Baby steps...

Hello.  Long time no see.  The break wasn't meant to happen, but there's been a lot going on.  As a rule, I don't blog about personal stuff, but this summer has, so far, not really gone to plan.  We're fine, the problems are within the extended family, and we're doing what we can to help and support.  But with all this going on, and the kids off school too, there has been very little time to work myself, and the time I have had, I've been too exhausted to be creative.

So, taking my own advice following on from a conversation with a family member the other day, take it slow, one thing at a time, break it down into smaller chunks, don't try and run before you can walk and all those other cliched phrases, ...baby steps.  Today's task I can achieve is to use up the rather large courgette I've been given (or zucchini for those across the pond) and make some soup.  There are lots of curried courgette soup recipes about, I used Stephanie's version, firstly because I love coconut milk in anything, and secondly, I put in too much curry powder by mistake and was hoping the coconut milk would balance the flavour.  It did, and it's lovely.  Lunch is sorted.

My next plan for getting back on track is to visit the Festival of Quilts on Friday.  There are lots of UK craft bloggers going, twitter is buzzing with meet up plans.  It's going to be good!

2011 Sewing Calendar,

Last year, I was lucky enough to be included in the 2010 Sewing Calendar by Accord Publishing.  A feat which has been repeated again this year too, and earlier this week, my copies arrived.

As with last years calendar, this one has also been put together by Megan Smith, which is a huge task to undertake, as you can see in the picture above, it includes over 100 projects.  There are 5 projects from me, Valentine's Day love letter, Wristwatch pincushion, and the Christmas Robin are already available in the blog sidebar,

but the Chicken Softie and coordinating Chick Finger Puppet are new.

The projects are organised throughout the calendar to correspond to yearly events, such as Easter and Christmas, and the display box everything comes in is designed to fold back on itself so it can sit on a tabletop and be easily accessed.  Even though many of the included projects are available online, this calendar is a hugely valuable resource.  There is no need to print anything out as everything, including templates (thus avoiding any problems in getting the scale correct), needed for each project is included within each project page.

The 2011 Sewing Calendar is already available to buy now in both the USA and UK.

How much...??!

In addition to selling handmade craft items through online market places like Etsy, I often, as I imagine most blogging crafters also do, get a lot of speculative email enquiries.  The difference I find with being approached in this way, is that when a potential customer is browsing through an online shop, they can already see the prices there next to the item.  But when someone makes a direct enquiry, they genuinely have very little idea how much a commissioned item is potentially going to cost, and they are, in my experience, usually a little shocked.  Even though the asking price may well not be particularly high.  Herein lies my personal pricing dilemma, one which I suspect other crafters may well recognise.

I find myself cringing, when replying back with a price.  Then I ask myself, why is it making me cringe so much?  There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to pricing craft items, and most crafters will already know this basic formula for working costings out,

materials + labour + overheads = minimum sale price

what about this next formula?

materials + labour + overheads + % profit = minimum sale price

I quite often feel like 'profit' can be a bit of a dirty word.

Looking at this another way, this time in terms of a comparison to drawing a salary.  A small softie, eg a cotton reel pincushion, lets say I charge £12 ($18.34).  It takes just less than 2 hours to make from start to finish, so divide £12 by 2, and that's £6 ($9.17) an hour.  In the UK, from October, the minimum wage will be £5.93 ($9.06) an hour.  Am I, despite being Degree educated and having 12 years worth of industry experience, really only worth 7p (11¢) more?

But can I realistically charge more than £12?  In all honesty in the current global financial climate, no I don't think I could.  The end product is after all, despite being handmade, just a pincushion.  Which leads me to ask, do I automatically devalue it myself by making it into something practical?  If the same item was marketed as an art object instead eg, vintage cotton reel soft sculpture, how much impact, if any, would this subtle re-branding have on its commercial value?

The answer lies partly in breaking down the business model behind each product any crafter makes.  Looking at the figures I've quoted above, a cotton reel pincushion would not be classed as a commercially viable product.  They take too long to make (or I probably need to speed up) when compared to the income generated.  I make them because I like to make them and they look cute.

I am certain I can't be alone in feeling like this, and hope this post will open up a bit of a discussion about pricing as I would dearly love to hear your experiences...

40,

 Had to flip the card in the photo so you could read it!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes, I've had a fab weekend.  My birthday on Friday was kicked off with my Mum arriving to look after Lucy & Luke whilst we went off to Cambridge for 2 days & 1 night.  Then me & Mum spent the day here on Sunday.  We had a morning in the spa followed by a massage, facial and a pedicure.  For the first time ever, I have painted toenails.  Chocolate brown toenails!

There are no photo's as all the good stuff has either been eaten or just purely indulged!

Pins & needles,

I've been (finally, after what has been a rather longer gap than intended!) putting together a few items to put up on Etsy,

 and first off the press are some cotton reel pincushion,

 which will be making an appearance soon when I have more time (and better light) to photograph them better.

 Until then, I believe I need to pack an overnight bag.  Tonight I go to bed as a 39 year old, clinging on to her 30's.  

Tomorrow, I wake up 40.

EEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK!