DECISIONS, DECISIONS...

Believe it or not, I am running low on toile fabrics! It seemed I had a never-ending supply of Laura Ashley in lots of colors, but after so many tablecloths, placemats, potholders and aprons, the stash is becoming depleted. And I wanted to work on something different for a while. What to do? Dig into my other stashes of course! I have some lovely floral and tropical prints on a kind of polished soft cotton that I wasn't sure what to do with. Decisions, decisions...

This is my tropical stash:










And I call this my flora and fauna stash:





Once upon a time I made an apron for a friend from one of the tropical patterns for his wife. It turned out well, and she was happy with it. I'm thinking of making the black palm fronds into an apron, very bold, almost masculine. A man could wear it and not feel "feminized" wearing a girly apron. Recently I made tablerunners from some of the flora and fauna, and I think they're very pretty:




You can find them on my etsy store items red and yellow floral tablerunner and the spring and fall tablerunner. I should say the red and yellow tablerunner is not this polished cotton, but a large weave cotton poly blend. However, it is not toile and is part of my new collection of florae and faunae. I did make a comforter using the flora polished cotton and another gorgeous blue flower print, but I'm not happy with my stitching and have not put it up for sale. You know how sometimes the material just won't cooperate, maybe you're tired or distracted and no matter how much you work on a piece it isn't up to your quality standards? I had that problem with this piece - I am not happy with my quilting, and after working on it for HOURS I put it away.




I'm not sure what kind of blue flowers those are - hollyhocks? They look so familiar, but it's been a long time since I had a garden. It's awfully pretty fabric though, and now since I put it away last week, maybe I can take out the parts I don't like and re-quilt it, and put it up for sale. It will be a pretty little lap comforter or baby quilt - put it on the floor for your baby to crawl around and play on. All this material is soil and stain resistant, machine wash and dry. I should also say they are all Kravet Inc. exclusive patterns, available only through an interior designer. Kravet sells to the trade only and is a recognized leader in the industry, so buying from my shop may be the best way to have these patterns in your home.

Decisions, decisions...shall I make more comforters? More aprons? Or something completely different? Stay tuned and watch my store for new listings!

CATNIP: TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING

This is a story about trying to make a living profit out of my goods. After almost a year on etsy I finaly did the math and had to re-think my pricing. I am using my catnip pillows as an example because I had to totally reprice them after much calculation.

Imagine my surprise when my catnip pillows became my best seller! I originally made them as a lark to consume the ever-growing pile of scrap materials left over from making aprons, tablecloths, pillows and all the assorted goods on my etsy site. They were fun and a kind of give-away, so I listed them for $.25 each, and sold several, charging shipping extra.



Assorted scraps to be cut into pouches and make into catnip pillows.


Then looking at my etsy bill, I realized I was paying $.20 each to list them, and 3% to sell them! I was in negative dollars - well, pennies - territory. I increased the price to $.50, but was still only making mere pennies for my labor. During Christmas I increased again, to $.75 each, with free shipping, and sold a LOT. The free shipping was a big deal, because I like to have a tracking number, which costs about $.80 on top of the actual shipping charge, so I was paying $2-$5 sometimes shipping $10 worth of catnip. After Christmas I raised the price to $1 each, which gave me about $.50 profit, before thinking about the cost of the catnip. Harumph. I increased the price to $1.50 and decided to do a scientific experiment to calculate my actual costs making and selling a 2 1/2" square catnip pillow.


First I bought the catnip:




I wanted to know exactly how many pillows I could make out of the large economy 2.50 oz size jar. I assembled the scraps and measured out 3"x6" lengths and started sewing them. Then turned them inside-out, snipping the corners, filling them up with about 1tbsp of catnip, and sewing them shut:















Finally, DONE! I honestly didn't keep real track of my time, but it did take at least 3 - 4 hours to complete all 33 pillows, from start to finish. And now I know I can get 33 pillows out of a $7 jar of catnip. Time to do the math:

At $7 for 2.5oz, divided by 33 pillows, equals $.21ea in catnip, plus $.20ea to list on etsy, plus their 3% commission to sell, another $.05, and postage, minimum $.44 to mail a single pillow in an envelope, no tracking number, total $.90. This is what they mean by the cost of doing business. My profit is $.60, x 33 = $19.80, after selling them for $1.50ea x 33 = $49.50. Hoo boy! And my work is not done. I'm taking the jar full of pillows to the post office and get an estimate to ship them all to California,, plus tracking number, for a more realistic shipping cost. Then I plan on checking out the competition. Just how much CAN I really sell them for? How much do other etsians charge for their catnip toys? How much do they retail for at the pet store? I must say, this has been a true learning experience, a real eye-opener. I hope this little blog helps you out, too, in trying to make a living selling on etsy.



Well, heck, guess what? I just read one of the comments to this blog. A woman tells me she pays $2ea for her catnip pillows from a local vendor, and she drives to pick them up. She told me to raise my price! So guess what? I'm taking her advise and raising the price to $2 each! Thank you for such good advise!

TOILE

As you can tell if you have visited my etsy store at http://customdesigns4ubynan.etsy.com, I like toile (pronounced twal). Toile is a French word which means "cloth". Toiles were first produced in France in the late 18th century and quickly became Marie Anhtoinette's favorite fabric, depicting romantic bucolic scenes of lovers picnicing on a riverbank, or hunting scenes, or peasants working in the fields, and other imaginary scenes. Benjamin Franklin sent toiles home to his wife while he was in England, thus introducing America to toiles. They were used primarily for decoration, in upholstery or drapery, in cushions and, printed on paper, as wallpaper.

Genreally printed in black, red or blue on a white or cream background, these days toiles are available in many colors and fabrics. Most of the toiles I use are a Laura Ashley copywrited design which I call the "rural scene". I have the same pattern in many colors:



































I like to mix and match my toiles to make tablecloths





I do have other toiles besides the Laura Ashley rural scene. One day I played around and mixed and matched big time, and created what I think of as my masterpiece:




It's really hard to sell tablecloths, though. Everyone has a different size table, different color schemes, different taste, etc., etc. and so forth. Also they are time consuming and expensive to make. So nowadays I am making placemats/napkins from my toiles, cutting out different scenes approzimately 21"x15" and hemming them to approximately 20"x14", a generous sized placemat, which can also be folded into a napkin. I think they're charming. I sold this set:




And now I have this new set ready to list on my etsy site. Here is the original full-size piece of fabric:





I can only get 4 placemats out of each yard of this fabric, so I try to center each scene. I used 2 yards and produced 8 placemats/napkins, so you could use 4 for placemats and fold the other four for napkins!


















These are the two big scenes, which can be folded to highlight a particular part, like a bowler, or the dancers:





I have another yard of this same pattern and colorway, and will make an apron today, and after I go to the fabric store and buy more batting, I will make at least one tablerunner, and several potholder/trivets. Stay tuned, and please see my store where these goods are available for sale.

THE FIRST DAY OF 2010

On the first day of 2010 I was at an Inn in Westerly Rhode Island after a really nice New Year's party the night before. It was snowing when I left Long Island the day before, but stopped along the way, and there was already plenty of snow in RI when we arrived. I had been wanting to take pictures of trees in the snow, and the next morning was beautiful in a gray winter's day sort of way. I hope you enjoy these pictures of trees in the snow.

THE MOONLIT STITCH

Wandering through etsy one day I discovered this lovely little shop called TheMoonlitStitch. I immediately connected with the imagination and craftsmanship of the pieces. There were wooden spoons dressed up as dolls, and a bedspring used for a nodding Santa Claus! I like the Zen of putting articles to new and unusual uses, especially clever uses that make me laugh, so I contacted TheMoonlitStitch and asked about her inspiration and why she does what she does:






"I've always been in love with old-fashioned things. A perfect day for me would be getting lost in an old antique shop or the attic of an old house filled with items that haven't been seen for years. Primitive crafters try to re-create the look of "days gone by" through crackling and staining their pieces."





"Long ago, people would "make do" with what they had and create things from simple items, such as a pin keep on an old candle stick (hence the term "make do"). I also like to try and see the world through the eyes of child. When you do, things seem whimsical and simplified."


















"There are not many primitive crafters in my area, so I recently joined a wonderful etsy team called "Old Farmhouse Gathering". These folks create wonderful primitive to shabby chic items. I would really like to encourage etsy artists/crafters to find a team that fits their craft style. Connecting with others who share your interests can be a very inspiring and supportive experience. The OFG team members made me feel like part of "the family" immediately. I don't feel so much like an "odd duck" now!"

"Since I work full time, often the only time I can create is during the "moonlit" hours of the night and that's why I named my shop "The Moonlit Stitch"."








You can see her shop at http://themoonlitstitch.etsy.com, and be sure to look at her team's shops, too. Thank you so much for sharing with us!

PUNKINHEAD

This is my cat, Punkinhead, aka Purrhead, Meowhead, Sillyhead and the Big Meow. I found her in a warehouse about 16 years ago. She came running out of a dark corner with one leg dangling and her left eyeball skewed out of the eye socket. I couldn't just leave her to fend for herself, so I took her home, and to a vet. He thought perhaps a dog had attacked her, grabbed her by her front left leg with a tooth in her eye socket, and shook her as animals will. There was no saving her eye, so that came out and he sewed it up, put a splint on her leg and in about 8 weeks she was fine. She was an outdoor cat, and even with her Elizabethan collar on she was hunting furry and feathered beasts. Children in the neighborhood would come up to me and say they had seen her in a tree stalking birds.







So one day she didn't come home. A couple of days later she showed up with a broken tail. No idea how that happened, but she was in a lot of pain. Again, there was no saving the tail -can't really put a splint on a tail - so we amputated it, and now she has about a 2"-3" stump. And she will use it! She waves it back and forth, or it will stand straight up, or be tucked under when she's sleeping, which is most of the time nowadays. I had to move from the house where she could go outside, and into a 2nd floor apartment. The co-op board did not approve of me letting her outside, so now she is confined to my studio space. It was hard on her to begin with, but after a year or two she became settled as an indoor cat, although I still fell guilty about curtailing her life like that. Now she explores various sleeping places and positions.









It's not easy being a cat, is it, sleepyhead? Big Purrhead. Silly little Punkinhead.

AN ETSIAN CHRISTMAS

I am a firm believer in supporting my fellow crafters/artists, and want to share with you the shops I have purchased from this year. Some of the products will be Christmas presents, others are for myself, and Teaman is for freebies that I send with my sold items, except for the chai which I hoard for myself - hahaha. I am very happy with all these fellow etsians, and recommend them to you.

http://smileymoo.etsy.com - bath and body products, jewelry
http://Ciliciacrochets.etsy.com - crocheted dishcloths and other cloths for the kitchen
http://teaman.etsy.com - assorted handblended teas - delicious!
http://GlassHouseSupplies.etsy.com - jewelry, bath products, assorted herbs
http://Larrystinsigns.etsy.com - amusing signs
http://lostriverrags.etsy.com - gorgeous soaps
http://redneckcandles.etsy.com - self explanatory
http://jenxcreations.etsy.com - wrapped silver jewelry
http://GossamerGraphics.etsy.com - graphic designs - she designed my banner, logo, business cards, etc.
http://trulyenchanted.etsy.com - jewelry

and remember our battle cry - BUY HANDMADE FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!

THANKSGIVING: APRONS AND SCRABBLE

Well folks, hope everyone had a lovely and feasting Thanksgiving day. I know I did. My sister and I went to my famous Aunt Sally's house in Connecticut, where all her huband's Harry's children and THEIR children were all carousing and having a friendly noisy party, the way a good party should be.

I brought a lot of my aprons, and when I felt the time was right, I asked the ladies to model them for me. It had gone so well last time - please see Gorgeous Georgina - I wanted to do it again. My cousin-in-law Christina was very happy to oblige:




George was happy to oblige too. What a guy!




And then everyone wanted to get in on the act:





Don't they look nice? Thank you Candace, Darol and Christina!!!!













The kids played on the sofa:





And even let the grown-ups play:




Harry carved the turkey, Blythe brought her delicious butternut squash soup, we had all the fixings, and dinner stretched out for a couple of hours.






Harry's favorite part of dinner is the blueberry pie:





After dinner the kids wanted to play scrabble! Who knew they were so literate and liked word games? My sister Nora is the family champion, so we formed two teams against her. Seth and I were the 1st team and Hannah and her father George formed the 2nd team, but soon eveybody was standing around giving advise and challenging words.




About 1 hour into the game:




James and Scott played rock 'n roll, the scrabble players danced in their chairs, Seth forgot tokeep score until we reminded him, and Nora won, of course. And a great time was had by all!

CHANGE OF SEASON

It's that time of year again when I start singing "All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray". Farewell summer, we hardly knew ye! And now we're into the holiday season again. My famous Aunt Sally called me today to ask me my size, said she was shopping and wanted to know if a size 12 would fit.Why yes it would and thank you very much I said. I'm at home updating my pictures on my store. Guess looking at picnic spreads won't do now, so I took new pictures outdoors in the cold November weather. It was done raining, but the wind was still blowing. I used Sally's ceramic birds to hold down the corners against the backdrop of tall trees with no leaves, and the swimming pool shuttered and covered. The only green was the pachysandra. Here are new pictures of my tablecloths, taken in Sally's backyard:



This is a Laura Ashley toile in green and yellow. I have this toile in several colors and use it in different ways. I have two different toiles to border the central rural scene.






This is a lovely soft blue/green bird's nest and floral toile that was just so pretty. I'm trying to incorporate the ceramic bird into the nest in this photo. You can find this at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24585775. Please click and copy this into your web address bar to go straight to this tablecloth.






Here is the Laura Ashley toile again, this time in green. Go to http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26602729 for more information. Please click and copy this into your web address bar to go straight to this tablecloth.









Laura Ashley again, in black with the vine border. It is currently in a treasury on etsy http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=77221 with other "etsyfreeshippping" items. I just LOVE being included in a treasury. Thank you Meg of ME2Designs! Please click and copy this into your web address bar to go straight to this tablecloth.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32434109

I am offering 10% off anything and everything in my store until Jan 1, and free shipping on selected items, including all the tablecloths and aprons. Thank you very much for browsing in my store, and for any purchase you make.

And remeber our battle cry this season: BUY HANDMADE FOR CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT

I am inviting everyone to Ridgefield CT for a holiday show starring my aunt Sally Aldrich, cousin-in-law Christina Stankard, friend Ferne Kawahara, and MOI, me, Nancy Tuttle.

Holiday show of fine jewelry, pottery, sculpture, watercolors and fabric designs for the home on Suncday Dec 6 2009 from noon to 6pm.

Address: 135 Peaceable Ridge Rd Ridgefield CT
Phone: 203-431-9954 for directions/details

Hope you can come! Looking forward to meeting you all!!