Staying on the Green Side of the grass.

Pun intended of course!

My current project is producing reusable grocery bags.  Youknow, like the ones you get for $0.99 at any grocery store across the country?  I'm hoping it takes off.  I have a few different styles and sizes, and franklymine are prettier and don't have store logos on them.

I got the pattern on-line on About.com, and it is great.  When inished they look just like a paper grocery bag, except they have handles.  The best part about it, is that once I got used to the porportions of the bags, I can now make them in nearly any size!  For your average bag, ou want the side panels' width to be 1/5 the of the entire length of the front/back panel., and you want the width of the front/back to be equal to the length, minus 1/5 divided by 2.

I know it sounds complicated, but if you take a piece of fabric in hand, and work on the dimensions from there, you will see that it works.  It's a great way to figure out the size if you are making bags from remnants (As I am) and don't necessarily have the exact yardage that the pattern calls for.

Gettin Ready for October

I know it may seem early to some, but just like fashion houses, We have to prepare a season or 2 in advance.  There is a great craft show that my Aunt's church holds every year that I plan on signing up for.  It is held in October, and now comes all the preparation for that.  On top of filling my Etsy Store with more inventory.

My big fall promotion will be (as always) Breast Cancer Awareness, BCA.  This is something that has touched my life dearly, as a few women in my family have suffered, and overcome Breast Cancer.

In the past I have had mixed reviews on my BCA promotions, mostly I think, because there are so many people out there who are attempting to defraud others by collecting money in the name of charities, and simply keeping it for themselves.  This year I am going in with a plan.

I do not have it completely worked out yet, but I will have very specific information available to purchasers, so that they know exactly how much money is being donated from each purchase, and to which organization.  I am also considering "A gift in your name" so that the purchase can have a printed record of the transaction also.

On top of that, I also have to find garments and materials that mix with the fall color palette. I am referencing the Pantone Fall 2011 colors.  I have a busy week ahead of me, and starting Saturday it is nose to the grindstone.

Creating an on-line store

I am by no means an expert on this topic.  As a matter of fact, I am simply a beginner.  I opened my own store on Etsy.com in January, with a single purse that I hand made, a coctail dress of my own design, and 2 vintage items.

I learned quickly that tags are very important to selling on-line.  I have since expanded my store to my entire remaining inventory of purses that I had, and I received a lot more hits on my page.  Still no sales though.  I'm hoping that my time at home will allow me to create a much larger inventory and be able to fill my store so that it looks like what it is, and not just someone trying to empy out their craft room.

Market Analysis is a biggie, I have learned.  NOw, I don't hire a marketing company, or use a very intricate web-based service.  I have created some polls on facebook, through my personal page, to guage the type of interest that people have in purses.  What style, color, etc. that people are interested in.  This is something that is free on Facebook, so I plan to do it often.

I also created a fan-page for my designs. It allows me to keep everything seperated, but still in the same place.  So far I have 6 fans!  I am trying to get 25, so that I can name my facebook page, and have an easy link to it.  When I reach that number I will also offer a discount at my store for all of my facebook fans!

Hello and Welcome

Greetings!  This is my very first blog entry, so please don't expect it to be very exciting or interesting.  I just wanted to lay out the topics that I plan to follow.

I will focus mainly on my daily exploits of designing handbags from everyday materials.  All of my products are up-cycled, and in most cases donated to me by people who think they are not wearable anymore.  I intend to prove them wrong!  No matter how "out of style" you think something is, I can make it something else all together, and being it into current fashion.

My clothing designs are original, and not generally up-cycled.  I try to use all natural materials, however cost is sometimes an issue, so pleae don't hold it against me if I have some synthetics mentioned. :)

As a deisgner with no formal tr aining of any kind, a lot of my wins come through trial and error.  I will be sharing the "Oops! moments as well, and feedback is always appreciated.  Hopefully we can all learn together.

I look forward to this experience, and I hope you do to!