This journey of solopreneurship has taught me that I have more peers than competitors, and it has been a joy to get to know Evanston businesswomen who are successful and supportive of fellow small business owners. I met Sara Jane of See Jane Sparkle at a Custer Fair years ago, when I didn’t even think […]
My journey into art fairs started with greeting cards that were easy to pack. When I discovered wire jewelry my initial inventory fit nicely into vintage cookie tins I owned, and all my pendants fit nicely on one tray. A few years later my inventory is up to more than 200 in stock (and 445 […]
This is a week of gratitude, and I am particularly grateful for all the small business women I have gotten to know over the past year. Through the Network of Entrepreneurial Women I have been exposed to a variety of fascinating businesses, and I am inspired by the ladies who run them. On Saturday, November […]
In addition to networking and having fun with visitors, the past few weeks have been filled with Ravenswood Art Walk preparations. I have a table in the big tent (located at the corner of Wilson and Ravenswood- west of the Metra tracks) at which I will showcase my wax and wire jewelry as well as […]
My fabulous birthday month is full of festivities. After Friday’s Wax(in’) Blue exhibit opening I look forward to celebrating some more with my NEW friends at our next Meet & Munch. I got to pick the venues for August, and we’ll be hunting for treasure at Stella Boutique on Central Street. Stella Boutique is a […]
Sometimes I forget that a startup takes more time than anticipated. That you need to envision it, plan it, and double it—money and time—just like a remodeling project and other things with numerous moving parts. I am remodeling my life, after all. “She was never meant to be a common creature — extraordinary takes time.†[…]
I’m in the process of loading new pieces onto Etsy, a sampling of which is provided here: New in my Etsy store, with more to come! There are more to be loaded, and of course a lot more to be made! Etsy lovers who have favorited some pieces might notice a few mark-downs as well. […]
In my usual Type A manner, I set some production quotas that were hard to meet. A few times I got quite overwhelmed with not doing enough on many fronts to get ready for the fair. I berate myself for not getting up early enough, for not working long enough hours, for not getting enough […]
In early April a few Positively NEW ladies met in Glen Ellyn to scope out its downtown area for an upcoming event. We were not disappointed. Glen Ellyn has a lovely downtown area, easily accessible by train. We enjoyed sampling foods at Shannon’s Irish Pub, which we all plan to return to. You can’t be […]
I fell in love with Evanston years ago, but in the most recent years I’ve really come to appreciate my neighborhood filled with local independent businesses. When Katherine Gotsick of the Main-Dempster Mile announced a Valentine’s poster program, I made a list of all the places I loved and started having fun with limericks. The […]
