Being In Control

I am a person that likes to be in control. I like to do things myself. I like doing things my way. It isn't that I'm not cooperative when dealing with joint ventures....I am. I am also a team player when I need to be. I just prefer things that are mine....my project, my crafts, my room, my office....well I like to control those things.

That is why I wasn't sure if selling my crafts in a consignment store was going to be for me. I am use to my etsy shop FourDogDay...where I make, price, display and sell everything myself. With the consignment shop, I make and price but that's where it ends. Someone else will display my things, talk to customers about my things and hopefully sell my things. I thought I might have a problem with that.

Guess what? I'm not having a problem with it at all. In fact, I'm pretty darn excited. The consignment shop is giving me an opportunity to make things that I would not have made for etsy. The clocks were big to ship, cakestands were a nightmare and I would never even attempt to ship one of the lamps.

Now I feel as though I have the best of both worlds. I can make and sell my fabric things on etsy and I can make and sell big and fragile things at necessary exTRAVagance. How lucky can one person be?

Do you like to be in control or are you comfortable letting someone else run the show? Do you find it easier to turn certain things over to someone else than it is some other things? Please share....

The Excitement Mounts

What a fantastic day we had yesterday. We got up and headed to the grocery store. We even stayed within our budget for the first time in a few weeks!

Next we hopped in the car and headed to the consignment shop in Chicago. Since we didn't eat breakfast, we made a quick stop at Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts. No, those things are not on my diet...not even remotely close to being on my diet, but you know what.....I have done so well on my diet that I felt no guilt whatsoever.

We arrived in the Andersonville neighborhood and knocked on the door of necessary exTRAVagance. The Andersonville neighborhood is filled with wonderful restaurants and shops. It is clean and it is everything good about city living.

The shop was wonderful. They did a wonderful job painting and decorating and filling it with beautiful and exciting handcrafted items. We had the opportunity to meet Travis, one of the owners along with some family members that were there helping check in, price and display items. Even grandma was there sitting at the sewing machine putting the finishing touches on some pillows.

My clocks and cake stands will be right at home among some pretty amazing art. There were glass pieces, pillows, quilts, rugs, napkins, wine stoppers, some refurbished antiques, paintings, dishes and more. The more I looked around, the more excited I got.

I am a country girl and don't spend much time in the "big city". I really wasn't sure what fabrics to use for the clocks or what kind of cake stands people shopping there might like, but I think I made good choices and hopefully things will sell.

The one problem that I had was trying to figure out how to price my things. This particular shop has you price your items and then you split 50/50. I have a formula that I use when pricing my items for my etsy shop, Four Dog Day. There was no way that I could price my items the same as on etsy and give them half. I thought long and hard and tried a couple of different ideas, but each one ended up with me not making nearly enough for the time I put into my things. I finally figured out a formula I was comfortable with and went with it.

While we were walking around the shop, I looked at a lot of the prices and I knew I had done the right thing. My items fit right in at the prices I decided on. Now, we just have to hope they sell.

Tresa and Chris met us at the shop and the four of us took a walk around the neighborhood. We went in a couple of other awesome shops. If I were ever to move to the city....Andersonville would me my kind of neighborhood.

The shop opens on May 15th. I can't wait. Next Saturday we are headed to a big flea market and I will be in search of "things" to use to make more clocks and cake stands. Should be fun!

Opportunity Knocked

A couple of weeks ago I received a message through my etsy shop FourDogDay. It was from a couple that are opening a consignment home decor shop in Chicago in May. They said they liked my fabric clocks and asked if I might be interested in selling them in their new store when it opens.

I've received a number of similar requests through my etsy shop, but none of them really interested me...until this one.

We have been conversing back and forth a bit, and I've decided to give it a try. I'm really excited about having another option for selling some of my things. I am going to do the clocks and some cake stands.

I've never sold on consignment before and I know there are some crafters that won't do it. I think if I can price my items right, it could work out well. Their store is in the Andersonville Neighborhood. It's a wonderful area with a ton of foot traffic. The people that live in a lot of the neighborhoods in Chicago also shop in those neighborhoods.

The owners sound very laid back, but very organized. They have some wonderful merchandising consultants that will be helping them along the way. This isn't a shop where you rent a space and have to maintain it. They take care of everything. I received their contract yesterday and it was pretty straight forward and easy to understand.

If you are an artist or a crafts person, have you ever sold on consignment? What kind of experience did you have?