Here is the post that I have been crafting in my mind for months now. Our notable and exciting show season!
Now that it’s over I can’t believe how crazy it all was. With this month of down time (aside from personal, custom, and Etsy orders) I actually miss being so busy I couldn’t think straight. I like busy. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. I have 2 kids under 3-at least for another couple weeks. (Not pregnant-Tommy will be 3!)
Show season pretty much starts in August, but then it get a Super Mario fast forward starting in September that doesn’t end until the middle of December. Like 3-4 day weekends back to back. Poor Neil.
Our weekday schedule consisted of Neil getting home from work and taking the kids so I could sew. Sometimes they went adventurous places like McDonald’s Playplace. Those that know me may be a little shocked to read that I sent my kids to McDonald’s Playplace for two reasons. #1 I am not a fan of McDonald’s for obvious health reasons. #2 I have a phobia of public play places (and restrooms) that may or may not be unreasonable. Reason #2 actually contradicts other feelings I have about kids needing to be exposed to germs so that they can build up immunities to illnesses. But we will save that debate for another day.
We had a lot of help from Neil’s dad and stepmom as well as my mom during the week. They would take the kids for the day or come over to play while I hid away in the sewing room. (It’s actually impossible to hide in there because there is no door and it is the first room you see when you walk into our house. I need a door.) And Neil’s mom helped a lot on the weekends when we were so desperate for a date that we would have business dinners that still felt romantic since I was away from the machine.
In a previous post I talked about doing the Strawberry Swing, a KC indie craft fair. I raved about how amazing it was to be amongst other handmade vendors. What I failed to mention was that a new door opened for us at this event. The door is called Chick Events. These spunky ladies came up to our booth and strongly encouraged us to become vendors at their event in a little over a month. They promised us a similar event and feel as this one would also be handmade/vintage goods. Local artisans. They were speaking our language. After a little thought (and a couple phone calls/emails from the Chicks) we were ready to commit. This would be our biggest show yet.
The event was held outside in the streets of a lovely shopping area called Park Place that my mom and I frequent often in Leawood, Kansas. It just happened to be the most beautiful weekend of the year, in my recollection. That perfect weekend you get between summer and fall that makes you want to be outside no matter what you are doing. Bring the office outside, bring the classroom outside, bring the kids outside. You know what I mean. Anyway, we got it. And we met some really great people that we will blog about in a future post.
The Chicks put on a great event. We knew we wanted to be linked up with them whenever we could be. It was a match made in Kansas City. (haha)
Soon after Chick Events, we were contacted by Holiday Boutique to be a vendor at their show. This was a big deal. For two reasons. #1 My mom and I went to this event every year. It had become a tradition. There are two big holiday shows in KC. Holiday Mart and Holiday Boutique. There were talks about trying this event out in 2015. But here they were, contacting us, telling us that they would love to have us at their show. We didn’t even have to apply. After about two weeks of debate, we bit. The debate falls into reason #2, it is expensive to enter these large events. Before participating in shows I had no idea how expensive. Message me and I will tell you. 😉
For this event, I had to call on my good friend Amy Scheuerman to help me decorate my booth. These booths are serious business. I was so happy with what she put together and feel fairly certain that I could recreate a similar booth in the future. But I will probably just call her to come back and help me so I can hang out with her during set up. Sometimes she brings her cute baby so that always makes things more fun too. If I could hire Amy to coordinate my entire life and business, I would. But obviously I can’t afford her. However, you can hire her to organize your house or decorate. Her company is called Creative Solutions KC.
The event is something that we are proud of doing. We didn’t think we were “there” yet, but we were. It only made us more sure that we wanted Little Bug to be our creation. We wanted to make it something that could keep growing and be a product of our vision. Next year we will apply for Holiday Mart (the bigger of the two) and hope to be accepted.
We went from Holiday Boutique to another Chick Event. This was an event of the same idea as the September one. It was a little longer and inside, but it was a “pop-up marketplace”. We met even more amazing people and bought some great gifts for ourselves and our friends.
We sold a lot and chatted a lot. It is truly wonderful to have someone come up and tell us they bought something from us for a friend or (best of all) for their baby that was coming-and LOOK-here he is! We love getting to know new families and people that we will see again. What a dream!
Our last big event of the Christmas season was the Holiday Swing. Put on by the same wonderful girl, Katie, that puts on the Strawberry Swing. This one was held in the West Bottoms in KC. Such a fun area the first weekend of every month if you like vintage and eclectic finds. Food Truck City and many stores open to shoppers that love supporting local vendors.
In the middle of all this craziness Neil’s sister, Lea, and her husband, Will, welcomed our cutest and first niece/nephew. And my sister, Lora, married her husband, Chris. And Juliet turned 1. Phew. Like I said, I love busy. (Notice I said “I” and not “we”.)
And that pretty much catches you up on our 4th quarter. What a ride! Can’t wait to do it again! If you missed us, no worries, we will be back in the water again soon.
Little Bug Baby Designs 