To Market, To Market

Well the last little while has been pretty busy, trying to stock my etsy store, making some sales, thinking up new products to offer, and just life in general! My little guy had his end of the year drum recital and he totally rocked it and he's going to be on the music school's float tomorrow! He just looooooves crowds, gets totally energized by them, unlike me who gets flustered and forgets how to speak english when more than two people are looking at me (gonna do GREAT at the markets! lol)

I am a confirmed vendor at both The Zebra Effect show at the Edmontn Garrison on oct 2 (come out and support a great cause! All the vendors will be donating at least 10% of their profits) and the huuuuge Wee Stock in November! It is sponsored by The Edmonton Journal and will be held at the Mayfield Centre. I have a LOT of sewing to do, as I am considering selling at the St Albert farmers market as well! I am a little nervous about my first show, as I have absolutely no idea what to expect and the 'worst case scenario' angel on my shoulder is coming up with a million catastrophic scenarios that may or may not occur ('what if you forget to bring any change?' "what if your table looks crappy compapred to all the seasoned professionals lavish displays?" "what if nobody likes your stuff?" " what if someone trips on your stand, knocks it and the neighboring dividing wall down, creating an apocolyptic domino effect till the last wall in the auditorium comes down with a crash and everyone is just staring at you in silence, you end up in the paper and get sued?" (admittedly the last one is not very likely, but the possibility still exists!) :)

So my big hurdle, aside from turning out more diaper bags than a sweatshop in the next couple months, is overcoming my own negative inner monologue. I CAN DO IT!

On a good note though, I created a pattern for a cool folding change mat that snaps shut to look like a clutch, and has a pocket on the bottom inside for diapers etc, (the zebra patterened one has a super luxe grey satin pocket!) And the newest idea i hadjust a couple days ago (and I whipped one up for myself before heading to the spray park) is a 'Big Kid Bag" with just the flat back pocket, and the two outer small pockets are moved to the inside for keys or a phone, and the rest of the interior is wide open for all the bigger kid gear like towels, snacks, toys, or anything really! I will be making some soon, and they will be available immediately for custom orders. And since they don't take literally 6 hours to sew, as the full on baby bags do, I can offer them for a cheaper price! So that is exciting. I also have some really cool bibs ready to sew, however I am waiting on a custom label order so I can have the LiL Rokker logo on them :)

Well thats all for today! Watch for more updates!

Welcome to My Blog (A sentence I never thought I'd utter)

Welcome to my blog. Well I can honestly say I never thought I'd become a 'blogger', never really got them. (But then again I never thought I'd go to a Nickleback concert either, since I loath everything that is Chad Kroger, but there I was a couple weeks ago listening to his drunken goings-on about boobs, drinking, and general douchness (yes that is a word) :) In my defense, my friend wanted to go and her husband didn't and the opening bands totally rocked!

Aaaaaanway, I've since discovered that blogs are a wonderful source of information, entertainment and just oddly obscure facts that you would have never learned otherwise. People express themselves in ways they wouldn't normally in real life. They provide windows to souls, hopes, dreams, crushed dreams, new beginnings and journeys of every sort.

So here is my journey:
The beginnings of my little company Li'l Rokker Baby Gear. I expect many trial and tribulations but hopefully there is some success along the way. I hope to learn some valuable lessons in starting and running a small business that I can pass on to others to make their own experiences easier than my own :)

I decided to start creating parent and baby accessories that have a very small market, I know there are not a tonne of people who are looking for skulls on their diaper bags, or barbed wire change pads, but I am one of those people, and I love creating items that you wouldn't find in most stores :) I don't expect to make much money, I don't need to be a huge name; I truly enjoy what I do, I love hunting down unique fabrics and the best part of all is making someones day when they find that bag or accesory that truly expresses their personality.

The name was inspired by my son, a true Li'l Rokker. He has been obsessed with music since he was a toddler. And we're not talking Barney here. He has very 'sophisticated' tastes (by sophisticated I mean any sweet Rock or punk music) :) He wears his little drummer rock wristband all the time, every dress up day at school he's a rock star, he's aaaaaalways telling me about different modes on Rock band , guitar hero, he has every guitar/band game known to man downloaded on my iPhone, and he's in drum lessons. His first little 'concert/recital is next week; he's drumming to Smoke On The Water, pretty cool for a 6 year old. :)
And he's informed me that I'm going to be on tour with him when he's a rock star to 'take care of him' (awww)

I'm excited to continue creating. I have some plack patent leather just waiting to be made into some sweet bibs, and lots and lots of fabrics ordered to make stand out diaper bags. :) I even got my first custom order the other day!

Well there it is, my first blog post. Just a little bit about my little business :)
More posts to come on all my new accessories, failures, sales, and anything interesting and irrelevant I feel like sharing :)

Till next time!