You've got to Move it, Move it!

 Finally moving day is here for Made Marion Craft, our little but thriving business in Wellington.
Assisted by a small but perfectly formed army of volunteers, everything got packed up by close of business Sunday and all we had to do today (Monday) was get the furniture coded for the movers who arrived at lunch time. It was weird being sort of open but not really. And there being nothing to do for a few hours.

And now just about half of the stuff is over there; through friends with big cars or vans on Sunday taking the odd shaped things like mannequins, spinning wheels and racks, and the movers arriving today at lunchtime and whipping out most of the furniture.
The photos below show the incredible back room that will be our storage and staff area. It has a mezzanine and graffiti!! For some reason these two elements combined seem incredibly edgy to me!

It's scary but also exciting to be growing, sort of (much, MUCH busier part of town, more rent, more classes etc) when other shops are folding. We're holding our own which is a good feeling.
Tomorrow, more moving, more unpacking, rinse and repeat for the rest of the week. I will take some pics of the new space as it develops. Today I was too comatose!
P.S. Cuba St is very edgy. We're all deciding how to rise to the occasion. I feel I should get more tattoos, there may be dreadlocks and pyjamas or leather studded wrist bands. Curly moustaches, it's all here! 

I'm pooped- and Merry Christmas!

Pooped here in NZ means really tired, done in, knackered etc. We closed the shop at 5pm this evening after a full on fortnight.
The shop is moving, well if only it would move itself - we are moving it with the assistance of many amazing volunteers and a big van of ripped young men (we live in hope) in a couple of weeks.
Why, after two mere years? Because the greed of our recently acquired corporate landlord who thinks that he can get 90k MORE than we pay now.
So, his loss is our short term pain, long term gain, because we have scored an incredible space on the most charming street in the CBD - Cuba St. A street of little eclectic shops, amazing cafes - it is the street I made a beeline for as a teenager.
Sadly as in every city in the world, this once eclectic street has been gentrified a lot, and my favourite second hand record shop, Silvios, is now a posh cafe, the precursor to today's $2 shops, Crazy Ricks is also a posh cafe...you get the idea. the charming workmen's cottages up the top where dreadlocked arty types set up a wee clothes shop in their front room were all swept away for the motorway bypass.
So, we are returning there, about 60m down the road from where the original shop was opened in the early 70s. Which is now a posh icecream shop.
It feels really good. How my recalcitrant knee and I are going to get through I don't know.
But them's the breaks! Or the pulled tendons...
Anyway here are a few interior shots. 

 Yes, these are skylights of natural light. Such a lovely thing!

 Looking from front to back, loving the mural from when it was Matchbox studios.

 From back to front - about 25m deep

A genuine real display window at the front!!!

And so, Merry Christmas to you all. Tomorrow we are doing nothing, going nowhere and enjoying every minute xo

Getting to the UK one Frida at a time

Hi all, I am on a plane in 14 sleeps and the big old whiteboard is covered in things to do! I arrive at Heathrow on 24 October and will be back in New Zealand by 16 November.
I am broke, cassé, skint, and in order to be able to eat, travel and have somewhere to stay while I am there, I've been fundraising. The gigs I have do pay, and for that I am grateful, but to raise the balance I have been making and selling Frida and Mary jacket patches. Frida outsells Mary by about 10 to one but that's to be expected!
It's actually really satisfying to be able to raise money by making things myself. And with these sales, sales of false drag lashes and performance fees I've raised enough to get by without having to rely on my credit card too much!
Other than that, I'm doing some free lance work, sewing for myself and others, and dealing with three massive things going totally wrong in my life all at once.  Two of them could be sorted by me getting a full time job or a longer term contract, and the third will probably come right faster if I did as well, because the stress of the situation would diminish a lot.
I don't want to go into details about any of them here, sorry to be vague but I'm in that weird place where pretending everything is OK is just not possible because it isn't, yet sharing the details is not a thing I can do right now either. Suffice to say that corporate greed and earthquakes are behind the troubles. One day I'll tell all.
In the meantime, I am blown away by the kindness of people!!! Friends and family who through small and huge acts of kindness just keep reminding me that life is worth persisting with.
On my to-do list is Fabricabrac this Saturday. The bi annual huge destash market that started in Wellington and is now happening all over NZ. I decided to use it as  chance to clear out my ridiculous stash of fabric in the shop store room and today Penny and I hauled out boxes and bins full of it!

This is a FRACTION of what we unearthed. It was crazy. I found stuff I forgot I had, had bought again, and generally realised that I am a HOARDER.
Anyway it's sorted more or less, scraps in colour themed bags, size and value sorted, everything. And I tell you I am not bringing stuff back. I kept back about a binful at most, the rest if it doesn't sell is going to a charity. But I think I'll be seeing lots of happy people walk out with it.
And thus will I make just a little bit more for my trip. :) In full knowledge of the money wasted on buying it in the first place. But to be honest I've not really added to my hoards much in the past few years, I've just dragged the stuff around after me. So by getting rid of it, it is an end of yet another era!
If you are in Wellington and love fabric, come to Fabricabrac - at St Anne's Hall, Emmett Street, Newtown 10am-2pm this Saturday 13 October. There's a huge car park and the church collects a gold coin donation for it. You can do your fruit and vege shopping next door too! https://fabricabrac.wordpress.com/wgtn/
Update after Fabricabrac: I went with five boxes and came back with one small box! WIN!

Building a Christmas Tree Dress

I saw a few of these online and had to make one for the shop. Like Dior made Christmas his own!
So, last Sunday MrC and I purchased a 210cm tall artificial tree, some new lights and baubles, and on Thursday I got stuck in. The mannequin is a new one that is technically for sale in the shop and I felt its black and cream dramatic patterning lent itself to the concept.
I am really uncomfortable with heights even little ones, and working on the 3 foot high display dais was pretty freaky for me. Because taking pics meant getting down and up off it, I didn't capture every stage in the process but here's how I did.

 The mannequin before.

 I tied the small, fluffy branches around the leg to create a petticoat. Tied on with cotton tape.

 The next stage involved gun stapling another layer of longer branches to the underside of the mannequin. Then a layer of the longest branches hooked through a cotton tape around the waist. 

At this stage the weight of the branches caused the base of the mannequin to bust. So, we took the three little feet off and just propped it on a angle into the corner! The skirt is only around the front so it needed an angle to stop it toppling forward.

 Lights! Pink organza around the waist to hide the workings.

 I changed the organza sash to be deeper with no bow, made a necklace out of baubles and hung the baubles, of course.

 The almost completed display  - fake presents and Mel's clever Wall tree made from decreasing rolled up strips of wrapping paper.

A close up of the adorable dress ornaments I bought in Greytown. The six of them cost more than all the baubles but they had to be bought, right? 

I am in love with this display, no other way to put it!

The Spring Wedding Show

A few months ago I had a sudden urge to do a wedding show, as you do. We sell and hire lots of the kinds of stuff used at weddings - cake tins and stands, bunting, ribbons, cake decorating stuff - and hessian, or burlap as it is known in N.A. Plenty of couples want to D.I.Y. some aspects of their wedding and so often when they do come in they remark that if only they had known we had all the stuff that we have, they would have come to us for it. So why not get out there and show them.
The show was on Sunday 18th October, at Macs Function Centre which is a converted dockside warehouse and quite funky.

 Cupcakes - wrapped in hessian ribbon, lace or both. Fruit leather daisies make a lovely topper for a rustic look.

 Of course I had to show off my butterflies too. The cupcakes are there to show off the tiered stand that we have for hire, and also to promote private workshops in decorating them.

 Cake toppers - I was chuffed to find one with two guys. None with two women seem to be available...

 more stuff

 The whole muddle.

I HAD to get these wicker hampers - they are so great for displaying stuff. Back at the shop it is filled with rolls of Christmas wrap. Here, it is showing off all the things out of which you can make table runners.

It was a pretty quiet show really, but we had some lovely chats with lovely people, and got to know some of the venue people and hire people etc so we can all help point people to each other. 

At some level I find it odd that people would pay $18 to get into a show like this and then act like the people with stalls are trying to ensnare them. Most of the attendees were relaxed, happy types interested to find out what we had to show them, but about 1 in 5 groups didn't even bother to come over and see what we were about. So stupid - how do they think they can tell what it is we are offering by a quick glance at our stand. And us. It's these types that really put me off getting in too deep with wedding related stuff. To me it is such a sacred act, so much more important than the colour of the serviettes, and I find all this superficial nonsense really disheartening.

Oh well. That's what happens when you go to the people instead of waiting for them to find you, I guess.

We won!!!

My shop Made on Marion, won the Top Shop Award for Small/Single Store. How cool is that?!

This is me accepting the award and having a lot to say as per usual -behind me from left, Melisa, Karen, MrC (pretty much hidden) Ben, and Mark the CEO of Retail NZ.

It was an awesome evening - lovely company at our table from an online beauty products shop, a lovely dinner and the excitement of winning!! Yay!!!

For a laugh, this is me on the left, up until 4.30pm. Right is me after an hour of serious interventioning at the mirror ;-)

Melissa, me and Karyn all glammed up in red and orange goodness. I am wearing the silk and velvet evening cape The Dreamstress made for me last year. So pretty!

Now to my top. It is made from a strange silk fabric, like a really coarsely woven organza but it is still beautiful quality. It behaves like organza - floating and billowing instead of draping. I fell hard to the print, which reminded me of inlaid wooden tables, but with a slightly tapa cloth vibe too.

The top is a standard MrsC empire line, A-line skirt with uneven hem jobbie, with rather odd split sleeves.

It was a mare to sew however. I tried to narrow hem the bottom and sleeves on the overlocker but the fabric kept pulling away from the stitching for inches at a time. Grrr. I tried overlocking it and it did the same thing. This is all the night before of course.

In the end I got a grip, reminded myself that I have Mad Skills, and worked it out. Firstly I stay stitched the raw edges about 5mm in, to help the warp and weft to settle. Then I changed the way I was drawing it through the overlocker - putting some tension behind it as well as in front. This really helped. I also lifted the cutting blade so it really did roll - I don't usually do this but sometimes it is the best.

FINALLY, I got a nice rolled edge. It held together for the evening, looked nice on stage, looked good as we danced our way UP to the stage to the Happy Song (everyone had great boogie music but we were the only team that danced!) and I didn't slop gravy down it so win!

I am so ridonculously proud of my people and of us :)

Full Circle, almost.

Well, we got interesting news last week. Our landlords from our little shop in the CBD came in to ask us if we would be interested in getting out of our lease early. Hmm. Business has not been fabulous and while we're not losing money, we're not really making any either, but with only a couple weeks to act, this was very left field.
Why? Well, The Golden Mile, as Lambton Quay is known, is the street in Wellington where all the High St shops are - the overseas ones that sell fast fashion and high turnover stuff that if you are reading this blog probably leave you about as unmoved as they do me. And they need somewhere to go, right?
So, over the past year as the small, independent businesses in our area of the mall's leases came up, no one was renewing, until less than half of us were left. We knew something was up, and when rumours of Top Shop coming to the Golden Mile started appearing in the papers, we weren't all that surprised. Not that anyone has confirmed this to us, but it is pretty obvious anyway.
This post is not about the despicability of those involved in flicking us out, or why, however. It is a mixed blessing as business had been slow down that end of town. Lack of signage meant we were the best kept secret on the Quay. Bringing the whole business back into the one big shop means more staff there (because I am not about to let anyone go!)  more stock, and more TIME.
More time to grow our online sales, tutorial support and social media presence. More time to develop product. More time to do those things I was moaning about in my last post I only had about 4 hours a week to do. Having that extra person working in the shop several days a week while I am not trying to order and manage for two shops is like having four hours a day instead. I am in Heaven!
So all in all, it has been a horrible week, but now the decisions have been made and paperwork signed, I am well happy to be out of it.The one very large regret is letting down all of our wonderful regular customers who supported us. Knowing it is not US who has let them down but circumstances beyond out control is no consolation to them I am sure.
Once we are moved out, which happens on Thursday, we'll have the excitement/chaos of massaging all the extra bits of furniture and shop fittings into our already fairly full space. Mel, our manager from Lambton Quay, is the most amazingly organised person I've ever met, and I know she is itching to get into it - Melping as we call it! I am so excited to have her back in Marion St as I know I can just let her get on with it :)

Yes indeed, every cloud has a silver lining and I am looking forward to a much expanded empire involving more internet and less bricks, mortar, landlord problems, leaky ceilings, signage drama etc etc.

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro - an artistic term for the use of bold contrast between light and dark. I love that word - first learned in Art History class in my last year of school. A whole year of going deep into the mysteries of Renaissance painting.
I love it because it says so much about life, which is often a canvas of dark and light. Bloggers often present the light, because who doesn't want to put their best foot forward, and who really wants to read a bunch of sad and bad anyway?
The trouble is, without the dark, with just light, there is no depth, no third dimension. I would think that my posts are pretty honest - I am not a candy coater at the best of times, and yet sometimes I get responses that show, my life comes across as a fairy tale. HA! Love it!
Now, I have blessings both earned and gifted aplenty. I would never deny it. But just to give you an idea of what it is like, I want to describe a "slightly more eventful for effect" typical day.

I wake up between 7.30am and 8.30am. I do not sleep well, sometimes I am awake most of the night, and so I sleep as long as I can. I get up, make a smoothie, and read some blogs, check Facebook, email etc.
About 9am I shower, dress, and head out. Sometimes I pop into a local supplier to pick up a few things. Mostly though I drive straight to work. First stop however is Custom, my local coffee shop, for a large flat white to take away, a catch up with the Custom crew and the other regulars, many of whom are local business owners also.

 My fave coffee shop is never usually this empty

Also, I apply my lipstick while waiting for my coffee. It's a ritual now. And because you look to me for beauty tips, it is always a 24 hour stay, either L'Oreal or Maybelline. And red. This way none of it leaks into the tiny wrinkles radiating from my lips, resulting in a Heath Ledger as The Joker grin guaranteed not to sell craft supplies to anyone.

"What type of scissors were you looking for?" Nah, it doesn't work. 

I get into the shop about 9.30-9.45, switch on the PC and deal with any genuine emails. You know, the ones that are not from some idiot suggesting that they can transform our website. Pretty soon my trusty assistant arrives - this is going to be Ben or Karyn, and they get the shop ready and open. 

The day goes like this: we share stories of what we did since we last saw each other. We answer phone calls, serve customers, I ring or email suppliers with orders or queries, deal with Etsy orders. Orders arrive via courier.

Not our courier, our guy is very cool - he has a beard AND a curly moustache!

 We unpack these, I take the invoice into the office and produce price stickers, or create a label sheet if it is something we bag up ourselves. I ring or email suppliers asking why something is missing, letting them know they have sent the wrong colour/size/style, find an alternative supplier if I have to. I reckon I spend 30% of my time chasing errors, omissions and finding new sources. Some days a rep will turn up and I look through folders, have a bit of a harmless gossip, stroke new fabrics, that kind of thing. The Trusty Assistant handles most of the customer service so I can waste spend time on this stuff. And in Excel, where I keep track of expenditure and cashflow to the last cent. I may also do pay roll, reconcile our accounting system, or other creative pursuits *ahem*.
Meanwhile the amazing Melissa is holding down the fort at our small shop in the heart of the business district, and the two of us are cross referencing stock levels, organising transfers of stock, new signage, all kinds. Melissa is a rock and she holds down that shop by herself, and also runs our big shop on Sundays solo so we can have a day off.

If I have got the admin off my back, I try to spend some time in the afternoon either making lampshades, working on commission work that may include lampshades, cutting and sewing bunting strings for sale, making prototypes for various products, kits etc, preparing classes and instruction sheets, taking photos of the shop or product for our Facebook page. This is the stuff that everyone imagines a business owner doing all day. I am lucky if I get four hours a week towards it. Mostly because it is very trying to do anything requiring concentration when you have to stop and deal with the phone and dealing with customers whom I love btw don't get me wrong. My Karyn and Ben and MrC who all partner me on different days, are fantastic but inevitably we get so busy two people need to be in the shop, or a tricky sewing or cake decorating question needs my assistance. Such is life!
At 4.45 on MrC's "office job" days, he walks in the door and I gratefully throw a pile of jobs at him - please pack this lampshade kit, please change that flickering fluoro tube, please ring this woman you promised we could find x for and tell her we can't, please give me a hug and a kiss and take over, please!!!

 Really, sometimes we waltz around the shop when our wedding song comes on the play list.

Then I often DO get an hour of peace to finish jobs, since all the suppliers close at 4-4.30.
We shut at 6pm, although often there is a sewing class on, and Leimomi and her students arrive from 5.30 onwards so the shop is usually full of laughter and energy as we walk out. Some nights I head off to a sewing group, go to a weekly open mic comedy night, or have dinner with one of my friends (we have monthly date nights so as to ensure we do get to see one another!) But most nights, I go home, make or unpack dinner, do some dishes, sit on the couch and watch TV or play on the netbook, because I am too tired to do much else.
On Saturdays, three of us work the shop - MrC and Karyn out front and my job is to teach a class each week. I love Saturday! I try to keep my classes to a half day which is the best because I have the luxury of three hours of uninterrupted business time. My only task is to balance the spreadsheets for the week. And some Saturday nights, I perform!
Sunday is my day off. I try to spend it doing only things I really enjoy, in my own time. Lately this has involved sequins, ahem.
If that sounds glamorous, I'm not telling it right! Satisfying yes. But a lot of it is boring, frustrating, repetitive and has more to do with understanding finances than designing amazing things. And communicating with people who have stuffed up without being aggressive, just assertive, but that is always tricky. And without all of that, there's no fun stuff, so it must come first.
Because financially, most businesses live on a knife edge. Even successful ones. Mess it up - get carried away with buying lots of something that doesn't sell, put too many staff on, and you can be staring at the bottom of an overdraft the bank won't extend.
Lately we have had sad news about the seemingly sudden fall of high profile businesses - BHL being one of them.All we have seen is the light, so when the dark comes it is sudden and we can question what was really going on all that time.
Our business is successful because I have twenty years experience working in businesses, writing business cases, being involved in business strategy, but also looking and thinking and being curious about the places I have worked. I tell you though, I no longer have "opinions" about what other businesses should have done or not.
So if I have a request, it is to please don't fantasise about being in business - please don't get into it with your head in the clouds. It is hard work, and if you are an employer, people's livelihoods are on the line. Responsibility.
 Nuff said. :)

UPDATE: I started this post weeks ago and have kept picking at it. And as I did, a big black shadow has fallen over my business, with light breaking it up. More on that in my next post!

From Table cloth to Table Lamp

It's my sister's birthday next week, and I promised her a pair of bedside table lampshades. I wanted to use the opportunity to try something new - not just a groovy fabric but some extra stuff too. Sister Jo is pretty artsy in her own right and appreciates a bit of bling
So, after rootling around in my stash of stuff, I unearthed an old tablecloth bought at the Sallies and popped off to Global-that-was to pick up some light green silk, and this is what I did:

 Making the lampshade using the pale green silk. Goes with my nails ;-)

The tablecloth. I think I paid $4 at the Sallies in Kilbirnie. 

Cutting a strip of the cloth slightly wider than the barrel of the shade.

A liberal coating of adhesive spray. I loathe the stinky stuff, I much prefer Mod Podge, but working with silk it gets tricky as white glues can mark it so easily.

 Erk, the sticky keeps sticking to itself...

 ...finally in business. I'm wrapping it around the green shade

keeping it nice and taut, and lapping the finished edge from the corner of the tablecloth over the cut edge.

After stretching and sticking it all down, I cut around the pattern as much as I could on the cut side, and left the 15mm extra needed for roll under where I couldn't do that. The other side I deliberately let under and overlap the edge.

 Rinse and repeat...

This what they look like with light coming through. "I have to be honest with you, I loves it. Tidy*".

*Blame reruns of Gavin and Stacey, Ness is my hero! Even more than Miranda!

Living the Dream..with a touch of nightmare ;-)

Oooo, I am excited!!! Our new shop (shop #2, not replacement shop!!) is painted, papered and carpeted. With only a little bit of messy stuff left to do, we started putting stands into position (important for getting the spatials sorted) and then I couldn't resist a bit of stocking up. Just a few button tubes, but it felt goood.

For a mere 42sqm, it's turning out to be a nice size, I think.

 Two very long lines of bunting in bright fabrics that unfortunately you can't hardly see in this photo. I make batches of 8 and 10 flag strings with close together, single layer pinked flags sewn to a pretty striped ribbon, and these will festoon the walls. But because these ones are seen from both sides, I laid the fabrics wrong sides together, pressed them which gives them a little more cling to one another, and cut through all layers with my trusty pinking rotary cutter. Then I worked with them that way. So, no bagging in, no vliesofix to bond them and they seem fine. A triumph of under engineering!

 Gutermann threads. Lots of them. I love the way the colours flow up and down the columns of a thread stand. Some of these threads will never sell, some will be replaced over and again.

 YARN!!!!!! Another happy thing. Here in NZ it is finally turning to autumn and it is nippy. People are drifting into our Marion St shop looking for yarn. All of our yarn must be made in NZ 'from sheep to shop," with no sneaking it off to China to have it spun and dyed as is so often the case. I'm working on getting in all of the ranges that qualify, the most expensive of which we are going to have to save up for. Possum, silk, merino...mmm...

 More gratuitous thread shots. Because I can! :)

 Some buttons. I've already doubled the count since I took this photo and it still looks meagre. But those little discs are the road to financial ruin, let me tell you! But they are as irresistible to this shop owner as they are to the customers, so I keep buying them in!

Ahem, and buttons are not the only thing I find irresistible! These fabrics just arrived, from Riley Blake's Geekly Chic range, they are such fun!

So, that account for where I've been most of the time recently, and it will go on for a bit longer too. Hopefully we can open on Friday - no eftpos because I forgot to sort it out sooner, but MrC has programmed the till and, well, we'll get there eventually! :)