Call made :)

Meeting them with a sample of my crafts next Tuesday. 

They plan to buy a bunch of things from me for ‘a price’.

Then sell things with 30% added on, but will take my advice to a RRP.

So lots of thinking to do…

And lots more crafting!

I’m also considering joining a crafters co-op where mine and other’s things are sold at an actual store. 

SO I NEED TO MAKE A LOT MORE THINGS!

Counting, with BlueFairyWren.

1. One project you’re particularly proud of:

  • My matching Christmas Tree skirt and bunting. Just because they were experiments, and they turned out really awesome :D

2. Two mistakes you’ve made in the past

  • Procrastinating. Oh, that’s not in the past - I’m doing that right now! But yeah, not sticking to my scheduled ‘craft’ time, and putting off new projects because I’m too worried about them or I can’t make up my mind about them.
  • Under-pricing my products. 

3. Three things that make your work unique

  • I never use the same fabric combination twice on the same product
  • I don’t make specifically baby/mother stuff
  • often occurring recycled elements (mainly reusing opshop buttons, but sometimes recycled fabric too!)

4. Four tools you love to use

  • Sally Sparrow the Sewing Machine :D
  • My Rotary Cutter - I can’t believe I only just got one!
  • The Internet!
  • My 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. Not that I get to use it on my sewing projects much, but for everything else, it’s a godsend. 

5. Five Inspirations

  • My own life, needs I find I have, and needs that my peers have
  • Pinterest. Of course.
  • Stores. Like Officeworks. Lots of stores actually. Just shopping in general.
  • Fabric. I just LOVE pretty fabric and patterns inspire me!
  • Fellow handmade crafters, and what they are NOT making :D
Late last night I decided to attempt a drawstring bag.  But I went to bed… And then I got up early this morning and made a good attempt! Found a tutorial, wrote out the steps, altered it to suit me (mostly in size), and found some fabric and coordinating colours that I wouldn’t be devastated about wasting (you know, if it didn’t work).  And here it is! I’m pretty ecstatic about how it turned out. Lined, and using the same fabric pull-cords as the main exterior fabric.  It’s 7 inches tall, and the base is 4X3 inches.  I really just made it as a bag to keep together all my gym essentials.  It wasn’t too difficult, and didn’t take TOO long, maybe something to add to BlueFairyWren? I’ll see if drawstring bags occur a lot at the markets in February, and decide then if I make them to sell (or, you know, you could tell me if you like them or would buy them… :P many fabrics and colour schemes on offer!)
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Late last night I decided to attempt a drawstring bag. 

But I went to bed…

And then I got up early this morning and made a good attempt! Found a tutorial, wrote out the steps, altered it to suit me (mostly in size), and found some fabric and coordinating colours that I wouldn’t be devastated about wasting (you know, if it didn’t work). 

And here it is! I’m pretty ecstatic about how it turned out. Lined, and using the same fabric pull-cords as the main exterior fabric. 

It’s 7 inches tall, and the base is 4X3 inches. 

I really just made it as a bag to keep together all my gym essentials. 

It wasn’t too difficult, and didn’t take TOO long, maybe something to add to BlueFairyWren? I’ll see if drawstring bags occur a lot at the markets in February, and decide then if I make them to sell (or, you know, you could tell me if you like them or would buy them… :P many fabrics and colour schemes on offer!)

I have the crafting yips!

You know, when you overthink things so much that you’re just a complete fail at everything?

It is 10 days until the next craft market where BlueFairyWren will have a stall, and I’m really struggling to make anything new. 

Finding time is one factor, but I had ALL DAY OFF today (with the exception of having to drive around town for a couple of urgent errands) and while, yes, I got some owls finished… I still have QUITE A FEW I haven’t completed yet. 

Also, while I have enough teabag wallets, knitting needle wraps and card holders (I feel), I really want to branch out into making more of a range, but I’ve been too scared to try. Like, what if I mess it up and waste fabric. What fabric do I even use. Would anyone actually want this. what if someone else has started making these too. where do I even start with putting this pattern together. What if I’m wasting this fabric. I could use it for something else. should I use a different fabric. where do i start. what do i do. what is the most efficient way to cut this fabric. I don’t want to waste anything…

Like I said: OVER THINKING.

Also not having things - Enough black buttons for owl eyes. Keyrings for the wristlets/keychain pockets I’ve just been brave enough to start playing with. Didn’t have my cutty ruler thing for most of the day because my sister borrowed it and wasn’t home.

there’s so much I want to make and do, but I’m still learning and I’m terrified of accidentally copying someone or making something that no one wants, or wasting the pretty fabric that I love so much. 

*sigh* 

Just gotta be brave I guess. And stop thinking so much I guess. 

Tell me what you think. Business Card design for BlueFairyWren.  I made the background on colourlovers.com using an available design and my own colour palette, I found a stock picture of a blue fairy wren and edited it myself to get a silhouette, and found fonts on dafont.com. Put together in sumopaint.com What do you think?  I want to order cards through vistaprint soon, but not until I’m certain that it’s the best design.  Does it need anything more? Have I missed something obvious? All helpful critics wanted. 
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Tell me what you think. Business Card design for BlueFairyWren. 

I made the background on colourlovers.com using an available design and my own colour palette, I found a stock picture of a blue fairy wren and edited it myself to get a silhouette, and found fonts on dafont.com. Put together in sumopaint.com

What do you think? 

I want to order cards through vistaprint soon, but not until I’m certain that it’s the best design. 

Does it need anything more? Have I missed something obvious? All helpful critics wanted. 

I have spent a significant portion of my not-working-and-watching-doctor-who-time looking up new projects and ideas for next year!

Ideas include:

  • Organisers/caddies for the car
  • Hanging wall organisers
  • Purse organisers
  • Jewelry hangers
  • sewing organisers
  • mail sorters
  • craft aprons
  • simple clutches
  • tool wallets/wraps
  • folio pockets
  • little pockets that hang of key chains that can hold lipbalm/spare change/usbs etc.
  • Christmas Tree Skirts

I am decidedly staying away from anything CHILD related. I could easily branch into some wraps/wallets for kids, crayon rolls, pencil+paper wallets (Thanks for the suggestion Sarai!) but there are stacks of mothers out there doing those already. And as a NOT-mother, I don’t want to get in on their territory when they already do it so well. Also, I can’t do EVERYTHING, and as a not-mother, I find that there is limited appeal for busy young people-who-aren’t-mothers when shopping handmade, except for jewelry of course, and I feel like that gap needs to be filled!

So that’s the plan for 2012. Also, I need to go shopping and PROPERLY set up my craft room, and get a set of supplies for displaying at markets.

Here’s to a fantastic new year! 

Q:MAKE A STORENVY. If you don't have time, how about this: You give me your password and I'll upload all the photos and you can go in name products, write descriptions and then hit 'active' and it will be awesome. Because you should have one.

starkravingchristian

I will, I will!!! Taking photos is such annoying business. UGH. But I’ve got some taken, and I’ll do it… eventually…. I meant to do it this week, but then my church had me busy painting a sign for our carols on Sunday. And now work. UGH. I can only take decent pictures in natural light. 

GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY!

BlueFairyWren is OFFICIALLY registered to me as my business name!!!! AH I’M SO STOKED ABOUT IT.

Now I have to go about getting business cards - any one with some basic design skill wanna help me design them? I kinda know what I want, but I do NOT have talent in this area. 

Yikes, so, I suppose I have things to post!

Went to a big market in town called the “Mummy Tree Markets” - sounds like it’s all for mums and bubs… it’s not necessarily BUT there is an AWFUL lot of things there that… if you’re not a mum, or don’t have any good friends that are mums with little bubs…. there’s not much else (OH but lots of pretty jewelry). 

And as I thought about it… Some people have suggested ideas for things I could make and sell - including a crayon/pencil roll, or activity bag/wallet for kids… After being at the markets today, I’ve decided that those things for kids are done by enough people already, and I’m not going there.

My official stance (and I say official, as I’ve now updated the information on my facebook page :P) is that I hand-make things for those who like to be organised, but stylish/pretty as well. 

For now, at least, I’d love to focus on making things that AREN’T already being made by mums all over town… I’m a young adult, who likes cute things and loves to be organised, and I’m sure I’m not the only one!!! If/when I’m a mum, THEN I’ll make ‘mum’ kinda things. 

There’s just not enough stuff out there for NOT-mums. I want to fix that!

I should probably get to blogging a bit more here!

But with regular facebook + bluefairywren facebook, as well as regular tumblr, I don’t want to post the same thing in 4 different places! 

Also I’ve been super busy starting a new job and cleaning my unit for a house inspection on Thursday. 

But I want to post more here.