List Sheets and Leftovers

On my list of things to do today on top of doing and folding laundry is getting a list sheet finished for sending out to this gift shop we know and love. I started one a few weeks ago but I'm just not too keen on what I've put together and think I'll have to start over.

In the meantime I'm getting ready to start listing ornaments from the last soldering session. We're planning on having a Black Friday to Cyber Monday sale this year with the ornaments. I'll post a little more here in the next week with a link for a pre-sale event for my Facebook Fanpage followers. If you want to get in on the fun you can join the page here

A Thousand Words

I want to invite perfect strangers into my home

Well, friends and friends of friends. I've been keeping an eye out for tips about hosting trunk parties and doing craft fairs. The Etsy forums are invaluable for this. Again, one of the reason's I'm such a huge fan of the site, the community there is unbeatable.

I've also found a few blogs that have posts about selling out of home or in the neighborhood coffee shop. which I think is a great way to ease into selling at fairs or approaching a brick and mortar about selling my creations. One of the more recent posts I've come across in my search for real life selling ideas was on missmalaprop, She has done at least two craft parties, one in her home and the other at her local coffee house which sounds like a great idea to me, what with no house cleaning involved and refreshments offered by the proprietor of the coffee house. It's a win win situation and one that a local business would more than likely be excited to be a part of.

Of course, me being me I'll waffle a lot before I take the plunge. The harsh critic in me likes to point out all the negatives that could happen and of course I listen for awhile and then either forge ahead or abandon the idea until it's ready. And of course there are blog posts about the reasons not to as well as reasons why it's a good idea too. I also don't feel comfortable with asking friends and family to come and buy my things but I also know that I'm making some great things that have to be seen in person in order to show off their full beauty. So I'm considering packing all my finished items with me when we head to our home province in May. Who knows maybe I'll hold a party at my Mom's place and pay for our trip out there.

Anyone out there done a craft fair, held a trunk show or approached a brick and mortar? What got you past the harsh critic to just do it?

Building up the inventory

One reason I love the Etsy community is the the sharing of information and ideas. I've been researching the best way to go about approaching retail spaces, and the number of threads in the forums and people willing to share information is overwhelming. While I'm taking advantage of Etsy and other online resources, I'm building up my card inventory for PeanutButterPie, so when I've got all my ducks in a row I'll have all my other ducks in a row.

I'm also involved in the Second Annual Etsy Baby Shower which will be held on the 28th. I'm making a custom baby buggy card for the occasion and posting it online in the shop to be featured in the shower. I'm very excited and a little nervous. I need to relook at my shipping options for the cards as I've had a few people comment on them in the Etsy Forums. I've been setting up my shipping charges based on sending via Canada Post Express Post so that I could track and add insurance to my cards. Perhaps I need to look at sending via regular post and offer alternate shipping options to those who want them. From these comments I'm starting to think that I may have lost out on saes due to shipping costs. What a sad thought.

In other Brick & Mortar news I'm also contemplating approaching my local coffee houses about setting up a photography show in one of them. This is a plan that will involve a lot of time and money as I'll need to order matting cut and frames to go with, assemble my photographs into frames and then hang them at the location once I've been accepted. I'm thinking of approaching two of the umpteen places in my neighborhood. One is close by and always busy, the other is at the bottom of the hill and frequented by morning commuters on the seabus and tourists who are visiting the Lonsdale Quay. Both would be great for showing my work and possibly selling in too.