Big Girl Feet Cynthia Frenette

Sunday, November 29, 2009

It’s almost December, do you know where your Christmas spirit is?

Golly it's almost December and you know what, I am so not feeling the holiday spirit this year. I'm trying to get headed toward holly and jolly but so far, I'm just feeling harried and tired and kinda meh about the whole thing. Probably lack of money and slow work situation and worry over all that is a huge factor. Is it just me?

However, that said, I have a huge jumpstart on my Christmas-presents-to-make list! For once! I actually started in the summer, which when you make stuff, you need to plan ahead so you're not up til Midnight on Christmas eve frantically stitching, knitting, glueing, snipping, been there done that, uh uh! I have everything pretty much finished save for 3-1/2 small items. Then I am done! Yay!

I still have to get my items left from MakeIt up on my shop- quick & dirty sale coming up this week I hope. I have a new client who has been keeping me rather busy during the day which is awesome, so not as much free time as before. But I am not complaining! A link will come asap I promise!

And I have decided to just once and for all get my driving on. Yep. After dragging poor Norm to Michaels one too many times, it's time. Poor guy is a good sport and doesn't really complain about my weekly visits to Michaels, the quilt shop, etc. etc. but I feel bad for subjecting him to it so often. So, I will learn to drive and get on the track to be able to drive there myself eventually. After I  get past the stupid "L" phase- where I have to have somebody with my for at least a year-if I remember correctly- and which is going to be extended as I haven't done a thing with my driving since i got my "L" and will have to start over. Just gotta do it!

And starting tomorrow, rain or sleet or shine, Starr and I are back on the regular exercise wagon. She has gained some weight and on a wee little dog like her, it really shows. The vet said she needs to stay around 20lbs, I think now she's at just over 23lbs. She looks a little poodgy. Even the groomer said something when Norm dropped her on Friday for her much-needed haircut. And me? I will never tell how far I tip the scales but let's say it's not good. (Although I have maintained where I was when I stopped working my trainer about 2 years ago so that is a good thing!) So! back to workouts and walk/run outings 3x week. Starr is good at running beside me since I run slow, she keeps up and watches not to get in my way (we've practiced a couple of times for short spurts and so far so good!) so wish us luck on that. Norm may join us, but he's been feeling a bit wheezy so probably not til that goes away.

And that's about it for now. I have a ton of secret Christmas projects I can share with you after the holidays, and that's all I've been working on lately. I do have a special commission for a funky swanky pillow that I'll be starting this week which is not Christmas related so I can share that when it's done. And more I'm sure.

How about you? Are you thinking Christmas/holidays yet? Or just dreaming of being in a sunny warm holiday place, poolside, with a delicious tropical drink in hand? 

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Naughty naughty

Here are my pieces for the upcoming Naughty Not Nice 5 show at the Jem Gallery in Vancouver, starting this Friday!

Monday, November 23, 2009

An interesting weekend that’s for sure

Well wasn't that fun? Interesting? Weird? Crazy? Hummmm.

This weekend was the MakeIt Show in Vancouver, as you know I was a vendor there. Interesting to say the least. I was pretty stoked, had lots of stuff made and ready to go! Lots of great feedback and everybody was super supportive of everybody else there, let's sell everything yahoo!

Sadly, this wasn't the case, and it wasn't just me. By the end, I was one of the lucky ones to make my table price back, a lot of people didn't sell anything at all which was really crappy.

Friday night was fun. we sold 7 things, a good start considering that it was pouring rain, Friday night after work, dark and dreary out. Lots of lookers, browsers and people checking things out.

Saturday we were stoked, hopefully more buyers would be out on the weekend, mmmm not so much. Still lots of lookers, asking questions, making comments, browsing, but not buying. 

The overall view of our stuff was "Sooo cute! I have to have it all," but not much buying action. Comments i got were varied, and all positive, no negative. So what was it?

Sunday, I was like, ok I have to move some of this stuff or be stuck with a ton of magnets, dresses, cards, bags, I have to sell! So I marked those things to Buy one get one free. Thinking that they would go like wildfire. Nope. So weird! We did sell more but not as much as I'd hoped.

Here's what we heard:

In regards to the paintings, some people were stumped. "What are these?" "What do you do with these" "Are they books?"   Huh? And I priced them at $45/each thinking that for an original one of a kind painting (and our sign even said so and we told people that were so) that is super cheap. Uh uh.  Loads of people picked them up, looked at them, asked about them but the *cheap* price wasn't cheap enough and they got put back. 

The gift bags, we had a sign and one even stuffed with tissue to show the size and shape once it had something inside, we heard "What are these?" "So cute!" "Are they hats?". On Sunday they were on sale 2 for $8 to move but only 6 sold for that. 

The birdies, not put on sale, the little ones for $10 all sold, the big ones at $20, not a one sold. We even explained that they were all hand-sculpted,painted and adorned. Nope.

The cards were even weirder. A few sold Friday and Saturday, so Sunday they went to Buy one get one free. I think we sold about 6 in total. People loved them but still, $4 for 2 handmade original design cards? Too expensive? Some would even take one, look for a second to get for free, then put the first one back and walk away. Comments we got were all positive, love them, except they just didn't sell. Some people loved the holiday cards but said they weren't sending cards this year. Are Christmas cards too old school now? I don't know!

Magnets, the bane of our existence, were the popular item. They sold the best on Friday & Saturday, and even better on Sunday at Buy one get one free for $10, but same thing, people would pick one up to get then we'd say that they could get a second one for free, they'd look at them again, then put the first one down & walk away. Like what!? You get one free! Pick one! Any one! Only one person was super excited about the buy one get one offer and got 4. Odd.

The little dresses which I thought would sell like hotcakes? We sold one at full price of $15, then only a couple more at Buy one get one free for $15. And same again, people would pick one up to buy, then we'd say that they could get a second one for free, they'd look at them again, then put the first one down & walk away. But you get a second for free!! FREE!! Nope.

I also put a stack of bookmarks out I had made with our etsy info on the back and a cute "Be your own superhero" design in pink on the front and people would pick them up then put them down and not take them. I started handing them out to anyone who came by "Would you like a bookmark?" And yes of course they took them with  a smile. We got lots of smiles. Lots of happy comments, loving our stuff, but just not buying.

So what was it? I personally think it was a combination of:

- bad weather- pouring rain every day almost constantly, and cold.

- no parking (the lot was full with mostly vendors' cars especially Sunday when there was a guitar show going on in the same building), and having to park blocks away to get soaked in the rain to shop, nah.

- being November and not December when the hardcore holiday shopping (panic) season begins, even though it's almost December.

- tough economy- yeah yeah, we know we know, but yeah, it is, and a lot of people are cutting their shopping lists to the bare essentials. Me too. I get it.

- tough crowd- bargain hunters or those just looking for ideas to make their own stuff. We got lots of questions on how we made stuff, did you make your own patterns, what are things made of, where do you buy the supplies for this or that, stuff like that. Or those who didn't understand that things are actually handmade and didn't really appreciate that fact. You can get tree ornaments cheaper at the dollar store, yes you can, but are they as unique?

Anyways, all in all it was fun, for me anyways. I enjoyed hearing the feedback, people loved our stuff.  I don't think it was the wrong venue, it was a pretty good show, and loads of unique and cool items, just tough. Most of the vendors around us didn't make their table price back and some didn't even sell anything at all which was awful. I don't think our prices were too high, especially when we put those items on sale. Hmmm.

Will I do another one next year? I'm not sure. I doubt it, especially not a 3 day one, it's just too much. Too much! It's fun but a hella lot of work and preparation. I have to rethink my ideas and what i want to do with my art and crafts. I have a few ideas. The woman who owns Ruby Dogs (my fave fave shop for ephemera and art supplies and which moved and is open again) approached me on Friday at the show to maybe teach a class at her shop.So that would be super fun though I'd have to work on my teaching and speaking skills. When I get excited I tend to think faster than speak and it all comes out in a broken jumble. I know i do this, I need to work on this, I know.

For now, I have a pile of stuff for Etsy but first I'm going to do a Black pre-Christmas sale of my own. More details to come once I've caught my breath!