My Amazing Online Robo-Shop

Greetings from the future!

I have traveled here at great expense, to share a small part of our advanced knowledge and technology with you.  For example, in my time, we enjoy vending and shopping from elaborate "cloud" malls.  These are places that do not exist in real-space, but where a multitude of wondrous and handcrafted items may be bought and sold.

However, as amazing as these cloud malls are, what makes them so useful are their robot caretakers.  These clever 'bots liberate the artisan from the drudgery of store maintenance and enable them to pursue their craft.  

So what kinds of services do the robot shop managers provide? I have listed several below. Set these up once and free yourself to do other more interesting things.

• Use statsy-clockbot to schedule your relistings. Set up all of your renewals a week or more in advance. You can pick the date and the time for optimal exposure.
• Send your Etsy shop's RSS to twitter. Look on the bottom left of your Etsy store front. There is a link for the RSS feed from your shop. Twitterfeed is an app that will convert this into a tweet automatically for you.
• Tweet your Facebook posts using the Facebook Twitter app. Everything that you post on your Facebook Fan Page will be automatically tweeted to your followers.
• Use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to consolidate your social media accounts. You can selectively tweet or post to any of your accounts. You can also schedule your posts so that they are sent when your followers are most likely to be online.
• Use hashtags like #etsy and #handmade to catch the interest of 'tweeps' who might not be following you.
• Use Craftopolis' Edit Express. This tool lets you easily edit multiple listings at a time. So add text to titles and descriptions, and change prices to quickly set up sales and discounts.
• List your coupons on Etsycoupon.com. Its a clearinghouse for Etsy sellers to promote their coupons.

Read on for more tips and links to these tools.  http://www.squidoo.com/artsy-business

The Bulldozer's Guide to Selling on Etsy

A few weeks ago, an Etsy colleague made a remark about my approach to business. She said that I was always pushing pushing pushing, like a bulldozer, through obstacles and putting my Etsy shop out in front of people. She said that she was probably too shy to be that aggressively self-assertive.

Well.

At first I was sort of taken aback. Am I really that pushy? And apart from being rather attractive big yellow pieces of machinery, are bulldozers really all that pleasant to be around?

But I've decided to embrace it. Hell yeah, I'm a bulldozer. A big yellow bulldozing monster of an Etsy entrepreneur. Grr. Rawr. And what does a big yellow bulldozing monster of an Etsy entrepreneur do? She makes her own road and drives it.

So here are some notes and tips from the cab of the yellow monster truck on doing business on Etsy.

1. Etsy entrepreneurs are dead serious about business. They are not flirting and they are not fooling around. They have business plans and promotions and financial statements. They may be perfectly nice people, but make no mistake, they are thinking about how to build their business all of the time.

2. Whatever book you read on how to succeed on Etsy? About ten thousand other people have read the same book. When everyone is following the same rules, it only levels the playing field. To win, you have to do something exceptional.

3. You are already exceptional. You are an artist who is also an entrepreneur. That's a hell of a unique skill set. Conventional wisdom is you know, conventional and common. That's not for you. You're creative, by definition. Do things that work for you even if they're uncommon -- especially if they're uncommon.

Now go out there and create your own model of business. You don't have to be a bulldozer to move mountains. Even a drop of water is powerful. Look at the Grand Canyon.

.

Love Yourself First.

Treasury by ArtsiBitsi (also for ArtsiBitsi)

Do you know about Etsy Treasuries? They're a member curated gallery of handpicked items from Etsy member stores.  Each treasury features the best in a particular category, or the best example of a certain style of work.  Etsy sellers love to get featured in a treasury, for the distinction, and for the opportunity to have their work seen by a new audience.  Anyone with an Etsy account can make a treasury.

Now here's a little activity for you to try to see how this can work for a seller.  Click each of the two links below and note the differences and similarities in the results.  (Try substituting your shop name for ArtsiBitsi in each one.)

1. Treasuries featuring ArtsiBitsi: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/search/?search_query=ArtsiBitsi
2. Treasuries created by ArtsiBitsi: http://www.etsy.com/people/ArtsiBitsi/treasury

   Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.  ~Michel de Montaigne  

Sometimes I make treasuries for fun.  I like the challenge of filling up a treasury with a particular color, or difficult to find item.  Sometimes I make treasuries especially to feature members of one of my teams.

And sometimes I make treasuries just to promote myself.

   Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson  

Here's how it would work.  Say for example, I have a new item in my store, like a new zombie or alien design.  To promote it, I do the traditional things like post about it on my Facebook, twitter, and Flickr.  But sometimes I also build a treasury around it.

To make my promotional treasury, I put in one item from my own store, but fill it out with other sellers who are doing something similar.  Making robot paintings or robot t-shirts, for example.  This is really fun.  There are some really amazingly talented people with stores on Etsy.

After I build and publish the treasury, I contact each of the sellers and give them the link.  Now they are happy because they are in a treasury, and they look at all of the items.  They might even see one or two things that they really like -- this being a treasury of zombies or whatever.  Hopefully they also tell their Facebook Fans and Tweeps about being featured.  And these people look at my treasury too.

   If I am not for myself, who will be?  ~Pirke Avoth  

In the end, a few more people see my new design than would have seen it otherwise.  And fifteen other sellers get a little more exposure than they would have gotten otherwise.

Is it such a terrible thing?  To love yourself first, so that others can love you too?

   Put your future in good hands - your own.  ~Author Unknown  

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small does not serve the world.   ~Marianne Williamson, 1992 (commonly misattributed to Nelson Mandela)

Whats in a Name?

Shakespeare famously said: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet." Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)


But is that true?  We spend a lot of time naming things.  We name our pets and our children.  And then we give pet names to each other.  We name our cars and we name our discoveries.  We must think that names are important.  Or maybe we think that when we name something, we own it.  (My Dear, My Sweetheart, My Pookilicious?)


So important, so fraught is this naming business, I was nearly paralyzed when it came time to pick a name for my Etsy store.  And then, just to add to my general baseline anxiety, when you start an account on Etsy, the registration page tells you that you should pick a good name, BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE IT LATER.


This is a terrible thing to tell a brand new entrepreneur.  Back in those days, I thought that I would be selling paintings on Etsy.  Maybe purses.  No, watercolors.  Or backpacks.  Or appliquéd patches. Or earrings.  I honestly had no idea what would sell.  I could see that people were selling all of these things, but I didn't know why, or how they had found their market.  My plan was to test a few items in each category until I found something that buyers liked.   

So, back to the name.  Here were my general requirements

• It needed to be nonspecific enough to accommodate whatever artsy-craftsy thing I ended up making that people would buy.
• It needed to be memorable.
• It needed to be easy to search for.

So, because I couldn't be sure of what my final product would be, I decide to make my business name about me.  Bitsi has been my parents' nickname for me since I was a baby.  (Yes, they spelled it with an 'i' on the end.  My mother spells a lot of things with an 'i' on the end.)  So my artsy alter-ego would be named Bitsi too.  And sometimes just Bits, like when Bitsi sounded too-twee to me.


After deciding on Bitsi as an element of the name, I decided to distinguish myself a little by sticking the Artsi prefix on, too.  (as if there was going to be a lot of confusion about which "Bitsi" I was.) But I particularly liked the lyrical sound of it: "Artsee Bitsee dot Etsee dot com".  And for a while, I dithered on whether to spell it ArtsyBitsy.etsy.com, with 'y's, to make the rhyme more obvious.


Well, you know how it turned out.  I decided to leave Bitsi with an 'i', and then  Artsi had to also have an 'i' too.  And that choice has made it a little easier to find me online.  And eventually even Google stopped asking me "Did you mean Artsy Bitsy?"


What's in a name? I'm still not sure. Would I be doing better if my store name matched my products?  Or would I start to feel limited by a shop name like "Monsters R Us"?  


What have you named lately?

"New World" camera bag featured at Etsy Stalker

-----------------
Sent by CuratorBeatrice on April 13, 2009:

Hi there,

I just wanted to let you know that we have featured your "New World"
camera bag in our latest (map-themed) exhibit at Etsy Stalker. Please
take a look and I hope you don't mind that we've included you and used
your photos. (http://etsystalker.com/?p=381)

Congratulations on such wonderful work!

Warmly,
Beatrice
www.etsystalker.com

Introducing Monster Nanos!

Aren't these cute?  I had a ball making them this week.

I've been wanting a smaller monster that I could wear like a  charm.  These are the first generation of (what I hope will be) a new line of monsters for my etsy store.   If these do well, I will be eventually adding pins and other types of personal ornaments.

Another reason for adding these to my store is to make it easier for first-time customers to check me out.  The economy being what it is, folks are not going to be as eager to take a risk on an artist.  Key chains and fobs are relatively inexpensive items -- between $5 and $10 on Etsy.  My idea is, that  over time, one thing will lead to another, and I'll be able to generate some repeat business.

By the numbers

So I woke up this morning and checked my email and lo! and behold, someone bought a Monster Mini in the middle of the night.  As I was pondering the 2:15am timestamp on the order, I got to thinking, 'I wonder how many of my customers shop in the middle of the night?'  I mean, it could be a lot, considering that most of my customers are ordering items off of the Geekery catagory on Etsy.  And geeks are well known for their eccentric hours.

But it could also be important for me to have a better handle on my

 customers habits, so that I can tailor the timing of my listings to come up when they're shopping.

So, I started pulling data down and organizing it.  I pulled out the time of day and also the day of week from all of my orders for the past six months.  You can see the charts that I was able to create below.  (spreadsheets are excellent!)

You can see a couple things from these charts.  First, about a third of my sales come on the weekend (33%), and more than a third come when customers are at home in the evening, from about 5:30pm til 10pm.  Tuesdays and afternoons at work are also good times.  Mornings and the end of the week are slow.

I think that this is pretty interesting, but it's only a few months of data.  There are a few big gaps in sales (end of December and when my store was getting started), that might skew my data.  I'll keep an eye on it for a while and see if there are any shifts.

But I'll also try to do more listings on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings when my customers are in a buying mood.  :-)

Another Distribution Channel

When I started selling online, I originally stocked my Etsy store with paintings.  Like my purses, my watercolors and oils are popular with friends and family, and I thought that there'd be a good market for originals on Etsy.  (do a search on Etsy for ACEO - Art Card, Editions & Originals - and you'll see what I mean.)

Well, the art world was not exactly taken by storm.  More like, they were taken by apathy.  

On the other hand, there was even less enthusiasm on the home front.  Surprisingly my family was dismayed to see "their" paintings put up for sale in the coarse and crass public marketplace.  Who knew that they felt so proprietary?  It was kind of sweet.

Ultimately, it turned out happily for all concerned.  The coarse and crass public didn't buy my original watercolors after all.  So I was able to give them to my daughter and husband, which made them (relieved and) happy.  My Monster Bags are doing very well on my Etsy store, so I'm happy.  

And just in case someone out there in the interwebs missed the opportunity to acquire an ArtsiBitsi painting, I set up a store on Cafepress to sell reproductions and prints.  Check it out, and if you see something there that you'd like changed a bit (a certain painting on a different t-shirt, for example), just let me know.

Safety in Numbers

Have you ever noticed that all of the shoe stores in the mall are all clustered together in one spot?  All the trendy, hip clothing stores are located in the same part of town.  And there's a Starbucks on every corner.

Seems weird, right?  Shouldn't these businesses be more concerned about their competition stealing their customers?

Well, it's not that they don't understand about competition, its that they understand that consumers do 'destination' shopping.  Take fast-food restaurants, for example.  They are almost always in groups.  You'll see KFC, Burger King, Taco Bell and McDonalds, all in a row.  The Taco Bell might even be selling Pizza Hut items.  My local KFC sells Long John Silvers fish.   

So what happens is, when someone is hungry, they start instinctively moving toward this area.  Usually I start moving before I even decide where I want to eat.  Co-locating is good for everyone's business in this case.  When a new fast-food place opens up, they find a ready-made customer base already in place and expectant.

Consequently I'm pretty happy to be a part of a crafty consortium.  Not only does it make the business of selling online less lonely, its a great way to help my customer do 'destination' shopping.

The group that I joined is Etsy Team Columbus.  This is a large, broadly and deeply talented group of artisans, who have shops on Etsy, all located in the Columbus, Ohio area.  If you live in the Central Ohio area, you can go to the ETC group to "buy handmade, buy local".  The ETC group is growing rapidly, and gets involved in lots of shows and arty activities.

 

Click this logo to see the ETC blog and links to all of the ETC member shops.

Mini Smoochies - SWAK!

Did you (or a loved one) get some fun personal electronics as gifts? Are you wondering how to keep them safe and give them a fun place to hang out? 

SMOOCHIE MINI POUCHES are a new product that I developed for this spring.  I think that they'll be a popular alternative to the MONSTER MINIS (which I'll continue to make -- don't worry!).  And maybe even a fun Valentine's Day gift for your favorite geekette.  

Supplies are limited.  There are only two for sale on each of my online stores: Etsy and also on Artfire.  Go check 'em out.  

...

No SMOOCHIES for 1000markets.  Nyah! :-p

Rejection by 1000Markets

I recieved this email today:

Dear Artsi Bitsi,  

Thank you so much for taking the time to submit your shop for approval. Our selection team really enjoyed reviewing your shop. Even though you meet the minimum mandatory qualifications, we have unfortunately decided to decline your application.  

It is never easy for us to turn down an artisan merchant. We know how hard you work at your craft and we appreciate the time you invested in preparing your shop for approval. While we personally review every shop, we cannot offer individualized feedback. In general, we look for a mix of products and an overall aesthetic that complements our brand and reflects the subjective vision for our site.  

We do hope you understand that our decision is in no way a reflection of your abilities, motivation, or capacity as a businessperson or artist. We wish you every personal and professional success in the future.  

Sincerely,  

Lisa

While it certainly is a relief to know that I "met the minimum manditory requirements" and that I was not rejected on the basis of my "abilities, motivation or capacity as a businessperson", I remain perplexed as to the reason that I was, in fact, still rejected.  I also don't understand how they plan to make money if they are rejecting people who want to pay for the privilege of selling products on their site.  

I'm not upset.  I'm just curious.  If anyone has any insights, please let me know.

Bits is Back!

Wow.  December was a crazy month.  First, things got very frantic with my "day job" at Ohio State, trying to wrap up the quarter.  There was a ton of papers and exams to score and final grades to calculate.  I also had custom orders and shows to sew for.  Then, hubby and I went on the Big Safari to Africa, which meant dropping off the grid entirely for two weeks.  Our heads got empty and then got filled up again with all of the interesting sites and experiences that Africa has to offer.  

Finally, there was that little issue of Christmas with the presents, and that craziness of all family gatherings that feature wine, hyped up kids and too many cookies.  

Now it is quiet.  I am just starting to get ahead of the massive amounts of laundry and clutter that accumulated while I was off doing other things.  And I am getting back to my sewing.

Yesterday, I spent the entire day on Artsibitsi business.   I made six new Monster Minis, which was fun.  I had forgotten how much I like sewing those little faces.

And I also started two new online shops at Artfire and 1000Markets. Both sites appear to be trying to compete with Etsy, which is fine with me.  I am all about free markets, but it might be kind of late in the game. Like Etsy, they are offering free stores.  Artfire is also offering no fees on all sales.  I'm not sure what their business model is, or how they expect to make any money.

At this point, both sites seem to be encouraging community building, featuring blogs for the artists, right on their store page.  But both are also in trial mode so I expect bugs and new features to appear regularly.  Artfire seems to be the more aggressive of the two, claiming to be able to respond to market needs (for features like Google Analytics) within hours.  On the other hand, I started my store on 1000Markets last night and it still has not been "approved", whatever that means.  

Anyway, any new distribution channel is worth exploring to see if there is any value in them. Especially since the cost is basically just my time.  Check my stores and let me know what you think.  http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=16106  and artsibitsi.1000markets.com/

What's the magic number?

A couple weeks ago, I wrote that I thought that I had cracked the code
on Etsy listings when I started listing my Monster Bags under Geekery
instead of Purses. That strategy is still working decently. I've had
more online sales in the past month than I had in the previous three
months. That's going well -- knock on wood -- and makes me more
committed to online sales channel.

But I've noticed something else that is perplexing. As a part of my
quest for enlightenment, I've been reading Etsy's Storque articles for
ideas on how to do a better job with my online store. JJM Finance has
written several (probably self-serving) articles about using hearts
and views to project sales
(http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/the-numbers-game-ratios-and-your-shops-popularity-2146/)

So, I've been checking my hearts and views pretty often, using this
Heart-o-matic tool:
http://www.craftcult.com/heartsitems.php?userid=artsibitsi&submit=Submit.
JJM Finance says that I should be looking at the ratio of hearts to
views. There's a golden proportion that will let me know when I'm
about to have a sale. For example, he says that for his shop, "my
heart-to-sale ratio has consistently been around 3".

After spending a good 45 minutes pulling down data and wrestling with
it in a spreadsheet, I have this. 

Over the last five months, my
hearts-to-sale ratio has averaged about 4.65. The low point was in
September where I had 20 hearts and only one sale. But that was
rapidly followed by a few weeks where my ratio was really good, like 2
hearts per sale. And now for the last month or so, it's been closer
to 4 or 5 hearts per sale.

:-)

Buy Handmade and Help Women Entrepreneurs in Africa and Central America

I'm a world traveler.  Seriously.  I've visited more than 160 cities in 17 countries, including Peru, Guatamala, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Greece and Tanzania.  Sometimes I think that the only reason to work is to make money, so that I can go see another part of the world (got a trip to Tanzania and Amsterdam lined up for next month).

Anyway.  One of the most affecting experiences, and the biggest takeaway of my travels has to be seeing the different ways that people live in other parts of the world.  For a lot of people, $4 is a days wages.  For me, it's a good cup of coffee.  It's hard not to feel a huge burden of guilt about that. But what can one person do about it?  
Well, here is what I am doing.  It's small, I admit.  But what the heck, I'm sort of a small person.  
First, whenever I travel, I look for the artists.  There are always hundreds of people selling mass-produced crap.  I try to find people who are making nice things of their own design.  

This photograph was taken in a very small village on the Amazon River in Peru, called Las Palmas.  This is their market where the women (it's almost always women) sell their handcrafts.  I spent about $18 here and got a painting, an etched gourd, a macrame-type water bottle carrier, and a wood carving of a mama monkey with a baby on it's back.  It's so moving.  Here are these people,

 most of them living practically a stone-age existence in primitive huts, doing these incredibly evocative paintings and carvings of their world.  Art is what makes us human.  Gotta support that.

The other thing, that I just started doing, is making small business

 loans to women in the countries that I've visited.  Because women often get stuck trying to keep their families afloat.  And because economic autonomy is a stepping stone to social and political power.  So far, just  using the money that I have in my Paypal account from Etsy sales, I have made SEVEN loans.  

You can see my Kiva lending portfolio here: http://www.kiva.org/lender/artsibitsi

And here is the story of one woman that I made a loan to today:

Mrs. María Rosaria is 54 years old, belongs to the Communal Bank Mujeres del Mañana and the Comedor Popular (an eatery for low-income families) in her area.  She lives on the street Manuel Gonzalez Prada s / n, district of Agallpampa, province of Otuzco, department of La Libertad, Peru.

She studied until the third grade because that was the custom in the towns; it was believed that women should not be educated because they would write letters to the men to fall in love, she says.

She is a single mother and has a son who is already married. She started her business breeding and selling animals, and had capital but unfortunately fell ill for nearly a year and started again from scratch, she says. She accumulated capital and it was the Movimiento Manuela Ramos, through Credimujer, that supported and helped as much with their education as with their loans.

She currently has a wine cellar in her house. With the first loan of 300 soles, which was paid back in 4 months she bought items for her grocery store. With this loan of 1,200 soles (US $400), which will be repaid in 6 months, she plans to invest in groceries. Maria dreams of having a nice house to fix up to accommodate her son with his family.

Five-Ps of Marketing Decoded?

ArtsiBitsi has had a good week.  Well, a good three days.  Now, it might be premature (or bad luck) to celebrate, but I really feel like I learned something important about the craft's business this week. 

So, to recap, there were five Ps of marketing: Product, Price, Position (Placement), Promotion and Package.  A few weeks ago I looked at these different aspects of my business and felt distinctly discouraged.  I didn't understand why my customer would buy handbags or any creative product online.  Since then I've pursued some different strategies and tracked the results.

Here's where I am now:

Promotion and Package -  I haven't done very much in these areas yet.  On the promotions front, I have been blog posting and such, but I don't think that it's having much effect.  I looked at buying a spot on an Etsy showcase, but other sellers report that it's not an effective use of advertising dollars.

Product - It's all about the Monster.  Buyers have so many choices; these bags are the one thing that I can make that is really distinctive and original.  

Price - The formula says that I should charge $40 for a MONSTER BACKPACK, considering the time and materials that go into making one.  Unfortunately, forty dollars is a lot to spend on something that is not going to be an everyday item.    The new MONSTER MINIS are substantially cheaper at $13.

Position - Here's where I have made the most interesting discoveries.  First, in the real world I have spent a lot of time with the folks at the Open Door Art Studio.  Not only do I find it very easy to talk to Courtney, Ashley and Jon about business and art concerns, they give me a physical presence  in a real space.  This is, I think, very important.  As I've said before, people who buy art need to see it, feel it, smell it before they can buy it.  The ODAS people are also taking my bags to shows, which will give them even more exposure in the real world.  

Second, I have been experimenting with my listing categories on Etsy.  I listed two MONSTER MINIS.  For one, I put it in the Purses category;  the other one I listed under Geekery.  And something amazing happened.  The mini-bags started to SELL.  I've sold one a day for three straight days.   My theory is that geeks are more comfortable buying online.  We'll see if the trend continues and whether a similar re-positioning helps the other items in my store.

Watch this space.

A Product for a Different Price Point

So, the last time I was at the Open Door Art Studio, Ashley told me that they seem to sell more items that are small and lower priced.  Seems like the price of my Monster Bags continues to be an obstacle.  Courtney reassures me that $40 is a reasonable price, but she also says that most of their customers don't want to pay it.
Okay, okay.  I get it.  I need another product that hits a lower price point.  

Introducing MONSTER MINIS. Basically this is a scaled down, Mini Monster bag for just the few items that you absolutely, positively need. 

These little pouches are 3.5" x 5.5" -- just a little bit bigger than your standard phone or coin purse. You can even put a digital camera or PDA in them. Or if you prefer, you could hide a couple (ahem) "sanitary" or other personal items.

There's a skinny pocket on the back for your business cards or ID. But keep it minimal. These mini-purses are strictly for folks who like to travel light and move fast.  

I designed and constructed four of these over the weekend. The assembly line worked a little better and I averaged one hour each. Since the labor and materials are a fraction of the regular bags, I can price them lower. I listed these at $13 each. I have a few corrections to make on the design, but I will probably keep them under $15.  That seems to be the price that others are asking for similar wristlets/pouches.

The good news is that Courtney and Jon both seemed very excited about this design and the price, and want me to make lots for the store and the upcoming shows.

Monster Factory

Well, I learned a lot about art and manufacturing this week.  First and foremost, there are NO economies of scale in the art business.  Making eight Monster Bags all at once takes exactly the same amount of time as making them one at a time in series.

Here are the steps --

1) Select and cut the fabric.  Fleece for the skin and cotton or satin for the lining.  I need one piece for the body (inside and out), a block for the legs and arms, and two very long pieces for the straps.  I really love these bright colors for the skins.  And I get to use some crazy zebra and batik prints that I've been saving up, for the linings.

2) Sew together the straps.  Try not to fall asleep whilst zigzaging 72" long seams.  Reload the bobbin a lot.

3) Feet and arms.  This is slightly more entertaining than the straps since the final product actually resembles something like what its going to be.  This time, I stuff the little legs and arms with some cotton to make them squishier.  Fun.

4) Design and applique the faces.  Because the fleece is so bright, I've decided to put an extra layer of black around the eyes.  I've also experimented with the stitch and people seem to like the zigzag better than the satin.  Lots more bobbins to fill.  This step takes me all weekend to finish.  But just look at those cute faces!

5) Sew up the bodies of the bags.  Gotta make sure that all the arms and legs get completely sewn in place, all the curves lay flat, and all the corners are square. Pin, press, stitch, turn, press. Pin, press, stitch, turn, press. Pin, press, stitch, press again.   Good thing that the sewing machine and the ironing table are so close together.

6) Labels and hardware.  Each bag gets an ArtsiBitsi label.  Monster bags get a set of grommets for the backpack straps.

7) Thread the straps and tie.  I made myself a flexible threading tool for this step and it still takes time and patience.

8) Naming.  Each Monster whispers her name to me and I write it down, along with her story.  It's a very moving ceremony.

9) Graduation.  Yesterday all my little Monsters left home and went to live with Courtney, Ashley and Jonathan at the Open Door Art Studio.  It was a little sad for me, but they looked excited and full of the spirit of adventure.

Birth of a Monster

Would it be interesting to see the process of the creation of a Monster? It might surprise you to learn that it does not involve a dark tower, or stolen body parts nor even a serendipitous thunderstorm.

Here are some photographs of my studio after yesterday's cut-a-thon.   

This is my work table where all the pinning and cutting happens.   It features a most excellent, stainless steel table with an adustable height shelf underneath for my supplies.  It fits a nook between two closets, with set of big windows that look out across the woods. My kitties like to lay on the fleece (back left corner of the shelf) and watch the birds come to the feeder.  The feeder is only a few inches from the window, so both the kitties and I get a good look at the woodpeckers and nuthatches and tufted titmouses.

The other important station in my studio is the sewing and pressing table.   This is not ideal space, as it's a little crowded and underlit.  And there is nothing really to look at but the material that I'm working on.   Maybe I need to put a mural on the wall. Or some mirrors.   ... Or maybe I just need to concentrate on making straight seams.  :-)

BTW, that's just an ordinary Brother i6000 sewing machine.  It has about 60 different stitches, but I probably only use three of them.

So I am basically designing eight monsters at once -- an heroic feat which has not been attempted before.  By me.  

Aren't these fun colors?

Every monster needs a colorful fleece skin, and a coordinating lining.  Most of these will have some sort of funkadelic cotton lining. At this point, I am already starting to think of names and personalities to give to each bag.

In addition to the skin and the lining, I also need to cut the feet and arms and straps.   There is about ten feet of strap for each bag.  Here are all the straps, cut to length, but not finished.  When I set down to sew them, it will be a few hours of ironing and sewing.  And a lot of thread.  I'll probably have to replace the bobbin on my sewing machine three or four times.

Don't the straps look like guts?  Mwah ha ha ha.

We now return you to your program...

Sorry about that.  I don't know how that other political post snuck in here.  Seems like those guys have infected the entire country with their feuding.  Hopefully it will be over soon and we can get back to the important stuff... like sewing!

So, in the last two weeks, I have gotten completely sidetracked by other projects and have not even touched my sewing machine.  It is a deplorable state of affairs.  But I have some good news.

1) This is small and personal in nature, but the bag that I made for my conference worked out very well.  I'm still using it, in fact.  I love the brown/black/red color combination and the more professional feeling of the sueded microfiber and the top stitching.  It's so easy to drop stuff into and the tab with the pin never gets in my way, like the bigger flaps do.  It's a little large for everyday, but at the conference it was a little small.  I could just fit my program and my swag in there.  

2)  On a more professional note, the Open Door Art Studio selected me as one of their featured artists.  (http://www.opendoorartstudio.org/artwork.htm) I am ridiculously pleased about this.  It's so validating, especially when my sales are still not exactly overwhelming.

3) I had a wonderful "mutual admiration society" type conversation with Courtney at the Open Door Art Studio.  It turns out that her application for the Tiny Canary show was accepted. (http://www.tinycanary.com/)

Since I'm new to the crafting business, I didn't appreciate how exclusive this show is.  But several of my fellow etsians over at the Columbus Street Team were pretty bummed about not getting in.  So, I'm thrilled for Courtney, and for the ODAS, who do such great work.  And Courtney let me know that, as a featured artist, my Monster Bags were a critical part of her application.  

It is so helpful to talk to Courtney and get advice and feedback about the Monster Bags.  Etsy can feel pretty isolated.  People buy things (or don't) and often I never hear what they liked (or didn't).  I'm collecting "hearts" and "views" but I don't know why, or how to convert them to sales.

On the other hand, Courtney sees people face to face and watches how they interact with the art.  She says that the Monster Bags are very compelling from a distance -- people come directly to them.  And people like them up close too.  But that the price tag is offputting.  This is a pervasive problem: people want to spend Walmart $$ on handmade goods.  Courtney thinks that the price point is good though and we should stick it out.

Anyway.  Courtney wanted me to know that she needs a lot more Monster Bags for the Tiny Canary show.  And the North Market show.  And the Grandview Gallery Hop.  (whee!)  This is such a great partnership for me.  I get a lot of exposure and it costs me very little.  I like to think that it helps the good people at the Open Door Art Studio too.  So there will definitely be a lot more sewing happening in the ArtsiBitsi Studio over the next few weeks. 

Watch this space.

A Bag for Me

I was out of town for a few days last week, and then classes started back up, so I've been doing less work on my Etsy store lately. Sales are still trickling in though, so I'm okay with that. As soon as I get a chance I'll list some more bags and try to amp up for a "seasonal rush". (fingers crossed) But not just yet. I'm going out of town again this week. 

I found outduring my last trip that the Momma/Baby all-in-one bag is not good fortravel with the laptop. The weight of the computer puts stress on all the wrong points, and it turns out that carrying a laptop backpack style is not as easy as I hoped it would be. So for this trip, I'm going back to my usual laptop bag.

But I can not prepare for travel and/or meeting new people without creating a SOME new purse for the occasion. This trip is for a professional conference, so I wanted a bag that is a little less distracting than my usual. I also wanted something bigger than my usual, so that I can carry a bunch of extra papers and maybe even a water bottle.

So here's what I came up with.  The shape is nothing special (ah well). It's just a basic 12x11 rectangular sleeve. But then it gets more interesting. First, it's reversible. 

One side is black denim, very plain. I'm planning to use this side for 1" buttons and ribbons and other embellishments on-the-fly.

The other side is a patchwork of different colored microsuede --which turned out pretty nice. I love the microsuede to start with, and then topstitching all the seams makes it look even cooler.

The top is open so I can drop things in and take things out easily. The strap is adjustable so that I can wear it over my shoulder or across my chest, as the case may be. I needed some way to keep it from gapping open, so I made a minimal flap (also reversible) and put a pin on it for weight.

I took it to school with me to day for a trial run and it seemed to be fine for ordinary day use. I'll report back on how it survived a field test to the Grace Hopper Conference in Keystone, CO.
(www.gracehopper.org)

:-)