Wordless Wednesday

Zombie Penguins

How great is that?!?! I saw this artist's work a while back at a craft show I was in and had bought my oldest boy a green one. He was into penguins at the time, zombies too, never thought I'd find the two in one!

Last weekend was the Funky Ferndale Art Fest and DIY Craft Show. This time my youngest got one, in charcoal so they don't get mixed up. He is loving all things zombie right now...the cute non-scary versions of course. Doesn't this guy fit the bill.....


And then he decided to do a portrait of the yet-to-be-named penguin. I think he captured it well for a 5 year old. Not sure what is coming off the one flipper though...maybe string brains? Personally I prefer string beans, but hey, to each his own.

And hubby took off the tag before I had a chance to jot down the name of the artist...I'll get back with it once I track it down.

Woo Hoo! Go Ferndale!

I am so giddy! My son's marching band took first place during the state finals at Ford Field this past weekend! I am so proud of him...of all of them. They put so much of themselves into it and it showed. They were phenomenal! Go Eagles!!!!!

This last pic was from the local newspaper....The Ferndale High School Golden Eagle Marching Band (Jolesch Photography)
The 1st pic was taken last year (same uniform) of my son....couldn't find a close up this year...

Vacation Mode - HA!

I am "on vacation" at etsy.

I had my first home show last night (don't ask about sales, I may cry...nothing beats jewelry - Slipada 5, Tilt 0.) and the Huntington Woods Womens Leagueshop for a cause progressive home show tomorrow. I hope to have better luck there.

I am starting to feel that I may to rethink things. I don't want to slash $$ just because the ecomony is in the gutter...I spent too much time and effort to just give it away. Perhaps just add less expensive items in addition to my main purses, maybe? Belts, hats, scarves? I don't want to make things just because they will sell. But I have no problem taking the time to find things I enjoy making that also happen to sell. Trends were never my top priority. And I am not much of a salesperson - I am not a very competitive person. But I do need to find a way to sell online. Magazine quality pics may be part of the answer.

Now, my photo skills leave a lot to be desired. And I realize that pictures are what sells. So the more I can get them to look like they came for a magazine, the better. The best sellers on etsy all look like they were professionally shot (and many are). But I am not selling photography, so I need to make do. After pics, comes price.

My mom thinks the pricing may be too high, but I have crunched the numbers and compared them to similar items on etsy and elsewhere, they are very mid-range. I know, and she nows, that she is not exactly one to ask for pricing critiques. She would say she is cheap, I would say she just never felt the need to spend anything on herself. She's pretty darn unselfish - and I love that about her. She can't see why people would spend $30-60 on a purse. I had pointed out to her that nearly every woman that walked in to that party had a bag that was well over $100...but it was a ritzy area and most of the bags were leather or had some name brand plastered all over the bag. I did receive compliments on the bags and some were interested in them, but after the holidays when they buy stuff for themselves.

One area I need to make more prominent in my displays: "HANDMADE". The women seemed suprised when they realized my bags are all handmade. It was posted on the invites, but they may not have read that part. They thought that the large variety were just samples of each style, not OOAKs. So today I am making some signs to put up by my business cards that cleary state "Handmade".

I am hoping that a venue where handmade items are the norm will be better for me. I am hoping to get more lower priced items made in time for next Thursday's Ladies Night Out in Bad Axe, which is going to be all handmade. And then there is the December 6th Flint City Handmade show. And if I get my apps turned in by the deadline & the shows are not full: Affirmations & Ferndale Recreation Holiday Showplace Arts & Crafts Show November 22nd
and December 13th Fieldhouse Craft Show in Swartz Creek.

Ferndale Takes 3rd in State Finals

Congrats to the Ferndale Marching Band on an excellent performance at Ford Field! They, without a doubt, performed the most complex and intricate routine of all the other bands in their Flight and did it phenomenally! I am so proud of my son - this was his first year playing in the band. We are looking forward to 4 more years of fun and music! note: four years, because he is one of the pre-frosh taken into the high school band one year early.