Starting the week off right

Two things:

First, I was chosen as one of Cargoh's Things we love today.

More specifically, my tan cotton slim case was chosen. Thanks to the awesome folks at Cargoh for that :)

And today, I made this:

This is the best picture I could get before Maddy whisked it away. She's named him 'Lellow'... it's how she says 'yellow', which is the only colour she wanted him to be. He's (I think he's a 'he') made out of cotton, eco fi felt, and is filled with scrap fabric and polyfill batting. He's mostly handstitched, with the exception of the two pieces of cotton. I'm debating offering this up for custom order - would there be interest? Drop me a line in the comments if you are interested and if you have any other suggestions.

My Etsy shop stock is still 15% off until Thursday. As of Friday, that shop will close and I will move most of whatever remains (I'm hoping there won't be a lot) to ArtFire and Cargoh. Some of it I will remove from sale completely and make it available only via craft sales and possibly by special request. I'll try to make sure I post updates frequently. It's going to be a busy week with all the hubbub of closing the shop, stocking another, getting the website up, setting up a shop there...and it's still 90 or so days until Christmas. Yay.

On a quest

I'm trying to get back into the work groove as smoothly as possible - it's only 10:45 am and I've already made 9 loaves of bread (including 2 cinnamon & 1 raisin). Next on my list o'things to do today: organize myself for the next 3.5 months.

The holiday season is the prime money making time for crafters and artisans. I need to get in on that like there's no tomorrow. The question is, how to do that most effectively. I've been reading a lot of online articles and how-to's over the last week or so (when I wasn't embroidering or stuffing tiny pin cushions) about what the experts claim to be the 'best' methods. This business is still fairly new - not even a year old yet - and I feel like it's not quite at the point it should be at yet.

On one hand, I worry that things are never going to pick up and that I'll have to go find a 'real' job in the new year; on the other hand, I want to be a success, but don't want to sacrifice my goals and aims to please the market. I've heard and read so many times that in order to be a successful crafter/artisan (and I don't use those two titles interchangeably, but as a complementary pair), you have to produce what the people want. Well, that's fine and dandy, but what if it means changing what I do? Where does the creativity of the crafter/artisan come into play? Or is that the point where you say 'Am I doing this to make money or to be creative?'.

It's a fine line crafters and artisans tread... I know that if I go back to work at a 'real' job, I won't continue doing what I have been for the last year. Creativity, for me, will take a backseat to bringing home a paycheque... bills need to be paid and I really don't think the bank will accept a purse in lieu of a mortgage payment.

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And now, here's a question for my readers: what types of bags, pouches, cases - all handmade - do you like? I'm trying to figure out where to focus my attention next, and I've had some decent ideas and suggestions so far, but I'm always open to new ones. If you want to be specific and have a link to something that you really like, feel free to pop it into the comments, too. Thanks :)

Learning lessons

So.

My first craft sale this weekend.

On the up side, I learned A LOT.

On the down side, I didn't even sell enough product to cover my table fee of $25.

I'm not terribly upset or distraught... I needed to find out how sales actually worked, especially in this rural-based, primarily-middle-class region. I have an idea now of what works and what doesn't - but I also know that what didn't work at this sale may be the absolute killer at the next.

A brief list of the big lessons learned this weekend:

• Just because you're selling something no one else at the sale is, doesn't mean you'll have no problems selling your product. Anyone who sews has pin cushions coming out their ears; needlebooks, while 'cute' and 'smart', are a great idea, perhaps not the best execution.
• Having an eye-pleasing display is important, especially if it includes various kinds of baking. Baking always sells fastest and first. The table next to ours was completely sold out one hour & 20 minutes into the sale. 
• While my parents have lived in Carberry for almost 14 years, I never did. Most of the people I know there are either friends of my parents or my younger sister. Probably the best thing I did for this sale was ask my mom to help me at the table. She knows EVERYONE in town and is much more outgoing than me...she brought in all three of my sales.
• Don't be saddened that the older couple across the way can sell homemade underwear; take their approach to selling, sift through it and see what might apply to you. Their table was overloaded with product - and not just homemade underwear - to the point where customers had to go through piles of tea towels and knitting and blankets just to get to what they wanted. More often than not, they'd find more than what they were looking for at the bottom of the pile, because something they had to sort through to get there caught their eye. That doesn't mean I'm going to haphazardly pile my product on my next table, hoping that people will go through it to find what they want; it does mean, however, that I need to work out a display that makes the customers go from one product to the next without losing their focus.
• Signage is so important, more important than I thought. I made up a couple of placecards with my business name on them, but that was it... until I got frustrated trying to explain to my mom - my helper for the day - which product was which. Then I made handwritten signs that I just kind of slid into the baskets. Next sale, signs and perhaps even a brief description on the signs will be accompanying the products. Also, a pronunciation guide for nisse (niss-eh) and a little historical background to what the word actually means. 

Yeah, I only made $17 and had 3 sales, but quite a few people did pick up the postcards I made up and there was some interest in doing some custom work in the near future. But more people know my name now than did on Friday and that's what I see as the biggest achievement from the sale. There aren't enough articles or tutorials in the world to learn these lessons.

A sale here, in rural southwestern Manitoba, will not be the same type of sale as one in Florida. Or even Winnipeg. There are very few - if any - craft sales held in the spring or summer around here. Craft sales and fall suppers go hand in hand for us, and everyone in the crafting/artisan world here knows when the big sales are and where the best ones are. It was an interesting and eye-opening experience, to say the least... and one that I'm sure I'll repeat over and over again, but with slight variations, for years to come.

I hope.

Hack... hack...

I'm getting sick - chest cold, head cold, etc, etc, etc - so I'm just going to post a few pics of stuff I've been working on and then I'm going to lounge on the couch until my head explodes.

New business cards, with my Cargoh shop address. I'm handing these ones out at the craft sale next week, so I figured I may as well try to get as much info on them as I could. I know keeping the info as minimal as possible is a better idea, but hey...I'm not one to follow the crowd. Printed on Epson Premium Presentation Paper Matte, using my Epson 50 Artisan. Cut using my Cricut Trimmer.

Now, this is not a good photo of this particular piece, but it's the best of the bunch. This is also the first time the receiver will be seeing this iPad sleeve (tada, Bruce!). I'll have more info on the sleeve - and the challenges of working with such a large piece of faux suede - in a few days when I can sit up for more than 10 minutes without falling over.

And I've finally gotten around to making labels for my pieces... I know, I've already sold 5 pieces and sent them out without any identifying marks and that's just dumb. So I've got 6 yards of off-white twill tape and my logo & website printed onto a sheet of Avery T-Shirt transfer paper. It's much easier to put them together than I expected... now all I have to do is figure out how to put them on my already-finished and listed pieces without destroying them.

With that, I'm going to go wrap up in a warm blanket, attempt to do some embroidery and try to get healthy... *sniff*

*sigh*

Some of the work I've been doing this week, including a custom iPad sleeve
(photos & details to follow in a few days) and the many, many needlebooks I wanted to make.
Not needed to, but wanted to. Silly me.

I've been busier this week than I had expected, and as such haven't had time to update here or really post any new pieces in either of my shops. On the plus side, I do have quite a pile of almost-finished needlebooks and pin cushions that have to be done in 2 weeks (if you live in Westman and want to start your Christmas and holiday shopping early, kick off your fall craft sale tour with the Carberry Arts Council's 'Harvest of Hobbies', September 11 at the Community Hall, located right behind the high school on Main St, from 10-3, silver collection...there, I promoted it:) ). And there's a growing list of custom orders I'm working on, too. August, for all of my derision, has turned out to be a pretty damn good month.

The downside to being so busy prepping for this craft sale is that, as I mentioned, my Cargoh and Etsy shops are both suffering. Maddy and I are heading to my parent's for a couple of days (and also to Winnipeg to visit my sister & her husband), so I should *hopefully* have a decent chunk of time to get through the rest of the embroidery/detail work that needs to be done on 2 custom pieces and the many needlebooks that seem to multiply even further when I'm not looking.

Long story, short... sorry I haven't posted much. I've been busy either developing one hell of a callous on my index finger or chasing a very stubborn and active almost-20 month old for the last 6 days. Monday, I want my life back to normal. Please :)

Forethought... not my forté

This is how I work on new designs that I haven't really dummied out prior to starting: taking inspiration from somewhere (in this case, my coupon envelope, one of those accordion deals), I'll start cutting material without measuring. Then I'll start sewing it, without a plan or consistent use of seam allowances. Inevitably, I hit a brick wall about 80% of the way through the project and either 'set it aside' to finish later (aka, put it into a very full bag I've got under the table, full of similar projects that will eventually be taken apart to reuse the material), or I'll look at the incomplete project with a critical mind and try to figure out if I can finish it.

This particular design for a travel sewing kit that I plan on selling at the two craft sales I'm in this fall can and will be finished, thanks to my mom's serger. And liberal use of either bias tape or binding, neither of which I like nor can do well. Of course, I didn't actually ask my mom if I could use her serger - a Christmas present from my dad 4 or 5 years ago that she only started using seriously when making receiving blankets for Maddy - until I'd made half a dozen of these. And I haven't told her she's putting on the bias/binding tape...mwahahahahahah. Ha.

It's shaping up to be a busy week, but not because I have a lot of work to do. Keith's been at Clear Lake since early yesterday, so it's just Maddy and I at home... so far, it's been pretty good. She's can play by herself no problem, but if no one checks on her every so often, she'll try climbing the dresser in her room or eating whatever she finds on the floor (lately, it's been a lot of thread... yay, me). Tomorrow is the first of two baking days for me so I picked up a new colouring book and crayons for her, so that should help keep her busy. And there's always the Sesame Street 40th Anniversary DVD if she gets restless. I'm not a fan of using technology to babysit my kid, but Sesame Street will at least teach her something. And she loves Bert & Ernie. LOVES them.

In between the baking and taking care of Maddy, there's always work to be done to get ready for the craft sale on Sept 11. Displays, posters, signage, business cards... so much work to do and I'll probably still be working on something right up to the start of the sale, if not during. I'm using this blog post from Mermaid's Closet as a guideline for prepping/running my table, although I have a feeling that at the first sale, I may be the youngest vendor there.

This is not the week to try structuring a work schedule that includes spending time reading blogs or checking websites for inspiration, but I've got plans to set up a specific time each week to do that, as well as a series of posts on a somewhat unrelated topic here. In due time, though.. in due time.

Three ahead, two back

On the plus side, if I don't sell a single pin cushion, I'll have gifts for many years to come.

It seems like every time I make a plan, especially one that involves me working for more than 10 minutes at a time, something - or someone - pops up to derail me and whatever I've been working on.

Don't get me wrong, I like my family - and Keith's too - and I like hanging out with my friends, but people, come on. One day... 8 hours, at most. That's all I should need to catch up on a growing list of projects I need to get finished. Hopefully.

I'm stepping away from sewing for the day to catch up on some design work I need to do (ie. business cards) and come up with a couple of patterns for some custom pieces I've been asked to do. But those will have to take a backseat to having coffee with a friend this afternoon and visiting a farmer's market with my mom. Again, I like being out with people and seeing my family, but my work is not going to get done if I'm not doing it.

Breathe in... breathe out.

I've booked a table for a craft sale in December, but still haven't heard if I made it into the one next month. I'm hoping they let us know soon, because if I can stop making pin cushions by the dozen, I'll gladly do it and get back to my other work.

I'm also working on opening up my shop *officially* at Cargoh, a new online marketplace that's not only awesomely cool, but juried, as well. I applied last week with some samples from my current Etsy shop and really didn't expect to make the cut. Imagine my surprise last weekend when I was... and then a brief flood of terror that came with it. The terror came from realizing I actually have to put things into the shop to sell. I've got a few pieces I'm planning on listing this weekend (here's the link to my shop - nisseworks), but need to do the photos for them first.

Things are looking up a bit for this business... some custom orders, a few sales, acceptance into a juried site... maybe this whole thing wasn't a crapshoot after all :)

Pattern plotting

Cardboard, scissors, ruler, pen and old khakis...my pattern-making kit. The ruler is occasionally optional.

My pattern-making skills are pretty limited. I can design things, like this piece, off the top of my head, usually through a lot of trial-and-error, but working from a pattern is incredibly challenging for me. Making the pattern myself to work from? Quite impossible, as the piles of abandoned projects and cardboard can attest.

So far, at least.

I'm starting work this week on a new product line that I'm planning on selling at the craft sales I'm (*hopefully*) in this fall. I've searched the web high and low for a needlebook/case pattern that I like enough to use as inspiration, but haven't found anything that grabs my attention. Sure, there are lots of cute ones out there (like this one, or this one, both found on Etsy), and I certainly wouldn't turn them down if I was given either of them as a gift, but they aren't quite what I want. So I'm making my own.

I've decided to make three different sizes - two will be more for travel sewing kits or for people who like to embroider on the go, and the larger one will be for more of a central deposit, for lack of a better term, for all your needles and some pins and maybe a pocket for some bits of thread and things. Like a lot of other needlebook creators, I'll be embroidering the outsides of mine with little decorations and designs, something I need to get working on today.

I've got a lot of scrap material that I'll likely never use for anything to sell (like scrub pants from my mom and old khakis from Keith) that should be perfect for tweaking the patterns I've come up with. I don't want to go into this new line without having perfected it as much as possible... time is short as it is and I can't be wasting more of it ripping out threads or sewing up pieces that just won't work anyway.

I'll post pics of some of the completed works before I head off to the craft sales this fall. Depending on how they turn out and how many I can produce in 30 days, I may even put a couple up in one of my shops (more on that later, I promise...). Because everyone needs a needlebook to keep track of their needles so they don't end up stuck in the carpet, lost until someone steps on it in the middle of the night, barefoot.

Aim high, hit low

I had hoped that by this point in August, I'd be working just on pieces for my shop (or shops, more on that later), but no. As a procrastinator - as well as someone who isn't quite in the best of health - I should have known better. I've needed more sleep this month than any other in the last year, which usually means I'm dead asleep by 9pm most nights. My energy levels are pretty flat right now, so I've been sticking to doing less intensive work, like embroidery. And to top it all off, I get easily distracted.

So this weekend, I'm hoping to get a lot of work done, in amongst visiting with friends and family and taking care of Maddy. My to-do list is already done and ready to be ignored used to help me keep on track and get ready for what promises to be a busy fall.

Awkwardly attempting augustness

I consider my desk to be 'clean' when I don't have to take anything off the keyboard or hunt for the mouse. 
And yes, that's a red Swingline stapler in the top right.

August.

What a depressing month.

No, no terrible personal events or tragedies (that I can remember...), I've always just found August to be the least pleasant month of the year. It might have something to do with still associating August with the beginning of school, but I think it has more to do with knowing that the year is way more than half over and winter is closer to starting than it is to being over.

If that makes sense... it does to me.

August also means that my birthday is a month away. At this point in life, birthdays don't mean that much. And now that my driver's license doesn't get renewed until January, I don't even have that to look forward to.

But enough slagging on August.

This month is looking pretty busy already. I did up a to-do list for the month so I had something to torture myself with midway through the month when I have nothing done. 

No, I really did a to-do list so I could get organized now rather than later. I've applied to be in my very first craft sale next month (Sept 11, to be exact) and need product to sell. Right now, I have none, and I don't want to sell what I've got listed in my shop, so I've got to come up with new - and different - product to sell.

My plan at this point is to make:

• pincushions, in a couple of different styles and sizes;
• needlebooks, mainly because I need one and if I need one, other people do too;
• sewing pouches, like the pouches I sell already, but with a few pockets on the inside for scissors or something;
• large sewing totes, which would be like this tote, but, again, with pockets on the inside.

So that's my plan for the craft sale.

I'm also starting to look at doing some graphic design stuff to try to catch some Christmas/holiday-specific sales this fall. I tried doing some things last fall, but didn't get them ready in time and wasn't really happy with the work I had been doing. I had a few different styles of gift tags and cards, and I may keep some of the elements but probably redesign the majority of them.

This is almost the perfect month to get a lot of work done, too... Keith has quite a few days off leading up to the 8 days he's away at a golf tournament, and my mom's already said she'll take Maddy for a night while he's gone.  Maddy's able to play by herself a lot more and doesn't need to be right with me all the time, so I can do a lot of embroidery while she's playing. I'm still going to make time to get outside and relax in the yard before the snow flies, and we're probably going to head out to my parent's next weekend and maybe to Winnipeg this month.

 It's all about using the time we have available appropriately. And I can't work all the time. As much as I try (re: want) to.

Busy, busy, busy... I think

Pleats! I'm trying pleats! My method isn't exactly traditional, I'm sure, but it works for me. So far.

It's been a busy week so far. But I can't actually remember much of it, beyond Keith having to fix the plumbing in the kitchen after the drain pipe fell apart in his hands. And a nap yesterday that ruined my day. But ask me what we did on Monday and I couldn't tell you a blessed thing.

I do know that I spent some time on Tuesday doing some work...not much, but some. I'm in the process of winding down my shop's Christmas in July sale and starting to get ready for the craft sale season. I've already got a preliminary booking for some custom work from a friend of mine for her family's Christmas gifts, something I didn't expect at all. I haven't really been pushing the custom work option for my work, but maybe it's something I could/should do for friends and family. I mean, it's easier to showcase my work and available fabrics to people I know than ones I don't, at least at this stage, right?

The next couple of months should be pretty busy, with craft sales and just trying to keep on top of opportunities for sales. I'm still thinking of branching out to do some more graphic design work (calendars and gift tags, specifically), but finding time to do that would mean taking time away from the work I already do. Decisions, decisions...

Today is going to *hopefully* be a very busy day, getting half a dozen - if not more - pieces done. First though, I need to clean up my sewing table... I can't keep working under the threat of a fabric avalanche every time I sew a seam. I think it may be time to start seriously looking at a proper organization system... this 'pile it somewhere, I'll find it later' system just doesn't work anymore.

Green thumbing

First harvest of the year - a Manitoba Tomato. It's not that big - about the size of a ping pong ball - but it's the first one that's managed to make it through a slight blight infestation that's attacked at least one of my plants. But it's a garden tomato... mmm.

And my lavender! Oh, my sweet, sweet lavender... this is the third time I've tried to grow lavender in my many years of gardening. This is the first time I haven't killed it within a month of planting it. It's flowering - as the photo shows - and sprouting and strong... and it smells so wonderful.

I'm already making plans on how to keep it alive through our winter, which may prove to be a bit more of a challenge for me than most people. Not only do I procrastinate like a pro, the way our backyard is landscaped (and I use that term very loosely), the lavender (and my only yellow rose bush) is in the lowest point of the yard. Our backyard is essentially a bowl-shape so everything tends to collect right where the lavender is; add in the windtrap that the backyard becomes in the winter and waist-deep snow and keeping this particular lavender plant alive - and thriving next year - will be a battle worth winning.

Today's a pretty hectic day for us - we're heading out of town this afternoon for doctor's appointments (yes, I live in a city of 50,000, but my family doctor is 45 minutes away in a small town of 1,500... yay, Canadian healthcare!) and supper at my parent's, so instead of listing a new piece I don't have time to finish properly, I'm going to have a surprise deal announced via Twitter - @nisseworks - this afternoon (within the next 5 hours). Follow me on Twitter and you can have a chance for an amazing deal on something in my shop.

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And a new design for the blog! I like it, after all the hiccups last evening... clean, not flashy, simple. I give it 3 months before I change it again :)

Not quite two turtle doves...

Day 2 of the Christmas in July sale on Etsy. In my shop, there's free shipping on everything in the Christmas in July section, but my Twitter followers (I'm @nisseworks) will have the first dibs on some great surprise deals between now and July 25th. What kind of deals? Well, I can't tell you that because then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?

There's still lots of other items in my shop available, too, just not part of the Christmas in July sale. And many, many, MANY other Etsy sellers are participating in the Christmas in July sale. Check out this Etsy blog post for more info.

I'm aiming to have a lot of new pieces listed in my sale section this weekend, as well has some different - ie. things that aren't pouches, wallets or bags - listed. Watch my shop or follow me on Twitter to stay up to date.

Taking it in stride

This mountain of fabric is hopefully going to be turned into pin cushions/keepers, needle books, lanyards and key fobs soon. When I find time... I hope.

I had plans to use July as the month where I was only going to make pieces for the craft shows I was entering this fall. It's the 12th and I've got nothing done. Procrastination is no longer the problem, it's everything else that is.

In amongst my need to get organized and keep to a schedule is a few health issues that are not making things easy. It's not anything dire, I just need to find a good way to work within my means. Sleep is something I seem to need a lot of lately - I've been asleep by 9pm most nights lately, but not sleeping for more than a couple of hours at a time, until 6 or 7am when Maddy gets up. It's a struggle and there's a feeling of guilt that's starting to grow because of it.

But enough about that... if things go according to plan this week - and I've learned they never do, but let's say they might this time - I'll be working all day Wednesday on my craft sale pieces, as well as putting some finishing touches on my Christmas in July sale in my Etsy shop. Be sure to keep an eye out for some great deals, not only in my shop, but in many of the shops on Etsy.

I need to make a grocery list for our day of shopping and visiting and playing, so I'm going to step away from the computer and have a massive cup of coffee. Or two. Depends on how interested Maddy is in climbing all over me this morning.

Have a good week!

Sweltering & sewing...

A selection of fabrics I picked up during my last shopping 'spree'... is it really a 'spree' when the only 

thing you buy is 4 yds of fabric for $12? If you're saving $20+, heck yes :)

Now that June's over and July is nicely - if stickily - underway, it's time for me to start working on my craft sale projects.

As I've mentioned before, I'm going to branch out a bit and try to put together some different pieces to offer for sale at a couple of local sales this fall. I've been faithfully keeping scraps of fabric just for these projects so I shouldn't have to actually buy much - if any - fabric to do them up. Of course, that all depends on the pattern I end up using.

My mom's a faithful magazine keeper (and she wonders where I got my pack-ratting traits from...), so there's a chance I'll find something from pre-1980 to try. I've been a fan of TipNut for a while, and their collections of patterns is quite handy, and they just happen to have a list of pincushion patterns... however, I refuse to use anyone else's pattern for profit, unless given permission. But for inspiration? No problem at all.

There are some times, though, where pieces are bound to be copied, if only through either sheer ignorance or there only being a limited number of ways a piece can be made. Completely unique and original ideas shouldn't be copied... but used for inspiration? Why not? Heck, I'd take it as a compliment, if anything.  But that's just me.

Back to the topic at hand... this weekend doesn't look like it's going to be too busy, so I may actually get something done. On my to-do list this weekend:

• finally get a new blog banner designed
• finish up a few pouches that I just keep moving around and around... and around
• list a tote I've had on my desk for almost 2 weeks
• find/design patterns for craft sale pieces

Hope everyone has a good (and safe) weekend... we'll be either sweltering, starting up a mosquito smacking league or building an ark up here :)