Knit it up for the Little Ones

Baby Knitting Rocks!

If one of my friends has had a baby in the last few years since I took up this hobby, chances are I made them one of these adorable sweaters.

Babies are fun to knit for. They are tiny, and their little hats and sweaters don't take much time. Their clothing, toys, blankies are automatically cute, especially when made by hand.

Cute, cute, cute!

And yay, Amber is having a baby, so guess who gets to cast on another project tomorrow?

I can hardly wait!

Awesome Artist of the Week - Une Petite Etoile

Talent in Design and Sad Statement about the CPSIA

Seeing the beautiful creations for babies and young children that come out of the studio of Une Petite Etoile is very inspiring for me.

You see, when you sell handmade clothing, you can't just run down to the store and buy a pattern and just start sewing. That's not legal! No, you must make your own patterns.

So imagine, you want to make a dress. You have to draft the pattern and make it in a variety of sizes. This requires MATH.* And trial and error. What if the sleeves are set too high? Or under the arms is cut wrong? You have to start over!

Then you make mock-ups. Is the pattern correct? Will it work in every size?

After that, you have to choose fabrics that work with the pattern. And if multiple fabrics are involved, make sure the colors and patterns go well together.

The beautiful renderings for children that come out of Une Petite Etoile's studio are gorgeous, fun, and colorful. They are the kind of clothing babies would want to wear, if they could express an opinion. I just know that.

Check them out, but check them out soon. I am not an authority on this topic, but I do know that if the CPSIA goes through as written in February 2009, don't expect to see these fashions, or many other handmade kid items available to you. Unless the items go through expensive testing for lead, they will not be able to be sold.

The total effect of this law was clearly not thought out well. I know many people are working to change it. Let's hope so. I am completely for child safety, but also believe in individual responsibility. And the last time I checked the manufacturer-supplied content labels, fabric and thread does not contain lead. Let the manufacturers of the supplies give the artists the assurance they need on their products, and with that, forget the requirement of having the end product tested.

Meanwhile, take a look at this beautiful piece! Perfect for the next baby shower you have to go to!




*really, I have a graduate degree, but no MATH was required. Thankfully.

Marketing Tip Monday

Consistency in Your Business Brand Image

With the new year, many of us who sell on-line are looking at our Marketing Plans and reviewing 2008, and making plans for 2009.

Your first start should be a review of your logo. Are you consistent? Do you have a shop on Etsy and one on ArtFire? Are the names the same? Do you own your webname?

Example:

http://FunkyQuail.com - we own it and it currently re-directs to the Etsy shop named http://FunkyQuail.Etsy.com. Then on Artfire, we also sell the knitting shirts and some of Becky's painted shirts and that name is http://FunkyQuail.ArtFire.com.

I am a member at Ravelry (an on-line knitting community. My user name? Funky Quail, of course.

Then I am on Twitter. My Twitter name? FunkyQuail!

Oh, and looking for my Flickr page? http://Flickr.com/FunkyQuail

This is all a deliberate effort in branding.

Consistency is the key.

Now is a great time to review your branding. If your Flickr page is one name, your Etsy shop another, and ArtFire yet another, it's time to consider if that is the best strategy for you.

If you have different names, perhaps that is best for your business. Maybe you carry very divergent stock in your different shops, or perhaps one is for supplies and the other for paintings and another for ceramics. But it should be a conscious decision and not one ever done without really thinking about how you want your customers to perceive your business.

And of course, you *do* own your own URL, don't you? NO???? Then get to http://GoDaddy.com and buy it, before some nefarious person snatches it right out from under you!

Becky was Owly before Owly was Cool

Owls are the New Black. . . .

But Becky was there first. She's liked them for at least as long as I have been married into the family (and probably longer).

So WHO better than her to draw owls.

This beleaguered guy is Geoff. To quote from her shop,"the Geoff Owl is the distant cousin of another challenging bird, the Henry. Much like the Henry its attributes are poor judgment, frequent memory loss and a vacant expression. As this specimen shows, much to hubris’ chagrin, it has forgotten that it is eating a mouse’s tale and also forgotten that it should not eat mice as it is a Herbivore. Cousin Geoff simply doesn’t know any better."

He's 5" x7" on illustration board and has real plastic googly eyes.

The technique used is gouache, which is a technique of painting with opaque watercolors prepared with gum. I had to look that up! So writing about what Becky does is highly educational for me.

(Becky, to refresh your memory, is my step-daughter who also created the art for our knitting shirts. She can draw and paint and all that fun stuff and has a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. I can't draw a decent stick figure. It is not fair, but I am learning to get over it.)

You can check out her blog at http://OwlFactory.com or peruse her Etsy shop at http://OwlFactory.Etsy.com.

A Little Bit of South of the Border. . . . .

Ole'!

Last year, in a fit of creative insanity, I worked on a messenger bag. Since I never sell from a commercial pattern (it happens to violate copyright laws), I have to design my own.

It took some trial and error, but I finally got it down.

These lovely ladies, from an Alexander Henry fabric, adorn the mid-sized Le Sac Essentiel (tm) bag*.

Today is a rainy, grey, winter day. But I am thinking these bright smiles would be cheerful for anyone.

*as seen in http://FunkyQuailToo.Etsy.com.

Some Days I Can't Stop Knitting. I am a. . . .

Needle Junkie.

Yes, it is true. I can get into the zone. Totally engrossed in my project. I knit in the car (while Mr. Quail is driving, of course), while listening to the television, and bring my knitting anywhere I might possibly have to wait in line.

This is why I need more than one project cast on at once. Many places I knit don't lend themselves to conducive pattern-reading. So I usually have a hat or scarf cast one, leaving the more complex charts for longer bouts of knitting time, such as on a plane or sitting on the couch at home.

I am not completely addicted. After a major knitting frenzy, I tend to put the sticks down for a short while, and take a breather. Then, of course, a needle of another kind starts calling my name, and I am back in front of the sewing machine for hours and hours.

It's a joy and a curse!

Lucky for me, Becky Dreistadt captured this addiction quite nicely in our "Needle Junkie" shirt with the adorable kitty! Because, of course, this type of needle use is a wonderful thing!

Shirt available at http://funkyquail.etsy.com and http://funkyquail.artfire.com

A New Year, Full of Hope and Promise!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As we start 2009, my thoughts turn to putting away what did not work for 2008, and building on a better 2009. For my friends and family, I wish you health and joy. May we work together for a peaceful world, where hunger is eradicated, financial troubles improve, and the change we worked so hard for comes to fruition.

William Ellery Channing summed up my resolutions for me:

I will seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion. I will seek to be worthy more than respectable, wealthy and not rich. I will study hard, think quietly, talk gently, and act frankly. I will listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with an open heart. I will bear all things cheerfully, do all things bravely await occasions and hurry never. In a word I will let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common.

To you and yours, a wonderful New Year.

And because today is my birthday, please have some cake!

photo courtesy of http://freedigitalphotos.net