Counting Down to the Artsy Market

Wow, it's been a super busy last few days around here making preparations for my very first public sale next Saturday!  It's all starting to feel very, very real.  The local paper, the Waconia Patriot, did a full page spread this week on Escape to the Islands and the Artsy Market.  They even had a sidebar listing all the businesses that are participating. It was pretty cool to see my business name there in black and white!

Obviously, I have to get lots of jewelry made and priced to sell, but I've also been trying to figure out my displays.  I bought a small table that I hope will fit into my space, table coverings, and storage supplies to keep all my goodies tidy during the show.  I also started working on how I can give some interest and height to my display.  I figured that just having my display heads wasn't quite enough.

I'm pretty proud of one of my projects, pictured below partially finished.  I took an inexpensive small suitcase (that we usually have picture frames sitting on in our living room) and added a series of small cup hooks inside.  I will be able to hang several necklaces inside and it goes nicely with the slightly rustic look of my other things.  Ultimately, I'll have to play around with my set up to see what works, but I have gathered some nice things that I think will work well together, feel tropical without being tacky, and be reusable in the future.  Also, since you can't see the cup hooks from the outside, my little suitcase can go right back to its old job after the sale!

In other news, my new business cards came yesterday.  The green color is totally me and makes me happy.  They are just quick ones done from a template at Vistaprint, but they will do the job until my friend Anna and I can work up something a little more unique to me and my designs.  Progress!

I can't believe how much I've managed to get done after working my day job as a librarian and juggling all the other details of normal life.  There's still a lot more to do, but I will get there.  Next up, I have to finish making the bookmarks that will be my contribution to the goody bags for the first 50 people at the Artsy Market, put the finishing touches on my Etsy shop, oh, and make some more necklaces!