Work in Progress - tackling 16 candleholders in a month and a half

I got an Etsy message last week that was both exciting and terrifying at the same time:
A woman in Michigan commissioned me to make (16) 4x4 candleholders for her to give to all of her employees on their birthdays next year - which is awesome (and she paid me up front), but also super scary because now I really have to do a good job!  Not that I wouldn't have anyway, but I feel like when there's a lot of money involved and they give you free reign to do whatever you want there's a lot more pressure to make sure you don't disappoint them.

I've been a little worried, especially with the amount of time I have to do them.  Normally getting an order in the beginning of November that isn't due until the very end of December is plenty of time, but when you're working a 60-hour work week on top of trying to get other orders from co-workers and friends finished (and preparing for a craft fair!) it can get a bit daunting.  But somehow yesterday I was able to get the patterns decided and the glass cut for ALL 16 of them!  It had to have been that extra hour we gained with the time change. :)  Magically I had enough glass and enough time (even after doing 5 loads of laundry) to get it done - and I've been able to use the grinder and clean all the glass for 6 of them.  They're sitting beside me here at work in case I have some spare minutes to start putting the copper foil on them (yes, work is nice enough to let me do that when I have time).  I have to say, being able to tackle that hurdle has been a huge relief - now I just need to get them all finished.  But I have a little under two months for that, right? ;)

Here's a picture of the glass piles for all 16 candleholders:

I made sure to get at least one of every color of the rainbow!

I will definitely update as the process goes on - fingers crossed it all goes smoothly!!

1 Craft Fair down...more to go?

Now I can officially say I've attempted to hock my wares at a craft fair...and I have mixed feelings as to whether or not I'd do it again.

Here's what I enjoyed about it:
*I met a bunch of really great people, both extremely talented and very nice.  Luckily the two ladies I sat between were fun to spend 7 hours of my day with.
*I sold 5 items (including one custom order), which was enough for me to break even after purchasing a scarf, a gift for someone, and the cost to participate in the fair itself.
*I got a lot of really nice compliments from everyone who visited my table, telling me my stuff is really pretty and very cool.  A lot of them also took my business cards.
*I have very nice friends who took time out of their days to come say hello, to support me and keep me company for a little bit.
*I now know the experience of craft-fairing.

Here's what I didn't really enjoy about it:
*I was sitting by the door and was FREEZING all day, even in a North Face jacket (thank goodness I brought it!) and a scarf - one of the items I purchased out of necessity.  I'm wearing it again today - it's a pretty great scarf and I totally don't regret buying it.  But still.  It took an incredibly long, incredibly warm shower to make me feel like a human again.
*While I got all those compliments on my stuff, those people didn't buy anything.  And even though I had 5 sales, I only had 5 sales, which was frustrating.  Though let's be honest, I could have had none.  So it's better than nothing, it just made me a little discouraged.
*There wasn't much traffic.  There were a lot of amazing tables of stuff and I actually feel bad for most people who were there because I don't think they had crazy success either.

All in all, it was a good experience and I'm glad I did it.  Heather, the Etsy seller who put on the event, did a great job and I hope they made a lot of money for their missions trips.  I'm glad she contacted me on Etsy and I'm glad she liked my stuff enough to invite me to participate.  It's just something I'd have to do a bit of thinking about before I tried it again.  Maybe next time I'll check to see if it's a place that gets a lot of traffic and/or is on a bit of a bigger scale.  And you know, if I get asked to do this same one again next year I'd probably do it because it's for a good cause and everyone was so nice.

 My set-up.  I didn't have a fancy banner or anything - but I did have cute bags and tissue paper to give to those who bought stuff. :)

 One side of the table. 

The other side of the table.

Now I just need to figure out how to peddle the rest of the stuff I made. :)