Huckleberry Friends

Etsy Profiles - First Feature

I am having so much fun with my new gig at etsyprofiles.blogspot.com. I get to peruse Etsy shops and make sellers happy by asking if they want to be featured on the blog. Everyone loves some positive feedback, right?

The first shop I am featuring is Carla Sonheim. She is a really talented artist and I could see a very pretty nursery with her artwork all over the walls. She just came out with a super cute coloring book that is selling like crazy. Check out her shop and make her day by buying something! BTW, you can see this post on etsyprofiles.blogspot.com on November 19th, so please check it out.

I hate you ... give me that camera (and I'm missing my bike / child-less self)

Toddlers are just like teenagers, but without the hormones.

Isabel is learning to use a spoon, but insists on scooping up her food and then upending the spoon to get the contents into her mouth. Of course, the spoon fits better when it is upside down because it conforms to the tongue, but the food gets everywhere. I try to show her the correct way, but she insists on her way. The trouble is, she gives me this really smug 13-year-old look when she scoops food in upside down, as if to say: "see, I know the RIGHT way to do this." All the while, I am holding the bowl under her mouth to catch the food she spills.

I have this clear vision into the future (when she is a teen) of the same look on her face as she "proves" that she is right again about something. I realize that my role as her mother is to empower her ability to control her life, all while holding the bowl under her mouth to catch her food. I hope I can always be there to help her learn and figure out her messes.

I took the photo as she was scooping upside down, but as soon as she saw the camera, she started crying for it. When I put it away, she recommenced eating. Such a toddler!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

If my writing is illegible in any way, it is because I have had over 1/2 bottle of wine, which is a lot for me. I am so sad that I finally sold my bike, Daisy, today. I sold it to a very nice couple from Mill Valley, and she will be ridden, but I miss her so much. She reminds me of what I miss most about NYC - my commute along the Hudson River Parkway. One of the most beautiful commutes in the world. I know Northern CA is very beautiful, but you do not have the architecture mixed with nature on your bike paths. I'm feeling very sad for my lost time alone on a bike that I love. So, I am listening to the songs I used to listen to on my daily rides and feeling very lonely for that bit of myself that got lost when I became a mother. Songs like this on the stereo now ... "Barracuda" ... how can a mother listen to that like a single woman would? With a little bit of jealousy of that single woman, that's how. Oh, if I could only live my 20's and early 30's over again!

I can't believe I had to sell my bike - I feel like I sold myself.

Dog Diaries

My mom and a friend drove Isabel and I to see an apartment for rent in Sausalito yesterday. The price people can charge for what is so unappealing. A bedroom without a window? Is that even legal (not in NYC). Very depressing housing situation.

We drove on to San Anselmo where my very dear friend, Lauri Luck, had an artist reception of some of her dog paintings. It was so great to see her and her family - her sister and mum came up from LA to see the show. Isabel has a huge crush on Lauri's twin boys, so everyone had a fun reason for the trip.

When I first met Lauri on Potrero Hill in SF many many years ago, she was drawing dogs with pastels. Life came along and she drifted in and out of her creative life. There was marriage, work, raising two little boys on a sailboat. She always strives to reconnect with her art and, it seems, always in a new way (first pastels and now painting). She is an inspiration to me that the process of creating can be much more important that the final product. She is a real artist - someone who cannot live without her art. I am privileged to call her my friend and have her be so supportive of my creative life.

Trunkt

I have joined Trunkt, and online art and design showcase. I'm not sure how useful it will be, so I only have the freebie membership, but it is an interesting concept - an online trunk show for, well, art and design. I like a couple of things about it - retail stores can contact me about wholesale, which I am very interested in; and I can curate a showcase on the front page of the site if I want. I'll keep you posted on my Trunkt progress.

Etsy Profiles - Children's Product Editor

I've been a reader of the Etsy Profiles blog for a while now and always gain inspiration from the shops they feature. At the same time, I have started to think about ways I can get more involved in the world of Etsy while starting to market myself. A couple of days ago, Sara of Etsy Profiles posted a blog asking for volunteers to be guest editors on the site and I jumped at the chance. I am now the Children's Product Editor at etsyprofiles.blogspot.com. Check it out! I'm so excited. If you know of any favorite children's shops on Etsy, please let me know. Thanks!

Pricing Angst

I have to start this post by saying that I hate discussing money, but I have to figure this out or close up shop. Okay, onto the dirty topic.

I'm having a pricing quandary. When I made up the wholesale price list for potential shop owners at the Appel and Frank show yesterday, I factored in the fabric cost (I pay wholesale) and paid myself less than $10/hour for the cutting and sewing. This does not cover thread, needles, electricity, rent, marketing time, etc. This pricing structure would not support me at even 1/4 my old salary, and I really need to make half my old salary to just barely get by. If I do go by this meagre wholesale pricing structure, then I have to greatly increase my Etsy retail prices. How is this possible? How can other sellers sell similar items for less than half of what I sell mine for? They use less expensive (and I personally think, less beautiful) fabrics, and don't pay themselves enough to make a living. I certainly do not mean to sound snarky because everyone has their reasons for going into business, but I really think there are a lot of people on Etsy who sell their goods as a way to pay for their hobbies, but not to make a living. More power to them! But I have to make a living. Also, many of these crafters are selling at what would be wholesale prices anyway because they do not want or need to sell through retail stores.

What to do? If I raise my Etsy prices, I will not make any sales (or so I think), but if I keep my prices below retail, no retail store will want to buy from me at wholesale and then have me undercut their prices. But I have to charge a "fair" price or I'm literally giving my time away - time that would be better spent with my daughter or at an office job making a living. Not what I want to do (the office job).

When at the Appel and Frank show, I saw lots of cute clothes, designed by the vendors but MADE IN CHINA (!!!!) and the prices were so much higher than mine. I hand-make everything myself. There is value in that. I have to believe that I am doing myself a disservice by pricing myself so low and trying to compete against some Etsy sellers with their greatly reduced prices.

So, I think I've come up with a solution. I've figured out what my retail price should be (still barely making a living at the wholesale end) and this is actually close to what the other Appel and Frank designers sell their goods at. I've marked this retail price down 25-30% and put the shop on sale until the end of the year. To make myself feel better for the higher prices in 2009, I've also reduced shipping (free in the US) until the end of the year.

I have to remember that I make a very high quality product and I have to be able to support myself. I'm not trying to get rich, but I don't want to suffer or place undue burden on my family. I will continue to come up with designs I like and execute them at the highest level of quality that is in my power to achieve. This is all I can do. I would really appreciate any feedback on this.

First Show

Yesterday was my first show – Appel and Frank in Mill Valley. It was quite an experience! Two weeks of no sleep and non-stop sewing with my mom at the iron when she wasn’t running after Isabel. Hubby making beautiful marketing brochures and signage. All of us so exhausted.

The sale itself was not very good for any of the vendors and I have to guess that it was due to the economy. The first 300 attendees were given gift bags, but there were still over 50 bags when we packed up. We were told there would be 700-800 people there, customers and shop owners. That was the down side.

On the upside were all the great people we met. Our neighbor at the show, Piper, is the owner of Retro Youth Designs who designs super cute denim jackets with funking lining and details. We picked Rodeo for Isabel. She traded me the jacket for a pinafore because we both wanted to shop, yet be frugal. I'm so glad Piper was my neighbor because she was really sweet and it was her first show as well, so I didn't feel like a complete newby.

I think our table looked really clean and professional, and we received very positive feedback. I'm just going to have to work harder on the marketing end. I have an upcoming post about a new development in the works.

Overall, it was a really good experience and I'm looking forward to the next two upcoming shows.

Pinafore Review and Giveaway

   

Jamie of Jamie's Precious Peas did me the honor of reviewing the Lotus Pinafore on her website. Her daughter is soooo cute! I love reading the comments on the post, as if I'm eavesdropping on people talking about me and they are all being so nice!

Jamie is hosting a giveaway from my Etsy store, so leave a comment on the post by November 1st for a chance to win.

Thanks so much, Jamie!

Thank You Jillian & HGTV

The Japanese Frog Blanket was featured on a blog post for Design Happens on HGTV. Thanks so much Jillian and HGTV for the virtual love! I'm now having a great time exploring the whole HGTV site. Instead of sewing for my upcoming craft show. Ah, the internet.

Cheers!

Bakfiet = Freedom

Sorry to be so out of touch lately (I have many emails to return) but we did not have internet for a while, and I've been trying to find my groove in SF with a toddler, husband on the job hunt and starting my own business.

Okay, this post is about my new love. If you are a bike geek, read on. If not, your eyes will glaze over so you might as well ignore this.

I love bikes. Anyone who knows me, knows this. Bikes are all about freedom, political smugness, environmental responsibility, ease of mobility and, most importantly, having fun like a little kid. But I am also paranoid about safety (too many broken bones and hospital stays for this not to be the case), so I never wanted a kid bike seat or trailer for Isabel. Enter the bakfiet, my new Daisy Bike. She holds 200 lbs in the front box and 80 lbs on the back rack. She is the station wagon of our family. Yesterday, we came home from the farmer's market with the following in the box:

 - Isabel

 - Stroller

 - Diaper Bag

 - 3 big bags of groceries

 - water bottles, hats, jackets and toys

This was so easy! I hardly felt the weight. If we had to take public transportation, I would have been miserable because it would have been too much to carry. If we even had a car, we still would have had to schlep everything to the parking lot and then deal with being cooped up in a glass and metal box in traffic (I REALLY hate cars a lot and always dread being stuck in one). But with the bike, we carried our goods to the bike rack, loaded up, and chatted to the hoards of people asking questions about it. Most people get very excited about this bike, from other commuter cyclists and fixed geared hipsters, to construction workers in big trucks. Everyone can see how much fun it is. 

I really believe that if we can make the roads feel safer to people, this type of bike will be the future of our cities. And I mean that people only need to FEEL safer because once you get more people on bikes, then all of the cyclists really are safer because car drivers and city officials became used to bikes and work with us. I want to see a day when getting around by cargo bike instead of car is boring, not a traffic stopper.

Okay, back to the fun. In the photo above, you can see Isabel and Roxie going for a ride along Mission Creek, near where we live. I would love to live in one of those houseboats behind us, but that is a different post. Isabel loves the bike, but Roxie is going to take some convincing. Once she realizes that it is her ticket to the beach, she will relax.

And yes, the bike handles very easily. Much easier than I thought it would. Because of it's weight, once it gets going, it is very easy to keep it going at speed, even when fully loaded. Hills are more of a problem, but we modify where we go. Living along the Embarcadero is easy because it is flat and traffic is not too bad. We ride every day. Even if just to the playground. I am always so happy when on my bike and love that I can share this love with my daughter.

I am also posting this on my new blog: http://www.huckleberry-friends.net/sfbakfiet/. My goal with this new blog is to spread the word about bakfiets in SF, but also to find the other 8-9 bakfiet owners in SF and have them post their experiences to the blog as well. Changing the world, one pedal turn at a time.

Ride on!