The Dog Days of Summer

Good morning, friends and fellow crafters!

I know, there is no excuse for my long hiatuses from blogging.  This time I blame it on this beautiful summer weather - we've had a few hot and sticky days in Chicago but generally we've been lucky, with days in the 80s and nights in the 60s and 70s.  I've been getting back into running (something I haven't done seriously since high school cross country!) and trying to enjoy this weather before the Chicago winter returns.  Still, no excuse - so here's what I've been up to craft-wise!

The last show I did was in late June, the Green Music Fest in the Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood, in affiliation with Urban Folk Circuit.  it was my first outdoor festival and mostly a success!  The day was a little slow going and while I had a lot of interest didn't sell much, but then I had a lot of customers in the last hour or so which made the day worth it.  Not sure if I will do that particular festival again next year, but my worries about selling crochet/knit goods in the summer were alleviated, you CAN do it!

I have been taking a small, planned break from craft shows over the past two months.  I added 2 more models to my Etsy site: we now have my sister Dani, and friends Cory, Megan and Liz.  I am in the process of updating photos on my existing items and weeding out a lot of the items I had posted to my site (for example, I am re-vamping my design on the coffee cozies so those have come off for the time being).  Right now I only have about 30 items in the shop, but they are the stronger items I think.  Once I get those listings in shape I will be adding more items - I have a lot of accessories yet to photograph (hair clips, headbands, etc).  Still struggling with the baby items though - I'm not crazy about my hat-on-a-bench photos and I have a few baby headbands that I am at a loss on how to photograph.  Anyone have an adorable baby girl I could borrow for a couple of hours? :)

I have also been working on several holiday orders for friends and family.  I am so lucky to have people that support my business, and it's been fun going on "make what you think this person will like" instructions for most of the orders, because custom projects are always my favorite.  I need to kick these in to gear and hopefully get all of them done by the end of August so I can spend more time getting my fall/winter stuff made for my Etsy shop and shows - planning to try and get in to at least 2-3 shows between mid Sept and December, which will bring me to about half a dozen for my first year selling.  A little slow moving but not too bad, I guess!

Oh wait, is it that time already?!  Yes, it is...now that I've been selling through the spring I have a nice inventory of headbands and accessories ready to rock and roll, but my hat/scarf/earwarmer/winter wear inventory is looking quite pathetic.  Not to mention I would like to add some new products before the holiday shopping season (ideas: leg warmers, fingerless gloves, mens hats - I'm open to other suggestions!).  So yeah, I should probably get working on that.

So it's back to the grindstone this weekend - some photos to edit and crocheting to do (I also have a baby blanket that needs to be finished by next weekend).  Also, my friend and renaissance man Eamonn (check out his freelance art website, blog and band website for which he is the bassist) is helping me redesign my logo and business cards, so hopefully in a couple of weeks MasiDesigns will be all glammed up!

Enjoy this beautiful weather everyone!  More to come soon, hopefully accompanied by some lovely new product photos!

Week 1: Knit Headbands

Now that I'm gearing up for the Urban Folk Circuit March 19th show, I've set a schedule for myself in the hopes of reaching 100 items to have at my table.  I already have several scarves and a couple of items in my other products made, but only about 30 items total.  So week 1 of 4 before the show was dedicated to my knit headbands/earwarmers.

They are still unfinished in this shot - I took this on Saturday and finished with the embellishments on Sunday.  I basically took over the living room working on them though - good thing Ryan was in rehearsals almost all weekend!

 

Although, our living room almost always looks like this these days.  A one-bedroom apartment is not quite enough room sometimes for two people living and often working at home!  Do you have an extra room, studio or designated space for your hobby or business?

I haven't had a chance to photograph the finished headbands yet (I'll be listing them in my Etsy shop as made-to-order items) but hopefully this coming weekend if not before.

This week is baby hats - it's been a little slow of a start as I continue to run into sizing issues (it's a little difficult without having a baby to test on, numbers on paper just doesn't always work out somehow) but I've narrowed the styles I will have at the show from 5 to 2, and am just making a variety of sizes and colors.  I kind of figured that would happen, anyway.

Stay tuned for strawberry and heart baby hats - suggestions welcome on color combos for my heart hats!  I'm only at pink/red and aqua/blue so far.

Love is in the air....

Here is a sampling from what I'm calling my "Valentine's Day Collection".  I am still working on a few more coffee cozies in a different pattern, but orders have gotten in the way this week so I'm hoping to have them up by this weekend.  You can see what I have so far on my Etsy site:
Valentine's Day Collection at MasiDesigns on Etsy

The biggest complaint I have about trying to run a crafting business is that there are not enough hours in the day!!!  I do work a 40 hr a week job, but even with the majority of my early mornings/evenings/weekends taken up by knitting, marketing and shipping, I still can't accomplish half of the projects I set out for.  I think I have to realize that for now it will be a slow (but hopefully steady) build.  The Etsy shops I envy and admire were likely not built overnight, after all!

Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks for some exciting projects that will hopefully be completed, including a baby blanket, customized headband/scarf set, and a few scarves I will be donating to the 2011 Illinois Special Olympics.