Learning New Skills

I have never been a quilter, or a knitter or a person who enjoys the labour of making things with my hands. I have learned to sew simple garments from patterns designed for impatient, slightly inept folks like me, but I haven't enjoyed the process...just the end result.

Now I am starting to appreciate the beauty of the creation process...the time and thought that goes into making an end result that you are proud of but that always needs slight improvements. I am learning to quilt. Applique to be exact. I have attended my first class. A day of cutting and stitching and learning. And I enjoyed myself. I have since created a pattern of my own for a wall hanging that will have many appliqued pieces when it is complete. The small pieces are all cut out and basted and now I am looking forward to the stitching and finishing and quilting. Time will tell if this is another of my fads or if this is a skill I will nurture and develop. Pictures will follow.

Christmas Crafts

I have finished the glass Christmas logs that I was making. Two for gifts and four for our back steps. They are made from the glass building blocks, one hold drilled in a side for the lights. You can use white lights with white wire if the top will be visible or, as I did, coloured lights with green wires. I covered the clear top with a hugh bow and the green wires were not visible. The four for outside will have outdoor lights with trim on the tops. I will post a picture to show the end result.

I have had a great time this year shopping at craft sales. There is certainly a lot of wonderful items out there and a few not so great ones.

The indoor decorations at home will have to wait a bit, I have a project that needs to be completed before I can spend any more personal time.

Appreciation for things past

We had the opportunity to visit a working museum over the weekend. The Sherbrooke Village Museum in, of course, Sherbrooke Nova Scotia. The old village buildings were all open to the public and there was even a tea room/cafe that was serving home made soup and sandwiches for lunch. Yum good.

The volunteers at the museum were all in period costume, long skirts and bonnets for the ladies and work clothes of the day for the men. There were rides offered in horse drawn work wagons and the visitors were offered a glimpse into the past. Very nice and interesting.

There was also a show and shine taking place with close to 200 old cars entered. At least were old cars, some were newer but unique in some way. But our preference is always the beautiful old restored vehicles.

One thing I took away from the trip was the understanding of where so many of our "crafts'' of today got their origin. Out of necessity in the days gone by. People couldn't run to the supermarket, or the department store everything they needed something, they made it themselves or they made do with what they had. Very resourceful people.

The step back in time was appreciated and interesting but boy am I glad I didn't live then...too much hard work:-)

Fall is in the Air

And the fall and Christmas craft shows are in the planning stages. The agricultural exhibitions are in full swing and each features a competition for arts and crafts. Some of the work is beautiful and inspiring. As the air develops a nip in the evening and overnight with warnings of frost, the shorter hours of daylight contribute to inhome endeavours...like making crafts.

Getting Crafty

When I owned a flower and gift shop for a few years, I quickly learned how to make arrangements that sold. I also learned to sell what I had on hand. With fresh flowers the challenge is always to have the inventory that you need when you need it. Fortunately I was within an hour of my suppliers so I could stock up quickly if needed. Not everyone has that luxury.

With any business dealing with an inventory, it is always a balance of having items on hand that people want and having the financial resources available to maintain those inventory levels. This is very true of a craft business.

There are trends, in colours and designs, that become hot and everyone seems to want them. If you are not at the leading edge of such a trend then you could quickly get left behind. No matter how great your items, if they are not in the required colours or shapes they maybe passed over.

A few years ago, long skinny scarves made their appearance, they were everywhere. Now, not so much. There may still be a market, but it is not as large as it was two or three or five years ago. Does that mean you should stop knitting those items? Maybe not, but it does mean that you could look at changing the style slightly to make it fresh and new, maybe by chosing different colours or by inserting a speciality section of knitting in blocks in the scarf.

Sales is providing what your customers wants, even when they may not know exactly what that is.

Fall Craft Sales

Notices are starting to arrive about upcoming fall craft sales. Now is the time for artists and craft producers to review their inventory, plan production for the weeks ahead and book those spaces in the fall shows. In our part of Nova Scotia there are several "must attend" shows for the people in the area. Shows that are known to have very high quality and original work. Starting in late September there are shows every weekend up until mid December. This is also the time when the agricultural exhibitions are in full swing. There is at least one every week and they always have a showcase of local arts and crafts.

With the trend this summer for people to vacation close to home this provides an excellent opportunity for artists and crafters to showcase their works to the home town crowd, who travelled out of province in past years for vacations. A whole new customer base.

Many craft artists have a few reliable shows that they participate in every year and often ask for the same location. People look for them and plan on purchasing from them. However, it might also be a good idea to add one new show this fall, a location that you don't regularly attend. And of course, at all shows, monitor your sales. How many units did you sell, not only at the show but as followups after the event. After event sales may be by phone, email or they may find you at the next show.

The show organizers should be able to tell you the draw area and the number of attendees from the previous year. Also you can have a draw at your booth to get the names and numbers of all visitors. These will give you info for future emailings to customers. Maybe a newsletter or press releases.

Festival of Crafts

We spent part of Sunday afternoon attending the craft show and sale in Lunenburg. Wow, some really beautiful items. Great fish chowder lunch. We also stopped at one of the many galleries where a friend had three paintings exhibited in a show. Good crowd.

The craft festival was interesting. The work was well made and attractive but I had seen most of it before. There was one booth that had a great variety of hand made vests. They were made from a wide range of materials and looked very attractive. The show was definitely worth the trip. There was a bake table and we purchased a container of home made baked beans. Yum!

The artists and crafters were from all over Nova Scotia and one booth had items from Sydney, NS. This must be lucrative for them to travel several hours, find accomodations for three nights and then the return travel. There seemed to be a good crowd and there were sales happening.

An enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon.