Monday, March 05, 2007
Ahhh...just to breathe once again...
I didn't realize I was so stinkin' tired until I tried to go to bed on Saturday night at 6pm. My boyfriend convinced me to get up and go out--but I still fell asleep during RENO 911! Miami. I love a good laugh, but even on a good day I'm too much of a baby for a 9:30 movie. I realized that I didn't really get great pics of other booths, but I'll try to track some down online and give you a link.
The Revolution of Craft came together beautifully. It was an absolutely perfect venue, great vendors, and an all around fun time. I could have sold a few more things, but live and learn. I was a little frustrated by other crafter's pricing. I'll try not to make this a dissertation, but here goes: I spend precious time and money making my wares. I'm not about to make them for free. So when other people price their things so low (for example, I saw gorgeous hand-embroidered clutches for $15) it devalues everyone's work, including their own. On a typical bag, I spend at least 3 hours, and including materials, probably $5-10 per piece, so selling that bag for $40 sounds like a good bargain to my customers. Ok, that's it. I'm just trying to tell everyone out there--think about the work that goes into what you're buying. If you want to spend $10 on a very cool bag, go to Target. They have great bags. If you want a one-of-a-kind hand made bag from someone like yourself, the be prepared to pay only slightly more.
Okay...now I wasn't really pissed about what I just said. I just wanted to get that out there.
Yesterday I spent all afternoon cleaning my studio. Wow, that feels so good just to have a clean slate. I even swept the floor! And if the floor is clean enough for me to sweep, well, that hasn't happened in 6 months. I mean seriously clean. I'm taking my taxes to the accountant on Thursday. Oh, man, I hate!!! paperwork!!
I'm so excited just to be able to work on something that I want to work on for once. Stay tuned for paintings, collages, finished quilts, more pillows...who knows!! I can't wait.
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I hear ya, babe. When people think my prices are too high, I just have nothing to say to them. People also have to realize that when someone like myself does this full time, I have to pay about 16-18% of the price of a necklace to the government; if a credit card is used, there goes another 6%, then there is the booth fee, the materials, the time, etc etc. And the price of sterling silver keeps going up and I haven't raised my prices yet! But I will, mwa ha ha...
I didn't take any pictures at all, so thanks for posting one of my booth!
My office is so full of wedding, business, crafts, paperwork, etc, that I really only have a pathway through the middle. I can't imagine it being clean like your studio! That's awesome!
Reno 911 was 2 hours of my life I'll never get back. It had its moments, but overall I would say it was just ok.
I know - I don't get that mentality at all. I was listening to a Kaffe Fassett podcase a while back and he had done some amzing knit tapestry or something that this gallery kept BEGGING him for. Finally, they had him name his price. He said $1000 pounds I think and they were agog. He had taken 6 months to do it and the owner was holding a Vuitton purse. Go figure! Anyway, lots of us support what you do and would much prefer having a handmade item to something that came from a fancy schmancy boutique but was made in China!
I TOTALLY echo what casapinka said:
"Anyway, lots of us support what you do and would much prefer having a handmade item to something that came from a fancy schmancy boutique but was made in China!"
Those people who complain about the price have absolutely no idea. Kudos to you :)
girl, you know we already discussed this, but amen! if I heard one more of my "friends" tell me that I needed to mark my prices down, I was going to injure someone. and I even priced mine @ $6 an hour. so i thought my prices were very reasonable!
and yours too...and freshie's. and I agree totally. if you want to pay a cheap price, go to Target. lol. i mean, we have to make a profit or there's no real point in doing it. not as a job, anyway.
look forward to Sunday (i hope the weather turns out to be nice!)!
.♥.
Uppity Crafters UNITE!
Thanks, guys for agreeing/understanding.
We should have a mantra: "We will not work for free! Hell No! We Will Not Work for FREE!!"