We did do extensive research on this issue prior to launching our wholesale and consignment business.  As a result, I’ve thought about providing an e-course that would explain how we arrived at our prices, and answering a variety of other questions that might be helpful to someone wanting to sell their art or craft items.

I am thinking of a two-week course.  Essentially, every five days, I would post a new topic, then the following day would be open for the course to sink in, for you to ask questions of me, of each other, etc., before moving on to a new topic.

I would envision a calendar that looks something like this:

Day One:  Ways to calculate the price of your work appropriately (i.e: MATERIALS:  do you include all materials, even the big ones like computers and cameras, and if so, how do you work that in?)

Day Two:  If you want computer software to help you make these calculations what are your options?  What are the best for YOUR situation and why? (It isn’t a one size fits all process, as I found out!)

Day Three: Price variations – when to employ them/avoid them (i.e., should your work vary in price depending upon geographic region? Or by whom it is sold – you at an artfair vs. Etsy vs. a store?)

Day Four: Wholesale vs. Consignment – which arrangement is right for which situation (What are the standard percentages associated with each?  Are they negotiable?)

Day Five: Final thoughts – some of the most important issues to keep in mind (i.e., should your artwork prices change in a declining or improving economy? Thinking in terms of dollars vs. # of sales…and the issue of “perceived value”.

My question is whether this is something any of you and/or your artist friends out there would find helpful?  Do you already feel comfortable with this topic?  Or would it be nice to have another perspective?  Would it be something you would be willing to pay a reasonable fee to take – say $50 for two weeks worth of info; comments from me and your fellow participants, etc.?

I appreciate your feedback – you readers are my “go to source” for this kind of information, and I appreciate it! 

Dog and Dolphin

Our local paper talked recently about how many long-time feeders of the species marked this year as an extra-special one.  Some were putting out two gallons of feed every morning to keep up with the demand.  They estimated that they had 50 hummingbirds at a time at their six feeders…

This is NOT my feeder, but a close facsimile!

 Wow!  That kind of makes my ten at a time sound like the minor leagues!

It appears that for whatever reason – perhaps the dry, hot weather? – there have been more hummingbirds in general this summer…just as there have been more butterflies.

Which for some country dwellers has led to an astronomical amount of sugar used – a couple in a neighboring county have consumed over 150 pounds of sugar this year in their hummingbird nectar preparations.

I'm trying this next year...

 Maybe I should be grateful to have just ten…I’m not sure I could afford more! 

Our local paper highlighted an annual event coming up this week, known as “Drool in the Pool”.  After one of the local pools closes for the year to “humans”, it always opens for at least one evening of play just for the dogs of the town.  And they have FUN!

• biggest splash
• dog/owner look-alike
• pet tricks 
• cutest dog (how on EARTH do they pick that one?!?  Aren’t they all cute?!)

Trophies are then given to the winners of each contest and a grand prize winner will receive a year’s supply of dog food from PMI nutrition and a doggy glamour shot from Puparazzi here in town.

“Dogs must be at least 6 months of age, and their owners much show written proof from a veterinarian that their dog has a current rabies vaccination,” a statement about the upcoming event clarified. “Dogs without written proof, or with only a rabies vaccination tag, will not be allowed into the event.”

And yes, there will be lifeguards on duty.  You can pick them out by their bright red shirts with “Dog Guard” in large letters on the back.

“The fun doesn’t end with Drool in the Pool,” the statement continued. “Friday, Sept. 3, the movie ‘Hotel for Dogs’ will show on the big screen in Bryan Park at 9 p.m., with free admission for everyone, human and canine.”

For those of you who live in Bloomington, Drool in the Pool will take place at Bryan Park Pool on Weds. and Thurs. of this week from 5 – 8 p.m.

At our customers’ requests, I have included a few coordinated sets of earring holders, frames and boxes – by purchasing these, you can save over buying these items individually.  While the pieces are not identical, they provide a set of items that look great together!

Haiku Coordinated Set

Check out Etsy’s store to see more!

School is back in session, and senior year soccer is underway.  And my son is in his element – he loves this game.

They play again tomorrow night…so my husband and I will be there in our Cougar maroon and gold cheering them on. 

What could be better than seeing someone you love do something they enjoy so much?

We’ve seen this for ourselves when we decided to jump on the hummingbird band wagon.  As it turns out, both of our neighbors have fed them for years, so we’ve seen the little “hummers” buzzing from one house to another for the last couple of years.  This year, we decided to make ourselves a stop along the way.

We started with one feeder early in the spring – and as the number of hummingbirds increased, it quickly became clear that if we were going to avoid civil war, we needed to add another – I literally counted ten trying to drink from the same one last night. 

So this a.m., we put up another one, and I tried to get some photos of them in action.

Unfortunately, it turns out that ours are more active in the evening, so I’m going to have to try again to get the “mass” of numbers we had yesterday.  Another challenge is obviously going to be simply trying to capture that 40- 80 wing beats per second even with a good camera! 

As you can see, despite zoom lenses, lots of natural light, and a pretty quick finger on the trigger, it’s just hard to catch those beating wings without getting lots of blur!

SO – here’s a glimpse of the hummingbird highway on Day One…and I’ll try again to see if I can’t get a photo of the huge numbers of them seen previously.  Keep your eyes peeled…

As a result, when I first heard about this Blog, I was instantly hooked:

http://newdressaday.wordpress.com

From the author, Marisa:  “So here’s the deal friends, I’m going to be spending the entire year without doing an ounce of traditional clothing shopping.  I did want to do something that would get my creative juices flowing everyday.  And then the aha moment came to me. 

I love finding vintage goodies that may not fit me perfectly or translate well with the current state of fashion and then make them work on me (thank you Tim Gunn – “make it work” has become my mantra)! I get out my trusty sewing machine to change hems, cut sleeves and tweak to transform a low-budget piece that had its’ moment back in 1976 and give it another shot today, decades later. 

365 days. 365 items of clothing. 365 dollars. And the blogging begins…”

This blog is worth visiting for inspiration too, trust me – here are some of my favorite “Before” and “Afters”:

 From this….                                                   To this!

And this schlumpy dress becomes…      This adorable jacket/shrug!

 I think this might be my favorite – from caftan/mumu to super-cool tunic.

Check out the site – it’s pretty amazing what Marisa can do with some scissors, a sewing machine, and RIT dye!  And you just might come away with your own 365 days of inspiration…

Jasmine

Owen

I think I’ll let you draw your own conclusions…