Augusta Expo

So, here it is almost the start of the Spring season and in a couple of weeks I will be heading to the Augusta Expo for their Annual Spring Show for the first time. I always find it a little scary to go to a show I've never done before by myself. While I enjoy what I do very much, I always get nervous and end up asking myself the same questions before every show.

1. Did I make enough items?

2. What if they don't like my things?

3. Will all my hard work pay off?

4. What do I do if I have to go to the bathroom?

5. Are my displays going to hold a lot of items?

6. How will I set it up this year?

My biggest fear is going to a show and not having enough items. I've already faced the fear of what if my items don't sell at all. So, the Spring show is March 9th and 10th and soon it will be upon me. I've got 2 crates filled and I'm in the process of filling the other 3. I am pushing the limit on restock arriving from my distributors and trying to get it finished before the big day comes. And not to mention training for a 5k in April, doing mommy things with the kids, cleaning, laundry, feeding the animals, and whatever comes along to tackle.

What do you do to relieve the stress from upcoming shows?

Here's a photo from a crate I'm filling of Ribbon Flower Brooches/Hair Clips.

And here's my stack of crates. Just an example of what I'm talking about

This is not all I will be taking with me though...there's still a crate of tutu's (which won't be packed until set up day), the displays, tables, chairs, signs, baskets, shelving, and lots of little things. A bit overwhelming, but in the end it's all worth it!

Organizing Part 2: Shoe Box City

Okay, so the title might be a little exaggerating! And the plastic storage containers may just look like shoe boxes to me! But, their awesome! I go into Target, I come out with 10 of these at time. And at .97 cents a piece that's a pretty awesome deal to me for storage containers! And I just don't use them for my office space, but I use them to organize the kids crayons, games, puzzles, etc!

I probably have enough of them by now to start my own city! I use them for everything from fabric scraps to storing old inventory that I may use at a later date. And they stack up in my wardrobe/storage unit great. I really like the idea that their clear enough I can see what's in them.

And I only chose one picture today, because the organizing my space part has come to a stand still as I am getting items ready for the Spring show at the Augusta Expo.

Organization Part 1: The Ribbon Hoarder

My space needs some desperate cleaning and organizing, so I am in the process of organizing my office. Mainly because I can't find anything at all and I get so frustrated when I know that I laid something somewhere and when I go to find it...it's not there! So, I thought I would blog about organizing my craft space as I transform it into my dream space! And when we first moved into the house, the first thing I couldn't wait to get organized was all my ribbon!

Yes, I am a ribbon hoarder too! I love ribbon just about as much as I love buttons!

So here's what I did to organize all my ribbon!

I had a white curtain rod that we had in the old house and just my luck it was to long to use it in this house. So, I had hubby hang it on the wall above my work space. I slid the big spools of ribbon on it, because the smaller one's wouldn't fit.

Now you can tape or pin your ends of the ribbon so they don't hang down. But, I use my ribbon so much that I don't even bother with it.

Now what to do with that smaller ribbon. My hubby got me this piece about a year ago and it has the smaller ribbon rods in it. But, you can buy the ribbon rods separately.

I like this piece in the office because of it's functionality. My paints and all my punches fit on it as well as other things. And what do I do with the one's that don't fit on either rod. Well, I store them in a clear plastic box inside a wardrobe. If you have organization idea's for how you store your ribbon I'd love to hear them! Next week I'll be blogging about those plastic boxes and storing all your small items in them from fabric swatches to tools!