It's A Crafty Business

Busy, busy, busy!  We had the appraisal done on our house yesterday so now I'm pulling everything off he wall and getting the closets packed up.  As much as possible, we still have to live here for four more weeks.

You probably remember a while back my friend Janice and I had a falling out.  Basically, our kids were dating and some things happened that, at the time, were out of our control.  And, it affected our friendship.  Janice didn't want it to, but what happened to my son hurt my so deeply that it's taken me over a year to start letting it go.  Honestly, it still feels like pain inside of me, but I'm trying really hard to let it go. 

Scott asked me how long I was going to fight Jason's battle?  Well that was the start of my road to recovery, so to speak.  I explained to him I was just being a mom and protecting my son.  He told me that Janice was probably doing the same thing, don't ya think.  Well, it was tough to argue with that.

So, I think we'll be ok.  And I have missed my friend.  I have missed her so much and this week I talked to her a few times, and it was really nice.

AND, she has a business opportunity for me.  See, way back before all the shit hit the fan, we had done some craft shopping because we decided we were going to make Toothfairy Pillows.  I also make a few other crafts, but at the time we were focusing on the pillows.  I've made some and they are so damn cute.  Anyhow, Lowell has this really great Farmers Market that they start up in June and it runs until September.  They are also up and running during 2 different festivals that are held in Lowell.  They're a big deal.

For years, the Farmers Market has been at the Lowell Fairgrounds.  It's a grassy area that isn't exactly pleasant to be in on a rainy day.  Now, the Farmers Market has moved to the front of TSC (Tractor Supply).  It's right on Fulton so it'll get much more traffic and it's on a paved lot.  Well, anyone can sign up for a booth.  It's not just your typical farmers market that people would come in and sell the veggies they grew in their gardens.

They sell fruit and veggies, plants, crafts, even Great Harvest Bread Company out of Grand Rapids comes in with a truck each week.  I know that Tina has bought her pickles there for when she cans her dill pickles.  And Scott and I have bought summer squash, greenbeans, blueberries and strawberries.  Delicious!

Anyhow, she knows the people who run the Farmers Market and they asked her if she wanted to have a booth for crafts.  I thought, this sounds ok....but how much.  So they run for 18 weeks plus they do the two festivals and you can pay by the week for $10 a week or $130 for the season.  Duh!

I'm trying to figure out if I can pull something together for this.  Basically you commit to 6 hours a week and set up your booth, and then sell whatever you have....well, you try to.  Scott and I have a new pop-up canopy thingy that is 12 X 12 and goes up in like 30 seconds and Janices dad has the long 8 ft tables.  So, we don't really need to invest in anything.  I've got a huge roll of plastic table cover from when Jason graduated. 

If you know me, then you know that I'm a very artistic and craft person.  My art teacher back in highschool was disappointed because I didn't go on to Kendall after highschool.  She thought that I had talent.  Well, I enjoy doing crafts.  I can sew, Scott bought me a scroll saw for Christmas so I can work with wood.  I make homemade Christmas ornaments, lavender rice bags (any size) toothfairy pillows, quilts, wood benches, wood shelves, and wood knick knacks.  And one of my favorite things to do, I love to paint on clay pots.

I buy these really nice sized, not to tall but wide, clay pots and then I prime it and paint them a solid color.  I make one for my sister and her bathroom has a huge jaccuzzi tub in it.  It sits in a corner so there is a corner area for something.  So I painted this large clay pot a mint green (same as her bathroom) and then I sponge a pearl white on top of it.  Then along the top edge of the clay pot where it's wider, I use two shades of darker green to dry brush a layer of foliage, then I top it with a dry brush of the pearl white.  Then I put a tiny dot of dark pink paint next to a tiny dot of white paint.  Then you use a toothpick to swirl the pink and white together, making tiny pink roses.

When it's done, I spray with with clear top coat, let it dry and then do a fancy fold on a bunch of white and mint green washclothes and fill the pot with it.  Totally looked cute on her bathtub.

Matter of fact, I have a ginormous corner jaccuzzi tub in our new house, I'll have to do the same but in blues.

Anyhow, I do clay pots of all sizes.  I make them into bells for the christmas tree, or angels.  I even have one painted in mint green with the pearl white drybrushed over it, and then I put a mint green candle in it and it sits in my bathroom.  A very nice accent.

I have tons of ideas.  Every week in the newspaper you can find a 40 or 50% off one item at Joanne Fabrics, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby.  I try to buy a pattern book every couple of weeks.  I'd like to build up my pattern collection.  When we were moving back from Ohio, for some reason I never thought I'd do crafts again and I got rid of all my patterns.  STUPID STUPID STUPID. 

So, i'm searching ebay, I'm buying them half off at the store, and I'm getting free patterns off the internet.

Any thoughts on this?  I want to do this with Janice and I want to take a chance.  I don't know if I'll make money or not, but I can try.  Oh, I almost forgot....I make gunsocks.  Are you wondering what they are?  Well, I make them out of a really soft heavy materal and it's basically a sock for a rifle or shotgun.  Guys LOVE them.  Most men have a gun safe and you can't fit a big gun case in it, so you put your gun in it to protect it from scratches etc while its stored safely away.  Oh, and I spray a coat of water repellent on it.  Just in case it gets out on a damp day.

I sold these on ebay a few years back when we were struggling for money.  It was when we first moved back from Ohio to Michigan and I didn't know what I was going to do about Christmas.  We were so broke it wasn't funny.  I sold them for $7.00 plus s/h and I sold a butt load of them and was able to do most of my Christmas shopping with that money.  Maybe selling them and being outside TSC (a definite guy store) I'll do better.

Ok, I'm looking for some moral support here.  Good idea or stupid?  Scott is worried because we are getting ready to move and he's wondering if I can get enough made between now and the second week of June?  Well, I don't know about the wood stuff.  I'm not really set up for that right now, but my sewing maching isnt' packed yet and all my material is in big totes.  I can knock them out pretty quick because I cut them all out at once and then sew them.  The toothfairy pillows are more work.  Lots of sewing, lace, buttons, and a pocket.  Takes me  a day to make 3 but so worth it.  They are cute as hell and i think people will like them.

Anyone with a little kid who believes in the toothferry would love them.  John is bugging me for a boy one.  I've only made them for little girls so far.  I have tons of boy material, but haven't gotten that far yet.

Maybe that's what I'll do when I break from the packing.  I'm getting alot of packing done, but I can only pack so much since we are still living here.  Plus, I learned a valuable lesson working for Two Men And A Truck.....never mix items in a box from more than one room.  Don't pack linens with stuff that you aren't going to be using for a while....and then pack the rest of the linens in a different box.  It's worth it to just pack them all together when it comes time.

Well, that's my story for tonight.  I'm pondering a new adventure.  I wouldn't probably worry about the farmers market, but it's been going for many years and they are ALWAYS busy.  That is encouraging.  We need to sell one pillow a week between the two of us to pay for this....then we get 5 free weeks and the two festivals on top of that.

Until next time.....