Whatever happened to "spare time"?

Time?  Can someone tell me how it manages to tick by so quickly?

I have lists of things to do, and rough ideas of how long it should take, but it never works out like that - the time just zooms on by and before I know it, time has run out and the jobs list, as ever, is un-ticked.

For example, working on new class lists for the month ahead, this can take ALL DAY.  By the time I have thought up what classes to offer, to checking the dates are free at the venue, then doing fliers and updating the website.  I can start at 9am, and finish at 6pm with a panic that nothing else got done that day!

Then there are commissions - un-timeable things.  But often comes with a feeling of guilt that you are playing with crafts rather than cleaning dog snot off the living room windows.

Squeeze into the mix actually going out to work - ok, so I don't do many hours, but it's still hours out of my ever shrinking days.

The rapidly growing grass and the ever sprouting dandelions are just left to wildly mature as time will just not let me take care of them.

Just one jarful of extra time would help me out immensely - so if anyone has any to spare, please pass it my way  :)

 

What you see isn't always what you get..

I have been buying quite a bit of patchwork cotton of late.  Fat Quarter packs, that type of thing.

When I was buying beads I had no issues with buying them from China, and would recommend to others to do the same - never once had a dodgy product.

So when looking for Charm Packs  (packs of small pieces of fabric for patchwork etc...) I found this on eBay.

It looks great doesn't it?

 Nice and colourful, with plenty of options.

The bumph read ......

• Brand new and high quality.
• Can be great for wallet,card bag,key bag,bowknot hair accessories,dinner mat,cup mat and so on.
• Perfect for DIY and other crafts.
• Be used to decorate your dull or toys.
• Material:Cotton.
• Size:20cm x 20cm - 7.87inch x 7.87inch.

We don't offer color choice. Your order will be sent in colors at random.

Incidentally, what is a dull? and how do you decorate it?  Answers on a Fat Quarter please  :)

Cool, that's ok, I don't mind a random selection at all, I like surprises.

It was available in three pack sizes,  10 pieces for 99p  (10p each), 20 for £1.89 (10p each)  or 50 for £6.58 (13p each!!).
I was tempted with the 50 ;) , but seen as the postage was free I thought I will try the 10 for 99p lot first and see how it is.

Now, I know I shouldn't really be whining at loosing 99p, but I hate feeling robbed, so I am rather grumpy about it.

Look at this!

Pretty eh?  Actually I am presuming this is the back side as the other side does have some kind of pattern - well, some pieces do anyway, others are just plain black.  4 are plain black, 3 have a little patterning, 1 has a lot of patterning, 2 bits are completely missing as there were only 8 in the bag!

And grubby with dirty little stains all over it.  And, it's not even cotton, it's a shiny, polyester type nasty stuff.

So the moral of this story is do not buy from these people.....


And, always be prepared to be disappointed  ;)

A Christmas rant

What is is about Christmas that brings the bad out in people?

Is it stress of spending too much, panic about not getting the correct gift, or is is catchy from other stress heads?  People can be rude, impatient and just down-right horrid at this time of year.

Do you remember, way back, when Christmas Day carried on into Boxing Day?   Two whole days when the family sat in one room, eating rubbish, watching rubbish, and talking rubbish.   Some folk had a nice walk on Boxing Day to blow away those Christmas cobwebs, some folk made left-over lunches out of turkey, some folk went out with their kid's to play with their new bikes/footballs/roller skates (delete as necessary).

But now?  Now the Christmas festivities are over as soon as we hit the hay on Christmas night.  Boxing Day is for the sales, for putting all the pressies away, for making the living room look like Christmas had just not happened.

Lots of people have to work, granted.  We need our emergency services, fire, police and paramedics, not to mention those who have to work in utilities.  BUT, do we need to open shops on Boxing Day?  Do we need hospitality staff to serve us dinner on Christmas Day?  Do we NEED it?

No, we do not.

Imagine if we stopped and thought for a while.  Let's cook our own Christmas dinner  (it's really not that difficult, and if you simply cannot cook, go buy it all ready to bung in the oven from Iceland!) and save the poor waiting staff, bar staff and kitchen staff all having to give up spending Christmas Day with their families to wait on our lazy butts.  I get that there is no mess to clean up if you go out (there is, someone else does it)  but if you delegate jobs it can be an easier task all round.

We don't NEED corner shops to be open because we have forgotten baby milk/tin of peas/toilet roll.  Preparation is the key, and I am sure if we tried really hard we could write a list and make sure we had all the essentials in ready for those TWO days the shops would be closed.

As for the Boxing Day Sales, they astound me.   I have had people sympathising with me for "having to work Boxing Day" whilst standing in the shop with a basket of shopping.   Yeah, I have to work it because folk like you want to shop!

What happened was that once upon a time some silly bloke, who had a shop, got himself all concerned about people spending their Christmas pennies in other shops, so to try and beat this he opened on Boxing Day when all the other shop keepers were sitting watching films and eating mince pies.   All the bored folk went to his shop and spent their pennies on his stuff.  The other shop keepers were most unhappy, so the next year they all decided to open too and the money was shared equally.  What they haven't quite worked out yet is if they have a pact all to stay shut on boxing Day, the pennies will still be there on the 27th for folk to spend in their shops  ;)  Plus the staff, managers, delivery drivers, cleaners etc... etc....  will all get a nice extra day off too!  It is a bank holiday after all.

So what would be really really great, is that next year we all boycott the Boxing Day sales, we all refuse to go out for dinner on Christmas Day and we all stay at home for two whole days and enjoy our families company.

Whose with me?

Explaining my pricing

This is a rant post, so look away now if you don't want to leave with your ears burning, but you know, sometimes things need to be addressed.

I am quite good at letting things wash over me, but now and again something comes along that just boils my piddle and I have to get my side of the story out there.

Now, what is it that has rattled my cage you will be wondering.  The good old, age old. devil's pit of pricing, that's what.

So, a friend of a friend told me that some people were discussing the prices of craft classes up at Hobbycraft, complaining that they were too expensive.  Those people were unaware that one of them knew someone who knew someone and it got back to me.  Actually they weren't complaining about me personally, but as I tutor a good percentage of the classes I feel I need to speak out on behalf of all of the artisans that hold workshops up there and, of course, in lots of other places too.  Hobbycraft do not set the prices for the craft classes, the tutors do.

Let's get this into prospective.

For example, the price for a 2 hours beginners Crochet class at Hobbycraft is £10.00.  This includes materials for the student to take home with them - approx £2.00 for a hook and two balls of yarn at £1.00 each, totalling £4.00 of materials.  This leaves £6.00.   Presumably everyone thinks that is just pure profit for myself, six shiny pounds to spend on what I wish?  If only.

First of all each artisan that holds a class up at Hobbycraft needs Public Liability Insurance to work.  This can range from £40 to £100+ a year, mine is £100+ as I work with hot glass too.  I also have other business expenses to pay, such as petrol to get to the class and ink and paper for print outs and patterns.  But for this example we will discard this.

So, £6.00.  Out of that £6.00 I put away 25% for my end of the financial year tax bill - yep I pay my taxes, I am properly employed by myself, fill in my self-assessment every year and everything.  Which leaves £4.50.

£4.50 for a two hour class equals £2.25 an hour.  Not taking into account any set up or clear down times.

To earn minimum wage of £6.31 I need three students.  (which will pay me £6.75)

Four students and I earn £9.00 an hour.  The maximum I take is 8 students for any class.

Now for those who have been to my classes you will realise that 4 students doesn't often happen, usually it is two or three.  Occasionally I have a full house, which is great, the times when more people attend makes up for the times that I go in for one single person and earn £2.25 an hour.

I have no issues with running a class for one, if people have been good enough to hand over their hard earned cash, then I am good enough to provide the service they have paid for.  I even quite enjoy the one-to-one experience with a student.

What I don't take into account is the travel time, (ok, it's not much for Hobbycraft as it is close to home, but it can be for other places),  the preparation time, which can run into hours if you need a lesson plan, the hours spent making samples for each class and the purchasing of materials for people that do not bother to turn up.

I hope that the people who had an opinion on my pricing will stumble across my blog and read this, then they can ask themselves that now I have explained the pricing does it sound so bad?  Do they realise that some days I might not get any bookings at all even though I have put aside that time just in case?  No bookings = no wages.

Everyone has a right to earn a living, and I am just trying to earn mine.

Time.

Time, is a funny old thing isn't it?

I am not good with time, I am renowned for being late.  Everything goes in my diary 15 minutes earlier than it needs to be so I get there 'on time' even though in reality I am running about like a white rabbit shouting "I'm late, I'm late...."

I am not too bad with arriving at work on time, early on in my employment I had to give myself an exact time to leave the house by, the clock on my car has to say --.45 to the minute for me to know I will be in work on time.  It works well.

I don't like time, I don't like the way it ticks away too quickly.  I don't like the way it runs out before you are finished what you are doing.  There is nothing nicer than not having to worry about the clock.

On my days off I rise when I wake, eat when I am hungry and sleep when I am tired - THIS is how life should be.

Then there is TIME - you know, not general time, ticking away in the background, but TIME it takes to do something.  Usually for someone else, a commission, or  something that needs to be finished at a certain time.

The TIME clock it very erratic, sometimes it goes slowly allowing you to finish that item super-quickly and therefore impressing everyone who knows you, but mainly the TIME clock speeds on by like it is super powered, what should take two hours ends up taking twenty two.

Take for example this necklace I have been 'repairing' for someone.  I didn't offer to do it, I was asked, no actually, not really even asked - expected, after I had generously fixed two others for her.  No payment is offered, none was expected, but generosity can only be stretched so far.

The necklace has resided in my sideboard draw for about 8 weeks now, TIME had left it there.  It's a big job really, pearl knotting. Not my favourite chore at all.  TIME needed to be set aside to do the job, but more importantly TIME needed to be found to even thing about doing the job.   TIME failed miserably.

In the end said Lady started moaning about her missing necklace.  Fair enough, I had had it a long time and the time had come to force TIME into playing ball and fixing it up.

It took ages!  But in fact I only did a temporary repair as the whole thing needed restrung (it was multi-stranded) and I just fixed the one broken string.  In terms of money TIME would have cost me a lot for that free repair.

So back it went, Lady was grateful as her Grandaughter was coming to collect it that weekend, she's from London you know and things are so expensive to get fixed in London!!!

Obviously, my TIME is free....... I just wish I had more of it  ;)

I'm talking to YOU...

What do you feel when you read a blog?  Not just my blog, anyone's blog.

Do you feel like you have sneaked Into someone's room and discovered their diary laying open on the desk, and you just could not resist a wee peek?  Do you feel naughty, like you shouldn't really be reading it at all? Do you read it quietly so no one knows you're there?

OR, do you feel like the blogger is talking directly to you? When a blogger asks a question is it directed at you? Or is it that person behind you, the one reading over your shoulder?

I read a lot of blogs, a lot invite discussion, yet I, myself, barely ever seem to take part. Why? Are they talking to me? Are they really interested in my input? Can I be bothered to type out a reply?  I think it's a little bit of all of those.  

There has been the odd occasion that I have made the effort to reply and once or twice I have scrolled down to comment to find there's a whole load of comments already there, so I don't bother. I don't know why I do this, perhaps I don't want to intrude on the conversation.

Then a giveaway pops up and I really want to add my name to the ever growing list, but I can't, because I feel it would be most rude to lurk then just pop up, waving my hand wildly in the air, shouting 'me, me, me'.

It's a different ball game of course when you personally know the blogger, you feel comfortable commenting on the post without the fear of the blogger wondering who on earth the stranger is that's just written something under their piece.

I personally appreciate every single comment I get (well, except the spam ones of course) I get a buzz when my notification pops up to tell me there's a new one, and I scurry off to see what someone has written. I have a few regular commenters and their input is very much appreciated. Based on that I'm a bit ashamed to be a lurker, I really must comment more on other people's blogs.

Oh, and if you are a lurker too, I really don't mind if you want to add your name to a giveaway post. :)

As long as there are readers, I'll keep on blogging......... or (insert horrible thought) am I just rabbiting away to myself?!

It has been known  :)

I'm melting

Seriously, I am melting, I am leaving puddles on the floor, that once cold will set into mini Soozes.

The heat is stifling here in Carlisle, it is hotter than a devils fart after a vindaloo.  And THAT is hot!

Yet I am complaining.

I don't do heat very well, I must prefer to be cold.  I wear flip-flops all year round, never wear my jumper at work, barely wear a coat and even when I do I usually end up carrying it coz I get too warm.

This week has mainly saw me stripping down to my underwear and a t-shirt (trust me, it;s NOT a good look) and desperately trying to find shadows to hide in.  (Oh, the underwear thing is in the privacy of my own home, I wouldn't inflict a sight like that on anyone!)

I can't crochet as my wool squeaks against the hook as I work (hot & sweaty hands). I can't knit for the same reason.  I can't bead coz there is no way I can even walk into the Shed as it's like the hottest sauna ever and I am afraid I will collapse and never be found.  I can't paint because.... well, I just can't paint.

Actually, I've always wanted to paint, but anything I have ever tried to do looks like something I got presented with out of nursery when the kids were little.

So I am just hanging about.

Hanging about my craft room, sending a couple of emails before deciding it's too hot and leaving.
Hanging about my conservatory, which is a stupid idea as it's like an oven in there.
Hanging about my living room, watching the crappest daytime TV until I decide it is brain numbing.
Hanging about my garden, till the dog poops and I have to go back in (Have you ever smelt dog poop in the heat?  Let's just say the stench intensifies LOTS!

What I really want to be doing is lounging most seductively on a sunbed, with an iced glass of something sparkly on the table next to me, with soft music coming from the iPod dock and a wonderful feeling of calm and relaxation.

My reality is I have no sunbed - I have a swing chair that gives me motion sickness. I can't do seductive lounging - think more beached whale gasping for water, all I can hear outside are the neighbours kids (I've lost count of how many kids are in our cul-de-sac now, compare to none at all 3 years ago) the boinging of a trampoline overpowers my soft music, and the only ice in my freezer are the ice cubes made of fabric dye for a future project.  (Don't worry, I have a note on them!)

I'm going to stay inside and melt some more.  In the meantime let me share with you some melting art work - I love the effect of these, the way everything seems to flow.  Click on the photos to take you to their original source.

Commenting on Blogs

A little while ago I clicked a tick box in the settings part of my blog dashboard.

I read the destructions first and it seemed to be that using Google + for comments is the clever thing to do as it will bring comments in not only from your blog but also from your G+ account.

What I didn't realise is that you can ONLY have a G+ account to comment, so my comment count actually went down. I was getting emails stating "Sorry, can't comment on your blog, but....".  I had presumed that it would still allow other users to comment.

So today I have unticked that box.


Can you comment now?

Would love to see how many can get through with this adjustment, even if it's just a single word  :)

Thanks for your time, it is muchly appreciated, so much so that I am preparing a giveaway  (which wont be much good if no one can comment!)

A rant on design theft

I was just about to blog a tutorial, and I am working through them the order of which they are placed in my PC, but I started to have a little rant about this particular piece, which has turned into a larger rant, so I thought it better have a post all to itself  :)

This is how the post was to start....

This particular design comes with a bad taste.  It was featured in Bead magazine, oh, a long time ago, and then I was asked permission for it to be featured on Bead TV.  I am not precious about my designs, I design things for people to make and enjoy so I have no issues with them being shared about.

What I did have an issue with however, was one day while sitting on Facebook, an advert pops up for a UK based bead shop and you will never believe what was staring back at me?  Yep, this design.  Not my actual piece, but a piece made from my design.  At that very same point I got a message from a friend saying "Have you seen this........." I decided to have a closer look.

There, on their website, was a photo of their work made from my design with the words "This stunning bracelet was designed by S....." and it wasn't blooming well "Sooz"!!  But I am happy to think they thought it was stunning.

At this point I decided to split the rant from the original blog post and carry on....

Anywhoo, I thought I should write to this particular bead shop and ask what was going on.

Hi ******,

I wanted to talk to you about a bracelet you have on your website as a tutorial.  It actually says it was "Designed by S*****", but one of my customers sent me the link as she thought it was mine.

On looking at it I could see why she would think that, It was featured in Bead Magazine (Bead issue 18, pp. 106-107, Oct/Nov '09 )  but I actually wrote it in 2008, as you can see from my attachment   You might also notice that the materials list is almost identical.

Just wondered what your thoughts were on this?

Chat soon

Sooz

And the reply.

Hi Sue,

Thank you for your email.

S**** found out about the technique of wrapping the headpins around to create a coil on the Bead.tv website. She took the technique and customised it using pearls instead of the mixed stones and plastic beads on the Bead.tv website and also added a charm to add individuality.

Best wishes

J******

Ok, so using different beads (well, that's not surprising is it?  A bead shop is not going to go out and buy beads from another bead shop when they are just a regular bead are they? and adding a charm makes it her design?

Of course there is always the argument of 'being similar', I've done this myself, made something and found it has already been done, this could have well been this case in this example.... if they had not admitted where they got the 'idea' from in the first place.  Afterall this might not even be my design, it may have been done loads before, but I have not seen it anywhere else and if I had I certainly wouldn't claim to have designed it.  (Design is probably the wrong word anyway, maybe we should substitute it with 'techniqued')

And actually my beads were glass, they remade it on the Bead TV website with different beads.  Can you claim a design as your own and credit yourself as being the designer if you simply change the beads?

Hi,

Thanks for your reply,

So, that would seem it is my bracelet pattern as it was featured on the Bead TV website, along with others I have done.

Sooz

No reply. A whole month later I email again.

Hi,

I see my bracelet design is still being featured on your website.

I am sick of people contacting me to tell me about it, so can you please either remove it or credit me with designing it?

Sooz

No reply, and that was way back in February 2011.  And guess what?  It's STILL there, and S**** is still claiming to be the designer.

Cheeky huh?

Mine:

Theirs:

Similar? Ok, they take a much better photograph than me, but aside from the shape of the bead and the added charm (Oh why didn't I think of that!! **sarcasm**)  they look pretty alike right?  And the fact that they even admit where they found the design from, how can they even contemplate putting themselves as the designer?

Anyway, do you want the tutorial now?  MY tutorial for MY design, given to YOU, make it, share it, even teach it if you like, put it as a free tutorial on your website, just don't claim that you designed it  ;)

(Ooooo, I am so close to typing that name of that naughty UK bead shop.... so, so close.  S.......no, I won't, I am the better person  ;) )

Pricing your crafts for sale

Yes, this old can of worms.

I often get asked for advice on pricing, and my heart sinks.  On one hand I want to shout "Charge a proper rate, get a decent wage" but in reality any crafter will tell you that that hardly happens.

To earn a 'decent wage' you really need to establish a name for yourself.  This is the hard part.  It involves a lot of work on your part, work apart from your beloved crafting.  You need to be up on Social Networking - push that Facebook page, Tweet those Twitter updates, hover around Pintrest, post on Tumblr and of course update your blog regularly.  Shove your name and your work into peoples faces - every single day, do NOT let them forget you.  Of course, while you are busy doing that you cannot find any time to make anything.

Once you have established yourself a name and you have people hankering for your products, then the pricing gets much easier.  But for us mere mortals down here on the 'no-one knows who I am' shelf, things can be a little different.

So, for arguments sake, let's sake you want to earn £10 an hour.  It's not a great wage, it's certainly not on par with other craftspeople such as plumbers, electricians, mechanics (It's a form of craft, right?) but it's ok, it's better than minimum wage, better than delivering the local free newspaper in the rain.

You take some headpins, thread some beads on, make a loop, add to an earring wire, repeat - one nice pair of beaded earrings.  Personally that would take me less than five minutes to make.

Those five minutes however do not include sourcing the beads, making the purchase, going down to the Post Office to collect the parcel because the Posty Person was too lazy to follow the directions round to The Shed!

Now if I was working on a basis of £10 per hour, five minutes would be about 84p.
Let's look at the approximate costings:

• 10 Swarovski Beads - 80p
• 2 Sterling Silver Earwires - £1.50
• 2 Sterling Silver Headpins  - 50p
• Time - 84p
• TOTAL = £3.64

Not bad for a pair of sterling and Swarovski Crystal earrings huh?

Imagine though if they were cheaper Chinese beads, and plated findings:

• 10 chinese crystals - 20p
• 2 plated earwires - 10p
• 2 plated headpins - 6p
• Time - 84p
• TOTAL = £1.20

Now, THIS is what people want to pay in my experience.  It doesn't/shouldn't matter to you as you get the same amount in wages, but it does, because you want to use quality products.  Your customer will look at your prices, then go and buy the product in Primark.  Quantity not Quality in many cases I am afraid.

But these earrings of course are going to be relatively cheap, what happens when you put a lot of time into a piece?

I had a necklace on display at work, not for sale, just to showcase a class I was going to run.  A lady asked me how much it would be if I was to sell it.  My immediate thought to myself was "You will never buy it once I give you a price", I knew this, it was displayed in Hobbycraft where people come to buy their craft products, if it was displayed in an art gallery would she have dared to ask?  I think not!

This particular piece was a peyote link chain, very tactile, everyone loves holding it, but it took me 15 hours to make it - at £10 an hour that should be £150 before the price of the beads (which as is happens was only around £3.00). 

If I had have said £153 she would have had a heart attack I am sure, so doing some quick calculations in my head, which went something like this - the beads cost £3.00, time has already been spent and gone, it's hung around a long time, probably will never make another - let's say £30.  (That's under £2.00 an hour!)

I tell her it took 15 hours to make, I tell her that at £5.00 an hour (which is below minimum wage) and not including materials, it would be priced up at £75, I tell her I couldn't possibly let it go for anything lower than £30.

As predicted, she nearly died on the spot, recovered, then proceeded to tell me it wasn't worth anything like that and she thought it would be "about a fiver".

I calmly took my necklace off the display and walked away with it. (actually, I wasn't that calm :) )

One problem with under-pricing is something you might not think of until it happens to you.  You decide to sell a pretty bracelet for £10.  The material cost is relatively low, say £2.00, but it has taken you 3 hours to make it. You think, OK, it's made, let's just get some money in on it, and £8.00 profit isn't bad. 

Now imagine this, a lady picks up your bracelet, admires it loads, beautiful it is, you are grinning like a Cheshire Cat, then she says - "I would like to order 12 please. Do I get a discount?"  You agree on £9.00 a piece. Your first emotion is "WHOOPPPEEE" I got a commission, you order the beads, order the wires, sit down to work.  36 hours later you have finished, you are sick to the back teeth of seeing this blooming design, you never want to make it again, EVER !!

You deliver the goods, you get paid - £108, seems like a lot, you might order pizza tonight to celebrate  :)

Lets break it down:

• Materials (originally £2.00 worth, but as you ordered them specially you had postage to pay) - £36
• Time at 36 hours at minimum wage of £6 per hour - £216
• TOTAL - £252  
• Total Loss - £144

Gulp!  Ok, so taking your time out of the equation  you have made £72 profit on materials, but you really DO deserve to be paid you know.

Here is another example of my own.

I made a Lynn Davy special which I named Cottage Garden, took me 14 hours to make - all weekend in fact, I sent it down to my Mother-In-Law as she wanted to sell some of my stuff on a craft stall at her craft group (there was no beaders amongst the group)  I had to price everything up, and as it was close to Christmas I priced it to sell.  Except this piece, that really I didn't want to sell, I just wanted to showcase it.  I priced it at £75 thinking it would put people off.  (I did have Lynn's permission to sell it by the way, as it was her design I thought it only right to ask)

It didn't put people off, it was the first thing to sell.  Now let's work out what I made on it:

• Materials - approx £5.00
• Time 14 hours at £10 per hour - £140
• TOTAL - £145
• Sold for £75
• Loss = £70

Looking at it another way, £75 take off the materials cost = £70, divide by 14 hours spent making it = £5.00

I actually made £5.00 an hour making that piece. Not bad I guess if you are crafting for pocket money and not to make a living.

I know crafters who have had a bit of hassle for underpricing, personally I think it's no body's business but your own deciding on what to charge.  Just because my neighbour on the next craft stall sells a similar product for less does not mean I will change my price structure.  Neither does it mean that I can give her a hard time about raising her prices (trust me, I have seen this happen) If customers want your item enough, they will buy it.  

Be confident in your prices.  Always charge on the high side if you can as it is much easier to drop your prices later if need be, rather than hike them up.  Buyers think you are being greedy if you put your prices up, not many would realise that you were actually charging too low to begin with.

Be wary of 'sales', to me they mean two things - 1: the item has hung around too long and you need rid of it, 2: you need money, fast.  Better just to quietly drop the price.

So there you have it, clear?  No, I thought not. I don't think pricing your own crafts will ever be clear.  It just needs to be something you are happy with.  Just make sure people know how many hours you put into making your stuff and if necessary ask them if they would work for £2.00 an hour - not many would, trust me!

Right, off to put some crafting time, this blog has just cost me £10 in wages  ;)