No words necessary

I love a good rummage in a charity shop. In the depths of Carmarthenshire I found this wonderful, I'm guessing 1960's 'Sylvac' tableware. The pattern is supposed to be lace but I love it, as, to me it looks more like coral formations.

Pushed to make progress with pricing

After much thought, I am having a radical overhaul of my pricing. I have just recently been invited to take part in two prestigious exhibitions both of which will take 50% on any sales. In addition my current retail commitments are taking 25% commission. I'm finding  it more and more difficult to justify my current reasonable pricing system and they don't reflect the hours involved in production.

I am researching four different pricing strategies ( which I'll report on) passed onto me from various sources and will be making up my mind and repricing everything by the end of July. So, if you've a mind to, it would be wise to buy something now before they increase in price!!

ELINtm feature on Tractorgirl

Here's a great piece from Aussie blogger Tractorgirl......'great', not just because I'm featured! There is also lots of super stuff to peruse in both the contemporary craft and art fields .

http://tractorgirl.com.au/the-crafted-object-elinart-crochet-lichen-mould

Lynette Wallworth's film of coral reef life (exerpt)

Australian artist Lynette Wallworth has spent five years making this film, containing remarkable footage of the alien world of coral reefs. The film is a timely reminder of the amazing biodiversity we would lose with even a tiny change in sea temperatures.

New postal charges in the UK

Oh dear! If it wasn't bad enough for the small artisan business with the recession and all, UK postal price rises came into effect yesterday.

I'm feeling quite conflicted about it at the moment. I'm very happy to pay more to secure our brilliant daily delivery service but I suspect it's just preparation for privatisation.

Only time will tell what the effect will be. The concrete example of an effect I have had so far is my ebay listings. Many were about half way through a 10 day listing yesterday, so I adjusted the shipping on all my listings. Unfortunately, the amount of watchers who disappeared was pretty significant.

I guess with increases of about a third on many services it could be some time before people absorb the impact of the increase. Below are the default shipping for 'Notonthehighstreet' sellers here in the UK (I'm one :) . Pretty painful eh!

Spring offer!

Spring is breaking out in my cactus and succulents patch. To celebrate I have a spring free shipping offer in both stores! It'll be for two weeks ending on 30th April. Happy hunting!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/elinart

http://elintm.bigcartel.com

Great news! At least I think so....

It's funny how things happen...I had just made a firm decision to let my Etsy shop lie fallow and if it died through lack of attention, so be it. The next day I was contacted by Etsy's European arm to be informed:-

"you have been selected for Etsy's Press Kit....Now is a good time to fill your shop with similar items and beef up your descriptions"

What! Not the kind of serendipity I wanted. Trying to stop wasting time on Etsy has been like trying to quit crack!! I was so close....Anyway, after being on holiday for a week, I have returned to find all this relevancy bother, yet another major tweaking session required. Exactly the kind of thing that keeps me hooked on Etsy but hating it at the same time....arrgh!

'Preparing to sell' at Tredegar House

A good time was had by all at the 'preparing to sell' day workshop at Tredegar House, Newport, Wales.

Tredegar house is the venue for 'Made by Hand' in December, (it's also a location for a lot of the filming of the Dr Who series!). My first ever big selected craft fair. Made by hand- Wales is an offshoot of the huge annual craft show in Bovey Tracey.

Ffi..http://www.madebyhand-wales.co.uk

I am very excited and it will be a huge eye opener for me. The list of things I need to get my head round is growing exponentially every week!!