The thank you gift

The thank you gift
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

This is my wonderful, creative daughter. Her special talent is the creation and personal delivery of special thank yous. On this occasion - a single fragrant rose, wild flowers and a turkey feather made a touching bouquet. You see, the little kitty who adopted us followed the kids to the library the other day, and she was not waiting for them when they came out. We already had a photo montage of the cat because she is just so beautiful and so loved - that was posted and carried door to door the next day. On the morning after the posting and door knocking - at 6:30AM - Diana called. Our cat had found refuge in her garden, hidden among the foliage near the bird feeder. Diana's thank you included a sweet kitten card I bought from LaurenBPhotography in which my daughter wrote, among other things, "sorry about the birds."

Etsy Success—Sewing Pattern Licensing

I tell all of my creative friends, Etsy is Your place to discover and be discovered. It’s the truth for me. I was contacted through Etsy's conversation feature by one of Simplicity's design directors. She said she liked my clever products and thought they would make a nifty pattern. She offered me a licensing agreement and left her name and phone number. A tear or two trickled down my cheek. (My husband says I sobbed uncontrollably on the phone with him.) I flashed back to Summers in high school spent sewing my next wardrobe with Simplicity patterns, dreaming of being a designer. I wasn't dreaming anymore. I was just doing what I know how to do and putting it online for people to buy. This message was like someone knocking on my door and saying, "Remember that dream you had a long time ago? I am here to make it come true." This was so much bigger than anything I had planned for my little PDF pattern company. I had to remind myself how to breathe.

This is the story of a handful of design careers that got a boost when The Simplicity Pattern Company discovered us on Etsy. You can read more about me and why I started publishing my patterns at The Unofficial Etsy Featured Seller Blog. That frees me up to introduce you to 5 lovely ladies who are sewing up success with Etsy and Simplicity.

How Momo Made It
Speaking from experience, Joan Stroh of MomoMadeIt puts it this way, “People from all venues are scouting Etsy for fresh ideas.” Joan’s handmade aprons have been well scouted: appearing in Lark Books’ “A” is for Aprons, on various television shows, and featured in magazines. Joan’s aprons are reaching an even wider audience through her licensing contract with Simplicity than she could alone, making each and every apron herself. Joan says, “I am having a blast here on Etsy! I plan on staying here as well as staying true to the spirit of handmade.” She explains, “I really love what I do and the success that I have experienced, but I prefer to keep my shop personal.”
She advises, “Just put your best foot forward and always be mindful that your shop is out there for the whole world to see. “

Etsy helps us put our best foot forward with a constant stream of photography and sales tips.

Precious Pay Day
None of these designers have an overnight success story. Everyday we work hard to be successful. Mary Ayres of Precious Patterns had worked full time as a freelance designer for craft, paper and sewing magazines for a number of years before she opened up shop on Etsy. Tired of selling the rights to her designs, Mary was excited to learn from Simplicity that she would retain the copyrights and earn royalties under her contract with them. A prolific designer, Mary’s 4th packet of patterns for Simplicity is coming out this Fall. Sharing the business with her daughter has been rewarding for Mary. Commenting on her Etsy experience, Mary says, “We think Etsy is wonderful and we are so thankful we found it. Our business would not have succeeded without Etsy. I'm sure of that!”

Fueled by Friends
Often, when a product is a hit, it seems to have legs of it own. This is certainly true of Pauline McArthur’s creations. Funky Friends Factory started after Pauline’s toys became popular with her friends. Pauline says, “I’ve been sewing and knitting my own toys and dolls since I was a kid, but it took until my 30s (OK, mid-30s) to realize that you’re never too old to do what you love! …. and it’s been a great thrill for me to see other people get enjoyment from my creations. “ Encouraged by her pattern sales, Pauline is working on an email course entitled “Toy Making Made Easy.” Pauline and I share a dream of having our products picked up for licensing contracts with manufacturing companies.

Pie in the Sky
Joining us in that product licensing vision is Jennifer Novak of VioletPi. Never having published a pattern for her creations before, Jennifer was “guardedly ready to explode with excitement” when Simplicity contacted her about licensing. When she was satisfied that it was a real deal, Jennifer got on the phone; she says, “the first people I called were the ones who doubted the viability of this business I've started...I so wanted to show that following your passion can be exciting and lead to wonderful things.” Jennifer describes her dedication to her craft as “a true calling. It’s a real passion and I can only see more and more ahead. I’m obsessed. I went all the way through grad school as a painter and have chucked all that to make these little critters...this is SO much more rewarding.”

The Sweet(Pea) Taste of Success
Selling her bags successfully since 2003, Mary Miele of SweetPeaTotes had the confidence to email Simplicity directly and suggest her patterns to them. “I had always dreamed of having a pattern of my own in the Simplicity catalog. I truly believe that anyone can accomplish their dreams,” she says. Her first Simplicity pattern came out in March 2010. Mary says, “I am just as excited about this next pattern (due out next Spring) as I was with the first. I hope to continue working with Simplicity in the future.” Of her Etsy shop, Mary says, “I love having a shop on Etsy. It's great to be a part of a community with such talented sellers. I really enjoy working with my customers and creating special items for them. “

Prepare for Opportunity
The one thing I want to add to all of these success stories is that you never know what the big companies are looking for. It’s a fact that Simplicity was looking to expand their offerings in very specific ways when they found all of us. The best I can hope to do is to keep growing my line. As I build my body of work, I am building my chances of my design work intersecting with another company’s need.
Reading Etsy’s blog, I noticed that there is a big market for wedding related items here, so I put some focus on brides and bridesmaids. I was already into travel items just out of my own lifestyle and interests. The first set of destination wedding duffles was an actual order from bride who was shopping on Etsy. I am not sure if I would have thought of that on my own. Simplicity loved it too.
Since my slipcovers have been picked up for book features, my plan is to follow through on those with a slipcovering tutorial on video. There is a rumor that I am doing an entire book of slipcovers for IKEA furniture. My furniture set on Flickr may be responsible for starting that. With the right advance, I would love to make that happen, but it is just a rumor not an actual plan—yet.
Etsy provides such great resources on their blog. I suggest scouring the merchandising posts for clues as to what themes or marketplaces could take off for you. This is a little preview of what will be in my first Simplicity Pattern when it comes out in their catalog December 17th.

And Related Items

IKEA KLAPPE Slipcovered

IKEA KLAPPE Slipcovered
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

Jennifer lives in PA. This is her IKEA KLAPPE office chair. I live in WA. about 2600 miles away. Jennifer sent me a great tracing of the cushions and the measurements I needed. She also sent me this puuurfect fabric. So here is the finished slipcover. Thank you, Jennifer, for the photo. One of my customers told me that they heard I was putting out a book on how to slipcover IKEA furniture. What a great rumor! Actually, I think it's a fabulous idea. Now all I need is a publisher and an advance to cover all of that furniture and fabric I will have to buy.

It runs in the family

christian1
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

Yeah, so Christian is a ham too. He favors the more serious expression. Jacket and hat by Volcum. Tee shirt is vintage. Rory traded shirts with a guy in this bar on Jost VanDyke, BVI.

6 AM photoshoot

6 AM photoshoot
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

Sunglasses hide the bags. Honestly, how great does anyone look at that hour? My hair was not behaving too badly. Earrings by beadstylin. Rory gave me this jacket in 1989, so I know it is vintage. I think it is time for a new owner, someone who will go out and show it off. I was going to start a group called hamoholics anonymous, but none of the hams wanted anonymity. Suffice it to say, if you read my blog you will see a lot of me.

Dolan Geiman Shirt

Dolan Geiman Shirt
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

Dolan made this offer on his blog to save $20 on your next order in his Etsy shop by posting a shot of yourself in one of his new Fossil tee shirts. Sounded like a really great deal to me, so here I am. I love the shirt by the way. Congratulations, Dolan. Looks like a super licensing deal you have with Fossil. I hope they sell a million of them!

Thanks to Tera more team Love

Several of us from the Eastern Washington Team were featured this evening on Etsy's front page. Nice vintage collection!

Waverly's Norfolk Rose

Travel Duffle
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

Here is another example of why I love having the flexibility of allowing customers to choose their own fabrics. I have a few other items in my shop done up in this fabric, so I was delighted to take an order last week for 2 frame purses and a duffle in norfolk rose. I took this photo at 8AM - amazing how high the sun is already then. The light was perfect as you can see. I am just so glad to have made two of these, so the next person who wants one won't have to wait. I have a feeling that it will be a popular one.

before and after

Before and after
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

I thought the first photo shoot was okay. I have to say I was a little disappointed because the bags are each so beautiful. I think that was lost when we piled them atop one another. I had the idea yesterday to take them to our new favorite staircase (where we shot the slipcovered chair for One-Yard Wonders 2) and try some angles. The light was too full for us yesterday, so we had to head back there this morning before Rory went to work. We were able to get really creative in showing off the 5 bags. More shots on flickr, click on the photo to go there. This was my first time trying out the collage at Picnik I wanted to show the before and after side by side.

I just lost photoshop because it looks like the guy we bought it from did not have the license to it. I tried contacting the actual license owner to see if he would transfer it to me since I paid for it, but have not heard back yet. So for now, Picnik is my friend - and I do love it. If you need photo editing software but don't want to spend the money for photoshop, Picnik is great.

Team Love on Etsys Home Page

My team treasury made the Front Page this morning. So happy for all of these great sellers. Six of them from the Eastern Washington team and two from the Crafting in Color team. Great work, everyone!

bicycle love

If you type bicycle into the search bar on Etsy, there is so much more. Thought I would just give you a taste here. Darkcycleclothing has every creature imaginable riding a bike. I love the shark for some reason. I am still writing the zip pouch pattern. It is going to be comprehensive. There are 3 bags included and some strap and pocket options. I also give instructions for making a zippered pouch of any size. Pattern pieces A-R so far. I envision putting out subsequent pattern pieces to go with the instructions to make different shaped and sized pouches. Eventually I could call it zip pouches A-Z. I am almost there now. Back to it. Hoping to launch the pattern this week.

Crafting in Color Saturday Happy 4th of July

We'll be watching fireworks in downtown Spokane. Here are a few red white and blue favorites from my crafting in color teammates. Here is a link to the search I did to find these.