FOF: Ollie-stack and a little bit of Orange

Hi everyone.
I have not been around much this week, but that does not mean I don't have anything to show you!

FOF: Stripes!

Good morning everyone!
It is Friday again, and as promised earlier this week: I have something to show you... And it is not a bunch of Ollies!

WIPW: Parts of Ollie

Hi everyone.

It’s WIPWednesday again… And this week I am making Ollies!

MM: Stock

Hi everyone.

It’s Monday and once again I want to talk to you about something that quickly came to mind when the idea of seriously selling my animals came to mind: how much stock do you need?

FOF: Flopsy!

Hi everyone!

Just a quick FOF today, as I have a busy day ahead of me.
I finished the amazing amount of three projects since Wednesday.

WIPW: Pattern tests

Hi everyone. It's Wednesday again, so time for Works-in-Progress...

I have four to show you, so let's get on.

MM: Shipping costs

Hi everyone and welcome to the first post on Merchandise Monday!

Today I wanted to share with you my shock on shipping costs. It might seem not the first thing you think about when you think about selling your animals, but once you dive into it… It soon comes to the surface.

FOF: Stitch!

Hi everyone!
I hope you all have had a crafty week… I did!

I finished Stitch! And he is really cute, but I must say: he really did not want to be photographed properly… So imagine him a million times cuter in real life :)

I love how he turned out, and I hope my mother will too (actually, I know she will; she’s my mother, she loves everything I make :P)

Although fun to make, he did have quite some pieces and assembly took a while. I forgot to take a picture, but the pieces were spread beside me on my bed when I started assembling and they took a reasonable amount of space :)

Also, besides Stitch, I finished my Scrapy-Stripy M. Richard the Whale. A mouthful for this cutie:

He turned out so good! His stripes might seem scrapy, but they are actually carefully generated here.
Just enter your colors and the amount of stripes and you animal will look lovely, randomly striped!

I just love these stripes and striped animals and will be using this site for striping regularly!

So, and that was it for me this week. I hope you have some lovely projects to share as well.
Do so and visit some others who have at Tami’s Amis!

WIPW: Stitch

Hi everyone and welcome to yet another WIPWednesday!

Last week I showed you my overload of WIPs… And this week, instead of making some real progress on those, I have a new WIP to show you.

I am making Stitch, from Lilo and Stitch that is.

Looks like him already, don’t you think?
It is a pattern from Shannen C. and it was searched for in suggestion of my mother, not too long ago.

I am making Stitch now (original deadline was in July, my mother’s birthday) to give to my mother early, just because I know it will make her laugh…

She has had so much bad luck lately, that it is just not fair anymore!
She started last year with Carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists, one of which has been operated already. The other was put on hold, because she needed cuff repair surgery on her shoulder.
Still recovering from that surgery (which is very time consuming, can take up to a year), she got a thrombosis-like infection in her leg.
She was on anti-coagulant injections for weeks, only to hear it had not cleared, and probably never will as a whole blood vessel has been closed up; which has probably been causing the long-time edema she has in her legs.

Now, on top of all that (she hasn’t really been pain free since the start of last year!) she has some weird kind of nerve damage, giving her excruciating pains in her (other, ‘healty’) leg….

I mean, what has she done to deserve all of this?
Nothing! I can tell you that. And there is nothing she, or I, can do about it…
So, I’m making her Stitch… As that’s like all I can do, besides giving her metal support and a lot of hugs…

Hoping you all got happier reasons to have a pile of WIPs, I am sending you all to Tami’s Amis for some more of them!

PS: for the Dutch readers: have you seen my Dutch blog?

MM: Mechandise Monday

Over a week ago now, I went the birthday of my nephews. I got to give them the toys I made them, I’m sure you remember:

The reactions were brilliant to say the least. Even the little one year old immediately dove into his package… The cars were a good choice, right size and very chewable (which he tested within minutes).  

His older brother, who turned four, was overly excited by every package he got. But I made a good choice: his current obsession is helicopters…
He was all over it, and that it is the only helicopter he has that’s soft and cuddly was off course a fantastic bonus. According to his parents, he has been sleeping with a hard plastic toy helicopter in his bed for months, so a plush one comes in very handy!

Although that of course was very satisfying to see, I was taken aback by the reactions I got from the adults present. Adults can be way more critical than kids, but not this time.
All praised my choices in design, colors and yarns used. My craftsmanship was even more complimented, to the point where I started to get shy… Never expected that.
Within the hour I was discussing sales and prizes with all who came to sit next to me, all wanted to hear how I made them, the time it took me, whether I ever seriously considered selling them and what I would or could ask when selling them (according to them, I’d make a fortune)…

Those conversations sparked something. Of course, being part of the Freshstitches community, the subject of designing and selling your toys as a business, or even your solemn source of income, has crossed my path. But when I was at that birthday party I realized, it is also what I really want to do:
I want to sell the things I make to make others very happy with them. And I will take serious action to get there.

That is when we come to the real reason for this post: I will start my journey into the world of merchandise… And I will take you along.

Of course I could open an Etsy shop today and start selling, but that’s not what I want. I have a serious need for control, not only during my crocheting (as I found many people judge their behavior during crocheting as nearing OCD), but in all that I do.
So I won’t open an Etsy shop today, I will look into every aspect of selling my craftsmanship over the course of weeks, months even… And post about it.

Meow Monday will become Merchandise Monday and please, feel free to come and join in on my journey. Maybe the things I find will help you also…

In the next weeks, you will see changes on my blog. I will add pages, pictures, links to patterns and hopefully some patterns of my own… I hope to make my blog more interactive for you this way.

Also, for my Dutch readers (there are not much yet), who kept on reading until here: I will have a Dutch blog as well (as that’s where my potential customers are: in my own country… And not all speak English).

At the same time, I ask you to bear with me: my study in Medicine has just taken a turn for the busiest time of the year, with lots of lectures, workgroups and assignments. Also instead of just one subject, we will be covering two at the same time: it will take its toll…
So if I miss a week of posting… You’ll know why.

For all who managed to read through all my rambling, I thank you, and hope to see you again, next Monday.
For those of you who skipped to the end: I will see you again next week, hopefully with a very interesting and readable post… On an important thing in selling stuffed animals: shipping your products (especially the costs and the impact is has on your business plans).