Renegade Craft Fair SF

What perfect timing! I drove up to the bay area for a wedding & it happened to be the same weekend as Renegade Craft Fair SF. I must say it was lovely to be there as a visitor and not a vendor, but dang, I would love to be a vendor there. Hands down, best venue for a craft fair ever. It's so open & breezy but without the wind. It's well lit and you don't need a tent. So great.

I have photobooth pics from 3 RCFs this year. I have to find the BK one.. it's somewhere. But it's funny because I have something I've made in each one. Shameless promotion ;)

mmmmmmmm... hopefully I'll be there in December!

The Sketchbook Project

I believe in the persuasive power of the universe. A friend told me about this project called The Sketchbook Project. You basically buy a sketchbook that will later go on tour around the US for people to check out. At the end of the tour, it'll stay at the Brooklyn Art Library. Pretty sweet, but I didn't sign up. Then another friend emailed me about it... filled out the forms and everything, but hesitated and failed to hit OK. Then, a third friend, someone who I don't speak with often posted the link to it on my fb. I took the hint & signed up.

I let the computer pick a theme for me and whaddya know... it chose "in flight." How very fitting. While a lot of people get ambitious about the whole bit, I guess I want to keep it true to my usual sketchbooks, filled with trees, notes on my travels and sketches of funny looking people. I've stopped sketching so it's a good excuse to draw again.

And thus begins my documentation/blogging:

Oh, and here's a video about it:

Cheryl & Bobby

yay! wedding's today!

My Office

I should have taken before/after pictures... After my 6 hour drive to the bay area, I immediately started opening boxes and unraveling the mess that is high school & college keepsakes. After a couple hours of sorting through Santos sisters concert ticket stubs, prom corsages, high school yearbooks, love notes on binder paper, and graphing calculator instruction manuals I managed to secure the corner for a little table, shelf and printer. Clearly, it's a work in progress. It's not much, but it's better than my car!

The Wanderluster Moves Again

it was good seeing friends yesterday

(not pictured: mickey, david, hyosun, victoria, kim ;)

now I depart for the bay area... yeaaaaahhh!

stay tuned for pictures of my wedding present

to my high school friend & her future hubby

To Do List

visit majestical roof to deliver more plush... check

visit flockshop to deliver more plush... check

buy plastic sleeves for prints... check

finish custom order... check

update inventory logs (way over the 100 handmade plush mark!)... check

yet to do: wedding present, finances, deliver custom order, celebrate & say bye to LA friends, and pack. oh, and drive to san jose. yikes :)

Thoughts on Business

Renegade Craft Fair definitely marks a turning point in my business. What once was a growing secret of a business is now shouting from the rooftops (sort of). It's still on the smaller scale but as the publicity and awareness grow, I see that I have to change how I handle it.

As I was wandering through the aisles of Staples, I became intoxicated with the idea of having an office. Then it dawned on me that I'd never really had one for my business. I've been moving around so much for the past 1.5 years, never having everything in one place. I'm actually quite impressed that I've been able to survive so well with a backpack in Asia and a car full of supplies in California. But goodness, having paperwork in once place, silks in another city, my original paintings in another... not only is it a little tricky to keep track, it's a little tough to juggle.

So, in a movement towards organizational growth, I bought 4 cork board grids. I'm a visual person so I need to display all the custom orders and due dates to stay on top of things. It's interesting though... It's not that I'm growing out of the traveling bug, but this business and my art is a damn good reason to stay in one place. Where? Oh, who knows.