Rise Up Designs

One of the things I genuinely love about doing markets is the people. I love meeting customers, talking about what I make, watching someone discover something they didn’t know they needed, and getting that immediate feedback you just don’t get from an online shop. The part I could live without? Packing. Loading the car. Unloading the car. Setting everything up. Breaking everything down. Loading it all again. Then getting home and realizing you still have to unload. 😂 After doing markets for a while, though, I’ve learned something that has made that process a little easier: You don’t have to take everything you own. Every market has its own personality. Something that flies off my table at one market might barely get looked at somewhere else. At another market, people may head straight for my Blind Date with a Book collection. Somewhere else, it’s gift sets, totes, bookmarks, or something completely different. So this year, I’ve started paying much closer attention. What are pe...

​ 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...

 Let’s talk about what happens when you go from cha-ching-ing every day to… crickets. Yep. I hit that moment this week. For a solid stretch, I was doing an order or two every day . It was exciting, validating, and if we’re being honest… kind of addicting. Then suddenly? Nothing. And I’d love to tell you that I handled it with total grace and chill vibes—but, I’m human. So yes, I panicked a little . And yes, I stared at my Etsy dashboard like it owed me an explanation. But then something really unexpected happened:  I stopped spiraling and got to work. The Slow Days Gave Me Room to Breathe (and Catch Up on the Stuff I Usually Avoid) Because let’s be real—when I’m busy making, selling, and shipping, I’m not exactly sprinting to balance my QuickBooks. But during this slow stretch, I: ✔️ Cleaned up my inventory. What I had on hand didn’t totally match my Etsy listings ( oops ), so I reconciled everything. ✔️ Organized my receipts and logged expenses into QuickBooks. I ...