Bison Booties

Exciting news this week!

first:
My Bison Booties business is a contender in the StartupNation.com 'Moms in Business' competition. The top 200 vote-getting businesses will be juried by StartupNation for top prizes which include priceless national publicity. Now, for a favor ... I kindly ask that you please vote for Bison Booties. It just takes a click (no registration needed). You can vote once per day from now until mid-April. 

VOTE: http://www.startupnation.com/leading-moms-in-business/contestant/11657/index.php

Thank you!

second:
A reporter from the Great Plains Examiner was at the Bison Booties international headquarters today (ahem ... our house). Watch for Bison Booties in the next GPE paper, to be published in next couple weeks.

Busy Bison Booties Business

Try saying that 10 times fast.


The last few months have been a whirlwind in the bootie business.

To kick off the Christmas shopping season, Bison Booties was a vendor at the Pride of Dakota Holiday Showcase in Bismarck, December 2-4. Some quick calendar checking will show that this was just a few days after both Caitlyn's wedding and Thanksgiving. It was a very busy few weeks but with lots of help from Corey and family, it was so much fun.


There is an enormous amount of work that goes into show prep days weeks months before the event. Luckily, I have found that the amount of prep gets much easier with each show.


I will always giggle when I see this photo. The night before the show, I decided to completely reorganize all the booties. This meant that my mom and I carefully emptied every tote of bootie boxes, stacked all the boxes into a different organized pattern, and then repacked the boxes of booties into the totes. It was lots of work but it really paid off to have the inventory better organized at the show.


The show was such fun. My mom and sister were a huge help and traded-off staffing the booth with me all three days.



Last week I sent so many booties that Kya and I had to make a few trips into the post office just because the envelopes would not all fit in our mailbox!

Bison Booties in the news

Bison Booties have been making headlines.
Such exciting times for this sewing mama.

Today Kya and I were filmed for the KXMB TV on the "Around Town" show. It aired on the 6 pm news. Read the story and watch it here.

A couple weeks ago I recorded a radio show for URL Radio. It was a segment for the "North Dakota Now" Pride of Dakota show, showcasing North Dakota products and businesses. The show aired the first week of August. In the near future, my interview will be available on the Pride of Dakota website. I'll update this when it is available online.

The beginning of May, I was interviewed for a Mother's Day story by the Bismarck Tribune. The story also featured Bison Booties and, of course, Kya. Read the story here.

Last weekend I was a vendor in my first art/craft fair. It was a huge success and will be the first of many fairs to come. I will post more photos and more stories soon.

Anyway, that's the press update. I'm on cloud-9 with all the positive reviews and comments I have been receiving lately (weee!) it totally makes my day week month year.

I'm taking a little break from bootie-making this weekend for landscaping projects.
Happy weekend!

Bison Booties on the Radio!

TUNE IN!

Bison Booties is the feature business today on the Pride of Dakota "North Dakota Now" show on URL Radio (an internet radio station). Tune in between 11-11:30 am CDT TODAY to learn more about me and Bison Booties. 

In the future, my interview will be available on demand, so if you miss this show, look for a catch-up link sometime in the next few months.

http://theurlradio.com/listen/
It's free - just click "play" on the above link, no registration required.

busy with Bison Booties

I've been a busy bee making and promoting Bison Booties the last few weeks and it is really paying off. We hit our 100th Etsy sale last week!

In celebration of this fun milestone, I am hosting a giveaway party on Facebook with my favorite Etsy finds. Most are children's items, but there are is also a great shaving set with handmade soap (for men) and a little something for the ladies too. I am so excited about all the great sponsor items - I was shocked at the great response from these established sellers. I wish I could win all the prizes ... custom kid cape, design your own crown, handcrafted overalls, sleepy dolly ...

To enter the giveaways, visit my Facebook page.

My new Etsy store!

Big announcement: Bison Girl has an Etsy store!

If you are not familiar with Etsy, it is a marketplace for homemade goods, materials, and vintage/antique items. In short, it is way cool.

So what is Bison Girl selling on Etsy?!

Bison Booties, but of course.

I made my first pair of baby booties when I was pregnant with our daughter. At the time I had no clue how much wear she'd get out of them. Luckily, I made two pairs ahead of time. From birth to today, she wears her booties during every outing and most days she wears them at home too. We have hard floors, so without her booties, her toes get chilled.

Fast forward to today ... I have modified the pattern to my liking. I have also up-sized it for babies 6 months old and beyond (because I could not imagine a world without these perfect little booties). I can't keep all these great booties for myself. I have to let the world in on this secret.

See them for yourself: Bison Girl Etsy Store

I call them Bison Booties

They are fully lined and have a covered elastic back, so they comfortably stay on active little feet. On the inside, baby's feet rest on cuddly faux sherpa, which does a great job keeping the toes toasty warm. As an added bonus, the booties are considered to be "soft shoes" - which are best for infant/toddler foot development and balance.

Currently I make two sizes (but I will expand this soon).

• 0-6 month booties measure 4 inches from toe to heel. This size has faux suede or fabric under the shoe since at this age the baby will not be walking.
• 6-12 month booties are 4.75 inches from toe to heel. This model is designed for maximum safety of unsteady feet, so the under side has vintage deer leather (or another similar super non-slip surface).

Since the booties are made individually by hand, the sizes my vary a bit. For the best sizing, measure the baby's foot and add 1/4 inch. When in doubt, order up.

The 0-6 month size would make a great new baby gift, especially for infants born in the fall/winter. And I have booties for boys and girls!

Most questions should be answered in my store, but if you have any questions, just leave a comment under this post. Happy shopping :)