My Trade Show Experience: National Stationery Show

So this post has been a long time coming, but after doing my second trade show this year and getting to meet a lot of great people and gaining feedback on my crochet kits, I've been figuring out how trade shows may fit into the future for The Pudgy Rabbit. So here's my overview of the 2015 National Stationery Show.



NSS was my first foray into the trade show world and to be honest, it was pretty overwhelming. I had just started getting into doing some wholesale orders when I had met one of their sales managers while doing a craft show in Brooklyn. I had thought the show was just for stationery and paper products, but there was also a Creative Arts section where it seemed my kits would be a good fit. NSS is really large show, taking place at the Javits Center in NYC and has been around for many years and looked to attract diverse buyers that would be interested in my crochet kits.

After doing some more research, I decided to take a chance and test the waters. I knew the expenses of doing a trade show were high, but since the show was in NYC and fortunately I'm located right outside of the city and have family who live there, I figured I already had leg up on not having to ship anything and could stay with relatives during the show.



I ended up with a small corner booth, 5' by 10', located near one of the hall entrances, which was nice. To help cut down on some of the expenses, I designed my own booth and built my own walls with the help of my dad. I purchased all the materials I needed at Home Depot and it ended up costing about $300 for everything. The walls had to be completely taken apart to fit everything into my car and drive them to the show, but we made it!

One thing to note is the show had a rule about not allowing the use of a dolly with more than two wheels to move your booth materials into the show. My booth was manageable so we could just carry everything in by hand since my walls were not built beforehand.



That being said, we also showed up a few days before the show began and had plenty of time to set everything up and build the walls. I'm so glad we had that extra time because even though there is a move in area where you can pull your car up and unload, the Javits Center is HUGE, and depending on where your booth is, you can still have quite the walk.

My booth happened to not be that close to the move in entrance, but several trips and a couple hot dogs later, we managed to get all the wall materials and everything else to my space!



I decided to keep everything simple as my space wasn't very large and had my sign and logo laser cut from a company called Fabberz. I also purchased some electricity for the booth and used a few lamps to bring some extra light to my area. Overall, I was happy with the design, but looking back, I would have probably added a bit more to the bottom of the booth to keep it from looking bare.



During the show, I had a great time talking to many of my fellow exhibitors and getting advice from people who had been doing NSS for years. I also placed several orders during the show and got a ton of leads, which I followed up with after the fair which turned into more orders. However, there wasn't as much traffic as I expected for a show of this size and it felt quiet at times.

Overall, I did feel that doing this show was worth it, as I got some really helpful feedback from buyers about my kits. For example, they wanted to see a box that shoppers wouldn't be able to easily open on the shelves and to see a label with an actual photo of the project. This was probably a sign my kits weren't quite ready for a trade show yet, but I learned so much from both buyers and fellow exhibitors and may not have reached that point had I not done the show.

On another note, I ended up making these updates to my kits and they've been well received so far!





I also submitted my coffee mug kit for Best New Product in the Do It Your Self category and was selected as a finalist! I didn't end up winning, but it was still exciting to be included along with all these other great products and see that others were creating.



It was also really helpful to go through the process of creating my first wholesale catalog and line sheet and experience what it's like to be on the trade show floor and pitch my product to buyers. It's always stressful to do anything the first time, but I'm glad to have done it and helps me be better prepared for any shows I may do in the future.

While I enjoyed doing the National Stationery Show, I don't think it was quite the best fit for my crochet kits. During the show though, some other exhibitors recommended the Craft and Hobby Association show, which is geared more towards crafts. I actually up ended exhibiting at the CHA 2016 show, which I'll be going over in a separate post.

I hope you find my show experience helpful and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know in the comments!

New designs and packaging

I can't believe it's almost July already, it feels like I was just flying out to California for the Craft & Hobby Association show in January last week! Since then, I've been getting the new packaging for all the kits ready, filling orders, and creating some new designs for the shop.

I have five new animal patterns available, which are currently available in the store.

New packaging on the left, old design on the right.

The crochet kits still contain everything you need for the project, and they are now packaged in a sleeker box that is sealed shut without the gable handle and tabs that were a bit delicate when it came to shipping.

I also updated the label to include an actual photo of the project along with the dimensions of the finished piece. I made these changes based on feedback I had received at the National Stationery Show in 2015 and hope these tweaks will make the boxes more retail friendly as I work to get my kits into more shops.

This set of new designs are animal based and include a fox, pug, hippo, whale, and koala. Right now, only the full kits are available, but in the near future, the separate patterns for each animal will be released for digital download in the shop as well.

I always have a running list of designs I'm working on and if there's something you would like to see added to the shop, let me know!

Hello from CHA 2016!

I'm currently in Anaheim, California for the 2016 CHA Mega Show! This is my second trade show so far and I'm excited to be exhibiting and showing my newly redesigned kits. It's been a crazy few month of preparation, so I will be back soon with more updates!

If you're at the show, come and stop by booth #908!

Helllooo There!

So it's been a while. Almost six months actually, but there's been a lot going on! Now that things have settled a bit, I'm going to get back into the blog and keeping up the site. Here's a quick update on everything that's been happening.

First, I did my first trade show, the National Stationery Show down in NYC at the Javits Center. It was a ton of work and while I didn't place as many orders as expected, I met some really great people, made a bunch of contacts, and received really helpful feedback about the kits. I hope to do more trade shows in the near future and I'll be going into more detail about NSS in another post.

Second, in April, my first crochet book, Happy-Gurumi, came out! I can't believe it's been over two years since I first sent out my book proposal, but it's really exciting to finally see everything come together. You can now purchase Happy-Gurumi on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Third, I started a new job, and while I would love for The Pudgy Rabbit to be my full time gig, I'm not quite at that point yet. However, work has been really great, and even though it's been an adjustment to fit everything in, I'm happy to say that I have five new designs available!

All the new designs are based around food, including this little hamburger and hot dog. They'll be up in the shop soon and I'm continuing to work on new products for the shop and recipes for the blog, so stay tuned!

Chinese Bakery Style Orange and Strawberry Cream Cake

So I know the title is kind of long, but that's what this cake is! If you've never had a Chinese bakery style cake, it's layers of fluffy sponge cake filled with a variety of fruits and covered in a whipped cream frosting. These cakes are extremely light and airy, making them a great ending after eating a large meal. Growing up, I wasn't always the biggest fan of Chinese bakery desserts. I thought that they tasted kind of bland compared to sweeter American style cakes. Now that I'm older, my tastes have expanded and while I still love a good yellow cake covered in rich chocolate buttercream, I appreciate the subtle sweetness found in Chinese style desserts.



Since I was making this cake for Chinese New Year, I decided to add a twist and do an orange sponge cake filled with lots ripe strawberries and whipped cream. Oranges are a symbol of good luck and prosperity for the new year due to their round shape and in Chinese the word for orange sounds similar to the word for wealth. I chose to use only strawberries in the filling for their red color since red is a sign of good fortune and happiness. So basically this whole cake is filled with good luck, success, and joy!

Red Bean Cheesecake

Happy Chinese New Year's eve! I hope everyone is ready to celebrate with family and friends and eat some crazy delicious food! Since making my own red bean paste earlier this week, I've been working on incorporating it into some desserts, which actually turned out harder than I thought. Red beans have a pretty delicate flavor that's really easy to overpower. I realized that when you eat it in traditional Asian desserts and snacks, it's usually as a ball of filling in something like a steamed bun or dumpling, so the bean paste's sweetness comes through.





I was determined to make a cheesecake with the red bean paste, because I just really love cheesecake and wanted something different for dessert than the usual red bean soup for the new year. That and I don't like red bean soup =p So when making this cheesecake, I decided to add a layer of the bean paste in addition to mixing it into the batter to help make the bean flavor stronger. While I used homemade red bean paste, canned paste will work fine too. Making your own is really easy though and you can find my recipe for it here. The tangy cream cheese along with an almond crust go well with the red beans.






I have a confession, the lines along the sides of the cheesecake are from the parchment I used to line the pan because I did it kind of sloppily. I'm just going to pretend they're intentional =) Also, I kind of spaced out when I started baking the cheesecake, completely forgot when I put it in the oven and ended up taking it out a bit too early. So the middle is not as firm as I would like, as you can see from the photos, but it still tasted great!

This recipe makes a 6 inch cheesecake, but it's pretty rich so all you need is a small slice, which is great after eating a multi-course meal, but you still want something sweet. I hope everyone has some amazing dishes over the next few days and that this cheesecake is one of them! Enjoy!

Red Bean Cheesecake

Makes one 6 inch cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust

1/2 cup (48g) graham cracker crumbs, about 3-1/4 cracker sheets
1/4 cup (40g) almonds
1 tbsp (13g) light brown sugar, packed
1/8 tsp salt

3 tbsp (42g) unsalted butter, melted 

Filling

10 oz (284g) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup (69g) white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups (364g) red bean paste, divided. Recipe to make your own here
1/3 cup (89g) heavy cream, room temperature

2 eggs, room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 6 inch springform pan, line with parchment and then butter the parchment. In a food processor pulse the almonds until finely ground. Add the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, salt and pulse to mix together. Add the melted butter and pulse until combined and moist crumbs form. Press the crumbs into the bottom of prepared pan and bake for about 8-10 minutes until set and edges are golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Spread half of the red bean paste in an even layer over the crust. Wrap the bottom of the pan with tinfoil, making sure the foil comes up at least 3/4 of the pan's sides.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Place a kettle of water on to boil. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar, cream cheese, and salt on medium low speed until smooth and creamy. Mix the remaining red bean paste with the heavy cream and vanilla until smooth, then add to the cream cheese mixture and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl down and with the mixer on low, add the eggs, mixing well. Pour into cooled crust and place the cheesecake pan into another, larger baking dish. Pour enough boiling water into the larger baking dish until it comes about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan. Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes until the edges have set but the center of the cheesecake has a slight jiggle. Remove from water bath and allow to cool to room temperature then chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Unmold from pan, slice and enjoy!

Homemade Sweet Red Bean Paste

Continuing with dessert planning for Chinese New Year, I knew I had make some homemade sweet red bean paste. Often used in many Asian desserts and snacks, red bean paste can be found in steamed buns, sesame balls, ice cream, dumplings, and many other pastries.

I've used canned red bean paste before, but always found it way too sweet for my taste. Making your own is actually pretty easy, it just takes a bit of time but you can adjust the sugar and sweetness to your liking.





To start, the beans should be rinsed and soaked in water overnight to help reduce the cooking time. After soaking, the beans are drained and placed into a pot with enough water to cover them by a few inches and simmered until soft. The beans and cooking liquid are then pressed through a fine mesh strainer to remove the skins. You could also use a blender or food processor to blend the beans into a smooth paste without removing the skins first, but I prefer using the strainer for a smoother texture.



Sugar, salt, and vegetable oil are added to the paste, which is then cooked down to get rid of any excess liquid and thicken the paste up. Allow to cool and that's it, you now have red bean paste to use in any recipe you choose!

Growing up, I would often have steamed buns filled with this sweet bean paste on the weekend, so I'm definitely going to try making some. Along with ice cream, I've been experimenting with red bean cheesecake and cookies and I'll be getting a recipe up for them soon! Enjoy!



Homemade Red Bean Paste
Makes about 2-1/4 cups ( 537g) of paste

Ingredients
8 oz (229g) dried adzuki beans
Water as needed for boiling
1/2 cup (104g) white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup (38g) vegetable oil

Directions

Rinse the beans and place in a large bowl. Cover with water and soak overnight. Drain and place the beans in a pot with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer the red beans for 1-2 hours until soft, stirring occasionally. If there is still a lot of water in the pot, continue cooking until there is only a thin layer of water covering the beans

Press the beans and any excess liquid through a fine mesh strainer set over a pot. Discard the leftover skins. Add the sugar, salt, and vegetable oil to the red bean paste and cook over medium low heat, stirring often until the paste thickens. Allow to cool.

Writing a Craft Book

With Happy-Gurumi coming out in a few weeks (on March 10th!) I've been looking back on everything that went into making the book. I can't believe that it's been two years since I sent out that first proposal and started filling a bright pink binder with notes, revisions, and pattern testing. I've learned so much about what goes into publishing a craft book, both expected and unexpected, so I've decided to share some details of the work process behind Happy-Gurumi!

Chewy Almond Cookies

It seems the holidays were not too long ago and I was baking up a storm. Cookies, cheesecake, chocolate mousse, I even made an ice cream cake. I didn't think it was possible, but I was kind of over desserts and baking by the time January rolled around. Well now it's been over a month since I've made anything and I'm ready to get my cookie back on!

With Chinese New Year coming up, I've been thinking about what to bring to my family celebrations later this month and these almond cookies are definitely on the list!

Hellloooooo 2015!

Happy first week of 2015! Or really happy second week, because I'm late in posting this. Geez, time flies! Anyway, I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing time during the holidays. Per usual, I got a cold, ate way too much, got a cold again, and caught up with friends and family. Aside from getting sick, I had a really great time!

While 2014 was a pretty good, I'm really looking forward to this year. I have a couple of big things coming up that will hopefully lead to even bigger opportunities for The Pudgy Rabbit!

First up is my crochet book, Happy-Gurumi! I can't believe that it's coming out in just a couple of months, on March 10th. It seems nuts that just a year ago, I was crocheting like crazy, turning my sketches into working patterns and somehow a book came out of the mess of yarn that covered my desk. Big thank you to my editors at Martingale for all their hard work and pulling everything together. You can pre-order the book right now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

And if you don't know how to crochet, not to worry, there are detailed instructions with plenty of pictures that will teach you the all basics. A new year, a new craft, that's what I always say! ;)



Then in May, I'm going to be exhibiting at the National Stationery Show! This is my first trade show and I'm really excited to be doing such a big fair. There's going to be thousands of attendees along with some really major retailers and lots of press. I'm actually a bit nervous because I've only exhibited at much smaller craft fairs so far and I haven't even done that many fairs in general. It's kind of a big leap to do such a major show and I have so many things that I need to prepare that it makes me panic a little. But I figure it's good to take some risks and this would be great exposure for the shop, so out of my comfort zone I go!

On the plus side, my crochet kits have already been highlighted by the NSS and they're currently a part of their favorite things for the 2015 show! Whoo hoo!





In other news, I'm also working on some new things for the shop, developing patterns, and planning out some new products. The next few months are going to be really busy, but I'm coming out of my cookie and fatty food induced holiday haze and super excited to get started!

So I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year and hope that the next twelve months are great! Cheers to 2015!

Holiday Weekend Sale!

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving filled with plenty of turkey!



Holiday shopping is full swing and The Pudgy Rabbit is having a sale on all crochet kits and patterns!  Get 25% off your entire purchase this weekend through Monday, December 1st. Just enter code HOLIDAY at checkout. Happy shopping!

New Patterns and Kits!

I can't believe how fast the holidays are coming up! With a couple of craft shows on the way, I've been getting ready with a bunch of new items in the shop.



I've been toying around with different designs other than the usual animals I create, so I came up with this goofy coffee mug. I love coffee and I love yarn, seemed like a perfect fit!







Also new to the shop, a chill polar bear, penguin, and panda. And if you're looking for something to hang on the tree, the snowman ornament is back!



All the kits and patterns are available in my Etsy shop. I also have a kit combo, where you can get two crochet kits for $48. So if you're looking for fun and creative gift ideas, be sure to check out all the designs!

In other news, I'm starting up a shop newsletter, where you can receive the latest updates about new items, sales and promotions, and any upcoming craft fairs. Join the mailing list here or you can use the sign up tab on the right side of the blog.

Hope everyone's holiday planning is going well and stress free!

I Wrote A Book!

After working through a mountain of yarn, bits of felt, and stuffing, I'm proud to announce that I've completed my first crochet book! Actually, it was completed earlier this year, but it didn't feel official to me until all the editing was done, a title was picked, and the final cover finished. And I guess now it's super official because the book is available for pre-order online! Hooray!!



Happy-Gurumi is filled with a fun mix of projects, ranging from goofy animals, to smiling daisies, to a happy birthday cake. For those that have never crocheted before, there are basic crochet instructions included with lots of step by step photos. There's also more advanced patterns for those looking for a challenge!

I had so much fun creating all the patterns for the book, especially making all the puppet style mouths, and figuring out how to turn my drawings into actual projects. I have a whole drawer stuffed with various animal parts and test samples from each pattern, it's amazing that the book came out of that mess of crochet!

The release date is set for next year, March 10th, 2015. You can pre-order it now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble at a discounted price, so check it out!

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel

Happy Halloween, season of all things spooky and pumpkin! While I'm not actually super big on pumpkin, I couldn't resist making this cake after going apple and pumpkin picking and sampling all the baked goods at the orchards. There's nothing better than the smell of spiced cake in the kitchen as the weather cools down.



I have to admit, it took me several tries to get this recipe right. Way too much pumpkin puree the first time and the cake was just a dense, gloppy mess. The next couple tries were pretty good, just not quite what I wanted. Finally, the fourth cake was everything I was looking for, not too dense, lightly sweet and spiced with a nice crunch from the pecans. The perfect fall afternoon snack with coffee! Or perfect breakfast, warmed up in the toaster oven. Really, this is an anytime of day kind of cake.

Bleach and Glitter

So I haven't done any personal animation work for quite some time now and have been trying to come up with an idea for a new short. I was going through all my old files and came across this piece that I made several years ago during an experimental animation class.



It's a scratch film/direct animation, where I drew or scratched the images onto clear and black leader film. I used all sorts of materials such as glass paints, sharpies, inks, bleach, and glitter. Then I cut the all the bits of film together and my friend, Andrew Champlin, composed the music.

I had so much fun making this film and putting it all together. With scratch film, it's kind of spontaneous in that until you run your film through the projector, you can't be 100% sure exactly what you're going to get, there's no instant gratification. You can kind of plan your timing out with 24 frames a second, but not knowing is part of what makes it fun. Hope you enjoy!

Thank you for voting!

So voting for the Martha Stewart American Made Awards ended this past Monday. A HUGE thank you to everyone who voted over the past few weeks! The final count for The Pudgy Rabbit ended up being around 2,500, and I know that the voting process was a bit tedious, so thank you all so much for taking the time to show your support!!

Winners will be announced in a couple of days, so hopefully I'll have some good news by the end of the week! And even if The Pudgy Rabbit doesn't win one of the grand prizes, it was still some great exposure for the shop. I've been getting more requests for wholesale orders, so the crochet kits are finding their way into stores. I'm also happy to announce that I was approached by the American Made team to sell the kits in their Ebay store, so in a few weeks, you'll be able to shop Pudgy Rabbit products in the official Martha Stewart American Made Market!

Again, I can't thank you guys enough for all the encouragement and support as I build and grow my little business. It means a lot and I'm looking forward to what's next for the shop!

Make your own jack o' lantern!

Geez, I can't believe that September is almost over! But that means Halloween is on its way, one of my favorite holidays! Every year I pick out the nicest pumpkin I can find and make plans to carve it into a super awesome jack o' lantern. Something that would really impress the trick or treaters. And every year, I end up with a rotting, uncarved pumpkin on my front doorstep by Thanksgiving.



This year, I've finally accepted that actual pumpkin carving is just not my thing, so I turned to my trusty yarn and hook and made this little crochet jack o' lantern instead! It's small, fits into the palm of my hand, and won't get all moldy and mushy. A win all around! Now you can make an everlasting pumpkin too with the new Design a jack o' lantern kit in my shop!



Like all my other kits, this one comes with everything that you need to make the project. The kit also comes with a crochet booklet that teaches all the basic stitches, so if you don't know how to crochet, this is a great stepping stone! You can choose to do either an open or closed mouth and there's an assortment of eyes along with some pink cheeks. Go with traditional triangle eyes or mix it up with round eyes and cheeks, or even do one round and one triangle eye. Celebrate the fall season with some yarn and crafting! Happy crocheting!

Vote for The Pudgy Rabbit!

I'm very excited to announce that The Pudgy Rabbit is a finalist for the 2014 Martha Stewart American Made Awards! Yay!!  A big thank you to everyone for their support so far! The American Made Awards is a program that honors American makers and small businesses across several fields such as crafts, design, food, and style. The Pudgy Rabbit was entered into the Crafts category under fiber crafts. There are ten award winners to be named, nine of them will be chosen by the judges and one by the audience!

Voting for the Audience Choice Award begins today and continues until October 13th. The registration process to vote is a bit tricky, so I've outlined the steps below. Once you've registered, you can vote up to six times a day, every day until the 13th!

1. Visit my American Made profile page on the Martha Stewart website here or you can click on the American Made badge on the upper right of this site. Once on my profile page, click on the vote button underneath my profile picture.

2. You'll then be prompted to register either through Facebook or email. The Facebook verification doesn't appear to be working currently, the site is a bit buggy, probably because today is the first day for voting. It should be resolved soon!

3. If registering through email, you'll enter your name and email address, then you'll receive a verification email shortly.

4. After verifying your email, you can start voting! You can vote up to six times a day every day until voting closes on October 13th.

After voting, please don't forget to share to Facebook and Twitter to help spread the word! All of your support has been really great and I can't thank you enough. Here's to taking The Pudgy Rabbit all the way!

Fresh Apple Cake

A few weeks ago at a family bbq, my aunt told me how one of her favorite desserts was this apple cake that a friend would make her every fall. Seeing as how the apple is New York's state fruit and I live close to several orchards in my area, I decided to come up with my own recipe for this apple cake!

American Made Awards

So I entered this year's Martha Stewart American Made Awards, whoooo! It's a contest that highlights small businesses and local, handmade products here in the U.S. Besides a lot of great exposure, there's a chance to win some prize money and tickets to the American Made summit. The summit will be a big networking event with Martha Stewart and her team, featuring talks by industry experts and a chance to meet with other creative entrepreneurs.



As the Pudgy Rabbit is in its baby stage, I thought that this contest would be a great opportunity to help move the shop forward, hopefully getting my crochet kits into some brick and mortar stores and branching out into other crafts such as sewing and needle felting!

To check out my profile and share my nomination, you can click here or click the American Made badge on the upper right of this site. The more shares I receive over Facebook and Twitter, the better my chances are of winning a wild-card finalist spot for grand prize consideration.

Thank you and here's to getting The Pudgy Rabbit out there! =)