Weddings made beautiful with help from friends

One of the things I love about the Etsy wedding stories is how many times friends help to craft a truly special day. I wanted to share this message from Devin who recently made 120 luggage tags for her friend's wedding.

Hi Cherie,
I purchased your luggage tags pattern in August with the intention of making about 120 of them the hold the escort cards for a friend's "french/vintage-travel" themed wedding. Well, it was a success! The bride found some absolutely PERFECT fabric and we had a couple days of assembly-line style cutting an ironing before I got to the sewing. A ton of fun! Wedding guests loved them.

Another thing that Devin did which I thought was noteworthy - she punched the holes 3 at a time using a 3 hole punch! Very clever. Here is a link to the hole punch she used. Thanks for the note and the photos Devin. Your tags turned out gorgeous.

My thoughts on sequels

Event Tags
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

There are sequels that are so bad, they make you forget how great the original was. (I realized this when Caleb was watching The Matrix for the first time.)
Then there are the sequels that keep getting better - like the Die Hard movies. (I like that there is less swearing in the last movie than in the first. "you just killed a helicopter with a car!" I was all out of bullets.")
I did not set out to become one of those designers that puts out the same thing over and over again. I am sequel-shy. Two things came together this week that made me rethink that stance for luggage tags.
1. The craft party we are having today. I wanted to bring something for everyone, and I thought a cute magnetic name tag that can double as a photo frame for the fridge sounded great.
2. I had a customer inquiry for 120 luggage tags and I could not do them for the price she needed.
I find that if I have the need for a project, there are lots of other people who have the same need. My new Event Tags Sewing Pattern can be made up in a fraction of the time it takes to make my original luggage tags. (With virtually no materials waste- bonus.)
I think they are just as lovely - and smarter than the original. I can sell them for as little as $4 each when ordered in bulk. See the wedding favor listing. And DIY brides will be able to get this project done quickly for under $1 each.
I hope my sequel meets rave reviews and opens up the event market to more handmade sellers.

Working with brides

Seems like a lot of the brides I have been working with on Etsy are getting their bridesmaid dresses at J.Crew. This makes it great for sending them a little collage that shows the dress they already picked along side my fabric recommendations for clutches. If you make other wedding related items, like the gorgeous brooch bouquet by LionsgateDesigns shown in my collage, I think you can use the collage feature on Picnik the same way I do. Just right click the photo of the dresses they are wearing, and save it to your computer. Do the same for any fabric swatch photos or other accessories you want to recommend. Upload those photos to Picnik. Click on collage, choose your layout, and drag and drop the photos into the layout. Click "done." Save the collage as a photo and email it or attach to an Etsy convo. I think it is a very impressive way to communicate with your potential customers.

Vanessa's Wedding

Etsy's blog, the Storque, has featured some great wedding articles. This one takes the cake. Vanessa, the editor of the Storque, has published an article about her own wedding that includes great pointers for those of us looking to serve brides with what we make. Much to my delight, and this will not surprise you, it also includes a link to a contest that Martha Stewart is running now! Can some of you help me out with this by commenting here about which item I should enter in the contest? I am wondering if I should enter my set of bridesmaids clutches or the yellow one with the vintage pin. Martha is looking for a craft to feature on her show, and since I sell the pattern to make these clutches, I think it's a great entry. My quandary is that in the last 6 weeks, I have sold three sets of clutches that look just like the set in the photo, plus another set in a different fabric that I have yet to make and photograph, so I know it is popular with modern brides. I think the yellow one might appeal to Martha's own style though, even though it has not been as popular on Etsy. Let me complicate it for you now. The set I will be completing this week is in a gorgeous new fabric that has peacocks and lacy designs in teal and bronze and green. maybe I should wait and enter that set? I will post a photo when I get them done. Now I have got to go sew. Please let me know what you think and if you are going to enter anything in the contest.