Spring & Summer 2010 - Ad Campaign Sneak Preview!

Here are a few photos from my Spring-Summer 2o1o Collection! They'll be up on the website soon but this is the sneak preview for anyone who's actually checking out the blog :)

blog negligence

i'm sure anyone would agree that being productive and working is a better use of time than blogging - but really, how did almost two months pass since my last post? i was in a creative frenzy preparing for the wine and cheese on february 7th, which was a fun event but not very profitable. i scored a few contacts and a couple of custom orders, made some friends, drank some wine and ate some cheese. by all accounts it was a lovely evening - and now i have a nice pile of product in my trunk, ready for the next event.
the next event is a private show at the home in mount hope (just outside of hamilton). it's a ladies night, a regular event hosted by the accountant at my work. she's just settling the date so i'll know soon if i have one more week to crank out a few more bags, or two. and THEN it's time to roll out my spring ad campaign. i met with my photographer today and discussed concept and location - i've been getting over-excited and not sleeping again, with all the plans and ideas rampaging through my head. i love the change of seasons so much, it's a fresh start that renews my interest in my work.
meanwhile the weather is playing games - it's been a very mild winter but we're getting a bit of snow now, just enough to justify my snow tire purchase in december. charlie LOVES the snow and his enthusiasm is infectious, i admit. i've never particularly enjoyed the winter, but i've developed a knack for bundling up properly, and a gift for simply appreciating the beauty of the season rather than just seeing the inconvenience.
besides which, it's hard to sell fur items when it's not cold out.

What just happened?

Were those holidays? Since my last post I've been working without cease (other than the requisite holiday feasting days and ensuing recovery periods). The twenty custom orders that I acquired in December were all completed in time, and now I'm happily taking my time completing a few more that I picked up, while dreaming of my new spring collections. I get so excited about my creative ideas and concepts that I can't sleep at night, which inevitably leads to my downfall - not enough sleep makes me easy prey for the lurking rhinovirus, just watching and waiting for the day when I'm too tired and weak to fight it off...but I digress. What it comes down to is that I love my work, and I love being so busy that the time flies. I barely noticed the arrival of 2010, but I have high hopes for the growth of reFurbished and RE:PLAY BAGS. It's already time to coordinate a photo shoot for the website, if only I had the product already! I have my collections plotted out, right down to the names and colours - so it's simply a matter of putting my nose to the grindstone and churning them out, one by one. The trick is to keep them hidden so I don't sell them before the photo shoot - I was carrying one of my bags just before the holidays, having sworn that I wouldn't sell it to anyone because it's for next fall's line (getting way ahead of myself, but I do like to be prepared!), and as soon as Merianne said "Oh, I really, REALLY love that bag" I knew I was going home with my stuff in a plastic bag. I'm not complaining, but I really do need to control the urge to carry them if I'm not ready to part with them! Maybe she'll let me borrow it back when I need it.
Sometimes I just can't focus because I fixate on other projects. For instance, yesterday I found a white fox coat at Talize (my favourite local secondhand store). It cost me almost nothing, becauses there were several tears in the fur and the lining is torn and stained. The fur itself is clean, fluffy, and the coat has a marvellous hood. I knew this fox was destined to be worn, not taken apart. As of this evening, I've patched the tears, removed the liner, and lengthened the sleeves using a fox collar that I already had (I'm 6' tall, and I like my wrists covered!). Every time I make myself put down the coat and start something else, I can't get my mind to let go of "what am I going to use for the liner?". My brain goes where it wants to, and eventually a solution just creeps in from the edge somehow, looking like a coincidence. Almost everything I've made had an element of serendipity in its makeup - or maybe it's just that I've trained myself to see the potential in every scrap, so I don't overlook it when tab A fits into slot B, or the curve of that scrap matches the curve of this one.
My biggest rule in working this way has been "Don't think, just do". If I stop and think too hard about how remarkable it is that I can do this, that I can make things and sell them and have people love them, I'll trip. So I just keep doing it.
So welcome to 2010. May it be a creative and inspiring year for the world.

On the fringe

Every now and then I get a little too attached to a bag that I've made for someone else. This one is for Merianne's daughter Carley, who is a handbag addict. She ordered a custom bag from me on the weekend, based on a brown fringed clutch that I had at the show. I just added the finishing touches to the bag this afternoon and I'm delivering the bag to its new home on Saturday, despite the burning urge to keep it and make something else for her. I often have to fight the urge to hoard my bags - I remind myself that the whole point of making these pieces is for customers to buy them. I can always make another one like it (and my brain whines, "but it won't be THAT one", you know what I'm saying). Almost every bag sold this weekend had been a favourite in its time, before I moved on to the next. I suppose it's a good policy to never sell anything I wouldn't carry myself. At any rate, it's the first completed order from my list of 14, and I have three more scheduled for completion tomorrow - a trapper hat (grey rabbit inside, black rabbit outside), and two small bags. My goal is to have all the custom orders done before the week of the 21st so I can deliver them the 23rd if necessary, since I'll be in that area for the holidays.
I'd also like to mention that fur trapper hats are EVERYWHERE in advertising this season - today they appeared repeatedly in the flyers for The Bay and Danier Leather. I saw one in Winners yesterday that was leather and raccoon, and it was being sold for $150. I wonder if I should raise my prices...
Have you ever been so utterly delighted with your life that you just can't help squealing with joy? That's where I'm at.
Happy crafting, everyone!

WOW

That about sums it up. The show in Port Dover was absolutely amazing - not only did I have a wonderful time with the other vendors, but I sold almost everything I had AND added another half dozen custom orders to my list. I'm beyond thrilled. And now I'll be beyond busy! The next few weeks will be a frenzy of craftiness and I'm very excited about all the projects on my plate. Hats, bags, muffs, earmuffs...and a few customers calling when they've decided what they'd like me to do with the coats they have.
I am SO impressed with Merianne Fess, the glass artist who coordinated the show, and my fellow vendors Cristina Zanella, painter and weaver, and April Maxwell, potter. They all produce such beautiful and inspiring work, it was impossible to resist a few purchases. I was equally impressed with how supportive the community of Port Dover is of its artisans and craftpersons. I grew up in Waterford and I know how open and welcoming small towns are, but some are more inclined to artisans than others - Port Dover is heaven for us all! It tempts a girl to find a way to set up a studio there, there's something to dream about!
So I'm a very happy (and very tired) crafter, looking forward to getting down to business...and all of a sudden, it's December.
WOW.

SHOWTIME!

I'm really looking forward to the show this weekend. It'll be nice to hang out with some crafty friends, meet some new customers and maybe rustle up a few custom orders. I have a good feeling about this weekend, it just might be the little boost I've been looking for. I took a few of my new trapper hats to the office today and the ladies went WILD for them - I've already had two requests to purchase in addition to the original request for my friend's father in Owen Sound. So it looks like hats may be the item that bumps up my finances this winter! I'm looking forward to experimenting with different patterns after this weekend (unless, God willing, I'm so busy with custom orders that I don't have time to mess around!).
Everything is packed up and ready to be loaded in the car tomorrow. Tonight I have my weekly choir rehearsal, which interrupts my schedule just enough to keep me from starting any other new projects. It's not a bad thing that it forces me to stop thinking about the business for a couple of hours. I lose a lot of sleep to fits of inspiration (not complaining) and exasperation (complaining).
The forecast for the weekend is lovely, sunny and crisp. I hope it's cool enough at the show that I can wear a hat, it's better to show them off on a live model. I realised today that I don't have any heads to put them on. In the absense of actual dummy heads, one of the ladies at work suggested styrofoam balls from the craft store - but they're not free, so I'll keep looking. I'm sure my mother has something lying around her house that I can commandeer (a topiary, maybe, or a stuffed animal with a big head?).
So I think I'm ready. I have my inventory list, my catalogs, my custom order forms, the items are tagged and stacked in the baskets by the door, and I cleaned out the trunk and front seat of my Echo hatchback (I use the term "trunk" loosely, as it is no more than a foot deep). The back seat is Charlie's domain, there's no room for anything but greyhound back there.
I hope I'll have lots of great stories to share when I get back next week.

All the trappings

Behold, the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Trapper Hat (chocolate brown sheared beaver with raspberry corduroy)!
Third time's a charm after all. Today I made yet another attempt at making a fur-lined trapper hat, and finally met with success after two exasperating failures.
I've always wanted one for myself, and in the last few weeks have had a few inquiries about whether or not I make them - so now is as good a time as any. I also wanted to have this one finished before the show this weekend in Port Dover, so I have an example (not for sale). Although if someone insists that they absolutely MUST HAVE IT they can buy it off my head at the end of the weekend! According to the trend-watchers, it is the must-have hat of the season. I'm all for functional fashion; I need to cover my ears when I'm out in winter, and I walk Charlie at least twice a day during non-sunny hours.
So one of my best customers has ordered a hat for her father who lives in Owen Sound - he can definitely use a furry hat up there. And I'll see if I drum up any new clients this weekend. The show starts with a wine and cheese on Friday, so before then I really need to get myself organized. I have a few more pieces to finish, need to make sure all my items are priced, draw up my inventory list, and remember to pack everything else for the stay at my parents' place for the weekend. Charlie will be in his glory, Grandma and Grandpa spoil him terribly and he doesn't even notice when I'm not there.
Here's hoping the show goes well, and that I'll have more cool custom orders to blog about!