Hooray for 2012! I would love to get my hands on the beautiful calender above by UrbanBark to start organizing what needs to happen this year. Milton and Margie’s has quite a few exciting plans in the works! I have been super busy co-organizing and expanding the lovely Urban Folk Circuit with my dear Kelli Wefenstette, and Tuesday Bennett of Muggy Tuesday and Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied have joined to make us a team! Our next event is January 21 at the Grafton Pub, and we hope to kick off the new year with a fabulous show.

As for Milton and Margie’s 2012, here are a few goals:

• List items on Etsy weekly, YES, weekly! I have been quite a slacker in that department lately. It’s time to pick it back up again.
• Get in 10 more shops.
• Post on this here blog once a week.
• Expand this blog to be my actual website.
• Design a new banner.
• Vamp up my displays for craft shows.

I have a few more, but they are special secrets! Get ready for two new lines of candles coming soon, oh la la.

The Urban Folk Circuit will present 18 artisans at Do Division, held June 4–June 5 from noon–10 p.m.  Milton and Margie’s will be there slinging candles on Sunday.

Spanning 10 city blocks on Division from Ashland to Leavitt, Do Division features the food, music, local artisans, and family-friendly activities to kick off Chicago’s summer of festivals.

The Urban Folk Circuit will take over three tents packed with lovely local arts and crafts. Come visit the following independent crafters throughout the weekend:

Saturday, June 4
greenie bean recycle
Lucius Art
LUCIUS Jewelry
NatashaBlue
Lad Named Felix
Muggy Tuesday
Mano y Metal
Rhymes with Twee
Wanderlustings

We hope to see you there!

Here is one of Tack & Jibe’s zesty bags:

A Fishtown mug, by Chicago’s Circa Ceramics:

Location:
P.O. Box 4, Leland, Michigan 49654

Milton and Margie’s is happy to be stocked at the new natural-foods grocery store Real Naked Food. Real Naked Food is a full-service grocery store located in the Wicker Park area that specializes in mostly unpackaged organic, local, eco-friendly foods and products for the home. They will appropriately be stocking my candles in reused cans!

The grocery store’s mission is to to offer quality local, organic, and natural food alternatives to the unhealthy foods offered in conventional “big box” grocery stores, at competitive price points, as well as decrease the detrimental environmental effects caused by unnecessary food packaging. To reduce waste, Real Naked Food encourages shoppers to bring their own containers and bags, to buy products in bulk, and to buy locally grown products that travel fewer than 180 miles. I  am really excited to be part of what they are doing and to start shopping there on a regular basis.

The store’s grand opening event is 6 p.m. on Friday, April 22 at the store, located at 1909 W. Division St. Milton and Margie’s will be there giving out tea-light samples along with other local artisans and food vendors. See cooking demonstrations by Artfully Delicious and get treats and giveaways from local producers including Nice Cream, Edenic Tofu, Crumb Breads, Sweet Tart Pies, Sol Food Natural Soaps, Surf Sweets Candies, Divine Chocolates and Specialty Pasta.

Have you gotten your significant other anything for Valentine’s Day yet? I haven’t either. For shame! But we have a wonderful last-minute gift-buying opportunity at the Urban Folk Circuit’s February Market noon–5 p.m. on February 13 at Berlin, as there will be 20 or so Chicago artisans (including Milton and Margie’s, of course) waiting to bail you out. Not celebrating? Get something for yourself, then! Or at least enjoy $6 Bloody Marys and free live music from Joey Basketball, The Film Society, Rachel KatzmanFarr, Careful Q, and Tinders.

Time for love!

January Market::

Saturday, January 22
Reggie’s Rock Club: 2105 South State Street
Noon–5 p.m.
Free admission

2011 brings year 4 of Milton and Margie’s! Chicago was very kind to me and my business in 2010, and I hope 2011 gets even better. Some highlights from 2010 include working with Kelli to create the Urban Folk Circuit, figuring out which Chicago craft shows to do and not do, meeting and making a handful of close vendor friends (“frendors” according to Jimmy Thomas), having crazy success at the Renegade craft shows, and branching out to having my candles at shops in other states.

Goals for this year:

• Get back into listing things regularly on Etsy: 5 listings per week.
• Expand on my branding. I’ve got a sticker maker now that works really well (thanks, mom!), and I am going to ad a sticker with my logo, website, and name to the bottom of the candles.
• Get my own website to branch out from just having an Etsy site.
• Get my candles in at least two more shops.
• I’ve gotten better, but I still need to work on staying on top of accounting/money records.

Happy New Year!