The Times, They Are a-Changin'

It's Sunday, so what better day to reflect on things of the week past. The Clothing Show was pretty good, as my sales improved from the first show I did back in Spring - thank you to all my buyers for your support and purchases!- but they weren't so spectacular that it's convinced me to do another one again. Plus, as my post title suggests, the times, or should I say my times will be changing, so who knows if the show circuit is in my near future?



The most significant change coming up, or the one that has me feeling mixed emotions, is my acceptance of a job outside of the house. While I'm happy to have gotten the position - I've only been applying for jobs since the beginning of this year - it will require me commuting close to 2 hours each way, 6 days a week. Plus, rising hours before the sun comes up. Not a lot of fun, especially since darkness pervades these mornings leading up to winter. I swore that I would never take a job that required more than an hour of commuting one way, but (here I am quoting another song) you can't always get what you want.

It's been several years since I've worked outside of home - thanks to my dear hubby, without whom, I think I'd be in a heck of a bigger mess - and as much as I'd love to continue to do so, the reality of it, is that I'm not making as much as I need to be making to live a comfortable life in downtown Toronto. I'd love to say that I am. I'd love to say that Etsy allowed me to quit my day job. But really, my day job was working from my home. Well, IS, for now. For another week and a half. So my reality is that I have to quit my day job to make more money. How bizarre is that?



My big concern is that the new job won't allow me enough time or energy to devote to my shop and other projects and commitments. I'm also upset that I haven't been able to "make it work" as well I want it to. I know this is just another leg of my journey in life and so I should embrace it and take things one day at a time, but part of me can't help feeling like I've failed a little. I certainly am not going to give up doing what I love, but this post is also to let others know that I may have to close shop temporarily to maintain my sanity.

And speaking of sanity, Matt and I could only handle so much of Nuit Blanche last night before we returned home. We didn't see anything really related to the event aside from lots of people out and about, as we had our own adventure planned for the evening. Some people are okay with crowds, but we are not among them. I love the idea of the event, but maybe if I were 10 years younger, I'd be more into it. Hope whoever was out last night/this morning had a swell time!

Fall Clothing Show Tomorrow!

I'm in the final stages of prep for The Clothing Show, so this will not be a long post. For any of my readers in Toronto, please come by Booth #513 if you can and take advantage of some great deals. Hint: Print the above image from this post out and you can save 20% off my New Fall tees.

I was thrilled to see another of my items on the front page of etsy the other day. What a great looking treasury for Fall too! Well, wish me luck at the Show! I'll let you know how it goes after the weekend.

First Day of Autumn

This morning I was treated to a nice surprise when this made it to the front page. I love it when that happens!

Last week, this sweet gal wrote some very kind things about me and my shop.
Thanks, Kristen. You are a sweetheart!

Today is also the first day of my favourite season so I'm looking forward to the cooler days. No more need for a/c, lots of excuses for hot chocolate and less sweat exuded from my body (hopefully). Of course, I've yet to step outside. The day was devoted to making a ton of buttons for my various retailers and also the upcoming Clothing Show. Most of my stock is together, I just need to make signage for the booth and price it all. I will have some great deals on the Summer tees and older items, plus will unveil some new Fall stuff. If I have time, I'll post some pics of what to expect in the next few days.

The change of seasons also means all the Fall lineup of shows are starting up again. Tonight is Heroes, one of Matt's favourites. Tomorrow is House, I believe. Next week, there's Grey's Anatomy, my fave... So much to watch and so little time! Yes, we are tv junkies, but hey, it beats being addicted to other vices.

Edit: I forgot that the Season Premiere of House was on last week. Duh! And I meant Thursday instead of next week for Grey's Anatomy. Geez, where's my brain?

Can you "handle" this?

I've been on a blog hiatus lately but only because I've been working real hard. A new design is here, finally! And yes, I've hopped on the moustache bandwagon, but only because it looks so cute and funny on this kitty. I'll be listing tees and totes with "moustache kitty" in my shop later this month.

Other new designs are in the works, along similar "dress-up" lines. With Halloween around the corner, I've been inspired by that theme of donning costumes. Stay tuned.

As well, the Clothing Show is just weeks away, so I'm preparing for my second time there. A lot of summer stock will be marked down and I will have some new items too. It may be my only show for the rest of the year, since a lot of the deadlines for Christmas shows seemed to have already passed. Please come check it out. Same spot as the Spring show. Booth 513. September 26-28.

A New Addition

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had something new to add to my shop. So you can now get your very own lucky kitty handmade by yours truly. There are only 2 available right now and I don't know how many more I'll make. I haven't sewn too many things in my lifetime, but am pretty satisfied with how these turned out. Pretty Kitty is another design that I think would work well as a stuffed doll, so those will be next.

And here are some more photos from the Clothing Show. My setup was not the greatest but since it was my first show I didn't want to invest a ton of money into it before I knew what to expect.



You can see the lucky kitty dolls in this photo:


Here's my friend, Cheryl's table:


You can't really see the jewellery that well from this photo, but her stuff is really great. She was also a sweetheart and lent me an extra table and chair as well as driving me to and from the show everyday. Thank goodness for friends with cars :)

This week has kinda flown by and Mother's Day crept up on me that I didn't even realize it was this Sunday until Wednesday. Oops! I had to ask my sister to sign a card from both of us this year. Even if I did get her a card though, she'd most likely have this reaction, typical of most Asian mothers, I think.

Home Sweet Home

Today has been all about relishing the comfort of home. It's the first full day I've been at home in the past week, so I've been catching up on emails, cleaning and just enjoying the fact that I didn't have to change out of my pj's, except to go get the mail.

The cats seem to have missed me too. Suki never used to be a lap cat, but since her past few health issues and visits to the vet, she's grown accustomed to being in my lap at least once a day. Dex decided to eat some ribbon this afternoon, maybe out of spite for me not being home much this weekend. I was a second too late to grab it out of his mouth, so I hope it comes out his other end fine.

The Clothing Show this past weekend was not as successful as I'd hoped but I had good company so that made it worthwhile. Here I am with my boothmate, Cheryl, who makes really lovely jewellery.


Most other vendors who did the show seemed to say it wasn't that great overall for them either. So, personally, I look at it as more of a learning experience and a way to promote myself as well as getting feedback. It's especiallly hard to compete - as an independent designer - with vendors who are selling mass-produced items for $5 or $10. Most people who go to these shows seem to be searching for deals. The one time I went as a buyer, I admit I did the same. But if I had the money, of course I would support other indie designers.

Happily though, I sold one of my new bags which feature adjustable straps, like a messenger bag. You can see one in the photo above. And pretty kitty seemed to be a popular design. Now I know better what to expect for the Fall show, which I will most likely partake in.

I will be listing a new item in my shop later this week. Stay tuned.

The Clothing Show

The time has arrived and it's my first show of the year! If you're looking for something to do this weekend, please check out the Clothing Show. It's my first time being a vendor at it and I'm hoping for a good show, despite the wet weather we seem to be in store for. It's taking place at the Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place. Hours are Friday 3-9 pm, Saturday 11-9 pm and Sunday 11-7 pm.

I didn't get around to taking any photos of my stock so no sneak peek, but I will try to remember to take some photos of my booth. I'll be sharing with this fun jewellery designer. Hope to see you there!

Arrrgh!

It's a rainy day in Kittyville so far. Well, actually, I think the rain stopped a while ago but it's dampened my spirits enough today. I'm typing from my Monday hideout and I swear I better hone my selling skills quickly if I hope to close any sales at this coming weekend's event. There have been a bunch of people who have been drawn into the store by the Pirate Kitty shirt on the mannequin in the window and yet every one of them has resisted from buying it. I find I have an easier time selling other people's stuff, rather than my own. Why is that?!!!

My section is looking a tad bare now but the way things have been today, I don't think I need to worry about restocking until after the show. No sales at all so far for the store. That's Monday for you. At least grey, gloomy Mondays.

One positive note is that today is the 5-year anniversary of Matt's and my first date. He says that now we'll only celebrate our wedding anniversary (easier for him to remember... we'll see) but I like to commemmorate these special occasions anyway, even if it's just in cyberspace.

Relief

This is what I felt like doing Sunday night... Dex was lucky he wasn't in my shoes that day. The majority of Sunday was spent doing Matt's and my taxes though mine took 3 times as long as his. But I'm happy to report that ours are done and mailed out a week before they're due and if I've done them correctly (hopefully!) I will actually get money back this year! Heck, if I don't get a refund, as long as I don't owe any, I am happy. One of these days, I swear, I will hire an accountant but my records and receipts are not as organized as they'd have to be to just dump them onto someone else, so it was another year of doing them on my own.

If my kitty assistants could help me out every once in a while, they'd at least be earning their keep...


That's my new white desk that Suki has plopped herself on. No white walls were painted on the weekend, as Matt said it would be a time-consuming task. So that will be for another weekend when we can devote it all to painting. But here's a sneak peek of how great white on white would look:



The rest of this week will be spent preparing for this show and also getting stock sent to here.
It'll be my first show of the year and I'm hoping it'll be better than what I've heard about it from some sources. If you're in Toronto and looking for something to do that weekend, please come by.