Big News!

Amidst all the Christmas craft shows, custom orders, and everything else going on in life, I applied for the One of a Kind Show in Toronto (Spring edition).  I’m quite new to all these craft shows, but at the big Etsy sale in September I was approached by someone from the One of a Kind Show who raved about my stuff and said she would hound me until I applied for the show.

 

It was a very lengthy and thorough application, and I’m happy to say that I’ve been accepted for the spring show.  So anyone in the GTA can come see me March 25-29, 2015.  More info to follow as we get closer, now I’m off to the studio to make more products… I can sleep next year.

 

Check it out:

One of a Kind Show

All stocked up for the holidays…

This weekend is Handmade Harvest in Almonte, Ontario.  I’m all stocked up and ready to go, even have a few new items up for sale.  The “vegan antler racks” have been very popular this fall, I’m tempted to keep one for my daughter’s room.

Thanks to my new stock of local walnut, I’ve got many new walnut cutting/charcuterie boards for sale.  Things were looking grim for a while as the price of walnut seemed to be sky rocketing lately.

Finally, a personal favourite of mine, this doll crib was originally made for my daughter, but was so popular with her friends that I decided to make some more for sale.  Made from birch plywood and walnut plugs.  My daughter insists I remind everyone that the doll (aka Molly the Dolly) is not included.

 

For those not heading to Almonte, all my products are always available online at:

Etsy Store

CraftCollective.ca

And select products are available at:

Patisserie La Toque – Wakefield, Quebec

Hello Yellow – Almonte, Ontario

Goods – Ottawa, Ontario

Kitchenalia – Ottawa, Ontario

McCord Museum – Montreal, Quebec

The Collective Good – Whitehorse, Yukon

 

Upcoming Sales…

Things have been nuts lately around the shop.  I’ve had several wholesale orders (when it rains, it pours), the last one had me working full out for 3 weeks to get it all prepared.  At first I had trouble with wholesale as I end up selling my products at a significant discount, however when you factor in the time saved not having to go to craft sales, it evens out.  It’s also nice that you know exactly what and how much of each product to order.  I don’t wholesale all my stuff as some of it has such a low profit margin that I can’t really lower the price any further.

Coming up in November, I’m scheduled to sell at the Gowling Christmas Craft Sale.  It’s a new sale this year with lots of vendors.  Earlier in the month I’ll also be selling on the Saturday of the very popular Handmade Harvest in Almonte.  This sale attracts thousands of customers each year from all over the Ottawa Valley.

 

 

I’m still applying for a couple other shows before Christmas, but will keep you posted on where you can grab my products!  Next week I’ll have all the stores across Canada currently stocking my work.

Craft Show lineup for September…

Just firmed up my craft sale dates for September.  Those of you in the National Capital area can see me at both Urban Craft Market as well as Etsy: Made in Canada.  They are two very big events so I’d better make this post short and get back to the studio right away!

Etsy going crazy…

I’ve learnt a lot about Etsy over the last few years.  I read up as much as I can about ways to increase traffic, how to draw people to your store, etc.  But sometimes I think it’s just dumb luck.  In the last week I have had a ridiculous number of likes and views.  I’m getting more views per day than I would normally get per week.  I’ve had more likes in the last week than all of last year.  The view to like ratio seems to be about 3:1 (ie. for every three views someone likes at least one thing they see).

 

While I’m excited about all the traffic, and I’m glad people “like” my stuff, it hasn’t led to a single sale….. yet.  I’m certainly not an Etsy expert, and it’s week’s like this one that leave me thinking I know far less than I once thought I did about the online craft market place.

 

I’ll be adding a few more items later this week to Etsy, stay tuned…

Craft Sale? Why not!

So I signed up for a craft sale, I thought it was a fairly small local type of thing that I could get my feet wet in.  Apparently it is one of the biggest in the area and I should be making as much stuff as possible according to some friends who have sold at it before.  After that little kick in the pants, I’ve been working hard all week to get some inventory.  I’m still working on finishing the room divider (pics next week), so I haven’t made as much as I should, but still off to a good start.

Last post I mentioned my new table saw. I got it half set up, scavenging parts off the old saw, when I realized I needed the cut some wood to make the extension table, but at this point neither saw was operational…. Whoops.  So I’m back on my old saw, after putting a bunch of parts back on it, and figure I will deal with this at the end of the month once I am done the craft sale work.

 

The pics are of my new Rain Drop Bird House, now for sale on Etsy in many colours and wood types.  While they may look fragile, I’ve had two of them hanging on my shed for a year now and they still look great since they shed the rain and snow.

 

My Etsy Shop

52 Create – Craftvent Calendar, Day 24

52 Create, my weekly creative output for 2011.  Continuing along with my “Craftvent” calendar for my 2 year old daughter.  Simply put, it’s an advent calendar filled with crafts, all home made, many will be joint projects so she gets some fun of making stuff as well.

Day 24 – When I was a kid, I distinctly remember the chocolate on the 24th of the Advent Calendar was about 4 times the size as the others.  This made you long for Christmas even more.  The only problem was my brother and I would share advent calendars, so whoever got the odd days lost out big time.  Probably why we only got the one with the large chocolate on the 24th once…  Anyways, I thought I’d go out with a bang on this one.  For the last day of my Craftvent Calendar, I made my daughter a simple dutch style doll house out of cardboard for her “little babies“.  She was pretty blown away when she came home to find her house.  Sadly we’re moving in a month and there definitely won’t be room for the house in our bags, I’m sure I’ll make her another one whenever we finally settle down somewhere…

My other Craftvent Calendar Crafts

52 Create – Craftvent Calendar, Day 23

52 Create, my weekly creative output for 2011.  Continuing along with my “Craftvent” calendar for my 2 year old daughter.  Simply put, it’s an advent calendar filled with crafts, all home made, many will be joint projects so she gets some fun of making stuff as well.

Day 23 – Ever heard of the French nursery rhyme called “Ah les Crocodiles“?  Me neither, but they sing it at my daughter’s daycare.  When they get to the chorus, all 15 kids start bouncing around the room like a toddler mosh pit.  Some day I’ll have to get a video of it. Anyways, crocodiles are popular around here, so I made a quick one out of the last of the card stock we had.

My other Craftvent Calendar Crafts

52 Create – Craftvent Calendar, Day 22

52 Create, my weekly creative output for 2011.  Continuing along with my “Craftvent” calendar for my 2 year old daughter.  Simply put, it’s an advent calendar filled with crafts, all home made, many will be joint projects so she gets some fun of making stuff as well.

Day 22 – Saw some paper lanterns on the interweeb and couldn’t resist.  They are super simple to make but look great (and I had a ton of scraps left over from the Princess Hat).  Hung them up in the window with some string to add even more decor to our small apartment.

My other Craftvent Calendar Crafts

52 Create – Craftvent Calendar, Day 21

52 Create, my weekly creative output for 2011.  Continuing along with my “Craftvent” calendar for my 2 year old daughter.  Simply put, it’s an advent calendar filled with crafts, all home made, many will be joint projects so she gets some fun of making stuff as well.

Day 21 – The other day we watched “Finding Nemo”.  I didn’t think it was all that great a movie, but my daughter seemed to think it was awesome (she’s more of a traditional Disney lover, so seeing as this was on the other end of the spectrum from Snow White – and had no princesses – I was shocked).  Anyways, thought I’d make her a couple of fish, the little one is Nemo of course, the big one, the whale.

My other Craftvent Calendar Crafts