Farm Life

A friend of ours that Jesse works with just had baby goats! (Okay, HE didn't have the goats...lol) And I've been telling Jesse forever how cute they are and that we should get one. Even better that they're pigmy goats! So on Sunday we took a little cruise to his farm to check out the babies.

I still can't get over how cute these little guys are! Now if this was an infant child, I'd be adoring from afar (like, from the other side of the room). But when it comes to baby animals, I just can't get enough of them!

This little guy was so calm the entire time I held him...until I started to take his picture. This is what human babies do when I hold them too, which is why I keep my distance...lol. But this little guy's cry was even cute :)

This was quite a visit as there were many goats and even sheep too. There was only one of the larger goats that would let us pet him, but you know I was all over that too :)

And he had a baby calf too! I forget how little these guys are when they're being bottle fed. This one looked like a little deer due to its coloring.

The verdict is still out on whether we'll get to bring a baby home when it gets weened, but I sure did take a liking to the little black and white one :)

Almost Wordless Wednesday - New View

We took a new way into the city and found this cool bridge!

First Day of Spring

Woohoo for the nicer weather...and even nicer weather to come!

What better way to spend the first day of spring than taking the year's Maiden Voyage on the river!

While it was a little chilly, it was well worth it to get out of the house and enjoy the sun for a few hours :)

We did have a little mishap with our new boat, but luckily we still have our old boat and she still runs great. Hopefully the new boat will be on the water in about a month.

We met up with Jesse's aunt and uncle and I love how their dog sits in the seat like a little person :) We're hoping to get to take Harley more this year as well.

And on Saturday we had a wedding reception and decided to get out our "new" car for its official first cruise. Jesse's grandpa left his grandma's sunglasses in the car and wanted me to have them. I love that they fit just right :)

How was your first day of spring?

Friday Features - Spring Wreath

Ever since I made a wreath for my studio door last fall, I've been loving the extra pop of color. I missed it during the winter and now am thinking I need some color for spring! I looked in a few local stores, but haven't found the right one yet. As always, Etsy never disappoints when I go searching. Check out these beautiful finds!

Clockwise from top left:

Wreath 1

Wreath 2

Wreath 3

Wreath 4

Which is your favorite?

When Free Really Isn't Free

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I participated in a very large bridal fair last Sunday. I had looked into doing this show for a couple of years, but just couldn't justify the cost. A normal booth at this show costs $850! So when the organizers sent out a chance to win a free booth, I jumped on it right away. The first 50 people to respond got a free 5' x 10' booth.

  

While this is a very small space, I knew I could make it work. And hey, it was free! But then the organizers mentioned that this booth would be 5' wide and 10' deep. Hmmm...how was I going to make that work? 5' deep and 10' wide would have worked great, but I just couldn't find a way to make the narrow booth work. So, cost #1...$300 to upgrade to a 10' x 10' booth. I did also get the bride's lead list with this upgrade as well, which will come in handy for contacting the brides.

Then I went to a meeting for all the vendors and found out that my upgrade did not include a listing on the website. So, cost #2...$100 to be added to the official website. The organizers made a good point that if someone remembers your items, but has misplaced your information, they will go looking on the show's website. If they cannot find you there, they may go with a competitor who is on the site instead. And I did have one bride tell me that she visited the website the night before the show and knew she wanted to stop by my booth. So that made me feel a little better about the extra cost.

Also at the meeting, we were giving forms for renting tables and table clothes. I normally bring my own tables and coverings to shows with me. But since I had a show the day before the bridal fair, I didn't want to have to mess with unloading the tables and reloading them for the bridal fair. Also, my tables are only 5' long and I could rent 8' tables, a tall cocktail table and white table clothes. I'm really glad I went with the white coverings as I think they helped my items stand out well. So, cost #3...$65 to rent tables and coverings.

I also saw a really cool idea online for a cupcake stand that I thought would make a really cool display for my invitations and guest books. I really thought this was something my dad and I could just throw together at a minimal cost...WRONG! Above is the inspiration for my displays. I wanted 18" tree slices with tree limbs in between. Well, come to find out, unless you kiln dry the tree slices, at the size, they will warp...a lot...and very quickly! So I went to a local saw mill to see what other options I had. They made me some really nice oak circles that I could do the same thing with. When I got the cost, they told me the board foot cost and the hourly labor cost, but never mentioned how many hours they thought they would take. We had a huge misunderstanding on the price, but in the end, I had to pay it. So, cost #4...$435 for new displays!! (Live and learn!)

I also printed special brochures for the bridal fair that had photos of my most popular wedding items and pricing for them as well. I also printed business cards to hand out with the brochures. For a giveaway item, I engraved wood wine bottle stoppers with a coupon code and my Etsy web address. I also ordered a banner for my booth as well. I realize this is all part of doing business and advertising is essential for continued business, but most of this cost was directly related to this specific show. So, cost #5...Between $400-$500 for advertising/marketing.

In the beginning, I thought $850 was way too much to pay for a booth at this show. But in the end, I spent about $1350 for this booth!!! I realize the cost of the advertising/marketing materials would have been an additional cost whether I paid for the booth or not and the cost of the displays would have been additional as well. But I wanted to break down all the special costs that went into this specific show. So next year when I'm deciding whether to participate or not, I'll know that if this year's show was a success, it won't be any problem to just pay for the full booth up front :)

Have you had to learn any lessons the hard way lately?

Wordless Wednesday - Pamper Yourself

Spring Craft Show & Omaha Bridal Showcase

As I mentioned last week, things have been a little crazy around here. Over the weekend I participated in both a large craft show and a very large bridal show. And I'm happy to report that both went well.

I will say that the craft show was a little slower than expected, but luckily I met my goals for the day. Traffic was great in the morning, but a little slow in the afternoon. I was hoping the nice weather would bring people out, but I think it had them at home thinking yard work. I've found that Spring shows are a little hard to predict, which is why I do very few of them. During fall shows, shoppers are all thinking about Christmas and gift-giving. But during Spring shows, shoppers may not have a specific gift-giving event in mind or may just be browsing for themselves. So they tend to do more looking than buying. But I have already received one order from someone who saw my cutting boards at the show, so that's always great!

The bridal fair was amazing! I was a little concerned that it was only 4 hours long, but by hour number 2, I could see why they didn't make the hours any longer. I was exhausted! By the end of the day, I had handed out about 250 wine bottle stoppers that had coupon codes on them. At least 300 brochures and even more business cards. I think I talked non-stop for 2.5 hours straight! And so did my mom!

 

It was also nice to talk to some of the other vendors after the show and have them comment that they wished they had a booth next to mine because it was always busy and drew quite a crowd. That really made me feel good since this was my first bridal fair of this size.

As you can see, I had a completely different setup for the bridal fair than I normally do for craft shows. I liked the white table clothes better for this show and loved how the wood looked on it. I had some new displays built specially for this show and they worked great to display my invitations and guest books.

Now comes the waiting game. Bridal fairs are just for advertising and networking, so time will tell if the show was as successful as I'm hoping. This is a very pricey show (compared to craft shows), so I'm excited to see the outcome and whether I will participate next year. I'll just be sure not to do back to back shows again...I'm still exhausted!

Life Lately

Life has been a little crazy lately, as I'm sure you can tell from my lack of posts. So here's a quick rundown of what's been going on...

First Spring Craft Show

 Along with filling regular orders, I've been restocking things that sold out last fall for my upcoming show on Saturday. After my last show last fall, I just put everything away so I could focus on Christmas orders. I didn't take inventory and didn't realize how low I had gotten on stock! Still hoping to get a few more pieces ready before the show (isn't that always the case!).

First Big Bridal Fair

Back to back craziness this weekend! I have my first big bridal fair on Sunday. There will be 450-600 brides attending with their entourage! I'm both excited and nervous at the same time. My display will be completely different at this show than any of my craft shows. I'm working on last minute pieces for displays and last minute giveaways and flyers. Luckily my mom is here to help me prep and will be here to help me with the show!

Family

Speaking of my mom...my parents have been in town for the last week and a half. And when my parents are in town, I try to spend as much time as I can with them. That means I get all my work done, but things like my poor blog fall to the side.

My grandpa has also been in the hospital for a few weeks now. Every time we think he's showing progress, he takes 3 steps back. So that has been weighing on my mind and I've been trying to spend time with him when I can as well.

New Laser!

To end on a good note, I also ordered a new laser! It will be here the week of the 16th and I'll have training the following week. I am beyond excited to have a bigger, more powerful laser! I can't wait to get it up and running. I better start clearing a space for it!!!

I hope things aren't quite so crazy in your neck of the woods! And I hope you're all enjoying some nice weather. I'm so glad this week has been sunny and warm!
Stay tuned for updates on all these upcoming events!

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Furball

My furry little man...getting his hair cut tomorrow!

Aquamarine - The Color of March

Today's Friday Features are brought to you via an Etsy treasury. This beautiful hue of blue is the birthstone of March. I had a great time finding all these beautiful features and I hope you'll enjoy!

The Color of March

Aquamarine...The Color of March Enjoy these finds from the Blogging Business Artisans and other talented Etsy members. https://www.etsy.com/teams/10615/blogging-business-artisans

Blue Ocean Earrings, Wave Earrings, Turquoise Blue Earrings, Lampwork Earrings, Beach Earrings, Beadwork Earrings - Tranquil Waters GlassRiverJewelry $28.00	Glass Drawer Knobs with bubbles in Light Blue and Silver toned Hardware (CK16) DaRosa $6.25	Icy Light Aquamarine Earrings Sugar Sparklers Small Swarovski Crystal Icy Light Aquamarine Diamond Rhinestone Stud Earrings Mashugana MASHUGANA $18.50	Spiral Deluxe Ribbon Lei - Purple Blue White Crown Sennet Hawaiian Aloha Lei - Graduation Gift Wedding Favor - Ready to Ship StalkingTheWildSnark $35.00
Robin's Egg - Aqua Glass and Bali Beaded Sterling Silver Earrings BeadedTail $14.00	Love Romance Kiss Print from Original Watercolor Painting - Watercolor Illustration by Lana Moes LanasArt $25.00	Light Blue Goose Nagoire Feathers, 10 Loose Feathers HeartyArtSupplies $2.15	Handmade Natural Aquamarine Engagement Ring 7mm Round Aquamarine Engagement Ring and Half Eternity Band Set in 14K White Gold InOurStar $582.00
Light Blue Customized Insulator Light- Ice Blue Insulator Pendant Light Blue Pendant Light Industrial Pendant Lighting Whitall Tatum light DivineDiscoveries $98.00	Polka Dot Throw Pillow - modern, mod, midcentury, turquoise, teal, pillow cover, housewarming gift, 16x16, 12x16 TheRoomKit $18.00	Sand Dollar Necklace Beach Jewelry Turquoise Blue Light Blue Sea Jewelry Ocean Beach Wedding Unique Gift for Women - Antique Brass Necklace OstaraMoonJewelry $39.95	Beaded Bracelet - Turquoise Blue Shell by randomcreative on Etsy randomcreative $15.00
Sunset Birds Light Blue Summer Scarf Spring Scarf Futurerity2 £8.00	Earrings: Turquoise Hoops AntiquityTravelers $42.00	Blue Satin elastic Garter Lace by the yard PruittSupply $3.00	Light Blue Euro Sham 24x24 26x26 plus 5 other sizes oversized pillow huge Zipper pillow cover blue lumbar cover Pillomatic $16.00

Powered By Toastie Studio - Etsy Tools

We Love the Classics

Last week was a little bit of an exciting week. Jesse and I bought another car. And not just any car, but his grandpa's '39 Chevy! This is something that Jesse has always wanted and when his grandpa decided it was time for him to get a different classic car, we knew right where his old one was going! The whole thing happened kind of fast. We found out on Tuesday that he might be selling it and by 9am the next day, it was in our garage!

I love all the details on this old girl!

As some of you might have noticed, we have a thing for classic cars :) My first car, which I still own, is a 1963 Rambler Wagon. We also have Jesse's dad's '68 Chevelle and one day I'll also have a '50 Chevy pickup that is my dad's.

So when a classic car show came to the city, we headed up on Friday to see the sites.

As I mentioned, my dad has a '50 Chevy pickup, so my favorites at shows are always the trucks. This '48 has had some MAJOR work done! Man was it gorgeous!

And I'm always excited when I see Ramblers at shows. You don't see many of them around anymore. And wagons are even more rare. This one was just a sedan, but I loved all the Rambler decals and designs :)

 

I love all the fun, creative ideas people come up with!

Sip, Paint and Be Merry!

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to hang out with some of my favorite in-laws/friends. We all got together to do some painting and drink some wine...what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon :) We took a class at a local studio and learned how to paint this awesome horse you see above.

This is something I've wanted to do for quite a while, but was scared as to what my finished piece would look like! So I thought I'd show you some of the step-by-step pictures of my painting. Because trust me, if I could do this, you can too! They walk you through the whole process, but everyone's paintings looked so different in the end.

We started with the background, leaving space for where the horse would go.

Then we started to sketch. Here are some of the in-process shots of my horse coming to life.

Shading is something I've always had trouble with, but the instructor was great about walking us through and helping us individually to get the look we were going for.

The funnest part (in my opinion) was adding the tail. All the wild strokes and fun colors!

Then we were told to sign our painting. Of course I wanted to sign mine in pink :) So I added some new color to my palette and while I was at it, added some pink stokes to my horse's main and tail too.

This was such a fun day and I loved the whole atmosphere of The Painting Barn. We got to drink wine, listen to fun music and create a "masterpiece" as well :)