new things for falltime...

Man, I've been bad at blogging lately.

Etsy Denton Handmade Harvest planning is in full swing-- both for the planning of the event itself, as well as tackling the 100+ bags I counted out today as things I would like to have prepared for the show. Oh my stars.

I've also been busy adjusting to having Nikki here twice a week, assisting me in the studio. She's totally awesome and gets so much amazing work done. It's definitely been a shift from my normal work flow, and I'm still trying to get settled in. But as soon as I get settled into a groove, I'll decide I'm bored and need to change up my routine. Le sigh.

But because of Nikki's super high-powered productivity, I've had plenty of time to catch up with the shop and restock, particularly in the Satchel and Hobo departments.

If you didn't go to the shop over the weekend, you'd better go check it out. Tons of new awesomeness, just in time for Fall.

Loves and Hugs,
Rachel Elise

P.S. I'm waiting on some supplies to come in before I can create and unveil my new clutch-related surprise, but stay tuned :)

etsy denton summer bazaar...

Well friends, life should be getting back to normal! Craft show season is now over for Rachel Elise! Woohoo!

The Etsy Denton Summer Bazaar was the past Saturday. Getting ready for any show is a lot of work, but as I am half of the planning team for Etsy Denton, this one gets especially challenging. But Saturday was amazing. Like... I-never-saw-it-coming-how-did-that-happen amazing.

Here's the line of folks waiting to get in!

How crazy is that! This was our third show in this building, so we're gaining a following, but I had no idea we would draw this kind of crowd.

People everywhere! It was insane! And awesome! And everyone had so much fun and made so much money!

I'll calm down. Sorry. Etsy Denton is my baby. I just want to see it grow and mature and be too big for the building it's in. Which I think it now is.

The success of the show meant unsuccess in the parking lot, so we'll have to work out a solution for that before our next show in November. Shelley and I are meeting up tomorrow for our show debrief, so maybe we'll brainstorm up some new ideas. We're also hoping to brainstorm up a few new leadership positions in Etsy Denton. Cause we're exhausted. But happy! But exhausted.

Oh, and as promised, here's proof of me selling my wares:

 Courtesy of my Pops. My parents came in town to experience the show that Shelley and I put on, and said they wanted to help out at said show. I found them jobs that would take about an hour so they could enjoy the rest of their day and look around the show a bit and what have you. But then the show was totally-out-of-control-awesome, so my mom helped at the door the entire day. She's a trooper:

We had a small team of other volunteers this time who were also helpful. And then the Boser was super helpful with taking the show down at the end of the day. And several vendors pitched in with set up. *Heart warmth* Teamwork, guys. Teamwork.

My life, shop, and blog should get back to normal since craft shows are over now, so head on over to the shop to see my current inventory, and stay tuned for a month-long deal that will be offered in June.

Loves and Hugs,

Rachel Elise

showsplosion...

Hi Friends!

I would apologize for my absence, but I feel like I've been doing that a lot lately. It is craft show season, after all!

Last weekend was my first Renegade Craft Fair down in Austin. My adorable crafty friend Amanda (check out her awesome work here) was kind enough to help out in my booth both days AND let me crash at her place for free. You don't really get better friends than that, folks.

The show went pretty awesomely-- I beat my "I'll be really stoked if I make this much" goal by $8.00, my booth partner was totally fun and brilliant, and I got to pal around with Amanda and her fam for a couple of days. Rock. And. Roll.

I was having too much fun being overwhelmed with sales and shopping for things myself that I neglected to take pictures to document the show. Luckily, a couple of pretty rad bloggers did and mentioned me in their posts (how kind!).

Chet of ChetArt and I have done several shows together, mostly Etsy Dallas shows, but I don't know that we had actually ever had a conversation until Renegade. SUPER nice guy. And he took this picture of me in my booth, which may be the only proof that I was in attendance. Thanks Chet!

You can read the rest of his recap here. (I told you he was nice-- look at all the awesome people he recognizes!)

In addition to chatting it up with Chet, I got to meet one of my long time craft crushes, Cassie of The Mossy Fox. She was also nice enough to highlight my work in her Renegade recap. It turned out that she also had a long time craft crush on me, so we traded merch with much giddiness.

I got these two necklaces:

in exchange for a satchel. *Craft swoon*

Renegade was a superblastie, but it's still new in the Austin area, so I might give a bit before I go back. I've heard plenty of great things about the Cherrywood holiday-time show in Austin, so now that I know Austinites are Rachel Elise fans, I may be applying to that. It's super competitive, so fingers crossed.

My last show of the season is this Saturday, and it's a doosy: The Etsy Denton Summer Bazaar! Since I'm a vendor as well as a coordinator, I've got quite a bit happening this week. But it's all coming together quite nicely... and I promise I'll take pictures to prove it.

Come play on Saturday!

Loves and Hugs,

Rachel Elise

they're heeeereee...

Well everyone, after a long wait and much patience on your part, they are finally here.

IT'S LUGGAGE TAG TIME, CHILDREN.

As promised, luggage tags are now available in the Etsy shop for $12.00 each and in a variety of designs. Get. Excited.

Live in the Austin area? You can see them in person this weekend at the Renegade Craft Fair.

It's my first time doing a Renegade show and I am PUMPED. Better get to that sewing machine so I have lots of new shiny things for this weekend :)

Loves and Hugs,

Rachel Elise

P.S. If you live in the Denton area, like me, hold your horsies. The Etsy Denton Summer Bazaar is coming up in a couple of weeks. It's going to be our biggest and best show ever! Plus, be on the lookout for a feature of the Bazaar on the Denton Record Chronicle's "Denton Times" front page on May 24th!

inspired entrepreneurship...

I occasionally wander over to the Etsy blog/community pages to see what's the haps in the Etsy world. Usually I end up reading about featured sellers, an outside event/policy/dilemma that is effecting the craft world, or about an Etsy-fueled wedding/home decor project. And while those are all nice and fun and informative, what I read about today was inspiring.

Here's the article I read.

This is sooooo exciting to me! That an art school is actually focusing on business-- amazing! When I was an art student at UNT, I went above and beyond my required class load by sneaking into a few business classes to learn about selling, branding, and writing a business plan. It was one of the smartest things I've ever done. But I graduated with hundreds of other art majors. And of the ones I know, no one else did this. How does a university expect its art alums to be successful persons if they can't sell the work they have been trained to create? Blerg.

I've mentioned before that my friend Shelley and I are the leaders of Etsy Denton and as such, we've hosted two "Business for Beginners" classes, aimed at Etsy sellers in the Denton area who want to make their art/craft/vintage wares their living, or at least a viable contribution to their household income. I love that I get to teach this class. I feel so blessed that I get to do what I do and want everyone to get to do what they want to do, too. In a perfect world...

As great as that class is, I'd love to find a way to do more. My friend Sarah has asked me to speak at a "Fiber Career Day" that she is organizing in April, and I'm really excited about that. Hopefully it will get my creative wheels turning on how to make sharing my experience and business knowledge a more present part of my artistic ventures. :)

I'd love to hear if you have any ideas on how I can better inspire other sellers to expand their businesses and become brave and adventurous entrepreneurs!

Also, check out all the videos from the RISD Mindshare. I watched Vanessa's video during my lunch break and I plan on watching a few more while I sew this afternoon. :)

Loves and Hugs,

Rachel Elise

seller spotlight : home again, home again...

I decided it's time that I start a feature on my blog. Because that's what bloggers do, right? Have features? I don't know. I'm still new to this.

Anyhow, this "feature" that I'm commencing is called "Seller Spotlight," and I will use it to show off the talents of my many amazing Etsy friends.

Let me explain a thing or two about "Etsy friends". I am, by no means, a people person. I like to spend time with just one or two people at a time, or, if I'm at a party, I tend to section off myself in a conversation with one or two people. It's not that I'm anti-social. I interact. I just get overwhelmed if more than one thing is going on. And having a conversation with a table of ten people is more than one thing going on. Or explaining the rules of a game to six people that aren't paying attention is more than one thing going on.

Sigh.

I'm fun. I promise. I'm just small and I overwhelm easily.

Anyway. I digress. Because of my lack of people personie-ness (technical term), I'm not bothered by the fact that I work alone and don't have co-workers. I'd much rather spend my day in my own little space than having to interact with people that probably drive me nuts anyway. Yet, as in any line of work, it's nice to have someone that you can talk to about what's going on in your work life and can relate to you and your work. This is where Etsy friends come in. Imagine if you and all of your friends worked in the same industry but at different offices. And you could talk to them about what was going on at your office and they would understand without you having to explain a thing. And they would come to you to brainstorm ideas and you'd be happy to brainstorm with them because you know all about the industry they work in, because it's your industry, too. What a lovely world.

Rachel of Peachtreelane was my first Etsy friend. She lived about 30 miles from me at the time and we had made a few purchases from each others' Etsy shops and chatted occasionally about what we were doing, or complimented each other when one of us had new things in our Etsy shops, etc etc. THEN. When the first Etsy Denton show happened, she was a vendor and we got to meet in person after a couple years of casual Etsy friendship. Now, she lives like half a mile from me, and we ship our Etsy orders at the same post office.

ETSY. FRIENDS.

I'm also now Etsy friends with her sister, Sarah, who makes amazing cosmetics that I wear every day. Both of these ladies will at some point get their own Seller Spotlight at some point, however...

Today's Seller Spotlight is:

Home Again, Home Again

 My friend Shelley is the lovely lady behind the adorable home goods of Home Again, Home Again.  She upcycles linens, vintage fabrics, and burlap coffee sacks into the cutest little pillows, tea towels, napkins, and beyond. Shelley and I met when she commissioned me to do some sewing for her. Now, we're Etsy Denton co-leaders and very close friends.

The burlap coffee bag squares on these napkins are pockets for silverware! So clever!

Our relationship is unique in that I'm about the age of Shelley's three kids,  rather than her age, but it makes our friendship all the more special. We have sort of a friend-colleague-mother-daughter dynamic that somehow always works. Anyway, enough about how awesomeness of the Rachel-Shelley duo... let's look at some more of her fantastic work!

Coasters from vintage ads! These have sold, but she said she's looking to make more.

Recycled calendar pillows! Love!

Isn't she the coolest? She really is.

Loves and Hugs,

Rachel Elise

leap day miracles...

Whew! What a day yesterday!

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH to everyone that was a part of my Leap Day Sale!! I got to clear out some old inventory, make a few more monies before the end of the month, and, most importantly, brighten your day with discounted bags. Win win win!

Aside from an amazing numbers of sales thanks to my awesome customers, there was another Leap Day miracle...

 

What is that photo you ask? Oh that's my Paypal shipping bill from mailing orders yesterday. AND THE TOTAL WAS $29.29. ON FEBRUARY 29th. IN THE MIDDLE OF MY $29 SALE. I know, I know. Stranger things have happened. But come on, guys. Celebrate the little things. Or at least have a little freak out about how awesome the little things are from time to time.

In other news, you may or may not know that I'm a leader of Etsy Denton, my local Etsycentric artist collective. This morning, we launched the application for our next show, the Etsy Denton Summer Bazaar, which will be on May 26th. Get ready to hear a lot about this event from now until the end of May. I always think it's not going to be a big deal, but then it ends up consuming my life. But in a good way. :D

Are you a DFW arts vendor that would like to apply to the event? You really should. Our events are super fun and we don't bite. :D Here's the application.

Hugs and Loves,

Rachel Elise