Craft Saturday and some Miscellaneous Thoughts

I'm so behind in posting about this but I figure better late than never! I was honored to be able to participate in a super great craft show a few weekends ago in Des Moines, IA. It was my first ever show and I had such a great time that I'm so excited for future markets. Danelle (MonsterFashion) did such an amazing job of curating the show and it was nothing but high quality unique booths. Everyone was so nice and so much fun to talk to. Check out all of the amazing vendors here and I hope you'll take a look at each of their sites. I loved meeting everyone and it's so true that there's nothing that can replace that "face time". Working from home can be so isolating and being able to get out and actually talk with like-minded people was so refreshing. Here's a little look at what my booth looked like. I was really happy with how it turned out. It was super simple to set up and it felt like my house, just like I wanted it too. I think I'll stick with this general theme for the farmer's markets this summer just on a little larger scale.

Speaking of the markets, those of you that follow me on Twitter may have heard me complaining last week about my insurance woes. In order to participate in my local farmer's markets they require insurance to cover any accidents that may occur in a vendor booth. I've been having a heck of a time trying to find a company that will insure me. No one it seems wants to insure crafters that make things for kid's. This has something to do with the new super strict federal laws and it doesn't matter if I tell them that all of my items follow CPSIA guidelines, they just don't want to take the risk. I could go on and on about how ridiculous these new laws are but I'm honestly tired of thinking about it and just don't want to be negative. I think I may have finally found a local company that will insure me for the markets but this whole things has me thinking about what I make in general. I'm so happy with what I'm making right now, it all feels so right. The new laws will not begin to be enforced until next year so I have some time to continue what I'm doing. But, thinking ahead there may be a shift in some of the items I offer. Maybe I'll have doll / bib kits instead of the actual dolls and bibs, (Thanks Michelle for that amazing idea!) Behind the scenes for awhile I've been working on fabric designs and working on screen printing my own fabric for use in the items I make. I'm thinking soon I'll be listing some of the fabric for sale so we'll see how that goes. There are already so many amazingly talented fabric designers / printers out there that I'm a little scared to jump into that pool. I'm not really sure what the future holds and I'm not rushing to make any decisions. I've always just made what felt right to me at the moment and not made any solid plans. The shop has always evolved organically and really reflects my current passions and I really want to keep it that way. Just a little update on where my head is at these days.

In other news, I've begun my two week Kid's Clothes Challenge and I'm having an absolute blast! I'll try to share some tutorials I've found with you this week and some pics of finished clothes.

Happy Monday!