Applefest 2009 Street Fair

This weekend that just past was Applefest weekend. I had a booth (my first craft show/street fair) last year. I decided this was one fair that I would definately enter in every year. I have to start somewhere :). This year my booth was in a different spot but that is okay. I wanted to see how sales would be if I was farther down the street then last year. I still have yet to compare totals between the years but I did pretty good this time around. Here are some shots from the day.

This is a street shot looking down main street. The booths went way back there. It was insane how many booths and how many people where there! The street was basically a wave of people for most of the day!

This is me in the wee hours of the morning setting up my booth. We got there around 6am and it took about a few hours to get it completely set up. We did have problems with the tent though but that was the only frustrating part of the day. The street fair ran from 10-4 but people are always out on the street checking things out by 8am. So I was aiming to have most of my stuff out by that time.

This is my earring display board. I love it :) Its nothing more then a cork board covered with black material and clear push pins pushed in to hang my earrings off of. It also has a hinge with a board that swings out a bit so it stands up pretty sturdy.

This was new this year. I decided I wanted to use some sterling silver/Swarovski crystals and thought this would be a great time to see how it sold. I also wanted to appeal to a wider audience. They definately were a big success!

Here is a table top shot of my bracelets and necklaces. I like to organize them by colours of the rainbow.

Another table top shot of my set up. I think next year I definately need another table. Since there was stuff that I didn't put out because I didn't want it to look to crowded. I have all year though to figure that out :)

A better shot of the whole table (with hubby in the background ;)

It was a good day! It was less exhausting then the year before though, but that might be because this time around I wasn't as nervous as I was the last time. I will get better as I go along. Now I just need to attend more craft/street fairs, but at least this is a start.

:)

I'm back...for good this time!

Exciting news in my world and sort of a catch up post. On my 29th b-day in 2008 my bf of 6 years at the time (its 7 now :) proposed to me! So I basically spent that year planning and making crafts/decorations for the wedding. We set it for July 2009. That year went by really fast and I really had no time to work on Mouse Ink, let alone make anything for it. We decided to go for a medieval theme since I think that is what I have always dreamed my wedding would be like since I was a child. Thankfully my hubby was okay with that. It was a beautiful ceremony, the day turned out great (regardless of the wind!) and everyone had a blast.

I made everything from our invitations, reply cards, centerpieces, wedding favours (chain maille keychains in our wedding colours) with tags designed by me, a sheet for guests to fill out at the reception hall, card box, wedding programs (not your normal average everyday wedding program :) and many more things that I either made completely myself or helped my mom and sister make.

Anyways here are some highlights of my wedding crafts :) There are more things I would love to show but I can't find the pictures at the moment. Maybe later :)

This is a pic of me in the most perfect wedding dress ever! Mom made the shrug to go over my arms since my dress was strapless.

She also made the flower that was pinned onto the bible. This is what I carried down the aisle instead of flowers. This is my something borrowed since my sister also carried this down the aisle when she got married. Mom just took off her flowers and added mine. My father's photo is also attached to the flowers since he passed away when I was 4. I wanted him to be near me on this special day.

These are what our two little squires wore ( our ring bearers). They looked sooo cute in this. Mom is the one that put these together and I stenciled the crosses on with gold paint.

These were for the men at arms (groomsmen). Mom also made these and I stenciled the crosses on in gold. I tell you I did that the week of the wedding and I was so nervous because I didn't want to mess it up! They turned out amazing though!

This is the faux cake I made. Basically three boxes with the typical castle top hot glued to it and covered with paper mache and painted grey. The ivy and flowers just rest in the areas around the layers. We also found the most PERFECT cake topper, you guessed it! A bride and groom mice! I never thought I would ever find something like that. I was convinced that I was going to have to make the cake topper as well. I am the mouse so it was perfect!

The card box that I also put together with cardboard, paper mache and grey paint. I think it turned out awesome. I just have no idea what to do with it now! Its soo big! Also my brother made a stand for his armor. The knight looked awesome standing guard of the card/present table.

Now that the wedding is over I can finally concentrate once again on my business. :)