Tag: business

The DIY Trunk Show Preview

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The one and only great and fantastic DIY Trunk Show is this upcoming weekend – on Saturday, November 20th from 10am to 5pm in Wicker Park’s Pulaski Field House. Pierogi Picnic will be there – in the same spot as last year – hawking our wears. Though I’m always excited about showcasing my work in person – this is the show where I shop till I drop. Everything from Christmas presents, to housewares, to clothes – the DIY Trunk Show is the whamy of craft fairs.

The secret to the Chicago Craft Mafia’s bazaar’s success lies in one of the underlying premises – all vendors must live within a 100 mile radius of the city. So not only are you buying handmade – you’re truly supporting local artisans! So be sure to pencil in this coming Saturday into your calendar as the day you shop till you drop. Until then – here’s a sneak peak at some of the new goodies I’ll be bringing.

Devising Strategy

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Fall is by far my favorite season. Some people consider Spring a time for renewal – but autumn is my time to shine and muse and focus on the coming months. Perhaps it’s knowing that another Chicago winter is upon me, and this pushes me forward to breathe in all of nature’s fading smells. It’s also my last chance to prepare for the holiday retail season. In the past two years I never went forth with a specific strategy towards making an easy flow for production, promotion, and product prep. But this year I am devising a plan. Continue reading →

Staying Inspired – 11 Tips

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"Keep it Easy" by Laura George

 

These past few weeks have been a real whirlwind between my day job and Pierogi Picnic. Renegade took months of preparation but paid off by encouraging and inspiring me in totally new ways – so the trade off worked. But September was rough on my Etsy and this weekend’s show was a bit ‘wha wha’. What normally is one of my best months of the year was a total bust this time around.

At the show I had the chance to connect with other artists and share similar thoughts about the unpredictability of crafty businesses. One week your up – the next your down – but staying inspired is a daunting task when juggling day to day life, work, and a creative biz. So here are my tips for turning things up when they’re looking south:

1) Experiment. Continue reading →

Learning the Biz: Craft Inc.

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Mateo Ilasco's Site

When one of my friends decided to uproot to Morocco, one of her first ‘to-dos’ was unloading her plethora of books, crafts, and kitchen gadgets upon her eager friends. Besides the fantastic glass jars, stamps, and dehydrator, Irena saved me a read that she knew I would put to good use – Craft Inc. Entering into Pierogi Picnic’s third year, I hate to admit, I was a little cocky about the book’s premise at first. But then I needed a quick read for the  el, and began to pour through the pages when I realized that I was totally wrong! Continue reading →

Renegade Prep #1: GIY Kits

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It was just one year ago that I was on my epic road trip west sewing little hair flowers while driving for thousands of miles with David. How in the world did I get everything ready for Renegade? It was my first time ever doing a craft fair, and I decided to take a four week long vacation just the month prior? I must have been mad. And I might have well been considering the copious amounts of sleepless hours I sewed, and glued, and printed the week before the show.

Continue reading →