Latest Custom Order!

Ok ok, I have to tell you all about my latest custom order that came in last week, at first, I wasn't sure even the customer (a friend of mine) was serious! But, he's totally serious.

Guess what I get to make! Guess Guess Guess!!!

Ok, did you all guess? Cuz I'm gonna bet that none of you saw this coming. I get to make...

A full adult-sized Max suit! From Where the Wild Things Are. I am very excited about it :D

It will be an interesting trip, the customer is about 6 feet tall (I'm not...) and he wants it complete, like, footie-pajama style with a hood and ears and tail and everything! Are you not excited yet? So I ordered the yarn the other day, but its going to take a few weeks to get here because I had to order a lot (I mean, he's six feet tall...that requires a lot of yarn). I think I'm going to do it top down, kind of raglan styled.

I promise to keep you all up-to-date with the process!

Is This The Beginning?

Swimming through the items available on Etsy can be inspiring, uplifting, and exhausting. Getting found can be even more of a trip! I listed my first items on Etsy May 31, 2008 and it seems that, as of late, I have been seeing a bit of a rise in my "notice-ability" (if you count that as a word).

Just last week my Long Eared Beanie with Pom-poms was included, briefly, in this Storque Post.

And I found out from the lovely shop carolinascreations that my Lacy Green Slouchy Beanie was even featured on the front page this weekend!

This is the first time that I have been featured in any way on the Storque and my first time on the front page as well. My sales have slowly started picking up and I am convinced that if I had more time to dedicate to my shop that it would flourish even further. Granted, school takes precedence right now, but this gives me hopes that once I'm done I can take my shop further and further! This could be the beginning of my dreams coming true :D

I foresee much more hard work, sweat and tears. I certainly don't expect this ride to come easily, but I am excited to be on it, and I am excited to share it with all of you, so that none of us feel that we are in this by ourselves.

Super Cute Recycled Goodness

I came across SoSheSews the other day in the Etsy Fora and am thoroughly pleased with her very cute, very practical and very recycled selection. Her diverse shop offers wallets, clothing, bags, coffee cozies, hair pins and more!

Here's a little blurb from her profile about why she sells on Etsy:

"I am really interested in re-use, particularly in the garment industry and see it as an opportunity not only to save resources and avoid contributing to inhumane industries, but also to promote one-on-one trade where the buyer deals and interacts directly with the craftsman."

Her creations are made from fused plastic bags, recycled and repurposed fabrics and other whatnots. I wish I could one of each of the items in her shop :)

Wise Wednesday - The Art (or science?) of Pricing

It's been a hot topic on Etsy recently (well, I mean, I guess its almost always hot topic huh?) but pricing can be a very difficult thing to tackle. This post is filled with the things that I find most important about pricing and I think everyone, especially every Etsy seller, should know.

First, you can't do everything. And when I say everything, I really mean: your product cannot be quickly made, cheap and of the highest quality. You can do maybe two of those three things, but not all three and you shouldn't try. This will reflect in your pricing.

If you have a quickly-made product that is cheap, it won't be the most high quality piece. If you make a very high quality piece that was made rather quickly, it won't be cheap. If you make a cheap, high quality item, it won't be quickly made. You see what I mean?

Make sure your decision on which two features to focus on (whether you make it consciously, or your craft makes it for you) reflects in your pricing structure.

There are so many different ways to price items, and you really do have to find one that works the best for you. I've heard some people settle for a simple calculation of "Three times the price of the materials" I've heard some people research the price of other similar items, I know some people have very lengthy equations that they use, or they download a pricing template. The equation I find that works best for me is as follows:

Hours Spent on Piece x Hourly Wage = Labor

Cost of Materials + Labor = At Cost

At Cost x 2 = Wholesale

Wholesale x 2 = Retail

If you decide to use this method, I can send you an excel spreadsheet that I made that makes this easy for me, you enter in your hourly wage that you will charge (make sure its fair, come on, do you really want to be making less than minimum wage?), you enter in the cost of materials and how many hours you took to make it, then it calculates everything else out for you. Trust me, it can be a bit scary or at least eye-opening at first to see how much you really *should* be making, but you have to know what your work is worth. If you don't believe in it, no one else will.

Tuesday Learn to Knit Day 8 - Help with a Common Issue

One of the most common issues that newbie knitters face (myself included, long long ago when I began) is knitting too tightly.

Karin was having some troubles with the lace knitting I taught you about here because her stitches are too tight. To loosen up your stitches, really you just need a lot of practice knitting, you need to be able to realize that your stitches will not randomly fall off the needle if you loosen up your loops and let the stitches breath some. Its like learning how to drive, once you realize that the road will not jump out from under you, you can relax and enjoy the view a bit more. Knitting is the same way, it takes practice, patience, and the realization that you need to let go some :)

If you find that you continue to knit too tightly and it seems that there is nothing you can do about it (like my mother (hi Mom!)) then I suggest moving up a needle size or two. This will help the yarn breath because, for instance, if you are using a worsted weight yarn and size 8 or 9 needles, moving up to a 10 1/2 will allow the yarn a bit bigger gauge and it won't knit up so tightly naturally and you don't have to do anything about it.

Make up your mind weather!

Its a rainy, gloomy day here in New Mexico. I wish the weather wouldn't play games with us like it does, one day its sunny and gorgeous and spring-like, the next its cold, gray and wet. Make up your mind weather!

So here are some sunny pictures to help us all think of the coming spring :)

Sun Flower by janeheller

Le Soleil by honeytree

Summer Road by judemcconkey

Flashback Friday - Pets

This week's theme for Flashback Friday is old pets. The cute pup below is known as Charlie, Charles, Chuckles, Chuckie, Chucks, and many other variations. He was brought home after I spent a morning volunteering with a local shelter at a mobile adoption at our grocery store.

He's been a huge part of my family ever since. Needless to say, my Dad wasn't too pleased when he came home and saw that my mom and I had brought home another dog...while he wasn't home...BUT. In our defense, he and my older brother had been on a ski trip and pretended that brother had broken his leg to make my mom worry. So, its not exactly an even trade, I think we got the better end of that deal :)

Anyways, this cute little terrier-ist has such a personality I can't even begin to describe all of his quirks and characteristics. Primarily I suppose, he is fairly aloof. He doesn't need anyone. He will come to you if he wants attention (which isn't often) and he is stubborn as a mule. (My mom says he gets this from me, I have no clue what she's talking about ;)). He is also supremely afraid of loud noises like thunder, bombs or gun shots.

In this picture (above) we were on a camping trip when a thunder storm showed up. We have to give him little downer pills so that he'll calm down and won't try to hide underneath the carpet (which isn't entirely possible). He's a little neurotic.

And I love him :D

He lives with my parents now, and their dogs, I wanted to bring him down to college with me as soon as I found a place that allowed pets but when the time came I just couldn't take him away from the only home he's ever known. I couldn't separate him from his best friend and brother (who I'm sure I'll talk about in the future) and now his new sister (who will also get her own post I'm sure).