Craft Fairs and Cats

Being a vendor at a craft fair is very much an occasion for mixed emotions.  Firstly you have the excitement of anticipation, the worry of whether you will have enough inventory to satisfy the customers, always balanced by the fear that your work won't be liked and everything you take with you will come back too.  There is the set up, trying to showcase your wares in the best possible way to whet the appetite of purchasers, then the ticking by of the minutes until "opening time" comes.  Sometimes your face aches trying to maintain a smile when no-one is interested in your hard work and people walk by without even giving the appearance of a cursory glance.  Sometimes the time flies as the public engage you in conversation and are complimentary.  The more people who come through the door the higher the possibility that someone will like your product and want to buy something, but, really it is a crap shoot, a gamble of table cost, gas money and materials up in the air against possible purchases.  One constant I have found is that the vendors are all nice people, maybe because we are all in the same boat, but there is a sense of community amongst the people behind the tables, they feel for you if you are having a bad day, and they cheer along when you make a sale.

I have some experience now of craft fairs, but a new market for me is internet sales. There is Etsy and Folksy, there is Ebay and Kijiji/Craig's List/ or whatever is the local alternative, they all offer the opportunity of showcasing your products on the internet.  I have used Kijiji for selling pieces of furniture, but personally don't think it is appropriate for crafts.  I have bought from Ebay and may yet sell through them.  I have an Etsy page but to date I have not sold anything there.  Today I made my first internet sale, and it was through my Hetty Jean facebook page.  I opened this page on 24th June 2013, and on 1st December I achieved 100 likers so I decided to run a giveaway.  The winner was Heather Poeschel Leary who has chosen to receive a skunk.  Amazingly from the Monday (1st December) to the Friday (when the giveaway closed) my likers grew by 22!  Now I have broken through another barrier by achieving that first internet sale, and to say I am happy is an understatement.  Miss Hippo has been chomping at the bit for someone to love her, and I think she's packed her suitcase already, she'll be parceling herself up in anticipation of the Post Office opening tomorrow.

My friend Diane suggested to me that I supersize my cat pattern.  Previously my cats have maxed out at 12 inches in height, indeed Miss Hippo is a diminutive 7 1/2 inches.  

So, I had a go, and increased the size of two cats.  The first is 17 inches in height and I used a felted merino wool sweater to make him, his tail uses the ribbing at the bottom of the sweater.  He has a pink wool nose and green eyes.  

 The second cat could in fact be a fox.  I used a great red/cream/pink/grey stripey lambswool sweater for everything except the head which is made of red kashmir.  I think this kittie is a girl, and has a grey wool nose and blue eyes.  

These cats are $35.

What do you think, do they lose some of their character being bigger or is it wrong to compare them?  The bigger ones definitely more cuddly because of the wool content, but I would appreciate input.

Have a happy day!

I 

Wooden Boxes and Steamer trunks

I was passing by a local antique shop last week, when I noticed two lovely wooden boxes they had outside the shop.  I love wood,  and like to have lots of wooden things around me. This got me to thinking, how could I used a box in my life?  Our house is, for two people, quite large, but there is a lack of space for new objects.  But then it occurred to me, I had been thinking of getting a sewing box to organise my sewing area. I know you can't believe that I would be messy can you - however, below is the evidence. 

There is no space left beneath my chair due to the tins of lambswool thread, buttons and beads, and the roving which has sprawled out of the sewing box which cannot contain it all. Then you can see my pot of scissors, pens, pencils and filling prodders, a bag of filling, a maple leaf bag full to the brim of felt, and a bag of material.  There are also plastic boxes of embroidery thread, and a woven square basket containing sequins, ribbon and other sundries.  It is a mess, and any time someone comes to the house, I am scrabbling to tidy it up so that the room is presentable.

Anyway, back to those boxes I saw, they inspired me to look on Kijiji, an on-line selling forum which I have used previously.  There I espied an old steamer trunk.  It has a green canvas to with wood battens and metal end pieces on the lid.  It is in a sorry state, the interior stinks, so much so that it has been banished to the shed so that it doesn't pollute the air of the house.  So the first job, with a mask on, will be to vacuum the interior, then remove the remainder of the peeling paper.  Then a solution of bleach, dish soap and water will be used to sanitise the interior wood.  Then Pete will take over and he is going to refurbish the exterior so that it looks beautiful.  Pete would have taken over anyway, so getting him to say he will do it from the beginning is a bonus, it means I can sit back and enjoy the process rather than be frustrated because he is pushing me out of the way so that he can do it, so that it is done properly!  Said refurbishment together with the trunk will form part of my Christmas present.

I will take photos of the trunk to show its current state, and how it progresses, but it has gotten much colder and I'm not going out to the shed at the moment, so the photos will have to wait.

I have been busy sewing.  A raccoon:

A skunk: 

Also I bought some material which just spoke to me.  It said Yeti.  Here is the back view:

The front:

And his face, I shaved the material so that the features are more flush to the base:

He is soooo cute!

Have a happy day!