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!

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