Monday, July 30, 2012

Bags boost sales! (Or, at least, interest in my shop.)



Happy Monday!

I am pleased to report that two bags have been added to Wacky Wanita's YOUnique Boutique! And, as was the case last time purses made it into the shop, interest in the shop increased drastically in just 24 hours. Women like bags, I guess! Whodathunkit?



The first bag, my personal favorite, is this enormous handbag that I'm calling the Grace Kelly clutch. Now, it's a little bigger than your average clutch (fifteen inches long!), but it has no strap and is intended as a statement piece. I chose the name Grace Kelly because I think of Grace Kelly as being a woman of class who, like Audrey, is always "in," but is perhaps a little edgier than other actresses who have stood the test of time. I feel that this purse is a little vintage-y because of its size and material (wool), but it transcends the trends of an era and is very prominent. Like Grace Kelly.

The bag is one of a kind. As the listing explains, the material was limited, so although the pattern can be repeated, this exact model of the Grace Kelly clutch cannot be repeated, so whichever lucky lady ends up with this one can be the envy of all her friends.



The other bag, also a clutch, and also by the the artist of the first two Wacky Wanita purses, Heidi, is almost too small to call a clutch, so it will come up in Etsy searches as a wallet, as well. Its cream-and-off-white pattern make it perfect for a bridal affair, and we have enough material left to make a few matching pieces, if a customer wanted to give a set of them to her wedding party. Even more exciting? A larger version--with its own unique button design--is going to be released shortly, as well.

Still working on the greeting card set "'H' as in 'Hi.'" That will probably be the next thing to appear at WackyWanitaDesigns. It's very exciting. Can't wait to show it to you!

Thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

Wanita

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

We haven't forgotten you!



I’ve not forgotten all y’all faithful few who diligently read the blog—it’s just been crazy crazy crazy for this li’l unemployed gal.  But I got a few minutes to update you this morning, so here we go!

Nothing new has been added to the shop in over a week, though there are many projects on the horizon. Heidi, the maker of the purses recently added to Wacky Wanita’s, has a couple new items coming, and Janice, who crochets my hats for me, has been working on a design that will fit a smaller head, so that I can sell my flower hats to chilluns, too. I’ve got my “flashcard” greeting set coming soon, and I’m hoping that Deborah, who recently came into quite a hoard of beautiful buttons, will be filling a couple orders I placed with her.



And speaking of buttons, last weekend, my stepmother (fists filled with coupons) invited me to head down to the craft supply store with her, which I was more than pleased to do. What I did not know was that when I arrived at her home, her mother would be there with literally thousands of buttons, old and new alike, that were free for the taking. She scored an amazing deal at a flea market, picked out the pieces she liked, and offered the rest to us. My stepmother picked out the ones that would go best with her purse designs, while I took every gaudy vintage button in the lot. I probably walked away with five hundred buttons. So many possibilities!





So as you can see, Wacky Wanita’s is not a place of still waters. Things are happening. It’s just the calm before the storm, so to speak—but in a really good way!

Can’t wait to post again soon! Meanwhile, if you’ve got that itch, here are a couple shops I found on Etsy that I love:

Plad: hand-carved, earthy, rustic items that are purely for aesthetic appeal: http://www.etsy.com/shop/plad

Depeapa: pen-and-ink original works, applied to everything from T-shirts to felt brooches: http://www.etsy.com/shop/depeapa

FlapperDoodle: 1920's art and stationery by a gal named Kate out in California (I've ordered from her before; I want EVERYTHING in her shop!): http://www.etsy.com/shop/flapperdoodle

Until next time, stay wacky!

Wacky Wanita

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Hot off the press!



Wacky Wanita's has gotten its first endorsement from the press!

Kim Solga, a fellow Etsy-er and the mind behind My Etsy Blog ("an open and candid discussion of what it takes to set up and work a shop on Etsy"), wrote to me a couple days ago to ask whether I'd be open to her doing an article on my catalog-style approach to photos on Etsy. Heck yes!

The short entry, which today is on the homepage and after today will be available on My Etsy Blog under "Great Photos Are the Key," details my newborn idea to use the final photo spot given for an Etsy listing to pair the item with other items from the shop--a stylist's approach. Solga asked me a few questions, I answered them, and, well, now you can read about it!

The article can be viewed here. Can't wait to hear what you think!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Who doesn't love a good greeting card?



I don't have much to post today, but I wanted to give you guys a peek at the new design for my flash "cards." You are really going to like them!

The original design was perfectly acceptable, but I also felt that it was slightly flawed; only the "g as in 'go'" card had the original vintage type on the face of the card, because of the 1960s grammar school flashcards I obtained, it was the only one with a catchy, greeting-card usable slogan built into the flashcard itself. I had to make up the slogans for "sh : new baby" and "sh : it's a surprise" cards, and the font I used was the closest I could get to the original type.

But I'm a perfectionist, and it was not good enough.

I went hunting for something better, knowing that no matter how many fonts I downloaded, I would never find anything that could match the original letterpress stamps that were likely used to make the cards. But therein lay my solution: I should look for stamps.

Lo and behold, the first place I went looking, I found a set of alphabet stamps that mimicked the precise feel of the original type! I purchased some high-quality ink along with the stamps, then experimented on paper to find the best way to make the stamped letters look aged, coming up with what I thought was the closest resemblance to vintage-looking type.

I stamped out the whole alphabet in a line, scanned the sheet, and, through careful measuring and cropping, created my own font!--which I then used to type out handy slogans like these:









I have a whole "H as in Hi" collection planned so that Wacky Wanita customers can buy a complete greeting card set, purchasing ten cards at once at a lower cost per card, and also allowing the buyer to enjoy more of the "flashcard" feel. A few other collections will follow. But I haven't named those ones yet!

Just wanted to keep you in the know. And I was excited. :-)

Some new purses coming soon, too. Came up with a couple design ideas today to pitch to my pursemaker--whose photo and bio should appear soon on the "Artists" page, so look forward to that!

Have a splendid day!

See you soon,

Wacky Wanita

PS--And check out the new Facebook fanpage! http://www.facebook.com/WackyWanitasYoUniqueBoutique
*All "flashcards"/flash "cards" shown here and in the Wacky Wanita store are copyright Wacky Wanita 2012.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Welcome, July! We love you.



Another crazy week at Wacky Wanita's. But what else would it be, right? Wait. Have you heard this story?

Maybe you haven't! I've got the time to tell you. I'm just sitting here in my freshly-cleaned kitchen with nothing but some editing work on my plate. It's not like I have to be at work tomorrow or anything. Not just because I don't work on Sundays, but because--that's right--I quit my day job.

I gave my notice at the elite retail job where I worked as inventory manager right around the same time that I started this super awesome blog. It wasn't my intention at the time to become a full-time entrepreneur, but that's what life has been for me the last week. A lot of businessy hustle and bustle, networking, and filling in the gaps with little details like shipping supplies and copyright stamps. Tomorrow I meet with my hatmaker. (Okay, I guess I do a little work on Sundays sometimes.) Then it will be off onto the next thing.

Perhaps you already thought that Wacky Wanita's was my career, but alas, no. Wacky Wanita artist Deborah and I both love the idea of renting a studio space in historical Portsmouth and coming in every day to share all the ideas we came up with exploring vintage sales and Pinterest (want to follow me? I'm The Antler Girl!), but the reality is, at this point, this boutique is not going to pay the bills.

In the meantime, I've got an interview scheduled for Monday at a bridal boutique. Interesting, no? It's as though all the facets of my girliness are coming together. Just a few days ago, in that brilliant space between waking and sleeping, I came up with the idea for the bridal fortune cookie card.



I swore I'd only make the fortune cookie in three colors--to keep it special and select--but this idea was too good. The zillions of shades of white made available to a bride as she prepares for her big day are the perfect inspiration for a fresh new fortune cookie card. I thought it could be used for a maid-of-honor thank-you--after all, she does so much to assist the bride, make the whole wedding-planning process fun, and alleviate stress that a simple single-fold card does not really provide enough space to say it all--but Deborah matched my idea and raised me one:

She said she hopes her matron of honor will get the card and use it to navigate the bachelorette party! She says a traveling bachelorette party or an evening full of events could be made that much more spontaneous by allowing the bride to choose her fate via the bridal fortune cookie card. Brilliant! If this woman ever starts her own wedding blog, I am following it. I will never miss a single post.

That's probably my favorite new product this week. I'm positively giddy about it.

Another girlie product to hit the table this week is the Heidi clutch. Now, since the market for bags is highly competitive, I'm sparking my own trend by creating a catalog feel, if you will, in my Etsy store. Online stores are great and everything, but one thing a shopper loses between the pages of a catalog and the screen of a computer is the stylist's use of products together. Before anyone can just pass off the Heidi clutch as yet another bag in the streams and streams of bags that flow through Etsy, they're going to have to take a moment to consider our Wacky Wanita styling approach. Check it out:





Tell me this isn't a good idea! I'm still working out the kinks, and I'm not sure Etsy will approve... but I only intend to do it with the purses, and hey--it's worth a shot!

What else, what else?

The reason I meet with my hatmaker tomorrow is that she has been working out the measurements for a child-size hat, so that I can provide the slave-free flower hats in multiple sizes. I don't know that I'll commit to purchasing any tomorrow; I have to approve the design and select colors first, but that could be the next big thing.

A potential new artist and I are working out a design for a great messenger bag I think people are really going to love. I'm debating about maybe making it in the proportions to carry the iPad, but we shall see. I will say that it may incorporate vintage jewelry, and a belt, and a fabric design by yours truly! I'm super excited about that.

Oh! And we've got a whole bunch of new "flashcards" coming hot off the press in the next week. They're classy, they're clever--you're going to love them.

So, basically, a lot to look forward to.

Thanks for tuning in! Can't wait to share this next chapter of my story with you. You're the best!

Until next time,

Wanita