Revamped Earring Stand

I was looking at my current earring a brooch display and figured it needed a new look.

Here's what I did, and how I did it!

I hope you like it.

I have an old earring stand that I made myself some time ago. It was quite cheap to make. I bought 2 cork notice boards and some small hinges from the local hardware store and put them together to make a free standing board. I spray painted it black in the belief that silver jewellery looks best on a black background. Not sure how legit that belief is.

As you can see, it's worn already, you can see the brown cork coming through where pins have been and on the top a half hearted attempt to write my name on the board.
 

I had some brown suede left over from making teddy bears and decided to use that as a background, so using double sided sticky tape I marked out enough for the board and stuck the suede onto the cork.

I tried cutting out the shape first but found it easier to stick the material down, then using a craft knife cut the material from the edge of the board.

Now for the edge. I have some left over decoupage paper, that has a brown crackle effect. I cut the paper into squares then used glue to paste it down all around the edge. I'm using decopatch glue and paper, but I think it's just the same as any white glue and tissue paper. decopatch though have many great patterns and well worth a look. I bought this from Hobby craft, but they have a website http://www.decopatch.com/

It looks messy, and it is! But it's great fun and a good way to decorate anything and everything.

After drying, it looks great, better than before at least. It only took a couple of hours. You can see below the one I re-vamped and one I've yet to do. I've also notices the suede hides any pinholes better than the cork alone, so hopefully it will last a lot longer.

Branding the Cattle, Vol. 2

I was talking about how some crafters just get by and others do well and ended up talking about getting my business name. That's not what I intended, so here we go again.

What I have noticed at the various markets is that people buy packaging as much as product. Take my underwear!!! I wouldn't call myself a name brand girl, but my shoes are Clarks and my underwear Marks and Sparks. I know I'm not the only one who feels the same way. But why? Why is my loo roll Andrex and nothing else? Yes, they're quality products, but they're not the only quality products on the market.

Think about my mp3 player. I've been an Ipod buyer for years (arrgghh, maybe I AM a name brand girl) I once bought an Ipod that broke, normally I would then change to a new brand of mp3, but something made me stay. Well, have you ever had a Mac product break on you? Have you tried their repairs department? I did. I phoned them and the next day UPS arrived with a little box for my ipod, then the next day UPS returned with a brand new ipod. No worries, no questions asked. And I am now a Mac lifer.

It's not just getting the sale, it's the whole shabang. You look in the shop window, see the product, but I am beginning to see that what sells you the product isn't the product at all, it's the glossy packaging, the vintage look label. It's the people who go to Harrods just to get a carrier bag with the name. They bought nothing, but the packaging. I could buy a packet of mints from Harrods or from the local shop, they're still just a packet of mints, but one comes in a green bag with gold lettering that says, "I can afford anything I want".

What's the difference between a crocheted bunny that I might make and sell and those little crochet bunnies in Cath Kidsons shop? They both would cost around the same, but if you bought one from Cath's shop it'd come in a bag with roses on, which says "I am buying a great luxury gift". If you bought it from me, apart from being able to haggle the price, you'd get the bunny, a hand written price label (white tag style), a bag if I remembered them or Sue lends me one, and if I remember I might persuade you to take a business card that advertises silver jewellery, not my crochet items!

But behind all of that there is a whole wealth of difference.

Sorry Cath if you ever read this blog, I feel like I'm picking on you, but in truth I really love what you do.

The fact that if you buy from me you meet the actual maker of the bunny, the number of bunnies I make are very limited so it's more unique, I can tell you the wool and even get the pattern for you. Not only that, in some cases I can even tell you the name and address of the sheep that gave it's coat up for you (I hope eventually to get a photo of the sheep too!) And talk about local business, A Yorkshire lass, selling items made in Yorkshire, from wool of Yorkshire born and bred sheep. You can't get any better than that.

In some ways, a bunny from me should be better that one from a high street shop, but I don't feel it is. It all comes down to my packaging, it's not selling for me.

A few days ago my mum took me to a wholesale place she found. I saw some little keyrings for £1 that I could sell for £2 easily. So I bought 10 of them. There were a lot to choose from but some were in boxes and some in plastic wrapping. All from the same supplier, same warehouse, same factory, but the packaging made certain ones stand out to me as better quality as the others. It's the packaging that sells the product.

I don't have any, and if you are a regular reader of my blog you will remember the blog of what to take to your stall. My most forgotten item is packaging, when it should be one of the most important things. I have a nice table cloth, some nice labels, I've made an earring stand and have some baskets for other items, but nothing matches. There is no running theme, and I've been aware of this problem for a while now.

Over the last week the planned blog-a-day idea went a bit off the mark, but I've been busy (honest), I've been looking into all of this packaging and marketing. I hadn't done much in the past because I thought a great business image would cost a fortune, but I've spent under £100 and am so happy.

I finally feel I'm coming out of a dark tunnel (it's not a light at the end of the tunnel. Just some blighter with a torch and more work!) Once items start arriving I'll tell you more, but here's a little smidge of the plan...

I've bought wrapping paper and personalised stickers instead of clear plastic zip bags. Pink carrier bags instead of, well nothing. Professional looking labels that advertise my products and all of my details instead of a hand written price tag, woven clothing labels, and I've bought the web name www.pixieandjoy.co.uk so my website is the same as the business name.

If I'm right, I should soon start to see the difference in my bank balance as well as the huge smile on my face.

Branding the cattle

I've been taking a little time off from crafting to concentrate on the actual business building.

What makes one person's stall be a winner and another person struggle? I ask this currently as a struggler.

I think my items are great, I work hard on perfecting what I make and think I ask a reasonable price and looking at the work of other crafters I think I'm as good and sometimes better than what is already on offer. What worries me is that I often hear other crafters commenting on their own sales, worrying for me is that while I can scrape by others are telling me they earn £100+ profit for a day. There is always the possibility that all crafters are like fishermen in that the fish was so big and our sales are so much (a wee bit more than the actual fact). One Crafter mentioned she made over £200, when she didn't have £200 worth of stock to start with.

No one really wants to discuss the finances of their business and when they do, they don't want to admit they are not earning a lot. I certainly don't admit that I just get by, opps, I just did. Well today is the day for honesty.

Some people though, are making money. Some are getting their name out there and making a living from doing what they love and I'd like to be amongst them. What do they have or do that I don't?

Arty and crafty people are very visually minded, we like to make things, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty we would rather switch off. This is slowly being realised and there are books out there on how to write a business plan from an arty view point. I have my moments when I can actually sit and concentrate on the business building and the last few days have been like this. But then I also think running a business is a craft in itself.

My first venture into the craft of business running was a few years ago when I qualified as a Reflexologist and a Nail Technician. I spent so much time worrying about a business name and felt rather silly with some of the suggestions. I desperately needed a name other than my own, Y'see, my own name is a bit, well... funny. I was once asked my name, then asked again, then asked to spell it. I remember smiling and saying "Pocock, as in perverted telly tubby!". Growing up in the pre-internet world my name wasn't that funny or odd, I never really thought about it. When I started training as a Reflexologist I also considered studying massage but we no longer live in the innocent world where pot is something you cook in and a joint is a piece of meat.

Massage often has negative undertones of sleazy 1^st floor flats offering a massage or O levels and the internet is a hive of minds that could do with a dose of the old carbolic soap. My name and massage just wouldn't go together.

As a crafter I didn't think it would matter as much, but after one week on Twitter using my 'real' name I got fed up of people wanting to offer me services and requests on how large it was! I thought of changing my name and looked along the family tree for an alternative. I found a nice combination of using my Nana's maiden name and my mum's middle name, Amy Evison. It sounded like a very elegant name and maybe one day... But elegant doesn't really describe a woollen Sculpted Dragon or Crochet Roller Skates.

Pixie came into my life two years ago. I've wanted a cat since my last one disappeared when I was a teenager and I finally moved to a place where it was possible. What I really wanted was a ragdoll cat and wanted to save long and hard to buy one. In the meantime I met someone who had got a cat from a charity but couldn't have it at the moment because she was moving house. She asked if I would foster the cat for a month while she moved and I agreed. Pixie was as miserable a cat as I have ever seen, she was about 4 and spent a long time in the kennels of the charity, mainly because it was a dog charity and people only came there for a dog. In the end a volunteer for the charity took pity and adopted her but was in the process of moving, and that's how she ended up for a month's stay with me.

I spent the first month thinking how glad I'd be when she finally left. She hated cats, dogs, people... She bit one visitor, scratched another and spent the whole month sitting on the window sill as far away from me as possible. One month turned into two (Y'know how house moves can go) then after three months the charity called to say the house had fallen through and Pixie was going to be returned to the kennels. I really REALLY wanted a ragdoll cat, at least a pedigree of some sort, and I wanted a kitten, not an adult moggy. I wanted one that liked people and sat on my knee and curled up on the bed.

Sadly life doesn't always go our way. I couldn't face sending Pixie back to the dog kennel, so she stayed. Slowly she mellowed, very slowly. After 6 months she sat on the same settee as me, and then I woke up one morning to find her sleeping on my back, finally after two years she climbed onto my lap... I'd waited so long that I cried.

When I realised she was staying – the charity said she had a forever home – I was about to get little cards with my phone number and address printed, and decided to put Pixie on the cards too. The name Pixie and Joy was born. The cat that I once couldn't wait to get rid of is now my most treasured possession (although no one really owns a cat, they own you!).

Using that as a name came much later, in fact it's been a few weeks. I've been through many suggestions... In Stitches (because I crochet funny things)... Clay Babies (because I make clay babies)... Precious memories (because...) In the end I gave up on finding a name that describes what I do. I crochet, make silver things, make chain maille... It didn't matter, I mean ASDA (ASsociated DAiry & Farm Stores) does more than sell milk and cheese. Marks & Sparks name doesn't describe what they do and both started out in Leeds. It's kind of cool thinking M&S started out in the same market as I did, who knows where I could end up?

The most important thing, in my unqualified opinion, is that I like the name, it has a history, it matches my style (well, to me it does) and most importantly I don't feel I'm being rude using it.