Wow. I really haven’t posted much lately.

Things have been crazy busy here. Between working on jewelry for the jewelry show last week and getting ready to put it in a local store, it has kept me busy. Now I’m working on a possible craft show next weekend. I will probably post more about the jewelry as I get it photographed since I’m trying to get as much listed as possible before the show next weekend. I’ve learned how to make rings and they are SO FUN to make.

I’m also accompanying for a Christian school choir concert soon. It is always so fun to work on that music. Pretty often it is music outside of what I would have personally picked, so it’s nice to try new music.

Christmas gifts have kept me busy too. My mom’s table runner is almost done (it’s safe to say that here because I KNOW she doesn’t read my blog! *grin*), and hopefully will finish it today. The boys’ quilts. . .not so much. I’ve put them off until December (there is a good reason for that which I’ll share later).

So there’s my “we’re incredibly busy but I don’t have much of an update” update. :O)

Several people have asked how the craft fair went. It was a learning experience, to say the least.

The short answer is it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Most of it seems to be because it was the first year for the event, and even though it was promoted, not many people seemed to know it was being held.

There were a couple other vendors there who do craft shows on a regular basis. It was interesting to talk with them and learn some things.

I was hoping it would go better than it did. On the other hand, I got some really good feedback about the jewelry and got a better idea of what people like. Not only that, but now I have a TON of jewelry made up and new designs to put in the shop.

One thing I hope to be doing now is jewelry parties. Jewelry is made up for it, and everything is ready to process custom orders (including a new credit card processing company, which is great). Stephen and I also talked about putting the jewelry in local stores. This was our plan before the show – that if there was a lot of jewelry left over we’d pursue home parties and maybe a local store or two.

So onward I go. Lord willing, I’ll be able to schedule some jewelry parties in the very near future!

Today has been something else. Anna started the day off with a fever, so I canceled the piano lesson that was scheduled because I was afraid she was coming down with something. She was miserable and only wanted to be held. The snuggles were great, but it made it hard to get much else done.

Finally, this afternoon I thought to check her gums again. Earlier in the day I didn’t feel any new teeth, but by dinnertime, she had four new ones. Poor baby cut all her one-year molars in the same day. I’m not glad she’s in pain, but it is nice to at least know why she’s not feeling well. Hopefully she’ll feel better tomorrow. If not, I’m going to be one tired mama!

Getting an idea of how much jewelry I have and what still needs to be made

The craft fair is in two days. I’ve been working frantically, trying to get as much jewelry made as possible. It’s been a challenge to work it around normal parts of our day (like schooling), but things are still coming together nicely.

It makes me really thankful Samuel has his own desk for school – it is less of a worry to leave enough space for him at the table when jewelry supplies are spread out everywhere.

Comparing pictures of jewelry with the displays and a new mirror. It looks a lot dirtier in the picture than it did in person. Looks like “Clean Mirror” needs to get added to the to-do list. ;O)

I also had pictures of a few custom designs printed up for display too. The majority of my jewelry is made to order, and I wanted a way to represent that at the fair. The pictures turned out better than I expected, so that was really nice.

Now, just to get everything finished between now and then. . .