Craft Brainiac

Professional Tuesdays: Pricing Your Products: The 411

As a crafty business brainiac I read alot of craft and business related blogs and Handmadeology is no exception. I was thrilled to read about their Weekend Handmade Challenge and today I will be reviewing a very useful and relevant article to any small business owner: Pricing Your Products: The 411 written by Meagan Visser.

Even with an MBA, I still struggle with pricing my own leather goods. I hesitate each time someone asks me, "How much are you selling this for?" 

The article breaks down the 411 of pricing your products and this is where I struggle with the process:

Material Costs - Leather is not cheap. I try to upcycle and repurpose leather but overall buying a skin of leather (sold by the square foot) is not the same as buying a yard of fabric. 

Labor Cost - This is a serious issue for me. Leathercrafts are very time and labor intensive. Making a purse or wallet involves cutting, gluing, punching, stitching, sewing and assembling. What I think could take me half hour can drag on for hours at a time! 

Overhead - I could only think of the electricity I use for my sewing machine and night light. Is there anything else I should consider?

Profit - Of course I want something extra! LOL

Markup - Do I just plug in any number? (50%, 100% or 150%)

Using the formula Meagan suggested in her follow-up article, Pricing Your Products: The Formula I determined my wholesale as well as retail prices which I am currently using in a 50/50 consignment agreement with a local boutique.  

Despite using formulas I have learnt that what people pay for your product is strongly based on their perception of it. I have customers who know the value and quality of a well-made leather item and will pay for it and then there are those who find it too expensive!

Pricing is definitely a game that only time, sales and repeat customers will tell.

Project Mondays: Leather Clutch Inspiration

I want to share with you the first leather clutch I ever made a couple of years ago that still looks fabulous up to this day. It is made from a lovely piece of green matte, metallic leather which I hole-punched and hand-stitched. The clutch is also lined with cotton fabric and closes with a magnetic snap. 

This clutch style is the inspiration for my new leather clutch collection that I am currently working on which will be available in different colors and patterns of leather. Stay tuned for more details....

Want to know what else I have been working on? Check out my previous "Project Mondays" posts.

Random Fridays: My Cat Rocky

My cat Rocky is quite a handful and loves to get himself in everything. My plants are no exception! LOL :)

Have a great weekend! See you next week.....

Homemaker Thursdays: Quick & Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes

A lot of people assume as an island girl, I can cook up a storm, but that is not the case. Cooking is not one of my strong points and I still consider myself a beginner. My kitchen above can definitely fool you...LOL

I came across this recipe in a book entitled Lipton Recipe Secrets: Soup Mix Magic. I made some of it the other day and took out some pictures of my process. What I love about it is that this recipe only uses 3 ingredients!

The Main Ingredients:

1. Potatoes (4 or more-peeled and cut in chunks)
2. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (1/3 to 1/4 cup)
3. Lipton Onion Soup Mix (1 envelope)

I assume any other cooking oil can work just as well. I also used a large ziploc bag to combine the ingredients together.

Here it is all mixed together to be placed in a baking pan and ready for the 425 degree oven. 

For more details, I also found the recipe online on the Lipton Recipe Secrets website. They call it  Onion Roasted Potatoes 

Try it and let me know what you think. You might actually like it! ENJOY :)

Motivational Wednesdays: Taking Risks

Are you holding your own self back? Are you a risk-taker? 

In some regards I do not consider myself a risk-taker. No, I will not bungee jump off a bridge or do any dare devil stunts even if I only live once. On the other hand, looking over the last 30 years of my life, I have indeed taken some risks when it comes to where I live, my education, my career and my relationships. 

Once you are still breathing, life presents you with opportunities, challenges and decisions to make. Taking risks is high up there with being open to change. If you are not open to change or do not embrace it, then your life will be at a stand-still. 

Taking risks can also be linked to taking a stand in what you believe in even though it may be against popular opinion. Taking risks determines how strong you are to persevere and commit to something or someone bigger than yourself. 

If we all know that change and risk-taking are good things, then why are we so afraid to do it? The number one reason I have found is fear; fear of the unknown and fear of failure. What are we so afraid about? We set goals, we make resolutions and yet we are afraid to step out into the unknown and take that leap of faith.

So what if you fail or make a mistake? Take the risk anyway. The joy is in getting up after the fall and believe me I have fallen quite a number of times! 

Everyday I try to do something that may scare me on the inside but I do it anyway. Everyday I encourage myself to do things that I would not have done before. I strongly believe that if you take just one step, the other will follow.