The business of selling

I have a day off today and should get down to some sewing, but here I am messing about on the computer. I have had a couple of commiserations about my lack of success at the craft fair. Thankyou for your kind words. I've done a few of these now, so I didn't expect very much, but my friend with whom I shared the stall was disappointed. I regard it as a way of focusing on craft for a while before, and a nice day out. And in this case it also involved a day away from the computer for my 10 year old, an added bonus for me. Preparing for it makes me think a bit more about what I am doing, and this time I thought a bit more about presentation. I decided to get some business cards which could double as hang tags. I thought about those "free" ones from vista, but the postage is expensive, and you have to wait a long time for them. I decided on mini cards from moo, using my own photos. 100 for £10, 10p each. But they are fun, aren't they. On the back I have my blog and my website (http://sites.google.com/site/lizisdolls/), which is something else I have been working on.


This is an interesting article from the guardian about people who are making a success of it. My friend Gill and I concluded from this that we are not working hard enough at it. Somewhere near the beginning someone mentions that there is not much profit in bags, and more money to be made in jewellery. I have a long way to go before I can compete with Jackie, though.
There is a definite interest in the business of selling crafts, with etsy and folksy, and I have just discovered a new one coriandr. However, I'm not sure that there is a corresponding interest in buying them.
Footnote about my website : I have learned quite a lot about the process of doll making, and I wanted to preserve that information in one place, not scattered about over a blog, so I decided to set up a website. It's a work in progress, and I haven't as much up there as I would like. Google sites is free, but not particularly easy to use, I feel.

this and that

I have been ill and I have been busy with Christmas and work and other things, but I did make a few more dolls for the craft fair, where as expected we sold nothing.
I have been knitting, as I often do at this time of year, a scarf made out of Sirdar foxy and boa, stripes of 4 rows of garter stitch each colour. All my own pattern!



Some other bags made for the craft fair, the embroidered fronts are designs from embroidery library, and the little corset purses are from the purple hat.

craft fair

Tomorrow I am going to help out a friend who has taken a stall at a craft fair at her local primary school. I have my bags that I already made, a few dolls, and I also made a few little make up bags. These are some that I made using these designs from BFC creations.