Tis the Season!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to you and yours this holiday season!  Have fun and stay safe!  From: 1 cup Cotton

Port Barrington Garden Party and Craft Show

This last weekend we were invited to Port Barrington's Garden Party. It's a small community tucked back off the beaten path. The people of the community really went all out for this shindig!  We were placed right in front of the moon bounce and inflatable twister game.  Yes, inflatable twister!  I wanted to jump right in!

However there wasn't any type of advertising for this event and was just for the community.  None of the attendees seemed to be interested in the crafters.  This was mainly for the children and all the "free" stuff.  So needless to say we didn't do so well and only handed out 2 business cards.  I may be new at this whole craft fair/show thing but I've always handed out at least 40 business cards at my shows.  Oh well, there's always more fairs and shows to attend.

We met some seasoned veterans of the craft show circuit.  We more experienced than I am.  They are, Windy City Spinners. Super friendly and super helpful.  Giving us some craft show tips and advice. 

Their display is gorgeous! You could literally sit there for hours just memorized. All their Spinners are stainless steel and made in the USA. And have over 300 designs to choose from. We purchased the Air Force Spinner in memory of my brother and promptly displayed it on our patio!  I love it!

You can find them here:  www.windycityspinners.net 
Email: info@windycityspinners.net
Phone 847-546-5785

Craft Show in Algonquin IL (June 2010)

So I'm a little behind posting our recent shows.  And completely forgot to take pictures of our show in Antioch, IL.  But here are some pictures of our show in Algonquin.

We had the threat of rain the entire weekend which kept the temps cooler but would have loved to see the sun. Most of the shoppers stayed away with the storms looming overhead.  Although there were quite a few brave souls with their umbrellas and ponchos looking and shopping.

Meet my Mom, Linda and my sister Michelle.  All those beautiful afghans and baby blankets are made by my mom.  She's been making them for longer than I've been alive.  My sister comes and helps out, especially with my girls when we need to get set up.  Thanks Shelly! Forgive the darkness of these pics.  We took them when we were closed in our canopy hiding from the rain :)

How I've missed you Blogspot

My apologies to all my followers and friends.  Tis the season for craft and vendor shows.  Since this is our 1st of many years of show, we've been awesomely busy.  I haven't been blogging or posting much.  Just trying to keep up with the shows and keeping the product flowing. 

Here are a few things I've been working on.  Keeping things new and fresh!

Napping Baby Girl Basket

Baby Boy Sock Bouquet

Thanks to all our friends, followers, and customers for all your support and well wishes!

 




 Sunshine
Award!













So here are the rules for the Sunshine Award:

1. Place the logo within your blog or post

2. Pass the award on to 12 other bloggers

3. Link the nominees within the post

4. Let the nominees know they have won by commenting on their blog

5. Share the love by linking back to the person from whom you received the award

And the nominees are......

1.DeanDesigns 

http://homeofthepurskey.blogspot.com/

2. Finding Charm

http://findingcharm.blogspot.com/

3.  Future Heirloom Designs

http://futureheirloomdesigns.blogspot.com/

4. Portable Graffiti

http://portablegraffiti.blogspot.com/

5. Stitch-n-Studio

http://stitchnstudio.blogspot.com/

6. Tootsytwo

http://tootsytwo.blogspot.com/

7. Zur Designs

http://dhallmba1.blogspot.com/

8. By Your Side

http://michele-byyourside.blogspot.com/

9. Casa di Aries

http://casadiaries.blogspot.com/

10. Demure Artistic Designs

http://demureartisticdesigns.blogspot.com/

11. Tic Tac Dough

http://tictacdough.blogspot.com/

12. TJBdesigns

http://stitchingandbeading.blogspot.com/

We went to our very 1st craft fair over the weekend.  We were here in our home town, Island Lake, Illinois.  I was so incredibly excited that I couldn't sleep, kind of like a kid at christmas!  We arrived on time and got second pick of our little 10' x 10' patch of grass! Our canopy went up so quick with the help of my awesome hubby, who was equally as excited as I was! With high expectations we started our display and were set up ready to go!

The morning hours were beautiful and sunny, couldn't have asked for a better day.  People visiting the fair were happy and enthusiastic, with their smiling faces.  For a small, cozy town our sales were better than I thought they would be, so that is always a plus.  We passed out cards, buttons, magnets, and coupons to our visitors.  I truly felt like this was what I am meant to do with my life, to get out there meet people, make friends, and show my creativity.  

My Mom, Linda also displayed her many talents.  All her wonderful crocheted blankets/afghans, knitted hats and scarves, and her little goodies like key chains, pins, and necklaces.  However being a beautiful spring day, none of her blankets or hats sold. *Insert sad face here* Everyone was in the mood for spring and trying to forget the cold winter we had.  I really believe that the bigger venues will be better for her and her goodies.

On a less positive note, I found some of the other exhibitors/crafters to be rude and selfish. My mother and I are usually very happy, positive people (we do have our bad days, like most people do) However we were talking about how this is our 1st craft fair with the coordinator and the crafter one canopy over pays us a visit.  At first I was thinking how wonderful she's coming to show us some support.  Nope, I was wrong.  She put her hands behind her bad, raised her nose in the air and looked down at our booth.  Turned to me and said "I heard this is your 1st craft fair, you won't do well here." What! Really? She then asked if we had planned any other fairs this summer and of course I said "yes we are going to another one in June"  Secretly hoping that she didn't mean what she said and I just heard it wrong.  Nope again "Well maybe if that one is bigger you might sell more there, but probably won't do well there either, but good luck"  Holy cow! Really?  I didn't know what to say and just let her walk away. Maybe I was under the impression that other crafters are nice and sweet, a lot like my twitter friends and facebook followers. Who wish you luck and get excited for you when you do well and support you when your down.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?  Please share your stories with me.  Is there always one bad apple? Or just a mean lady who likes to put people down?

Mother's Day Giveaway

5 days of Mother Giveaway

AWEteam (Art Walk Etsy) is hosting a Mother's Day Giveaway! Many of my wonderful team members and myself have donated items from our Etsy shops.  Some of these items include gift certificates, jewelry, handbags, and more!

For more info, entry, rules, and prizes please visit:

http://stitchnstudio.blogspot.com/p/5-days-of-mother.html

These are the shops that have donated some of their lovely items.

http://www.ponderosaquilter.etsy.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/eclecticarmadillo

http://www.futureheirloomdesigns.etsy.com/

http://www.honeybeecrochetbystrumdm.etsy.com/

http://www.jadedumpling.etsy.com/

http://www.1cupcotton.etsy.com/

http://www.pixestreasurechest.etsy.com/

http://www.sarahsquiltsandcrafts.etsy.com/

http://www.stitchnstudio.etsy.com/

Special thanks goes to StitchnStudio for hosting the giveaway on her blog and dedication to the AWEteam :) 

Zibbet-Don't miss out!

Here's a copy of Zibbets Newsletter, for all of you that may have wondered what happened.

The good news is Zibbet is back and better than ever!  If you feel that you may have missed out on the $7/mo premium account you still have time!  Until March 31st @ 10am you can get your account for $7/mo.  using promo code PREMIUMDISCOUNT when you sign up! Otherwise it goes up to $8/mo. Please use this Referral Link http://bit.ly/aBC7nL. Also if you just want to try out Zibbet use promo code FREETRIAL for 7 free days :)

 

What a Week!

29th March, 2010

What a crazy week we've had at Zibbet!  It all started normally and then we suddenly got a flood of traffic to the site on Tuesday night causing our servers to slow right down to a crawl. 

We've had a number of issues with transferring all our data to the new servers and what was meant to take hours ended up taking days.  For that we're truly sorry.  The good news is that the site is back up and is using our NEW servers, which are BIGGER and FASTER and will be able to withstand a lot of traffic and data for a long time to come.

We've done our best to be in constant communication with our sellers, through a mass email to all our sellers, Twitter, Facebook and a growing community of Zibbeters.  We hope you felt informed and not in the dark about what was going on at various stages.

Lastly, I want to thank you for your patience.  It's been so great to to receive all your well wishes, virtual hugs, and coffee!  And even more so, it's been wonderful to see Zibbeters out there in various communities helping to keep others informed and assured.

I'm looking forward to seeing what this week brings.  Over 200 Premium Accounts sold in just 3 days last week!  If we all work together to promote Zibbet to our friends and networks, I believe we have the potential to exceed the momentum we built up last week.

Cheers to a great week ahead and to being well on our way to making Zibbet one of the best handmade venues on the planet!

Kind Regards,

Jonathan Peacock
CEO, Zibbet.com

In Other News...

Premium Accounts Will Be Reimbursed For Downtime

Over the next few days we will gradually be reimbursing all Premium sellers $1.00USD into their PayPal account.  It's not much, but we want you to know that we're sorry for the downtime, and as paying members you deserve to be reimbursed for the days that your shop hasn't been active.

500 Premium Accounts At $8/month!

Now that all the $7/month Premium Accounts have been sold, we're offering another 500 account at $8/month.  Still a fantastic price!  You better be quick because over 200 accounts sold last week, so we're not expecting these to last very long at all!

Limited time $7/month Opportunity...

Many people missed out on the $7/month Premium Accounts due to the downtime and server overload not allowing them access.  Because of this, we've decided to offer the $7 deal for the next 48 hours only!  You'll need to visit the blog for more details and to get your special coupon code.  Remember, the code expires in 48 hours.  Feel free to tell your friends too!  It's their last opportunity to get in at the cheapest level!

Baby Shower Season

Ahhh, the joys of spring.  Warmer weather, flowers, sunshine and new babies.  Yes, new babies.  They seem to pop up out of nowhere just like tulips and daffodils ;)

I have had quite a few friends tell me that they have baby shower after baby shower to attend this spring. I don't mind the business, not at all.  Cranking out diaper cakes like there is no tomorrow.


Which gets me thinking...is there a baby boom? Or is Springtime the right time for Baby Showers?
Just like Spring is the beginning of Bridal Shows is it the beginning of baby season too?  


I have one spring baby and one fall baby.  As do some of my closest friends.  What seasons are your babies? Let's discuss.

 

And here is Treasury West #2!

All items are from my fellow AWEteam members

(Art Walk Etsy team)

They are a great bunch of people, with

wisdom and experience with selling and creating Handmade!

All to promote the First Friday Art Walk on Etsy. 

For more info on this Team please visit: http://AWEteam.ning.com

or for a list of participating shops visit: http://www.AWEteam.etsy.com

Thanks for visiting!

Springtime Craft Fair

I'm so very excited to be participating in this with my mom and sister! And I love the idea of going to a park where the kids can play, the husbands can get some food, and we can show off our creations and hard work! It's going to be beautiful :)

Springtime Crafts in the Park

Converse Park, Island Lake, Illinois, 60042

Sunday May 2, 2010 10a.m. - 6pm

Come for a day of sunshine, food and crafts!!

If you are an interested crafter or vendor such as (tastefully simple, home and garden etc.) please call 847-526-4851 (Island Lake Recreation Dept.) for more info.

*If you have a craft fair coming up that you would like me to post on my blog email me the details at 1cupcotton@sbcglobal.net and I will gladly post it. Thanks.

I have to tell everyone the two things I discovered recently! Maybe you already know but maybe you don't. It's news to me ;)

First, I found a site that's like the yellow pages for all things handmade and vintage! You simply post your links and what you do (create, sell, etc.) and it lists you and your links. The best part is that it's free! It does have an option for a monthly fee, where you can upload pics or your shop url. But free works for me! It's called Handmade Spark and here's the link! http://www.handmadespark.com

Second, I found Zibbet.com. They have no listing or commission fees! I beleive a basic account is free. Right now a Premium account is $7/month (a little over 1/2 off). However if you refer friends, family, anyone really, they give you a dollar off for each referral to a premium account! The best part is it's for life! So eventually you could have a free premium account. How awesome is that! Awesome, I say.

There are so many features that I absolutely love about Zibbet.com. One is that you can customize your shop. Not just the order of your items but the colors. The heading, font, side bar, almost everything you can change the color. My shop has more personality that way and stands out from the crowd. Two, the day I signed up I had 2 people say hi and welcome to Zibbet. (and they were not the creators of the site). I was amazed at the warmth and friendliness. No one said welcome to me when I joined Etsy :( Three, they allow you to post your Etsy mini on your Zibbet shop page! Again, very awesome! They have a feature that lets you add widgets to your shop. Including Twitter "follow me" button, Zibbet referral banner, Facebook fan button, etc. And fourth, I've had 50+ views on my two cakes I posted, each, and only been signed up for 3 days. Etsy has taken 3 weeks to get to that, even with promoting my shop. So yes, I love Zibbet. If you want to love Zibbet too, here's the link! http://bit.ly/aOoAEx


Third and last, Thank you to all my new Link Love Friends! Whomever thought of that idea is a genius and has helped so many people get their names out there! What a wonderful idea! Hope all this info helps you find all the buyers you were looking for :)

The More I learn the more I Blog.

Us here is northern Illinois just got a foot of snow since yesterday. Now have cold temps and blowing snow. And then this morning about 4 am we were rocked by an earthquake. (Which woke me up and now I'm a wee bit crabby) I decided to think about spring and all the sunshine and pretty flowers.

So this is what comes of warm thoughts and ideas. A happy yellow roses and daisy 3 tiered towel cake. Made with 2 bath towels in yellow and white, 2 hand towels in yellow and white, and 2 wash cloths in yellow and white. All wrapped with yellow paisley ribbons, roses, daisies and greenery.

Which in turn gave me another idea to make one that is similar in tan, pink, and ivory. But it will have Easter lilies with pink edges, instead of daisies.

Wow it's amazing what you can create on a cold, snowy day in February. Stay warm everyone. Spring is around the corner, somewhere.

New Stuff

Always thinking about what I can "bake" Ideas come so frequently that I actually forget about my previous idea. Huh? Am I loosing my mind? I hope not!

So, my current idea is for everyone to post what colors their bathrooms are. I had to blog this before I forget. My bathroom is pink tiles with black trim and gray walls. Kinda retro. However I know not everyone loves pink, so not everyone is going to want pink towels as a gift. I guess what I'm asking is for everyone to post what color(s) their bathroom is so I can "bake" cakes accordingly. If the majority of bathrooms are tan, then I should be making tan cakes? Right!

Thanks :)

This is my first Blog for 1 cup Cotton-Towel Cake Creations and More! Come to think of it, it's my first blog ever. So I would like to say Welcome! It's nice to meet you and look forward to doing business with you!

I recently opened a Store on Etsy.com. I "bake" Towel Cakes and Diaper Cakes. Now if I really baked them then I would have a huge fire in my home and we don't want that, lol :) A little about myself, I'm happily married with two wonderful children. I have been creating these cakes for friends and family for years. Then a good friend of mine told me about Etsy.com. So that is what I am doing. I've "baked" quite a few cakes and have them for you to view and if you like, buy.

My newest addition to my store is my mom, Linda. She has been crocheting Afghans and Baby Blankets since I was a kid. A long time ago, well not that long ago. She also has been making these blankets for birthday gifts and wedding presents for a long time. So she and I are now working together to bring you 1 cup Cotton.

I hope that you visit soon. You can visit us on Etsy, Facebook, Twitter and now Blogspot!
Happy Shopping :)

http://www.1cupcotton.etsy.com
http://www.twitter.com/1cupcotton
http://www.facebook.com/pages/1-cup-Cotton-Towel-Cake-Designs/266673443457