Some fun things come this way

I am so excited about doing the Junk Hippy show this summer. I have been doing craft shows with my sister L for awhile now and it is always a blast. Not only do we get to work on our businesses but we also get to catch up and visit. The Junk Hippy Show is going to be that on crack, not only will sister L be with me but so will sister S and my mom. To add to the fun of it being all of us together it will also be my mom's B-day. So we 3 daughters will get to spend the entire day with our mom. Something all of us have been trying to plan for awhile now but all of our schedules always seem to be moving. We opted to get one of their smaller spaces for our first go with all of us. I think this for the best because if it is too small we will know for the next time but the odds of it being to big and unable to be filled are smaller than if we chose a larger space.  You see while I do all of the things you find on my website, etsy, twitter and facebook. Sister L does hair-bows , flip flops, sunglasses refurbished furniture and more, my mom does Macrame items like plant holders, wall hangings, gazing ball holders and is working up to things like tables and fish bowl holders, and finally Sister does refurbished furniture, vinyl artistic prints ( her own drawings) and more. All these items especially the furniture pieces are sure to help fill our space. We have all been doing our homework on craft booth display ideas and tips for making a better space. My mom has all ready gotten us part of our display. When she did it she called all of us to share what she had done. This is going to be a fun adventure all the way to the big event, I wanted to squeal but I didn't for the sake of my mom's ear. I have another show booked for March ( The Bunny Market) and some others after that. I know L will more be doing most of them with me. I am hoping that S and my mom will be joining me at some of these other ones as well. I am just as excited about these smaller shows. I love doing the show circuit. I love meeting new people and think it is a great way to get my name and brand in font of people who may not have otherwise seen me or my products. ( a little side note I was excited to find out my branding is catching on and people are starting to recognize my logo, my cat and thus my products before even meeting me in person. so Ya me and sister S who helped me get all the graphics put together,she actually drew my cat from scratch) I love getting to meet new vendors and some I already know and call friend. I have learned they are a valuable asset to have. Not only is it fun to see them at the different shows, but they will often have tips on displays, whether or not a show is worth paying to be in, will totally understand why the customer  complaining about having to pay more for a handmade item is rude and ridiculous and are  great to just plain network with. Another plus for doing shows ,you may find an item you never you knew you needed. Yes I am guilty of sometimes spending part of or all of my profit at the show. This year though I will be growing into shows of some very fun and new venues for me.Which also means new and expanded lines.  This year a lot has been opened up for me because some limitations that were in place before are now gone. Which I think is best and the right thing all the way around. No one's dream should be limited, especially if it is one that is actually kind of critical to their family that it works like mine is. Yes most people who are building small businesses are doing it for some very strong reasons in their life. For me it is  my family. They are the biggest and strongest reason. We need more income but we also can not afford for me to go to work a regular 9-5 because there is no accounting for a bad day for my husband's RA. Maybe this will change once we finally are able to get the doctor's office and Medicare all to finally work together so he can get on the meds that actually control his RA for more than 3 months with out one of them pulling the plug on us for one reason or another. Till then and beyond I am going to work my business to the very best of my ability. Perhaps someday I will blog on all the reasons but that is not what this post is about. This one is about all of the forward movement and fun all ready happening this year. This one is just a little bit of a tease about some of things I have coming up. Well Thank you for reading.