Category — handmade markets

i’m in love with neon colors recently and found so many great items on etsy. check them out on my neon treasury list.

letztes jahr habe ich 3 märkte mitgemacht. der eintagsladen in darmstadt (mein debut), dann die stijl in mainz im sommer und am ende des jahres nochmal der eintagsladen. für mehr hat es nicht gereicht, abgesehen davon, habe ich auch viele termine verpennt. ich hatte wirklich auch nicht alles auf dem schirm und da war auch viel learning-by-doing mit dabei. abgesehen davon habe ich ja noch diesen büro job und so ein marktstand will auch gefüllt werden, was mir nicht immer im großen ausmaß gelingt.

aber dieses jahr werde ich mich da mehr reinhängen und es geht los mit der winter stijl in mainz am 4. & 5. februar worauf ich mich total freue. die location ist super, ich weiß jetzt was für publikum dort ist und kann mein sortiment entsprechend anpassen und ich muss sagen, es ist auch einfach genau mein ding auf einem markt zu sein. man trifft liebe kollegen an den anderen ständen und der direkte kontakt zu den menschen ist einfach toll.

und weiter gehts am 11. märz beim schnick schnack shopping in darmstadt. da bin ich das erste mal dabei und da freue ich mich ganz besonders drauf. dies event war der erste handmade markt den ich besucht habe und war damals einfach nur begeistert. dort habe ich die manuela und die nicole kennen gelernt und weil die dieses jahr auch wieder mit dabei sind, freue ich mich erst recht!! UND die miss magnetica ist auch mit von der partie. die sollte man nicht verpassen! wenn ihr in der nähe seid, würde ich mich freuen, wenn ihr vorbeikämt. 

für 2 mehr märkte bin ich angemeldet, aber da ist noch nichts sicher. aber ich plane noch auf vielen vielen mehr zu sein. das soll ein tolles jahr werden!!

last year i’ve been to 3 craft fairs: eintagsladen in darmstadt (in summer and winter) and stijl in mainz which i enjoyed immensly. i would have loved to join more but with this full-time-office-job i didn’t manage but i’ve learned a lot so this year i can sell on more fairs.

my first show will be february 4 + 5  in mainz. i really look forward to the show since i know the location and the people who come which makes it less scary. i was very anxious selling 2 days in a row last year.

the second show is march 11 in darmstadt and called schnick schnack shopping. there i will meet dear manuela, nicole and miss magnetica and i’d be happy to meet YOU too. if you’re around please stop by and say hello. i’d love to have you around this nice event with so many great handmade products.

i applied for 2 more shows but didn’t receive feedback yet. but anyhow, i plan to go to many many shows more this year. stay tuned for more info.

these are things from my etsy list of favorites and if santa would bring me all these i’d be more than happy… :-)

1. a sweet little button stamp for my letters from norajane 2. notecard set with chevron pattern by witandwhistle 3. more chevrons on a plate by upintheairsomewhere

4. and a bag that i would chose over all the gucci bags in this world by genevieve savard

5. “don’t fuck with my serenity” cards for my office desk by tinypinepress 6. i LOVE frida kahlo. with that brooch she’d always be with me; by yalipaz 7. kupukupubarcelona made me this beautiful shirt for the next summer 8. and another flower brooch. you can’t have enough brooches… by baymut

you might have seen it on twitter and facebook this week that i’ve published some new items in both of my shops online. this is actually the biggest shop renewal that i’ve done after my opening last year. just in time for the holidays. let me show you my new items. click on the links for more info and pictures.

these are little notebooks with quotes. i’ve bought this vintage typewriter and thought of a project where i could use it and these little books are just perfect. they all have 9 different motivational quotes on random book pages. the covers are either adorned with a piece of fabric or my hand-carved skull ink stamp. available in 4 versions: grey lace – pinstripe – white skull – blue skull – for 5 € each

right before the christmas countdown begins i have 3 lovely advent calendar sets available. the pack consists of 24 wooden clothespins in a matching fabric bag, 24 paper bags (one for each day), a long cord and two golden bells. available in 3 designs: dear santa – candy cane – snowflakes and gingerbread – for 24 € each

i have a new set of keyrings, too. grey wood felt with a quote fabric ribbon. available in 3 styles: jumping for joy – and i say YEAH – supercalifragilistic – for 6,50 € each

i wear scarves. every single day. mostly all year. and to share my love for this perfect accessoire i’ve made a whole collection of winter circle scarves for women. yet only two are published, more will follow in the course of the next days. yet available in two styles:  lotus flowers – turquoise and herringbone – 28 € each

and for the little ones there are 3 different circle scarves made of the delicious organic flannel fabric from cloud9. super soft and cozy:  miss rose rabbit – mr. rabbit – big eyed owls – 18 € each

all items are available in the dawanda shop as well!

in the course of the next days and week i’ll publish more items. there will be a limited edition of soy candles (YES, something completely different for a change), some nice bracelets and many more scarves. stay tuned. and next week i’ll have a beautiful digital download – ready for thanksgiving. so many nice things will happen here on the blog. i’m really excited about it.

and i wanted to thank you all again for giving me such great feedback on my tuesday post about the pricing of handmade goods. i was overwhelmed and happy about the differentiated opinions you have. that was awesome.

have a great weekend my dear friends. xoxo, Lou

today i’ve read this tweet by renew fabrics

labour rights and the handmade scene: it’s not just about paying yourself, it’s also about not exploiting others.

and this fits so good to today’s topic i’m writing about today. something that is on my mind ever since i’ve started my handmade business and there were times when i was close to pack it in and call it quits because of it…

whenever i publish an item in one of my online shops i’m unsure about the money i should take for it. it’s not that i don’t know what it cost me making it – it’s because many other sellers have ridiculous unreasonable prices for the same type of product. so should i be competitive? should i have similar prices?

first let me tell you what the product price includes:

- time where i think about the design and time i search for great material on- or offline – this is hard to define. sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less…. most of my designs develop while i make the product so it affects the production time.

- material – i mostly use organic cotton and high-quality designer fabrics. not cheap and yet i’m not selling enough to buy big ass amounts that make the yard less expensive.

- drawing the pattern onto the fabric and cutting it – this takes a big amount of time

- actually making the product – what’s the proper hourly wage for this? 10 €? are we serious ? would you work for someone for 10 € an hour? i’m not running a sweat-shop in india or china! it’s me and i’m trying to earn my living here (soon).

- taking a good picture of the result – it needs to go online, right?

- thinking of a good text and putting it online - tell a story, make it nice, make it fancy!

- pay dawanda, etsy, big cartel, paypal… - they all want money

you think that’s it?

there’s my work room, the electricity my sewing machine needs, the packaging material, the time at the post office, the tax guy and my insurance i have to pay, let’s not talk about the car i need and the gas it takes…

and except all these points there are several things to consider as well. i live in frankfurt, germany and life here is more expensive than in other european countries or asia AND it makes a difference whether you as a seller are actually making a living with your crafts or if you’re only want to make a bit of extra money on the side. so whenever i see a product that is similar to one of my products but only costs half of the money that i plan to take i’m like WTF? “labour can’t be THAT cheap in your country” or “where is your material from?”. i believe that people who are selling their crafts for a little side money tend to underprice their goods because they don’t need to think about it further. and that ruins the whole market and as i said – i thought about quitting because of it.

and then there are the buyers as well: you might remember my story of my first craft show this year? people trying to get something for a lower price because they found everything too expensive. at my last craft show 2 weeks ago there was a lady asking for a price and raised both of her eyebrows and then it went kinda like this:

she: “god damnit. this stuff here is so freakin’ expensive”

then i was like “yeah but you know, it’s handmade!”

then she was “then it’s even worse!”

i try to keep my cool in such moments. i was close to starting a fight but i shut up instead and i’m still angry. do i tell people they’re overpaid at their jobs? i don’t and i value and respect other people’s work and labour.

i love what i do and really want to make a living with it. making things with my hands and the process taught me so many valuable lessons and it made me a happier person. the handmade community is amazing and i’ve met so many good people and made good friends. it would be awesome if we would not ruin each other’s business by giving away our products for nothing. we must stay fair and honest. especially to ourselves!

what is your opinion about this? or did you make any experiences? i’d love to read your thoughts.

xo, lou