the end is near

Woo! I survived the holidays. I think this is a kind of a big deal when you work in retail. People can be mean. For the first time in my entire retail career (and I've been in retail since I was a teenager) I had a customer yell at me. Even though I know it wasn't about me...I got upset and had to take a break in the stockroom and shed a few tears. Stupid mean people. I'm super ready for a break from the hustle and bustle that is working at the mall during the holidays.

Word on the street is that my items sold really well at the Handmade Promenade Holiday Pop Up Shop this year. I was asked to provide extra items for a smaller shop that popped up on another side of town as well. And from the numbers I was given BEFORE Christmas I've done probably 3x as much in sales as I did last year. And those numbers were given to me with about a week left before Christmas, so there's a good possibility that I sold a lot more. Double woo!

I wish I'd been better prepared for the holidays so that I could've applied for another Pop Up Shop. I've definitely got some changes to make for 2014. I've been doing a little research and I'm having a hard time finding other pop up shops and handmade consignment shops. I know they're out there.

I'm looking forward to spending time with all the pretty fabric I've been collecting over the past couple of months. I'll finally have time to start working on these quilts (still trying to find some quick and easy patterns). I need to work on a time schedule so I can divide my time between making things for my shop and for these quilts. Even though the holiday season is over, it's still good selling time for me since the weather is cold and I want to get a real good jump for next year. I'm also planning on applying to a couple of craft shows next holiday season.

I hope the holidays have been treating you all well and that you're all nice and rested and ready for a new year. Hopefully I can my time better managed to start blogging here more often. Wish me luck. How do other people manage?