Silver and polypropylene. Amy Chan … an exploration of structure and movement.

Ihanna’s ironed on face doll

planeta hilda’s doll lineup

treefall design’s patchwork lamp cover

I love to sift through my bloglines checking out crafty goodness in blogland. Do you have a cool link to send in, an idea, a tutorial or just something fantastic that you have made or have seen somewhere? please email me.

Sorry everybody, this one’s a bit long.

If you’re intending to sell your stuff to stores, it’s very helpful to consider things from the boutique buyer’s perspective. Products make it to our shelves in one of two ways: We have either purchased them at a wholesale price from a manufacturer, or we have accepted them on consignment from a (usually local, but not necessarily) designer. When we purchase outright, the product is ours to sell, and ours to keep if it doesn’t sell. It’s always a gamble that we take, so we try to think carefully about the purchases we make, and that thinking involves many things: What do our customers want? What can we offer that will surprise them? What is unique to our location? Is the price point right for our customers? Do we have room to display it? Do we have other things like it? Do we love it? We may like and want lots of things, but we are limited by some of the above criteria. You shouldn’t take it personally when a store says no to carrying your products. You should also learn to edit the advice you receive quite carefully. Success involves both flexibility in the marketplace and integrity; don’t automatically sacrifice either when someone rejects you or tells you to change. All of us must, in the end, find our own way, and no one has a crystal ball.

But when you approach a store with the intention of selling us your knitted baby bibs, it’s important to think like a buyer, and recognize that the above questions (maybe a few more, maybe a few less — this is just how I think, after all) are paramount in that buyer’s mind whenever they are considering carrying a product. We really aren’t thinking about you and how long it took you to make that thing. We aren’t thinking about how much it cost you (financially, emotionally, physically), how many bills you have to pay, or your hopes and dreams at all. We are thinking almost exclusively about ourselves, and whether we’re going to be able to sell your product at the price point you are suggesting. I hate to be mean about it, and I’m not being: But understanding what is going through the mind of the buyer considering your product will help you have more success with the transaction and ultimately more success with your business, I think.

Nevertheless, there are certain things you can do before the buyer even sees your product that will help you curry favor. Here’s one: Research. When people start out selling their handmade things, they usually start with local stores in their city or town. If you’re not a big shopper and you aren’t familiar with your local shops, take a day off and get out there. Look at what they carry, how it’s displayed, what the general aesthetic and price point is. Take a business card. Buy something, and get a feel for the climate of the retail staff, how they package things, what’s emphasized among the product lines they carry. Don’t walk right in to a place you’ve never been before and introduce yourself as a local artist looking to sell your baby bibs! Nothing, and I mean nothing, will result in an icier reception. I can’t say exactly why this happens, but it happens. Resist the temptation to introduce yourself. Pretend you’re Veronica Mars and just spy. You’re doing research here, remember? You’re trying to save yourself the ultimate pain of approaching stores that are completely inappropriate for you and having them say, “Lady, do you know what we sell here?” Some buyers might be nicer than the ones I know, but why find out? Do some research.

I have great compassion for people who muster up the courage to pound the pavement. Trust me when I tell you that no one who loves sitting alone in their studio knitting baby bibs can possibly have the same Myers-Briggs personality type as someone who loves selling . . . anything. You are not alone in not wanting to do this. I promise you. But this is how people start out. And there are certain ways not to do it. I can’t tell you how many people we’ve never seen before come into the shop with a bag full of stuff and expect us to drop whatever we’re doing to consider their offerings. They may be out there, but I don’t know of a single buyer who appreciates this. Please don’t make this mistake — it is the surest way to make a buyer think you are unprofessional. Unless you’ve got some cupcakes for us in that bag, too, we will talk about you behind your back if you do this. On principal, we never buy things from these folks, and I can’t think of any book on business I’ve ever read that suggests it as a tactic. It is an inconsiderate and amateurish approach, and sends up warning flags to your potential buyer that you will be inconsiderate and amateurish to work with in general. Amazingly, it happens all the time!

Instead, try this. Research the stores you think would be potential candidates to carry your products. Make sure they are in different neighborhoods, or that they aren’t in direct competition with each other; stores want to be unique, and they don’t want their customers to feel like they can get the same stuff on every corner. If the store has a web site, go to it and read it. Discover whether or not they are strictly brick-and-mortar or if they also might sell your things on line; be prepared to have an answer if they ask you where else you sell your things, or whether you make them available on-line.Know your pricing. Don’t expect your potential buyer to figure this out for you.

In addition to your wholesale/suggested retail prices, this is what else your buyer will want to know: Where else are you selling your stuff? What is your turnaround time? What are your terms (i.e.: how and when do you accept payment)? What is your minimum opening order amount (i.e.: how much do we have to spend to make it worth your while at all)? What is your reorder amount? If you’re just starting out, I think it makes sense to set your minimums fairly low. This gives a store more incentive to take a chance on you, and reorder when/if things sell without risking a bigger investment. It is lovely if you take the time to think about these things before you make contact with a buyer; it’s even lovelier if you’ve typed it all up along with your contact information, price list and some really good little pictures of your products (also called a line sheet).

Now you’re ready, baby. Put on those walking shoes and hit the pavement!

Two cool ways to decorate that space between your hand and your arm:

Necktie Bracelets at Carly Couture

Tennis Ball Watch at Refinding (link found via: Great Green Goods)

…is in Perth, Australia and it sure is a lovely world she lives in. I am really glad that she has begun to share her art related work with her readers. She recently posted her artist statement and some examples of her work.

I am exploring the worlds of pattern/textiles and home or comfort zone in conjunction with the worlds of medicine and science. I find the paradox between these two areas very interesting, as one is soft, furnished, cluttered and welcoming, and the other cold, clean, sterile and white. … I do like to work with opposites and I am very interested in the fact that by isolating and examining these textiles in a scientific manner, not only am I highlighting the virus-like effects of nostalgia, I am also suspending these traditional textile processes in time. read the rest here

The theme for week 6 is colour to go with the great colourful prizes we have on offer

And the winners for week 5 are…

there are 3 prizes – the first three get a prize and the last three have a special mention. Of course this week there were so many great entries, from complex to simple all great.

mummy jo with her botanical flower

hometownless with the greek coffee cup warmer

unplanned musings and the recycled sweater

Special mentions go to

pink chalk studio and the yarn farm

lemonade sandwich with the wrapped up doll

and editors pic goes to this simple yarn and bead necklace from magfly

thank you to the great sponsors for keeping us going!

Alison at the blue blog has organised another great sock event, some fab outcomes, I really love the mini flipflopsocks that Flinke Nadel made

oh goodie – a pattern – it is a pdf file

Hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn is all the rage now and I for one give this trend a HUGE two thumbs up as I have many of these spun works of fiber fetish in my stash to prove it! Now, let it be said that these wonderful warm and fuzzy works of art usually weigh-in at minimum, worsted, to maximum, bulky. So what’s thread head like myself to do when she wants that hand-dyed look in a teensy, weensy weight fiber for her next doily or crocheted eyeball?

She takes a trip across the world wide web over to Artfabrik, that’s what! Proprietor Laura Wasilowski gifts to the world her wonderful hand-dyed threads in 58 COLORWAYS available in sizes 3 – 12. Then when your finished shopping for thread, make sure to peruse her hand-dyed fabrics and quilting patterns as well. A-mazing stuff!

Do you keep fabric scraps, no matter how small? You just can’t bring yourself to throw them away? Yep, me too. I came across this very cute tutorial by Mixi for using them to make a necklace. Pictures here and tutorial here.

Via Craft Sanity, Episode 16.

kiddley – a new blog for parents, family and children filled with crafts and activities, run by Claire from loobylu. See projects like making these juggling balls and lots more.