Name those Saints! Get a discount!

A long time ago I acquired some digital prints of old prayer cards. The idea was to make some glass "marble" magnets using the prints.  The art was small in size and had no names or identification for the Saints featured.  Using my own research I was able to ID some of them, but some of them are still nameless to me.  I hesitated for a long time about posting the magnets for sale because I didn't know who they are. 

Someone out there has got to know who they are - and for that knowledge, you will be rewarded!  If you can name the mystery saints you can get the magnet sets at a discounted price!  $2 off for each Mystery Saint you name! Sets 1 and 2 have one Mystery Saint each. Set 3 has three Mystery Saints! That would be $6 off the price if you got all three!

Check out the sets. Send me a Convo via Etsy if you can identify one or more of the Mystery Saints and you will be elligable for the discounts.  You will need to include a picture or a URL to a picture to prove your claim. If they are a reasonable match I will discount the items just for you!

Set 1: Can you name the pretty little nun with the lamp?  Get $2 off this set if you can identify her!  See picture below. Larger pictures at the website.   Set 1 has been claimed by my Etsy pal SpoolofPlenty! She identified St. Claire of Assis as the Mystery Saint and gets the discount!  Congratulations!
(She's also working hard to find the other Saints too...can you beat her? )

Set 2: Who is that young man kneeling in prayer?  Get $2 off this set if you can identify him!  See picture below. Larger pictures at the website.

Set 3: This is the big one!  WHO ARE THESE SAINTLY PEOPLE???  You will get $2 off the set for each of the three Saints you can identify. If you can get all three you will get $6 off, making the price of the magnet set only $2 (plus shipping)!!!  So who are they?  See picture below. Larger pictures at the website. 

Set 3 has been claimed by SpoolofPlenty! She identified St. Monica, St. Stephen, and St. Maria Goretti! Congratulations! She gets this set for only $2!!!

(She's also working hard to find the last fella in set #2...can you beat her? )

I hope you folks have fun with this.  I am going to be thrilled to learn more about these Mystery Saints and very glad to give these magnets a loving home.

Last weekend's update - craft shows!

It has been a very long time since my last update.  There is A LOT of things I have been intending to post but have been busy with the Christmas rush getting some custom orders done and making new inventory to replace all the items I sold at the my recent craft show events. 

I was really blessed with fantastic sales at both of my shows last weekend. 

Saturday the 5th I was at JFK Catholic High School in Burien, WA. HUGE event!  They fill the entire gym and the entire cafeteria with vendors.  I was downstairs in the cafeteria and was concered that the traffic was going to be low since the main entrance to the event was in the upstairs gym.  Boy was I surprised! From the moment the doors opened to the moment the doors closed there was a constant flow of customers! I was working alone, without an assistant, so I was only able to steal away from my booth long enough to use the lady's room and get a bottle of water.

Because it was so busy I didn't have the opportunity to see any of the other vendors or do any shopping for myself. That's OK though because I made a lot of sales!  My best-selling items at the school were the cellphone charms.  I had less than 10 left when I went home for the day and spent the evening at home making more so I could have them for my Sunday show.  The purse fobs were also a big hit!

I have already told my best friend to mark her calendar a year in advance to come andhelp me next year at the JFK school show.  I would have loved an extra pair of hands to help customers because there were many times I was helping someone and had 2-3 other people needing help too.  I barely sat down the entire time. 

On Sunday I was selling at my church's, St. James Cathedral,  Avent Bazaar.  This is my second year selling there and the difference was night and day!  The church event was only 5 hours long but I made MORE at this show than I did at the school.  I was amazed!

The cellphone charms continued to be very popular.  Young persons, parents, and grandparents were all buying them up as stocking stuffers.  The bookmarks almost sold out completely - I only have 4 left when I packed up.  The rosary bracelets were also flying off the table.  As they sold I set out more until my bag was empty.  I think I had 6 left at the end of the day. 

I was completely blown away.  I am still on a high from the wonderful feeling of being so well received at these events.  Such nice customers, even those who didnt buy were fun to talk to.  I got a couple custom order requests and follow-up emails after the events were over. I am so very blessed!

Rosary Guild Chatroom Sale Thursday!

October is the Month of the Rosary and The Etsy Rosary Guild is going to be hosting Chatroom Sales once a week all month long.  Our first Chatroom Sale will be this Thursday, October 8th starting at 4pm PDT/7pm EDT.

I'll be your host/moderator for the chat.  We'll be chatting with and featuring our teammates and the beautiful beads they make. 

You are encouraged to stop by the chat to make some new friends, ask questions, see pretty thing, and maybe even learn a little something in the process of having fun.

Hope to see you there!

Sales and inventory

According to Etsy, I am 10 sales away from 100 sales.  I know I have sold many more than 100 items, most of my custom orders are multiple items inside of one listing, but this is a little milestone to look forward to. 

Thinking of inventory, I'm trying to figure out if I should put my shop on Vacation mode if I get accepted to these big craft shows.  I'll find out if I make it to one or both of them in the next 3 weeks.  So for three weeks it will be Etsy business as usual.  But if I get accepted to the shows, I may have to close shop for a while to  conserve inventory. 

My concern is if I get accepted to both big shows that will be 4 days I will need to stay stocked.  Since I have never done shows of this scale before I can't predict in advance what will sell and what won't.  I want to have a good-sized inventory.  I have 61 things listed online right now.  I have another 40+/- things not yet listed.  I'll be making a few more items out of supplies I already have. But I don't want to spend a lot of money on materials to bulk up inventory because that essentially eats up any profits I haven't even made yet!  Heck, I don't even know if any of my products will sell!  I could come out at a loss just paying the booth fees! 

However...I don't want to have my shop closed for over a month and shut out my dear online customers.  Especially it being so close to the gift-giving season and all. There's got to be a happy medium.

How do you crafty folk do it?  How do you balance your shop and your craft show inventory?