back from the dead...

Oh the blog.  The blog has been so neglected.  It was bound to happen sooner or later.  My chaotic life seems to dictate that I jump recklessly from interest to interest, dropping things after they become stale like so many hot potatoes.  But I MISS the blog.  I have sat down so many times to pour out my frenzied thoughts as a vehicle for clearing my head or getting things off my chest, only to have them quashed by writer's block or scattered thoughts or a protective reluctance to share my twisted ruminations.  Looking back, it is absurd that about a year ago I committed myself to becoming a 'professional' writer of witty criticisms and creative non-fiction.  I should have known better and left myself an escape route.  Nothing in my life is concrete.  I am unpredictable at best.  Everything I have ever started seems to be left stagnating in the dust after something more exciting comes along.  So, while I will try my best to get back into the swing of things, I will use my poor lonely blog to keep everyone updated on the goings-on of my fledgling sockbun empire.  I am taking over the world, one deranged stuffed rabbit at a time!

Today's sockbun, flanked by Gavin and Ivy's original Christmas sockbuns.  wow!

As it stands right now, I have sold 164 sockbuns since the birth of my little business on January 25th.  I didn't realize this until the other day, but that works out to 16 buns a month, or four a week!  Not too shabby, for something that started as Christmas presents for family and friends.  Sockbuns have come a long way in a year.  I see the kids' sockbuns (the ORIGINAL sockbuns) and they are so radically different from the sockbuns of today.  Today's sockbuns are bigger.  Stuffed better.  Cuddlier.  Snazzier.  More professional.  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that Jesse, Gavin, and Ivy play with their sockbuns all the time.  They sleep with them and take them to sleepovers (especially Jesse... thanks buddy!) and tell everyone who will listen about sockbuns.  They think they are awesome.  I should put them on the payroll, for Pete's sake.  And they're right - sockbuns ARE awesome.  I have never felt so confident about anything I have ever done in my life.

sockbun.ca at BunFest - the people behind me make jewelry
out of silver-plated rabbit poops.  No joke. 

A lot has happened in the last nine months.  Most significantly, sockbun.ca was a vendor at this year's BunFest in Toronto (our first show ever!), and while we only sold nine there, the fallout from BunFest secured another 21 sockbun sales and got the word out to many potential adopters.  I gave out a pile of business cards, and people seemed to really love the buns, which is downright remarkable, I think.  The joy and adulation generated when people see my sockbuns for the first time still blows my mind.  Since BunFest, sockbuns have been shipped far and wide across Canada, as well as two orders to the States.  We raised some money (not much, but some) for Rabbit Rescue Inc. too, which is just great.  A portion of each sockbun sale is donated to this wonderful organization to help them find forever homes for abused, neglected, and abandoned rabbits, as well as a donation for every 50 'Likes' we get on our Facebook page.  Since all but one of our five rabbits (feisty little Penelope was the only one who wasn't) over the years have been abandoned or neglected rescue buns, I am committed to helping Rabbit Rescue out, and plan to use every show and craft fair out there to spread the word about all the good work they are doing.

So what's next?  Well, onward and upward, of course!  I am very excited to share that sockbun.ca will be taking part in our first major craft fair, the Made By Hand Craft Show, which will be held at the International Centre on Airport Road in Mississauga on Saturday November 5th.  Our application was approved last week, and I am so thrilled to be a part of this event, which consists of 150 juried vendors of homemade crafts and such.  The show is right before the holidays, so I am hoping we do pretty well.  Hopefully people will see the joys in giving family and friends something unique and handmade for Christmas, instead of mindlessly wasting their hard-earned dollars on over-priced, mass produced, shoddy crap made by exploited and abused Third World workers found in big box stores (hey, I can dream, can't I?)  At the very least, the Made By Hand show will be another opportunity to get my sockbuns out there for people to see, and bring attention to Rabbit Rescue Inc. at the same time (they are going to send me some pamphlets to give out at the sockbun.ca booth), so I'm really looking forward to it.

Thanks to everyone for all the support over the last nine months.  Whether you have bought a sockbun, 'Liked' our Facebook page, shared the link to my website, or told a friend, you are helping me make my dream of having a home business doing something I love that fits into my topsy-turvy life come true.  And that means the world to me.

Anyway, I think that's it for now... have to ease myself into this slowly... don't want to get winded or anything... ha ha

You want this.