3 hours to again, unless things were different.
There seemed to be some great events and panels for this con (more than others I have been too). However the management felt a bit amateurish. It had the feeling of a bunch of friends that got together to put on a convention. The "con" even had a vendor table where someone was selling random stuff in the vendor room. This was referred to as the "con's" booth, but nothing being sold had anything to do with the con itself. Just regular vendor stuff. Plus, to me, it just seems like whoever was in charge of the vendors/artists either had no idea what they were doing or they just didn't care. There was no communication with the artists at all (aside from the approval email). There was some info online, but not much.


I will have to closely consider if I decide to do this con again next year.

Con Review: Tulsa Pop Culture Expo

Convention Name: Tulsa Pop Culture Expo
Date: Nov 3&3, 2019
Cost: $300, 1 table (spot I ended up in had TONS of space)
Location: Tulsa, OK
Grade: B

 This was a large convention. Definitely the largest that I have ever attended. There were quite a few celebrities and lots of space for this one. The price is most definitely the biggest I have paid for a booth, double what my highest was up to now. Because of this, I was definitely nervous. Initially I had decided not to do this one because of the cost, but I went ahead and dove right in to see how things would go for a larger convention.

The location of the expo was in a mall. There wasn't much clarification on this on the website or in any of the emails. I wasn't sure if this was an old mall that had been turned into something else, or just being held in part of the mall. When I arrived, I had to drive around the place, and I finally located a big sign on the side of the building. Turns out, this was being held in an old Sears store in the mall, 2 stories of space.

Check in was really easy. There was a table setup right by the door, so I checked in and was shown where my spot was right away. I ended up going the day before for setup. In the communications, setup/load in was on Friday, and I didn't see any times listed for Saturday morning before the con. This was a bit annoying because I now have an extra night of hotel just to be able to setup. My setup takes, at most, 2 hours to do. Granted, the extra setup time allowed me to take my time, but since I had my niece with me this time, we still had it done in about 2 hours.

My booth space was was great. You know how in department stores there are the tile "pathways" and the merchandise is located in carpeted areas. My booth was in one of the areas along a wall, so I had all that space between the "aisle" and the wall. It was doubly good because I was at the corner, so there was an "aisle" to one side of me, too.

In the picture, we are near the wall, and there was a HUGE space in front of us before the aisle. The other tables and I talked with the people in charge and were able to move forward up to the aisle so we would have better foot traffic.
My location was great, too. That aisle to the side was between me and the booth area where the celebrity photos were being held. So, I got some good views from the photo people while they waited for pictures. I also got to see all the celebrities walk right past my table on their way to their assigned photo time. It was great!

For this being such a big con, I expected to do much more business (especially with a $300 table fee). I didn't lose any money, but I wouldn't call this con a success. If the table fees cost the same next year, I highly doubt I will attend this con again. It just isn't worth all the work and time and money to just barely break even. The table fee is why I gave this con a B.

This was my niece's first con (she only had gone to the craft fairs with me before), and she LOVED it. I have been trying to get her to come to cons, since they are a lot more fun, and now I think she is hooked. She even tried to get days off from work to go to the next one in two weeks, but she wasn't able to. Hopefully I will have her for many more in the future, though!

First pumpkins, and now...

Apples!
I made a minor change to my pumpkin bracelet, and made it with red instead of orange. Now it's an apple bracelet! This thing is perfect for a teacher's gift!

Kinged Vipera Berus - slime green

After the great success of my last convention, I an in need of major stocking up of inventory. In a month, I have the biggest con I have ever attended, and I want to be ready!
I had some great sales at the last con, and I have even gotten some Etsy sales from attendees already! I'm super excited about that.

My ring supplier had a limited run on a special color that they called slime green. I bought some in several different sizes, and I combined it with some black to make a Halloween-ish bracelet.
I made this in the Kinged Vipera Berus weave, just like the all silver one I posted about a while back.

I really like this color combo. I'm tempted to try making another one, but reverse the colors to have the green as the base, and the black woven through it. Maybe eventually. I have too much to make right now, otherwise.

I'll keep updating with my new things! I will have a post about some dice bags very soon!

Plastic dividers, where have you been all this time?

This isn't really a crafty post, but it's about my craft organization.

So, with the glass cabochon necklaces that I make, I have been keeping them in a plastic shoebox-type container. To keep them organized, I had some cardboard dividers cut out to place between rows. This worked, but it was kinda wonky, and it was a big pain to load up and keep everything upright. I put up with this method for a while now, not knowing about the awesomeness of these plastic drawer dividers.

Here is a small section of one:

They are amazing. I can't believe I never thought of even looking for something like this!
I can now easily arrange my necklaces in the boxes.

I got a great deal on this on Amazon, and I ordered more than I needed for my boxes. I predict these are going to be used in many different places around my crafts/house.

What?! A Chainmail dragon?!

For a while, now, I have been interested in making a chainmail dragon, but I never bought the instructions, I just admired them from afar. In one of my chainmail groups, a member started posting a bunch of dragon pictures, and I knew that it was time. I HAD to make one!

I went to my supplier's website, and I bought the instructions and a kit to get started.
The kit color combinations available weren't really speaking to me, but I just picked the one I liked the most, just to learn. I figure I can make more later when I know how and have some experience behind me.

The first part of it, making the body and the head, went by pretty easily. I didn't have any majorly huge issues with it (just a minor problem attaching the last ring for connecting the head to the body).
Then came the scales down the back.
Here is where I was at this point:

I started adding the scales down the back, and I realized about 2/3 down that my dragon was too "floppy", and wouldn't stand up very well. I tried adding some rings under a few scales to tighten things up, which did help, but the whole thing just felt "off" somehow.  In comes the super amazing-ness of my chainmail Facebook group.

I reached out to another member of the group to see if she could figure out what I did wrong. It took several pictures going back and forth, but it looked like my scales were not attached correctly. So, I had the oh-so-fun job of taking them all out (along with the extra rings I had added previously).

Once I started re-adding the scales, correctly this time, it did make a difference. Even if it didn't seem tighter like I wanted, it felt and looked better. I didn't even try testing it, I just went ahead and added them all, then tested its standing ability.
He does stand better! He still wasn't working as well as I wanted, so I added a couple tightening rings again, and now he looks great!

I got the tail done, and then came the scales at the very end of the tail...
I tell you, there is something with me and scales that just don't seem to get along.
I connected them all right, but had them upside down. I had to take them all out and redo them, as well.
After typing this up, I just realized that I used the wrong scales for the tail, too. I have laser etched scales for the tail, and I just used regular ones. I may just leave it. 

I can finally say, though, that he is finished! Isn't he so cute!

Throughout the whole process, I just stuck to the standard of what the pattern showed, even though I found some ways to tweak things here and there to personalize them. I wanted to get just one done regular, and now I'm free to tweak away! I can't wait!
I have plans for several more dragons, so keep an eye out for my next ones soon. I will need to make a supply order first, but there are so many ideas going through my head, now!

Con Review: Name Your Game Expo 2019

Convention Name: Name Your Game Expo 2019
Date: Oct 5&6, 2019
Cost: $100,1 table ~ 6x5 space
Location: Broken Arrow, OK
Grade: A


This one was a larger con, held in Broken Arrow, OK. If you couldn't tell by the name, this one is a gaming con, for all kinds of different games. They even requested that we gear our offerings toward gaming, as well. The price was pretty good. It's a little higher than the tiny cons I have been going to, but still not bad at all. I was actually worried about getting accepted into this one. I do have some game related items, but not a large percentage.

Check-in was super easy. I walked in and ran into someone who took me to the guy in charge, who then showed me my table. It was almost a little too easy.
My booth space was only a table with the space behind it. I was prepared for this, so I knew I wouldn't get to use my large display. (I always take both the large and the portable one with me to all events, though, because you never know).

My booth location was amazing! The artists at this event were just tables lining the hallways. My booth happened to be located just across the hall outside the exhibitor/vendor room, though. So I got to see all that traffic, too! I had a very successful weekend.
There was one downfall, though. I was right in front of a window, which wasn't bad. But, this venue had the vents right above the windows, too. With the air conditioning being on, we were freezing. Since the weather took a downturn into cooler temps, it felt like they didn't adjust the air conditioning accordingly. I grabbed a light pullover and a scarf from my car, and I used some fabric that I use as table covering as a blanket, but it didn't help much. That first day we were miserable.
That first night, I went to my hotel room and took a very long, very hot shower. It was glorious.
The second day, the guy in charge had the venue raise the temperature, and he also offered to move us to a different spot that became available. We both chose to stay, since the location was so good. The second day, things were better, temperature-wise.

This con was a lot bigger and busier than I was expecting, which was great! I really enjoyed myself, and I will definitely return again next year. There was a special guest who showed up on Sunday, too. Apparently he was in town for another event on Saturday, and they were able to get him to the con for Sunday. It was Marcus Mauldin, who voiced Brick in the Borderlands video games. 
His table was very close to mine, so I left my table for a few minutes, and got a signed print for my husband (big Borderlands fan). I was super excited to meet him and get his autograph.

Overall, this weekend was a great success. I only wish I had requested Monday off from the day job. I didn't get home until about 9PM, and I'm exhausted.
My next con is in a month, and it will be a BIG one. I will need to make a bunch of stuff to gear up for it. Can't wait!

Pumpkins for the fall!

I was inspired by someone's pumpkins, and I just had to make my own.
Here is a chainmail pumpkin bracelet! I love it so much, that I had to make 2!

I'm going to make one in red to be apples, next. Well, once I get a chance to. So many other things to make right now!

Con Review: CollegeCon 2019

Convention Name: CollegeCon 2019
Date: Sept 21, 2019
Cost: $20, 10x10
Location: Norman, OK
Grade: B


This con was another small one, being held at the University of Oklahoma. The price was great, and it was local, so I didn't have to drive very far to get to this one. That's always a plus!
This particular con I found out about, even before applications were available, so I was ready and waiting when they were out! I put in the application and paid immediately!

Check-in was pretty easy. They had sent an email to vendors in the week prior, letting us know where to go, where to park, and where to check in. There didn't seem to be many people around yet when I checked in, so it went pretty easily.
There was a parking garage for the student union attached to the building. By parking on the third floor, I can go directly into the building from the garage. This helped a LOT when unloading and reloading the car.

In the email that they had sent, they let us know that we would be located in the ballroom on the third floor. It never really clicked in my brain until I located my spot that this seems quite out of the way. Nothing else for the con was being held on the third floor, so unless you are specifically going to the vendor area, there isn't a reason for con-goers to go up there.

The booth sizes were big! They had the tall pipe and drape between the booths. I had a partial window in the back of my booth, so I had some additional light coming in, at least. Plus, since I had so much space to spread out a bit, I was able to setup both of my pegboard displays again. I love when I get to do that! It's a little more work, but I can put out more stuff!
I'm putting most of the items on the smaller pegboard up on clearance to get rid of it, so it helps to get eyes on it!

The traffic there was OK. I can't help but believe that the vendors would have done much better if we were on the first floor, and have the video game tournaments were held in the 3rd floor ballroom, instead. It seems like common sense to basically force people to walk past the vendors to improve sales, rather than stick them in a corner. It's because of the location that I rated it a B.

I found out after a few hours in, that there was also a green room for vendors to relax, and they had some mini sandwiches and drinks and donuts, as well. This was awesome. I love when they do something like this for vendors! The downside is that it was on the second floor, so it wasn't as easily accessible.

Overall, I did about half as well as I was expecting. With the booth fee being only $20, and the fact that it was local for me, I still made money, but I have been getting spoiled with these cons, lately.
Back when doing craft fairs, I would have called this a great success. As a con, though, it was just OK.

At the end, they did come around and let us know that we could start packing up about 20 minutes early, since all the events were over. They did seem genuinely interested in receiving feedback, as well, to try and improve in upcoming years. I will probably still do this event again, either way.

Con review: LexiCon 2019

I am a member of several groups on Facebook, and I find them to be full of amazing information and support. My most recent group I joined is a network of Artist Alley vendors. I love the flow of information and sharing of tips on items, cons, manufacturers, etc.
One member just put up a bunch of reviews of the different cons that he has been attending, and I love the idea! I decided to do something similar here. I know that some people may not be very interested in the cons around the OK area, but I just want to share information. Plus, my readers can learn what I do on the weekends! (Although, I think I'm down to only 2 readers, now).

Convention Name: LexiCon 2019
Date: Sept 14, 2019
Cost: $10, 10x10
Location: Stillwater, OK
Grade: A

This was a small local con being run by the library.
I had been hearing good things about this con from multiple people, vendors I have met at other cons, so I decided to go ahead and apply. Gotta love the booth fee!
I was put on a waitlist right away. Apparently, this one fills up quickly, and even though I applied months in advance, I still wasn't quick enough. They also give preference to previous vendors, too.

While I was at SoonerCon back in June, I actually got my acceptance! I was super excited. I have been looking forward to this one for a while.

Check-in was pretty easy. They had already sent an email to vendors a week before, so they let us know where to enter and check in. I have things streamlined now, so I only have to make 2 trips from my car, which has helped me tremendously (especially since I go to these alone, my helper niece doesn't come to these anymore).
They pointed me to the room I was in, and also pointed out a refreshment room for the vendors, which I was excited about. I didn't expect this from a con that only cost $10! They had bottled water, bagels, crackers and cookies, raisins, etc.

My booth location was a bit awkward. This con was being held in a Community Center, wich I think may have been a school at one time. So, other than the gym area and dining area, there isn't much space to put people, other than in the classrooms, which is what they did. At first, I wasn't very thrilled with my location. I was in a room just off of the main entrance area, and initially I was kindof tucked into a corner. Because they gave us so much room, though, I was able to spread out a little bit and use the space to my advantage.
(that window behind me is to the vendor snacks area, too, so I was really close)

Despite being in a side room, I still saw quite a bit of traffic. I did very well, and set a new one-day-con record for sales. I will definitely do this con again and again. I was very pleased with everything.
The only issue I had (and it's super minor) is that when I was done unloading it took a while to find someone to tell me where we were supposed to park. That part got left out of the initial email.

I'm kindof glad this was just a one day con. I started coming down with something, and just tried to muddle through the day. I was sneezing, runny nose, scratchy throat, the works. The funny thing is, I didn't start getting these symptoms until I had already setup. I washed my hands a lot, and tried to not spread germs as much as possible.
I'm still getting over it, a week later, but I'm not nearly as miserable as I was that day.
Overall, it was a great day, though.

Purse sneak peek

As I mentioned last post, I have ideas for a new purse. I managed to pick a color that I had several spare bags of rings for, too, so I could get started right away (I am running out of several things and need to make a new order soon).
Here is a sneak peek of the first part of it. I took this picture on Friday, and I had the purse done by Sunday.

I had intended just to post about the sneak peek, but I got it finished pretty quickly, so here are the rest of the pictures of the finished purse!

Dice bags!

My dice bag stash had dwindled down to only 5, so I decided to make some more!
My first batch was a red and black one and a full black one.  I was working on these 2 at work when things slowed down. A co-worker saw me working on them and actually claimed the red one before I had finished making it!

I also had an idea for making some dice bags with a charm on it at the top. I started with Hogwarts house colors, since those were the charms I decided to start with. I got the first 2 done and pictured. The other 2 have to wait until I make another ring order, as I ran out of some colors needed.

Here are 3 of the 4 new bags I made (I gave the red one to the coworker as soon as it was done).

I have a bunch of pendants/charms in my inventory just sitting and waiting for a purpose. I may use some of them for these dice bags!
I also have plans for a purse! No, this isn't the red and black one that I was making for myself (That still isn't completed). This is one that I have just come up with the idea for, and should be muuuuuuuch quicker to make than the one I was making for me.
I'll post pictures of it soon, hopefully! If it comes out even half as cool as I'm hoping, it will be awesome!

Need more inventory!

So, I had a thought for my convention displays.
As it is right now, when I go to my cons, I take the large pegboard display (where I can keep a large amount of inventory), but I also take my older, more portable, one. I generally don't know what my space will look like before I get there, and sometimes there just isn't room to be able to setup the large display, so I have to resort to the other one.


This poses a problem, as I discovered the first time I went to use the big display.
The whole point of getting the large one was so I could leave the hooks and necklaces on the pegboard, and just close and latch the display in between conventions. I was wasting a lot of time having to put up and take off all the pegboard hooks and merch each time. The large display resolved this issue for me, and it has been amazing!

However,  if I can't use the large display and have to resort to the old one, I'm stuck. That first time, luckily I had a few extra hooks, but I had to take a lot of the necklaces off the hooks on the large display to put them on the one I was using. This not only defeats the purpose, but actually takes even longer.
I have been trying to buy another batch of hooks to keep on-hand for this eventuality, but I realize I will need more inventory, as well. If I can just keep a large amount of necklaces handy, I won't have to remove those from the large display when I'm not using it. I've been working like mad to get more supplies to make a huge amount more. The success of my recent conventions has made this possible, too!

So, for the next few weeks, I am going to be making a bunch of necklaces. I'll post pictures of some periodically! Plus, I was able to get more hooks on sale, so things are looking up!

Here are just a few of my latest ones. I need to put them on cards and they'll be done!

Commission

A friend of mine came to me asking me to make them a bracelet. We talked about weaves and colors, and this is what we came up with!

This is using some of the last of the turquoise rings leftover from the scarf that I made. I have been hanging on to them for a special occasion, and they were exactly the color my friend wanted! I may have just enough rings to make one more bracelet before they are all gone.

I love this color combination. The frost color makes the turquoise just pop even more.

Couple more cons down, now to relax a few weeks

The past couple weeks have been busy! First I had a 3 day comic con, then 2 weeks later I had a 2 day comic con. I did pretty well with them, too! I am so excited that I have found my customer base.
The 2 day con I went to wasn't attended very well, and most vendors did really poorly with sales. My sales were down a bit, too, but overall I did better than most other vendors, and I did much better than I usually do at craft fairs!

Then, my computer died. The power supply experienced a very loud cascade failure, so I have been working on getting it fixed. I already had a motherboard and processor that I needed to replace, anyway, and my husband bought me a new power supply. I have already swapped them all, and the system powers on. I just need to work on it a little bit more to get it back up and running. Hopefully very soon!

My next con is a 1 day convention being held by a library in the state. This one should be good size, and decently attended, too.
I am starting to expand my range, too, and I am looking into my first con outside of Oklahoma! (just across the border, in Arkansas).

Here are some pictures of my booths at the last couple cons.
I know most people don't care so much about these pictures of my booth, but when I was first starting out, I would scour the web for booth examples. Now that I am a bit more experienced, I want to share my setup, in case it inspires others who are just starting out.

Here is my setup for the 3 day con, in Enid, OK:

I did tweak a few things after this picture was taken. Most notably, I moved the big display stand on the right, forward, so it was next to the table, rather than behind it. That encouraged more people to step closer to look.

2 weeks later, for the 2-day con, here is my setup (a corner booth, too!)

Ugh, ignore the exposed side under the table. The fabric I had was barely long enough to cover the table. It was a bigger table than I expected (which just gives more room for merchandise!).

As you can see with both of these, I had lots of space. Because of this, I actually took advantage and used not only my large pegboard display, but I also setup a small version of the portable one, as well. This way I was able to put out many more items for sale.
I have a feeling that my library con will be limited for space, so there is a chance I may not be able to even use the large display. We'll see!

I learned a new weave!

I have joined a couple chainmail groups on Facebook, and I am constantly amazed at all the different designs and weaves out there. There are still quite a few that I don't feel talented enough to even attempt.
That being said, I came across an interwoven 4-in-1 weave. It is basically 2 different strips of your basic Euro 4-1 that you see used in armor, etc, but the 2 strips are interwoven into each other.

I pulled up a tutorial to learn just how difficult it really is, and I was super excited to find a tutorial on how to make a stretchy version. You know me! I looooove the stretchy bracelets. I immediately had to give it a try.

It was actually not as difficult as I was expecting. I really like how it turned out, too.
I don't know if I will make more of these to sell, though, as I would have to charge more. This is basically 2 bracelets in one, so it takes more time and more materials.

 Here is the flip side:

New World Comic Con

I had a very busy, yet very awesome one-day convention this past weekend, in Oklahoma City.  It was New World Comic Con.
I was constantly busy, there was very little time to relax except near the end of the day. Of course, being this busy means it was quite profitable, as well. I had an amazing time, and  I am really getting into these conventions. I have another 3-day con next weekend. I'm going to have a blast!

Here is a picture of my table setup, with my new display in the back.Yes, I realize the table covering is crooked. I didn't check until after I had everything setup, and it was too late.

New label maker

I just bought something that I am in love with. I bought me a label maker!
I keep a lot of my ring inventory in small plastics boxes, and these labels are perfect for me to quickly put the size, material, and in some cases the color.

Here is a picture of a few of the first ones I have done.

I have a feeling that there will be many more things labelled before too long. This is so corny, and yet it is so much fun, too!

Convention season

Starting next weekend, I have 3 conventions over the next 4 weekends. I will be busy!
I have been trying to build up some inventory to stock up, not only for the conventions, but for some potential consignment sales coming up. If anything comes of those options, I will certainly post about it, but I don't want to jinx myself just yet.

Here are just some of the items that I have made recently. I also have about 2 dozen more new stretchy bracelets, too.

Catch up on inventory

Things have been crazy busy around here, let me tell you. I have done so many craft fairs and conventions this year, and I have so many more. I am loving it, though!
I'm in rebuild mode to restock my inventory.

I made a few turbine necklaces and a bracelet just last night.

I'm also prepping to make a bunch of rainbow bracelets. They are, by far, my most popular.

I was also able to FINALLY use my new display that I had a friend of mine design and make for me.
It allows me to simply fold up the two sides and not have to take off the hooks or necklaces.
Here is a picture of my booth from 2 weeks ago, with the old display on the left side. I use a garment rack and a couple pegboard panels with velcro ties. (And look, there's me!)

The new display is wood. There are 2 sections plus legs. You can see it on the right of the booth picture from last weekend.

This will save me so much time, since I won't have to setup and remove all the hooks and the merch every single time. I can also open it all the way up to have a wall of stuff, instead.
I can't wait to keep using it!

Commissions done!

After the success of my last convention, I had some commissions to make. My ring order came in over the weekend, and I was able to get all of my commissions complete (except for one for a friend, so there is no rush on that one).
Here is a picture of the commissions that I had left to do.

The green and black piece is a neck shield to attach to a paintball mask. The bottom is a purple and yellow dice bag, and the one on the right is a specialized lanyard with attachments for some small tools (I still need to attach the second end to the ring, I just want to make sure of the length when I deliver it).

I have a few dice bags to make, as well as some bracelets to replenish my inventory.
Then, I might get some stitching time in. (I may sneak some in this week, anyway). 

It has already been 10 days!

Time just seems to fly by, anymore. I can't believe it has already been 10 days since my last post!

I just finished that big 3 day con that I have been so excited for, and let me say... it was amazing! I already knew that this was my primary customer base, but I did so well this weekend. My income was about 3x my best day at a craft fair. Since it was local, I had no hotel costs, since I just stayed at home!
I am super happy with how things turned out, if you couldn't tell! I have a couple more multi-day conventions booked later in the year in other parts of the state. Even with hotel costs for those, if I do half as well, I'll still be good.

The artist alley tables were actually along the halls in the convention center, so it was actually a lot of fun to just people watch as see all the cool costumes. I definitely want to keep doing conventions, and who knows? I may start attending some out of state soon, too!

This year so far has been so busy! Before now, I used to attend maybe 4 or 5 craft fairs in a year, at most. This year I have already attended about 7 or 8 events, with 5 more confirmed and a few more pending. 
While at the con, I actually got several commissions, as well! My first was for a chainmail dice bag (for a friend of mine). I actually was able to get that completed by the end of day 2 of the con. It gave me something to work on when things would slow down.
I also made a special bracelet for the girl at the booth next to me. She was wanting special colors that I did have, but just didn't have anything made with. I got that done before the end of the con, too.
I also got 2 other commissions from customers, that I am super happy about. One for a chainmail lanyard, and another for a dice bag.

Overall, I am very excited about attending conventions, now, since my first 2 have been so successful. I will now be making some more chainmail to replenish my stock. I'll get some pictures later!

Eventually, I'll get back to stitching. Hopefully. I have 3 weeks until my next con, so I may dedicate a week in there to just stitching. I can start my new secret project!

Thanks!

First, I want to say thanks for the color suggestions. I have several bracelets planned using some of these combinations! I had to take a little break from the chainmail to let my hands rest. I was about to get some tiny blisters on one of my fingers, so I just switched over to make some more cabochon things.

I did pretty well for one day. Granted, I had these cabochons already made, and I just had to put them into the pendant/bracelet/ring. Even so, I got a lot done. I managed to get these done while at work at my day job, too!

I have a bunch cabs more ready to go. I'm going to make up some more items. Next, I get to add the chains to necklaces, then put all of them on cards, too. One more week until my big con, though! Can't wait!

Once this con is over, I am planning on getting back to some stitching. I have some new fabric, and a new chart that I just have to start. I'm going to let this one be a surprise, though. Sure, it will be confusing to make out what it is until I get at least a few pages in, but I don't want to spoil it.
I already have new Qsnaps and a grime guard ready to go, too!

Busy busy!

After last weekend's successful con, I really needed to start working on restocking my inventory. My goal from then to the big convention is to make at least one bracelet per night.
I have been so excited about everything that for the past week I have actually made 3 bracelets per night. This will definitely bolster my bracelet stocks!

This is a point where I am needing help. At this point, my biggest struggle is coming up with color combinations to make. I have black rubber with all manner of colors of aluminum, but I have all sorts of colors of rubber I can expand with, as well.
What are some of your favorite color combinations?

Geek Con success!

At the last minute (because I wasn't aware of it until a week prior), I contact the local library because they were holding Geek Con, a fan convention, for one day. I wanted to see if I could get a vendor table.
Luckily, I could! The table was free, too! The con was this past weekend, and I had a great time. I had lots of sales, too! I am very much looking forward to the much bigger multi-day con I have coming up in 2 weeks. I think it will be a blast!

I recently made a bunch of bracelets to stock up, but then I just sold a bunch at the con. I'm going to be super busy making up for it so I can be well stocked for the con.
So far, I really like conventions. My first experience was a great success!

Facebook page update!

I knew having a Facebook page for my business was a good idea, but I never really did much with it after creating it. I posted something here and there whenever I remembered, but those posts were very few and very far between. There was a period where I even listed a few things, thinking I would try and sell both there and on Etsy.
Lately, however I have been working on actually updating it. I have done more with my page in the last 2 weeks than I did in the few years prior. I removed the old sales listings except for a couple that I will leave for now, and I have been adding the events I will be at. The best things I have come across is scheduling posts!

I have been remiss in posting here on my blog the past couple weeks, mainly because of the work on my chainmail items, but also because I have been working on my Facebook page, as well as researching other cons and fairs to attend. In the space of a couple weeks I went from planning on one con to try it out to having 2 confirmed and putting in applications and requests to at least 3 others.

Things are definitely starting to move forward even more for me. This has already been my busiest year, and it isn't even June yet! I am loving it, too! I want to do more, more, more! Eventually, if I can, I want to be able to leave the day job and do this as my primary job. I'm definitely not there, yet, but if things keep picking up the way they have.... who knows?

More bracelets

I have been working on bracelets lately. I need to keep my motivation on these, though. I have a tendency to just relax and do nothing, rather than make things.

I have made a bunch of bracelets, but I don't have a picture of them, yet.
I do have a picture of some of them before they were made.

There you have it, 5 bracelets. 4 of them are in Hogwarts house colors. (Some assembly required).

I'll get a picture of the recently bracelets I have made, and I'll get those posted later this week.

Great fair!

My craft fair this weekend was a great success! I did better at this one than I had ever done before. I am so happy!
My next event is the convention in a month, and I am super excited for that, as well! I have a lot to do to get ready for it, so I will not have as much stitchy time. However, I will post the other things I am making in the mean time.

Below is a picture of some of the bracelets I have already made to restock my inventory.

I have also carded a bunch of necklaces (no pictures).
Plus! my order from 123stitch.com has arrived, so I will be able to start Sleepy Hollow soon! So excited! 

Craft fair this weekend, and more Luminaro

I really like switching to large blocks of one color every once in a while. The progress seems to go so much quicker. I finished up a color on my current page of Luminaro, and you can most definitely see the progress, just with that one color!
The detail you get out of confetti, though, is just amazing. It's just such slow going. 

Here is where I left off last:

And here I am after just one more color finished:

Also, I have another craft fair this weekend, so I don't know if I am going to get to start Sleepy Hollow, yet. Besides, my supplies aren't here just yet, anyway.
This is, thankfully, my last craft fair until the convention in a month. I need a break, I think I scheduled too many this Spring. I don't think I'll do that again.

Still no Sleepy Hollow

I didn't get around to ordering the rest of the stuff I needed for Sleepy Hollow, so I didn't want to start it this past weekend. Instead, I worked on Luminaro some more.

Here is where I was last, when I left off:

Here is where I am now:

To save my sanity, I started working on a color that had more than just a couple stitches here and there. The confetti was getting to me.

Luminaro

I had a craft fair this weekend, so I didn't get a chance to start on Sleepy Hollow. Not to mention, I still don't have all the supplies for it (I am ordering them this week), so I don't have any updates other than just a blank fabric on a qsnap. That's not very interesting.

I haven't stitched much this week. My brother came in from out of town and we went to our cousin's memorial service together. I spent my time this week just being with him. I hadn't seen him in a long time. 

I have managed to get some progress done on Luminaro, though.
Here is where I was with my last update:

Here is where I am now:

Lots of confetti in there.
My husband said to me last night that he can't wait to see this one come together. Because of this, I have decided to make this my focus project (until I get sick of it). He normally doesn't show any interest in my projects, so this is a big thing.

Finishes!

I now have a finish! I really needed this.
I worked on Mario this week to get him done. I didn't much feel like working on anything complicated, and Mario only had the one color left.

Here is where I was last:

Here is my finish!

I also finished my custom order of a Christmas necktie, and a necklace and earring set.