Rise Up Designs

Yesterday was my first fall market, and honestly? It was a really good one. Sales were good. I was paying attention to what people were picking up, what I need to make more of, what was catching their attention—all those little things you learn when you’re actually standing in front of your customers. But I also learned something else. Take care of the person behind the booth. I live in Texas. I know it’s hot. And I thought I was prepared. One of my market rituals is packing a little cooler full of bottled water. Yesterday I brought about eight bottles, and I was drinking water throughout the day. The market organizers were wonderful about making sure vendors had water available, too. Hydration? Check. Or so I thought. Around 2:00, as I started packing up, I suddenly got really dizzy. Not “whoa, I stood up too fast” dizzy. Sit-down-right-now dizzy. Eventually I had to call in reinforcements—aka Dad and my cousin—to finish packing my booth and drive me home. And that was my ...

This one is going to be short because it’s Labor Day weekend. 😊 If you’re a small business owner, crafter, maker—or honestly just a person with a never-ending to-do list—you probably know how hard it is to completely turn it off. There’s always something. An order to finish. Inventory to check. Pictures to take. A listing to update. An idea you really should write down before you forget it. 😂 But here’s what I’m reminding myself this weekend: The to-do list will still be there tomorrow. Sometimes being productive means getting things done. And sometimes it means closing the laptop, putting down the craft supplies, spending time with people you love, and giving yourself permission to enjoy the day without mentally calculating everything you could be doing. So that’s it. No big business lesson today. Drink the coffee. ☕ Enjoy the extra day. Rest if you need it. The tumbler can wait. 😂 Happy Labor Day weekend, friends. ❤️ - Jecca

I use AI. A lot. I use it in my full-time job to help me work more efficiently. I use it in my small business to help write product listings, brainstorm ideas, organize my thoughts, and yes, even check my grammar on some of these blog posts. So this is definitely not an “AI is bad” post. I think AI is an incredible tool. But as a crafter and small business owner, I also think we have a responsibility to pay attention to how we use it. Especially when we’re showing customers our products. AI can take a basic product photo and put it into a beautiful setting. It can help create a cozy bookish scene, clean up a distracting background, or help you imagine how something might look displayed in a home. That can be incredibly helpful. But here’s where I think we have to be careful: If the AI-generated picture no longer looks like the product you’re actually selling, we have a problem. If my tumbler has one design but the AI changes the artwork, that’s not my product. If my gift se...

​ It may still be hot outside, but if you’re a small business owner, somewhere in your brain it is already November. At least that’s how it feels for me. The holidays may seem far away, but this is the time I start thinking about them. Not because I want to rush the season. Not because I’m ready for Christmas music in August. But because holiday prep takes time. I’m already thinking about what products make good gifts. What can be bundled together. What inventory I need to reorder. What packaging I want to use. What signage needs to be updated. What markets I want to participate in. What sold well last year. And maybe just as important…what I do not want to repeat. That part matters. Every season teaches you something. There are products you thought would fly off the table that barely moved. There are things you almost didn’t make that customers loved. There are packaging ideas that looked cute but took way too much time. There are products that were great individual...

​ The last three weeks have been a whirlwind. If you’ve been following along, you know I was in Nebraska, then came home and had a market, then the Monday after that market I had the APCO conference, and the Saturday after that…another market. So when this weekend finally came around and I didn’t have anything scheduled, I was grateful. Really grateful. And at first, it almost felt strange. No market to pack for. No booth to set up. No event to rush to. Just a little space. And I realized how much I needed it. Not because I wanted to do nothing, but because I needed time to catch up on the things that are easy to ignore when you’re constantly moving. I checked inventory. I ordered new UVDTF wraps. I started updating some of my signage. I finished special orders that needed my attention. I looked at what I had, what I needed, and what could be improved before the next market. And honestly, it reminded me that slowing down is part of running a business too. When you’re c...