Kat Gets Crosseyed » Market

An Experiment

cross eyed kat — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:24:11 +0000

Tomorrow a new experiment in needlework retail is happening. The Needlework Show, our twice yearly virtual wholesale show is spawning a retail show called Needle Show Retail. This show will give consumers a chance to directly order from different exhibitors in a virtual exhibit hall. Lots of us, both at the retail end and wholesale end of the industry are curious to see what happens. Cruising the list of exhibitors finds a mix of both shops, designers and other manufacturers. Will the end consumer like buying in this format? Will they be put off by multiple shipping charges? Will traditional retailers be uncomfortable sharing this space with traditional wholesalers? Will consumers and therefore shops no longer buy from the wholesale show if a retail show is coming up? I guess we’ll know some of these answers in another week.

For my own part, I am using it to re-exhibit a selection of my designs. I prefer to support local shops, so am not selling direct during the show. Ok, there are two exceptions to that. One, I am selling hand-painted needlepoint canvas based on my “Ribbons” chart. I have a small amount of these in stock and I have decided that it is not worth the time investment to build up a needlepoint canvas line, so these are being discontinued. Second, when I designed the “Ambigram Alphabet” I thought it would be neat to offer custom ambigram names. These have to be individually designed, so there is a premium on the chart. No, you can’t just take the letters from the alphabet chart and rearrange them – ambigrams don’t work that way! I think it would be neat to stitch an ambigram of my name – I’ve already sketched it, but havent charted it yet.

So I hope everyone takes the time to check out the Needle Show Retail Novemeber 5-8! Maybe you’ll decide that you need a customized ambigram chart!

Needlework Show – Spring 2009

cross eyed kat — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:19:15 +0000

It is that time of year again! No, I’m not talking about taxes, I’m talking about the Spring Online Needlework show! I was somehow able to get five new designs ready for this show, which opens at 1 pm central time today!

Three are the new Advent Ornaments: December 4, December 5 and December 6.

Like most of my designs, there is a story behind the design for December 6. Several years ago, the husband and I travelled to Germany over Thanksgiving and the week after. My brother lived there at the time and we had fun cooking a semi-authentic Thanksgiving dinner for his German friends. We went to several cities and visited the Christmas Markets. On the night of December 5, we put our shoes outside the door and St. Nicholas filled them with candy! December 6th is St. Nicholas Day, so this ornament has a boot that is filled with candies and fruit!

Yes, there will be twenty-four ornaments in this series, so start collecting now!

I am also releasing page 3 in the Briar Rose series:

Finally, I’m releasing a set of bookmarks in conjunction with this year’s Stitching for Literacycampaign. These bookmarks are all stitched over two. The one in the center with the sword is stitched on a dyed jobelan fabric and the other two are on a linen banding.

10% of proceeds from the sales of this chart will go to a literacy charity/fund.

Ok, finally, the contest for this year’s Needlework Show! Please post in the comment section below what new design you would like to see in the future from Cross Eyed Kat. At the end of the show, I’ll pick three random winner from all the posts to receive a free chart!

Enjoy the show!

The business side of stitching

cross eyed kat — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:39:17 +0000

Last weekend was the Nashville Needlework Market, which is a trade show where cross-stitch designers (like myself), thread manufacturers, fabric dyers, and other gizmo wholesalers try to convince needlework shop owners that we have the best new thing since sliced bread and they should buy our products. Shop owners, meanwhile, are trying to figure out what Susie Consumer will like and buy in their shop, whether in a brick-and-motar store or online. This is place where the artist has to become a seller, the shopowner has to become a buyer and we’re all trying to figure out what the end consumer will buy.

The first thing that has to happen is booth setup. Since this is a hotel show, the front room of the suite has to be transformed from a sitting room/kitchen/dining area to a display room.
Before:

And after:

Here are all the charts ready to be sold (since this is a cash and carry market):

We all advertise by hanging banners off the balcony so that they can be seen across the central atrium:

Sometimes I do a little song and dance for the shopowners:

Market is work: prep work, production work, advertising, networking, travel, accounting, shipping and more. Luckily, we have occasional breaks – here are the Dinky Dyes ladies taking a much needed rest:

And here I am with Elizabeth Talledo of Dames of the Needle:

It is possible to sell wholesale to shops without attending market, but it is even more work because out medium is very visual (think about how much better a stitched piece always looks when compared to the chart cover).

This year, I decided to approach designing from a different mindset than I think I had prieviously. I alluded to this in my Market post, but this blog post about 1000 True Fans (and this one) really sums it up better. What I’m striving to do this year is really concentrate my designs on things that are “Kat” and don’t have to approach market trends. What I’m hoping this will do is serve both my artistic sense and please my “True Fans” who really like what “Kat” does in cross stitch. I know I’m not mainstream and I’m not likely to become mainstream, but when I stitch something I like, it makes me happy and I hope it makes some percentage of Susie Consumers happy, too. If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably already a “True Fan” and I thank you! Let’s all keep stitching!