Monthly Meetup: November Goals

http://www.facebook.com/pages/fallenpeach/411279915602

Happy November everyone! My October was not very successful, goals wise. But I'm okay with that because it is a fresh month. We had a blast on Halloween - most significantly going to Johnny Rocket's for lunch dressed as Rizzo and Kenicke from Grease. 

The only thing I really accomplished in October from my list was making an October Newsletter and sending it out. And I'm not really sure how it happened. I think between planning for our Feast and for Halloween and working a lot of hours everything just fell apart again. But I started fresh yesterday and I'm determined to keep it going.

November Goals

1. Continue listing a new item every day on Etsy . (once photographed)
2. Make November Newsletter by Nov. 15.
3. List Graphic Design Services
4. Photograph new Greeting Cards and start listing
5. Make daily and weekly to do lists in conjunction with work schedule to stay organized and on top of everything.
6. Update fallenpeach website and at least get new logo for portfolio site done.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/fallenpeach/411279915602

Halloween Traditions: Movies Part 2

What a week! I worked a lot of closing shifts this week and I have to admit they wore me out a bit. Luckily I have Halloween movies and Halloween itself to look forward to this weekend!

We've already watched a handful of the movies above (and a few that I forgot to add to the stack), but we're saving our traditions for Halloween itself I think. Mine has always been The Worst Witch. Every year I watch this movie on Halloween whether anyone else joins me or not. Classic, cheesy and very 80's - The Worst Witch stars a very young Fairuza Balk, Tim Curry and Diana Rigg amongst others. Matt's traditional Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus, a movie he introduced me the first Halloween we had together (not sure how I missed it before then!).

I'm also really looking forward to our annual viewing of Fright Night and Sleepy Hollow. Not to mention Bram Stoker's Dracula and Practical Magic. We already watched The Great Pumpkin, but I'm thinking about bringing it out for Halloween itself to watch again. It's just that good. :D

Anyway, what are your Halloween movie traditions? And what are you going to be this Sunday? Here's a hint at our costumes:

Halloween Traditions: Movies Part 1

This past weekend we celebrated Autumn with friends, food and some Halloween movie traditions both new and old.

We started with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - which, no matter how many times I watch it, never gets old. I love this classic cartoon and it always makes me laugh and smile.

We followed that up with a new classic : Wallace & Gromit : The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. An awesome, funny twist on the werewolf stories, I highly recommend adding this to your list of movies to see.

After our guests left, Matt and I kept the mood going with The Addams Family (watched Addams Family Values this morning to finish the series) which is another set of movies that never get old to me. Perfect casting and a wonderful script really bring these characters to life.

Apologies for no photos today, I'm going to continue this list tomorrow and will have a photo of our Halloween movie stack.

What are the movies you watch every year for Halloween?

And the Winner Is ....

And the Winner of my 1st Etsyversary Giveaway is: Frannie from ThoughtfulHearts ! Frannie chose our Redwoods Victorian bookmark to use while reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Please contact me via Etsy or Email with your address.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Meetup: September PLUS Etsyversary Celebrations!

I woke today feeling refreshed. It felt like a Monday, or my birthday, or the first day of a new year. I can feel changes on the wind and it makes me feel confident and good. August was not my best month. I did accomplish most, if not all, of my goals but it was a month of stress and frustration due to some other forces. September is looking to be much much better. It helps that today is my first Etsyversary :)

Taking a look back on August: Most of my goals for August surrounded the Oyster Festival where I had a vendors booth this year. I made a whole lot of new products, figured out how we were going to hang framed things within the tent and had a moderately successful fair. I've also starting listing Halloween products in the store and have more to come. I did not yet list my graphic design services and I think that's just because I was crazy busy prepping for the fair and all.


A Liquid Lunch Update: I'm proud to say that after months of trying to get it worked out, half of the images I planned to hang are hanging within the eatery. The rest will go up when another display goes down, after an auction later this month. I'm still working out details for an official opening, but I'm halfway there.


September Goals:

1. Get back on track with to do lists and organization. I fell off the wagon a little last month.
2. Continuing listing a new item every day
3. tweak blog side bar
4. Have first ever fallenpeach giveaway contest (see below)!
5. work on re-design of portfolio website / incorporating into fallenpeach site ?
6. list graphic design services
7. decide on Autumn craft fairs, if any, to apply to.

If you'd like to join in on The Meetup, take a look at Liz's blog Athena Dreams for more information.

And now the moment you have been waiting for!

It's been a full year since I started fallenpeach and I think it's been a pretty darn good year! I've begun to really build this business and I'm extremely proud of where I am with it today. To celebrate I'm holding a contest!

How to Enter:

1. Choose a book you are reading or want to read or re-read.
2. Choose a bookmark from my store that would work perfectly for the book (see number 1)
3. Be a follower of my Blog, or a fan of my Facebook page
4. Leave a comment either here or on my FB page telling me which bookmark you would use for which book
5. Win! Well, there will be at least one lucky winner announced on next Wednesday, September 8th. They will win their chosen bookmark.

A Note: Please make it easy for me to contact you via email. Or keep a close watch on this blog September 8 to see if you win.

Autumn Thoughts and Halloween Cards

I woke up thinking about Fall. Maybe it's because I turned off my air conditioner and fell back asleep, waking up to a cool but silent room. Autumn is my favorite season by far. I love everything about it, the cool days, trees changing colors, Halloween and her decorations... bats and cats and scarecrows and pumpkins!

Almost immediately when I think of Fall certain things come to mind. I'm not sure why I associate these things with Fall, but I do. Girl Folk Music is tops - Dar Williams, Lisa Loeb, Erin Mckeown to start; movies and books like Practical Magic and Foxfire come to mind second. Flowing skirts and earthy tones work their way more into my wardrobe more as well most times. The leather jacket comes out and I feel more badass sometimes. That last comes from walking through the trees late at night in college after watching Buffy in the campus center, I think.

Our newest cards are available in a set of 4 (one of each design) including envelopes. The illustrations are by Matt and I love each and every one of them. The bat has made its way to my desktop and I think it might stay there until after Halloween. So adorable. Click the image above or here to find out more information.

What things do you associate with Fall? What is your favorite season?

YTT: Photo Show Prep

now in the store!

  It never ends, it seems. The Oyster Fest is over and now I must prepare to hang my photography in a local eatery! I''m not complaining, I'm just busy and it feels good.

Yesterday: I listed the first in a line of retro style products, I went to print some of my photos as 11 x 14's, I finished my 8 x 10 artist bio to hang in the eatery, and I obsessed over the idea of possibly getting a smartphone soon. I also watched Warehouse13 (good episode, although could have done without the high school stereotypes) and tried to get to bed early.

Today: I will pick up my prints, buy a few last minute supplies, make description tags to hang below my framed prints, start to frame said prints. Oh and I listed another bookmark made from Matt's adorable illustration of a black cat!

Tomorrow: I have no clue. I'll probably still be framing and making tags and getting things ready. I'll be hanging my photography on Friday, but the actual opening will be in a couple weeks.

What's on your plate this week?

Our Favorite Season and New Products!

 We absolutely love Halloween and Fall is our favorite season. This year we are proud to present a series of Halloween illustrations by Matt - they will be available as bookmarks, cards and prints. We are starting out with my personal favorite, the Vampire Bat as bookmark.Click the link or the image for more information.

I will be listing a new item every day starting today so please keep checking back in the store. I won't always list it on the blog first, but I will always let you know through Twitter or Facebook - so those are other places you can keep up with our new products!

Monday Updates - Welcome November

November has come in with a cold brisk chill to the air, and I already feel busier than ever. Halloween weekend was great - filled with costume parties, fun movies (notably The Worst Witch, Fright Night, Sleepy Hollow, Hocus Pocus and Bram Stoker's Dracula) and awesome photo shoots in the woods. Above you can see what I looked like as Little Red Riding Hood; we took a bunch of photos in the woods and it was so much fun. Please do not take or use the above picture without my permission, thanks :)

I was happy to have two sales on Saturday, as I chatted away while watching said movies and watching my bf carve pumpkins, and I'll be sending them both out today. This first November week is also filled with Craft Show preparations and order making as well as a couple freelance graphic design proposals and jobs. Not to mention the usual promoting and job searching.

How was your Halloween weekend? Do you have a lot planned for this week too?

Monday updates - New Adventures and Halloween Sneak Peeks

This morning I posted about the RI Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular that I attended, so here is my more normal Monday Updates post.

I found out via the CT Etsy blog that there is a craft fair looking for vendors and over the weekend I contacted someone at the venue for information. I'm pretty sure I've decided to do this fair. It will be my first and I have a lot to do in a very short amount of time in order for it to be worth it, but I think that I need to do this. To push myself a little farther and see what happens. Even if I don't make a profit, it will be an experience and get my name and work out there.

I have to send in the form this week to be accepted, so the next couple days will be filled with preparations to make sure that it's possible for me to have enough product for the fair. I want to see about getting greeting cards printed and setting up matted prints and things so that it isn't just bookmarks. It's going to take a lot of work and a bit of cash, and a lot of list making.

Done a craft fair? Have any advice? Leave them in the comments! :)

Also, I've been talking about my Halloween costume a lot and I did more work on it this weekend. I'm loving how it's turning out. Because I'm Red Riding Hood after she's come out of the Wolf's stomach, I'm incorporating "wolf fur" into my costume like this:

The fake fur comes from a kids hooded sweatshirt that was lined with it. We cut apart two of them, one for my costume and one for my bf's. I'm thinking about using the inside of the hood inside the hood of my red cloak as well.

Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular Photos!

This past Friday my bf and I went up to Rhode Island to visit a friend and while we were there we visited the Roger Williams' Park and Zoo Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular, which was indeed Spectacular. It's a walk through the zoo along a path lined with hundreds of carved pumpkins and most of them are pretty detailed and incredible. I took a lot of photos, but here are some of my favorites. I highly recommend checking this out if you are in the area (through Nov. 1st) or checking it out next year. It's a little pricey to get in, but so much fun. Plus tons of good music guides you through the themed areas.

This was by far the largest display of pumpkins I've ever seen. They were strung up in the trees and lined the ground in layers. The section was actually double the size seen above.

Red Riding Hood is popping up everywhere now that I'm making my costume for Halloween. Or maybe I'm just noticing it more, but either way I loved how this pumpkin was done. So cool :)

Giant googly eyed pumpkin was eating lots of littler pumpkins as they tried to escape! ..

There was a whole section of Homer based pumpkins, and the Cyclops was my favorite. Great detail.

I know I've seen these art pieces before, but I can't remember the artists name. There were a lot of them done in pumpkin form - animals playing various instruments. The camel was just the most awesome.

There was also a full Alice in Wonderland display with a pumpkin for almost every major character. I was so so excited about these ones.

My weekend was also full of costume preparation, which I'll talk about more in another post a little later today. :)

Featured in That Girls Crafty!

Just a quick note to say that my Skulls bookmark is being featured in the sidebar of the blog That Girls Crafty! Check it out and thanks so much to Jessica for featuring my work :)

Monday Updates Back on Track?

I feel sort of refreshed this Monday and a lot less sickly, which is great because I am also feeling determined to build and grow this week. I'm up much earlier than I was any day last week and I'm already signed into 6 different accounts and ready to go.

The weekend was full of Halloween costume piece searching and talking with my boyfriend about the possibility of moving away and opening a bakery. Everything we want to do seems to take a lot of money that we just don't have, but we're bouncing ideas back and forth and thinking about where we want to go and how to get there.

We also went to see Whip It and Where the Wild Things Are, both really good movies. Whip It is adorable and I love Ellen Page. Where the Wild Things Are is everything I could ever have wanted it to be. It's a touch sad, but beautifully done and very well written. Everything unspoken in the book has been added to the movie and nothing seems out of place.

In prep for Halloween we also watched Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with Robert De Niro as the Monster - which I found surprisingly close to the book and really enjoyed. I'm debating re-reading that book sometime soon, but I have a stack that I think I want to start tackling this week first.

Tonight I have the first part of a Small Business Tax Seminar that I signed up for; I'm really hoping I can pick people's brains there about my business and how to grow it. Plus make sure I'm doing everything I'm supposed to Tax wise, which I'm pretty sure I am.

What's your Monday look like?

OOW: Red Riding Hood

This week I've been in full Halloween search mode. Since we decided to be Little Red Riding Hood and the Huntsman (or the Wolf), I've been scouring the internet for images and ideas.

Searching the Halloween stores only brings up my big huge pet peeve. I hate that every costume for women and girls has to have "sexy" prior to it. Hate it. There is absolutely no reason to turn many things they do into something sexy. Yesterday I saw a "sexy nun" costume. And a "sexy cherry pie" costume. ...

The Little Red Riding Hood costumes that are available in stores all have super short skirts that would show my undies, crinolines, knee socks, high heels and busty blondes modeling them. I am not a busty blonde. Nor do I feel like being a hooker for Halloween.

Therefore, I must create my own costume. I've been thinking about making it somewhat modern and if my boyfriend is the Huntsman, I've also been thinking about being Red after she's been helped out of the Wolf's stomach. She'll be wearing his tail around her waist and perhaps carrying a dagger. A little bit badass, but not too much. She'll also be covered in blood.

Yes Halloween is about being someone other than yourself and letting out inhibitions a little, but that doesn't mean that all women have to be near naked to be "sexy". Halloween is also supposed to be fun and creative. I love making my own costumes from scratch or having my mom help make elements that I can't find in stores.

Until I figure this costume out, it's going to consume my days and nights a bit :) which is part of the fun. I can't wait to see what I come up with.

Halloween Talk Instead, No Reading Thursday

I've been going to bed early to get over this sickness, so I haven't really been reading much. I've decided to make Reading Thursday a bi-weekly feature, or once a month feature depending on my reading habits at the time.

My boyfriend is watching The Brother's Grimm as I type this and I spent half the morning searching for images of the Huntsman from the 10th Kingdom. We have pretty much decided to be Little Red Riding Hood and the Huntsman (or the Wolf but I'm voting for the Huntsman, it's a cooler concept). My biggest problem will be creating a costume from scratch, particularly with all the (pardon my language) skanky costumes that are available in stores. I do not want my Riding Hood to be in a short skirt with crinolines, knee socks and pigtails, thank you very much. Ugh. The prevalance of "sexy" before every female costume really makes me nauseous.

I've been scouring the internet for ideas and I think I kind of have an image in my head of how I'd like to pull off this costume. But I need to head to Goodwill and the Mall in search of costume pieces and then perhaps enlist my mom to make the famed red hood. It should be an interesting adventure to create this costume, and I don't have much time to do it in. Or much money.

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Etsy Tuesday on Wednesday - BATS!

Okay, I feel a lot better today, though not quite 100% and it's time to make up for what I missed yesterday. I may be in the minority here, but I love bats. Not, obviously, if they are flying at my face, but I think they are cute. So, in celebration of Halloween and my love of bats - they are this weeks theme for Etsy Tuesday.

1. Ghost Bat with Hat Painting by poordogfarm

2. Fused Glass Bat Pendant by PaulasStressArt

3. Silverwing by wearthou

4. Poof Plush Vampire Bat by LittleSockUgghs

5. Bats Tattoo Thigh High Socks by post

6. The Witches Sister on Her Bat Pouch by QueenBeeHandmade

New Items now in Stock

Just listed three new items for Halloween and Fall! Click them to see more info.

I'm so glad the weather is finally cooling down, although it'd be great if it would cool down just a smidge more so that I can put away my air conditioner. Fall is my favorite season, I love the weather and the leaves changing and Halloween and hot chocolate and snuggling by a fire. ...