Back to Business

I'm pushing myself back in.  With all of the hubbub last week I've kinda disconnected from my cyber world.  But I've got new banks that came out really cute and I wanted to share.

I've got most of them listed in my Etsy shop and the rest are on their way along with some new birdhouses, too.

Remembering Ryan

We've lost someone.

Not a family member.

Not a close friend.

A young man we've known for years through our church took his own life. 

He's ages with our boys.  They didn't go to the same school.  He wasn't in the same grade as them but they've been in the high school Sunday school class and many church activities together.   This hits way too close to home.

Ryan Cameron was bigger than life.  He was funny, smart, vivacious, giving, insightful, uninhibited, gracious, kind, outgoing, ambitious, inquisitive and many other things that the people who knew him better are aware of.  He changed the atmosphere in a room just by entering it.  Hearing his distinct voice would always make me smile.  He always had something to share: a story, a question, a thought, a joke, a smile. 

How could you not know Ryan?  But none of us knew him.  He was everywhere.  And now he's nowhere that we can see.  So we'll carry him forever in our hearts because that's where he's always been.  That little Light of his, we're gonna let it *SHINE*!

A Perfect Bisque Firing

No cracks!

YAY!

...and Whew!

We've got a show this weekend so
I better get busy!

Spring is here! Well, the craftshow season

Getting geared up for our first show of the year on Saturday.  New displays, table covers, designs and venue.

I'm a little nervous. =/

Northampton Community College - Event Details View - Annual Spring Craft Fair

Last years setup

 Hopefully, I'll remember to take pics.

Meandering Through the Mire

So, again, I got stopped in my tracks when I let the dogs out this morning!  God's color pallet never ceases to amaze me.  Not to mention it's gotten up to 57 degrees for the past 2 days.  That makes me very happy!



Come on Spring!!!












But I digress.  I really wanted to share my latest "mini-me" banks.  I've been making larger animal banks for a while starting with 3 lbs of clay.  At Christmas I got a custom order for 3 smaller banks and decided to make some for my shop as well.  So, using half the clay of the big ones I made up these babies.
 

Penguin, ladybug, snail, owl & lion.

Unfortunately, I can't charge half the price.  The clay is the least of my expenses.  It takes less time to throw the main forms but the detail work and glazing are just as time consuming.

I struggle with pricing all the time, as I think most artisans do.  Putting a value on material and time is pretty easy.  But putting a value on your creativity and experience is so abstract and subjective.  To clarify my point I did a search on Etsy for handmade mugs and found prices ranging from $2 to $12,000 (yes, I double checked the number of zeros).  I'm pretty sure self-confidence is the driving factor here in both cases.  One undervalued and the other just a wee bit inflated.  I'm sure you can figure out which one had 200+ sales and which one had none.  =/

How do you evaluate your competition?  If someone is selling something comparable to what you sell and they're charging much less or way more than you, do you adjust your prices?  Up or down?  Or can you justify them and be confident enough to keep them where they are?  Just curious to see just how conservative I am.

It's a challenge finding that happy medium.  I know I can't make a mug for $2 and I'm pretty sure no one would spend an excessive amount (I can't even bring myself to type that number again!) on anything I've made.  When I priced my first birdhouse for a studio show I was embarrassed to charge anything!  Even at the prices I'm asking now some people balk.  I've gotten past the phase of second guessing my prices.  Enough people can see the time and creativity that goes into a piece to keep me in business.  It's not quantity (though that would be awesome!) but quality craftsmanship that's taking me to my target audience.  So I'll bypass the "price it to sell" marketing strategy and plug away where I am.  I'm comfortable somewhere between having low self esteem and being an ego maniac.

Well, this post went in a completely different direction than I intended but, like I said, pricing is something I struggle with.  I guess what it boils down to is realizing and defining your own worth without getting arrogant about it.

Lion - Take Three

I ended up scrapping the last lion I made.  He just wasn't talking to me.  I was talking to him, as I do all of my critters, but he didn't have much to say. So I started again from scratch.  I had pictures of various lions, real and not so real, to inspire me.

This, of course, is my favorite:

 

I didn't go for the red bow but I like the ringlet curls.  So this is what I came up with.  What do you think?

These are his buddies...

On a completely unrelated note, this is what I woke up to yesterday morning...

 

 

 

Oooooo pretty!

However, as the saying goes:  "Red in the morning shepherds' warning..." and it snowed and rained the rest of the day.  =(

The "Other" Kids

Since I gave time to the dogs I feel it's only fair to give the boys some time, too. ;-D

These are our prides and joys - The Monsters

 

This is from 2 Christmas' ago when Santa put these wax mustaches in all of their stockings.  That Santa!  What a jokester!

Of course, they've inherited our very dry sarcasm and "Monty Python" style sense of humors.  They're all unbearably handsome, incredibly smart (which their grades don't always reflect!) and tower over their 5'10" parents.  They were born 2 years apart from each other and get along most of the time.  Mostly.  To paraphrase something I read by Dr. Mike Bradley when asked how to stop siblings from fighting.  His response was to have them 4+ years apart.  Wow!  Really?  Now he tells me!  (BTW I highly respect his analysis of the teenager's mind.)  However, if we had spaced them 4 years apart my youngest would be only 11 and we'd be that much further away from moving down south, which is currently in our 4 year plan book.

There's nothing like a teenager to demonstrate how much plucking your heartstrings can take!