Bazaar Bizarre this Sunday!

Hi Friends, I promise I did not suffer some horrible accident - I have been quiet on the blogosphere because I have been spending all my time frantically knitting in preparation for my holiday craft shows. This Sunday, I will be at the Boston Cyclorama as a vendor at the Bazaar Bizarre. If you are local, please stop in and say hello. In fact, I will even give you a little discount if you show up and mention this post! I will have lots of one-of-a-kind goodies.

As for blogging, I plan on going back to a more reasonable schedule after all the holiday madness :)

Happy Hallowe'en!

Happy Hallowe'en friends! I confess, this is my favorite holiday of the year.

Now, I promise not to do more than two cat posts in a row, but these were too cute not to share. We dressed up Munin like an 80 year old man. Nate says he looks dignified.

Action Shots: Snow Day Cat Nap

This weekend we had our first real snow - way too early! So we used the 5 inches on the ground as an excuse to stay in and be lazy. A perfect weekend to catch some action shots.





If you'd ever wondered what a cat looks like mid yawn, now you know!

Mass Market

I am so excited to announce that in addition to Bazaar Bizarre, I will be vending at the Mass College of Art's Mass Market on Sunday, December 11th. Hope you can stop by!

Crafty Peeks

My online life is a bit quiet because there's so much going on offline! I am still crafting like crazy to get ready for the holiday shows. Here is some of what I've been working on!



New bowtie necklaces - to be available online soon!

One of a kind - made with hand spun, hand dyed yarn. For Bazaar Bizarre!

Adorable limited edition stitch markers! Available online.

1980s meets Nerd Couture - gym sock inspired mitts, available online next week

Places to visit: Salem in October

Living in Salem means a month packed full of Hallowe'en every October. Some people hate it (the traffic is crazy, no parking, tons of tourists), but if you embrace it, it's a lot of fun. Salem is very quiet the rest of the year so it's an interesting change of pace.

Places to visit: Portsmouth

Oh, hello! No, I am not dead, I am just buried under piles and piles of yarn in preparation for the holidays.

I wanted to share some photos from one of my favorite places in New England - the town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I took these several weeks ago, back when I still had time to put down my knitting needles.

Crafty Developments

Dear friends, I am extremely delighted to tell you that I've been accepted to this year's Winter Bazaar Bizarre. Come December 4th, I will be selling my handmade goodies in a booth with the fabulous Ady Bee.

Here are some of the things I've been working on - and for you tactile folk, you can see everything in person at Bazaar Bizarre! *wink wink*



My new monster scarf line

New flower jewelry - more colors soon!

Many new colors for this cowl

More stitch markers - love this eyeball!

New flower pin colors

Antigua

At the time of my last post, Nate and I were visiting family in the Caribbean. Now we're back to "normal" life and busy as ever, but it was super nice to get away.






teaching the dog to swim




Now to get ready for Fall! I have lots of new things to share with you now that vacation mode is over!

Vacation Sneak Peek

Happy Labor Day! If you are in the US, I hope you're having a fantastic long weekend. Nate and I are on vacation abroad all week, enjoying time away from everything. I did want to pop in and share a couple of photos though!

Week in Snapshots

Hello friends, I hope you're all safe in this aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Things have been insanely busy on my end, but I did want to share some pictures from the last week.






Brazilian sweets! Love a taste of home :o)

A Photoshoot

Happy Monday, friends! Last week I had the pleasure of working with a lovely model for a quick photoshoot. I thought sharing these would be a good way to start off the week.



This is pirate, my in-laws' dog

Handmade Business - Part 2: Thinking About Product Lines

So last time we talked about different kinds of artists and how this can fit into being a business owner. Assuming you've decided to go for it, now you need to think about what exactly you're going to sell. This goes beyond "paintings" or "knitting" or "handbags." You need to get really really specific.

Basically, after you figure out the type of art or craft you're going to sell, you need to think about product lines - the specific items you're going to be selling. If you're a painter, are you going to sell only original, one of a kind paintings? Or will you sell prints of your work? If you sell prints, are they going to be limited edition, or always available? When I started out, I just started making whatever I felt like, but eventually learned I needed to be more organized. Figuring out if you're doing one-of-a-kind items instead of regularly featured items is going to change how you market your work.

Made in Lowell is a great example. Liz makes her cupcake pincushions and cup cozies in several different color combinations. This makes them appealing to a wider audience.



In my own shop, I want some of my pieces to be "widely accessible," so I make them in lots of different colors and have them as part of my regular stock.



Other items aren't exactly one of a kind, but I'm not really interested in making them in every possible color, like my Harlequin arm warmers. I enjoy making these, but if I had to figure out every possible color pairing, it would be too complicated. These will be limited to the colors I feel like using, and any specific requests.


Another example is Laura from Pansy Maiden. She offers her handbags in a few choice color combinations. She is very clear about the goals for her products, working with cruelty-free, vegan materials.



I also have one-of-a-kind items, which I don't plan to duplicate or make in multiple colors. These are the pieces that are labor intensive and use more expensive materials. The target audience for these is much smaller and more specific than with the other types of product lines.



This is a snippet of how I think about developing my products. What do you think of when developing new pieces for your shop?

Next time I'm going to talk about the pros and cons of custom work.

All images used with permission from their owners

Happy (Brazilian) Father's Day

Today is Father's Day back home.