Didn’t quite make 30

Two days shy of the 30th anniversary and the retail store formerly known as The Crafty Lady is no more.  Yes, the brick and mortar location has been gone for a few years already but now, when you type in the website address, this screen (right) is all you will see.

 So begins the next phase of The Crafty Lady, now also known as Lorigamivan. Whether it will be the sale of raw or finished goods through Facebook or Kijiji or Etsy or at local Farmer’s Markets, I will still have my fingers in the crafting pie. I still own the craftylady.ca domain so feel free to check it once in a while just in case I don’t update it here right away.

Will I still be making yarn related posts? Absolutely! But I will probably also be posting travel related pictures due to the fact my yarn studio will be my new RV and Mom and I will be enjoying some road trips - just because we can. :)

Written by Lori, the newly minted RV designer, who can’t wait to see what lies ahead.

Picture added for those who were curious about my yarn storage in the bus. Trap doors galore!

The Blog I Didn’t Want To Write

 By the end of this month, the online store as you know it will be gone. That is not to say that www.craftylady.ca will be dead space for long.  The plan is to transition to a finished goods online store - most of which will be based on my patterns, which will also continue to be available there and on Ravelry. Some raw goods and tools will still be available as supplies last but once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Why am I doing this? A couple of reasons.

One - I’m getting older and so is my mother. We like to travel and I need to make sure she enjoys her 90’s so I’ve been converting my shuttlebus from a mobile yarn store to a custom designed RV. Can anyone say ROAD TRIP?

Two - if even the big online stores like Yarn Canada can’t make it, who am I to think my little store is worth keeping open? Truth is, these past two years I’ve paid out more to have my provider host my website than I’ve made in sales. And that includes the markets I’ve been at during the summers.

So -

This custom designed RV is going to be able to hold almost all my yarn - both store and personal stash! How, you ask? We all know yarn (wool especially) is a great insulator so I’ll let you figure out how I’ll be ‘storing’ it in the bus. Hint: Mom and I are short and there will be plenty of trap doors throughout the bus. ;) And since I will find a way to make time to knit/crochet when I’m not driving, visiting friends or family, or checking out the sites at each of our destinations, I will also be checking ahead for any local markets that will allow me to sell some wares, if the bus gets too full. Also, each time a new project is finished it will be added to the online list of goods for sale.

Back to the here and now. You have until New Year’s Eve to get any orders in before the current website bids farewell. After that, you can still contact me via my email and personal phone (if you have that number) to see what’s still available. 

I hope you all have a great holiday season and I look forward to doing business with you in the new year. 

Written by Lori, the adventurous TCL owner, who is looking forward to the next chapter. 

Success!

The Crafty Lady's first indoor market selling finished goods was a success!

Even though I didn't have nearly the stock to set up that I'm used to, it still took most of the two hours before the market opened to get everything just the way I wanted it. (And don't bother commenting on the way my banner is all crumpled on the bottom - The table was too low to actually hang nice.) I will be in the same spot next time (Thursday, Feb 23 3-7pm) and if my 'short people tool' is long enough I will be able to hang the banner from a designated cork border on the wall behind the table. 

Being my first indoor market with finished goods, I had to try to figure out what people would be looking for.

Since it was the Valentine's Day market, I knew I needed to have at least one thematic product so I knit up some Smittens! There are still a couple of each size on the website if you absolutely have to have one (or two). 😉

Since it was also in the middle of winter (still), I also created a number of hats and cowls - some matching, some not. They are also on the website.

And because I know some people have had enough of winter and are looking forward to summer, I brought a collection of ecofriendly water balloons.

Three guesses what my biggest seller was! 🎈🎈🎈

I'll still be bringing the 'wear'ables (minus the smittens) to the next few markets but now I have to create more 'use'ables or at least summer friendly items. I'm open to any suggestions.

So until the next market (Thursday, February 23, 3-7pm) keep your fingers busy - I know I will! - and I'll see you at the market!

February's Valentine Market

I'm a bad, bad, bad, bad blogger. It has been six and a half months (!) since I last wrote a blog. I know I warned you that I wouldn't guarantee consistency but this is bad even for me :/

Needless to say, a lot of things have happened since the window was blown out in my bus door. The glass was replaced but not before the electric door opener quit in protest to the load not feeling quite right.

The remainder of the outdoor markets kept me hopping and the transition to the indoor market at the LMC (Lacombe Memorial Centre) went okay for the first few weeks then all heck broke loose again.

One too many bumpy roads caused three of my ten rolling displays to be damaged beyond repair. I was actually surprised they lasted as long as they did considering I had been using them for a number of years at Creative Stitches / Creativ Festival in both Edmonton and Calgary.

Not only that, but my reason for doing the Farmer's Markets has always been to drive business to my online store. Don't get me wrong, I love interacting with my customers face to face but my online store is 24/7 shopping; my in person presence is a few hours a week in different locations. I was finding that most customers preferred to wait until they saw me the following week (or longer) than take advantage of ordering for pickup - either at my place or at the market.

I took that as a sign that I should probably change things up. My online store will continue to exist - for now - but it will be morphing into something new or it may be migrating to a social media platform. I'm not quite sure yet. What I do know is that my Market presence will now be a lot smaller (a vendor's table or two) and the table will be covered in finished goods (!) I know! something I said I would never do! You will still be able to order everything that is available through the online store right there at the table and pick it up, prepaid, at the following market or at my place if you need it sooner.

Because this will be my first 'finished goods' market table, there won't be the large variety of products that you will find on other tables, but you will know that they will be made from the high quality raw goods that you have come to expect from my store. And, of course, all patterns will be my own personal patterns, some of them new enough that they may not even be published yet!

I look forward to seeing all of you at the market and tell your friends to come celebrate Valentine's Day a little early with us!

Before and After

 After this Friday’s events, I was afraid the mobile store would be out of commission for about two weeks. For those of you who have not been following on Facebook, the glass in my front passenger door met an untimely death when a piece of gravel came flying at it. Thankfully, neither rock nor glass came anywhere near the driver’s seat or yarn but it did make its way under the book wall into the bag storage area.

Of course this all happened the day that Rogers decided to go down so, even though I am with a different provider, I was in the middle of a dead zone when this happened. I slowly drove back to town, hazard lights flashing away, to take care of insurance and quotes to replace the glass. By the time I made it home, however, my (down east) provider’s office was already closed for the weekend. Here’s hoping I hear from them Monday. I also waited until Saturday to get quotes for glass replacement and guess who’s closed on the weekends.

Since I really didn’t want to wait until the door is permanently fixed before getting back out on the road, Mom and I did a little shopping after church, found an appropriately sized piece of plexiglass, and (with the help of a neighbour with a table saw- thx TE) gave an almost invisible makeover to the door. Hopefully this will do until insurance kicks in and the permanent fix happens.

So YAY I will be back to the regular schedule right away on Monday expecting to answer lots of questions from those of you who do follow me on Facebook. Until then, be careful out there! You never know when a random rock is going to give you a weekend off!

A Tale of Three Markets

 

This past week I attended my first Bashaw Farmer's Market. What a beautiful spot, surrounded by trees, and all the customers got to walk on the grass. My first official customer was one of my former employees so we got to catch up on things IRL (for those of you who don't do shorthand that means "in real life") instead of just on Facebook which was refreshing.

I also made the decision this week that I will only be attending Ponoka once a week and that will be on Monday evenings at the Community Market at the old library 3-7pm. For those of you who could only attend the Wednesday morning Farmer's Market 10-1pm, I do apologize, but I'm out here doing the rounds to make money, not just socialize.

And, finally, I am really looking forward to the Innisfail Market on Main starting next Tuesday, June 21 3-7pm. I hope to see a few faces that have been missing me (and vice versa) because I know I have a few Innisfail and area customers in my database.

And, of course, I'm looking forward to seeing everybody rain or shine this coming week.

Changes ... Always More Changes

Some changes are voluntary, others are necessary and yet others are imposed upon you.

Take the past and current months for example.

While I was thoroughly enjoying the market at New Serepta, travelling there was taking a toll on my yarn displays so I have chosen not to travel there anymore. Cost/benefit analysis has me considering opting out of the Wednesday Farmer's Market at the Ponoka Legion. These changes are voluntary. (I will keep you posted about my Ponoka decision.)

One of the necessary changes took place last Tuesday and will be taking place again this Tuesday (while I can) before I start the Farmer's Market on Main in Innisfail next week. Because of the earthquakes encountered while travelling to and from New Serepta, I tore apart the upper shelves on the passenger side of the bus and secured them directly to the bus frame. No falling apart now! Tomorrow I do the same thing on the driver's side. So, in case you didn't catch it - I already have a new market for Tuesdays - Innisfail June 21- Sept 13 3-7pm. Make sure you come visit the bus there!

The 'imposed upon' change comes with the Ponoka Farmer's market at the Legion. It seems the Legion booked the venue for someone else this Wednesday (June 8) and July 6 so there will be no markets then.

In the meantime, continue to enjoy petting the yarn at the other markets I attend, including Bashaw, starting this week 4-7pm!