Meet Persis from Miles of Style

Q: Tell us a little about yourself

A: I always find it difficult to talk about myself.  I guess I can start off by saying that I'm a business graduate, working full time with my husband in his business. I'm also a qualified fashion designer and write a blog called Miles Of Style, where I share all that I admire in fashion, design and photography. It's a busy life but I love what I do and cherish every moment in life.

Should I do a Craft Show?

Bio: Alexis Bonari is currently a resident blogger at College Scholarships, where recently she’s been researching African American scholarships as well as agriculture scholarships. Whenever this WAHM gets some free time she enjoys doing yoga, cooking with the freshest organic in-season fare, and practicing the art of coupon clipping.

 Tips for a Successful Craft Show

Though we all create because we love it, there are times when we also create to satisfy our entrepreneurial impulses. Craft shows are a great place to sell handmade goods of any kind and to get feedback on your work. However, having a successful showing requires more than just putting your wares on display and watching the hoards gather, clamoring over themselves for a chance to buy from you. Keep these tips in mind for your next -- or your first -- craft show:

Planning and Pricing
It is important to think about what you want to make and sell so that you can plan out securing the materials. If you know that you'll be making dozens of pillows or stuffed animals, you can buy fiberfill in bulk. If you know that you want to make a variety of glass bead necklaces and bracelets, you can look for wholesale lots. The key is to look for materials that you can buy in bulk or that you can catch on sale so that you can get the most savings on your bottom line. Doing so will help you increase your profit
margin or lower your retail sale prices so that more customers are inclined to buy.

Though pricing can be subjective and enigmatic -- too high? too low? which will create more demand? - there is an easy rule of thumb to help you set a baseline. Keep careful record of how much you spend on materials, and on how much of those materials is used in each project. (This can also be subjective: How much glue do you use in one paper project? Measure in lots if you must, then divide by how many individual projects it created.) Once you have the total cost per project, multiply that by three. This
should be enough to account for the time that you have spent creating the project, as well as allowing for a profit margin. Before settling on that as your final price, check it against your competitors. You may have to adjust slightly.

Finally, be sure to put a price on every item that you are selling. Some customers will ask you for the price if an item is not tagged, but most will put it down and move on without buying. Use attractive price labels that reflect the style of the items you are selling.

Create an Attractive Display 
Anyone can throw a tablecloth over a table and lay some crafts on it for sale. Show off your creativity and your unique style -- an indication of what customers can also expect to find in your product -- by creating an attractive display that reflects your product. For example, if you sell doll clothes, you could create a mini boutique on your table, or display a doll trunk with clothes spilling out. If you sell flower- themed items, you could set up a fake grass covering to create a crafty garden.

Play around with the space. Create levels by using stacked crates or shelves. Use chicken wire or corkboard to build height. Use lots of color and different textures. Make your space look interesting and fun. Some possible displays could include cupcake tiers, suitcases, flower pots, baskets, frames, and more.

Make yourself part of the display! Customers love to get a glimpse into the creative process. Working on a product at your booth will attract customer attention and invite questions. If you use a particular technique or material for your items -- for example, maybe you repurpose old watches for your pendants -- be sure to highlight these things for customers. These unique details add an extra dimension.

Marketing
Be sure that your packaging is as attractive as your product. Have bags with your logo -- either from a label or a handmade card -- and include a business card or a fun thank you note. Have brochures or business cards available even for those customers who don't buy. Once they have previewed your product, they may return to your Web site for a later purchase or ask you for custom work.

Make buying easy by offering several payment options. If you can't take credit cards through a commercial account, you can at least take them through Paypal, which is a free online service. Bring your laptop so customers can sign in and send payment, or sign up for Paypal mobile on your phone. Be sure to have plenty of change on hand for cash-paying customers.

Following these simple steps can help make your craft-fair experience easy and more successful. But remember to have fun! This is a great chance to talk with people about what you love to do!

Pattern Giveway from The Fuzzy Noggin

Adrienne from The Fuzzy Noggin is joining us today to throw some creative inspiration our way! Be sure to read the whole interview, as she's been kind enough to do a something special for our readers....

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself.
A: I am a 33 year old stay at home mom of 4 kids (8, 6, 4 & 2), enough said. No but seriously, my day is filled with all things that pertain to having kids and running a household, it is very glamorous. I drink way too much Dr. Pepper and don't work out nearly as much as I should. I love all things crafts and get such enjoyment out of seeing something transform from nothing to something! I have knit for about 8 years and crocheted for only about 2 years, but once I started to crochet I could not stop. I love blogging and I think I may be the last person on earth still not on Facebook.

Q: What events and/or people have led you to become an artist?
A: I have always loved art. My brothers were very artistic and I wanted to keep up with them. I took a lot of art classes in high school and college and actually started out as a dance major (but it was way too time consuming so I switched degrees). Anyway I have always created things mostly just for my own pleasure. I see something and wonder if I could make it, and usually it doesn't turn out too bad. So anyway as far as my crochet patterns go, one day I saw this adorable hat on a little girl and I looked at it closely and realized it was not knit so it must be crochet. I did not know how to crochet so I went and bought an "I Taught Myself to Crochet" kit, watched some video tutorials on Youtube and before I knew it I was crocheting. Not long after that a friend of mine asked if I could make a monkey hat for her little girl. I could not find any patterns I really liked so after a few trials and errors I came up with my own. I put the pattern for sale on Etsy and it was a hit. Since then I have not been able to create all the patterns in my head fast enough.

Q: How do you come up with your creative ideas?
A: I find inspiration everywhere...changing fashion trends, hats my kids want, holidays, different yarns and textures, colors, requests etc.

Q: What’s your quirkiest attribute?
A: I am a bit OCD about organization. It drives me NUTS when things are out of place. I used to have dinner plates in 4 different colors (4 plates of each color) and I would make my husband put them away in the cabinet in sets of 2 and in the correct color order. It is much easier for him now that all of the plates are white. Just typing this makes me realize I have issues.

Q: What would you say to someone who says they aren’t creative?
A: I hear this all the time and I don't buy it. My response is always the same...you will never know how creative you are until you actually TRY to create something.

Q: Where are your items available for sale?
A: Etsy, Ravelry, & Annie's Attic (on their website as well as their catalog)

Q: What project/s do you currently have on your plate?
A: I want to branch out from just hats, although I do have like 5 hat patterns in my head right now. I want to do some leg warmers, bags, and a couple of other accessory type things.

Adrienne has been kind enough to offer our readers a GIVEAWAY from her Etsy store, The Fuzzy Noggin! Check out The Fuzzy Noggin and comment at the bottom of this post sharing which is your FAV pattern in her store! Every comment will be an entry to Adrienne's giveaway for 2 FREE PATTERNS! HOT DOG!!! Comments will be accepted until Monday, March 14th. Be sure to include your email address so I can easily contact the winner.

Design, Printing & Sewing All in One!

Recently I was given a wonderful opportunity to get to know a bit of the creative inspirations of a wonderful textiles artist, Mariam! Mariam self describes as "a French-Malian artist born in Africa, raised in Africa and France, and now living in Brooklyn." Her blog and Etsy shop launched in 2007 due to her "desire to create a new, young, and multi-cultural home fashion brand."

Check out her Etsy Site: www.etsy.com/shop/Angelshair

And of course her blog too: http://theangelshair.blogspot.com/

Q:Tell us a bit about yourself.
A: Hi and thank you for having me on your blog! My name is Mariam. I am a French-Malian artist and home fashion designer living in Brooklyn. I love multiculturalism, and originality. This is what I try to show in my creations. All of my ideas take roots in my double culture. I love to travel the world and to discover unique and different approaches of art and design. I have a special passion for fabrics, and they are one of my favorite medium.

Q: What events and/or people have led you to become an artist?
A: As far as I remember, I have always been an artist. So being an artist has come naturally when the time has come to choose a career. I do not have the feeling that I choose to become an artist, I do not feel I had a real choice. This is the only way I feel true to myself. More than a way to earn my life, this is who I am.

Q: How do you come up with your creative ideas?
A: At every moment, by traveling, spending time with family and friends, having a coffee, watching a movie reading a book, listening to a music. In general, by having fun.

Q: What’s your quirkiest attribute?
A: I speak 3 languages (almost 4) and have lived on 3 continents. I am not sure if this is quirky, but this has become an attribute to me.

Q: What would you say to someone who says they aren’t creative?
A: I think everybody is. I would tell them to start creating something, anything, and put themselves in a creative mindset. This will allow the ideas to flow. Like anything in life, creativity is something that you need to develop if you want to excel in it.

Q: Where are your items available for sale?
A: My items are all available at http://www.angelshair.etsy.com/

Q: What project/s do you currently have on your plate?
A: I am working on my 2011-2012 collection which will as usual articulate around 3 themes: 
Africa, Europe, America. I hope to be able to introduce it in a couple of months.

A gigantic thank you to Mariam for letting us get a glimpse of her creative spirit!

Clothing Designer Kate from Katetowers on Etsy

Meet Kate. Kate is an amazing artist & designer. You're assignment is to go to her Etsy site, KateTowers because, well, you just should! A trillion thank you's Kate for taking the time to answer some questions for Liberate Creativity. I'm mad in love with her custom pieces!Kate's photos, interview and site should certainly get your creative juices flowing!

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself:
A: if you asked me 4 years ago i would have said i'm an artist. but now i'll say i'm a mother and an artist. because right now it's all about finding the balance - and taking care of the kids comes first. i'm very passionate about what i do and there is never a lack of ideas - just a lack of time. i am also very passionate about my kids, so hopefully i'm using that same burning creativity in my child rearing, lord knows i need it!

Q: What events and/or people have led you to become an artist?

A: i have made some kind of art for as long as i can remember. both of my parents are very creative and art projects were always encouraged. there was never any holding back as far as running with it. i feel lucky that they understand how important art is in ones life.i never studied apparel design formally but sort of fell in to it and fell in love with it. it feels very sculptural to me.  i've been very experimental with the whole process.

Q: How do you come up with your creative ideas?
A: they are constantly burning in the back of my head! i think creativity just sort of hits you, rather than coming up with ideas. it's rare that i'm "searching" for something to inspire me.

Q: What’s your quirkiest attribute?

 A: hmmm, this is a hard one. i'm fairly quirky.  i talk really fast - sometimes i think this is a result of my east coast roots but really it's probably because i have ADD and am trying to keep up with my thoughts, spit them out before i forget.

Q: What would you say to someone who says they aren’t creative?
A: i think everyone is creative in their own way, just as people are smart in their own way. creativity doesn't have to come out on paper - it can live in the mind alone. i think when someone says this they mean more that they aren't crafty with their hands - just a guess anyway.


Q: Where are your items available for sale?
A: most of my pieces are one of a kind, so also very limited. i can only produce so much with my own two hands so right now i'm only selling privately out of my studio and on etsy. i ran a clothing store for 8 years here in portland so i sold there and to a few select boutiques. i hope to do this again in the future when i have more time and can produce more.

Q: What project/s do you currently have on your plate?

A: i'm working on a few custom pieces and just starting to design some completely new things for a small collection. i don't do typical seasonal collections, but rather a group of pieces that compliment each other or have the same feel to them, a theme. i've sort of just bee working on what i like to call "survival" pieces for the last few years. i know i sound like a broken record when i say how little time i have due to being a mom, but it really has put a hold on things. i think i am feeling sort of desperate to challenge myself again, make a comeback of sorts. we shall see.