Being Smart, I Guess

Hey Everyone!

The weather this week has been so lovely! Despite being in the middle of winter, it's been pretty warm and sunny with almost cloudless skies.

It would have been a great weekend to hold a stall but I resisted to try the one that is on today because of the bad results I've had there. I am the type of person who likes to give things a try but with markets, I seem to have a harder time of accepting that it didn't work. I always keep thinking, 'what if I do better this time?' The stallholders there are awesome and the organiser is a very nice person and I feel awful not attending but I have to remember that I need to be smart in this. I would love to come back there though because it seems the people that come are regulars and it would be great to form a relationship with them.

A few days ago I was slightly surprised to see my interview being posted on the Dreamers Markets blog. I say slightly because I volunteered myself to be interviewed but it was surprising because I didn't expect it to happen so soon. I don't really want to read my answers because it makes me uncomfortable reading them, like how I hate hearing or watching videos of myself.

I've been updating my Scrabble pendant line (pictured below) and getting them prepared for my next market next week on Saturday. It will be at the Kirribilli Markets again. This time it's a general market.

That's all for now.

Thank you.

Regards,
Naz
facebook.com/tigermousedesign

Broke After My Dreams

Hey Everyone!

One of the bad things about starting up a small business is watching your savings dwindle down to almost nothing. I hate looking at it. I keep telling myself, I won't buy anything anymore or that my next pay will go to my savings. It wouldn't be such a terrible problem if I were selling a lot but we know that's not the case.

I haven't bought clothes, or anything (except for snacks) for myself in many, many months. The space in my room gets smaller each time I purchase supplies.

It will work out eventually though. I hope it will.

A few days ago, I had a stall for the first time at the Kirribilli Art and Design market. One of my customers asked about my Keep Calm pendants being made into a frame. So that's what I did yesterday. I love how it turned out. Check it out below.

That's all for now.

Thank you.

Regards,
Naz
facebook.com/tigermousedesign

High Hopes

Hey Everyone!

So today was the Kirribilli Art and DESIGN (not Craft) Market and it was GREAT! It's located at Burton Street, Milson's Point so you have this expectation that since it's the city, it would have a great turn out. It did not disappoint at all. At first I'll admit I was freaking out a bit because there weren't that many people there. It was about 9am-ish. Then, an hour or so later it was really busy. Many, many people came. An amount I wasn't used to since my previous market experience had a small visitor count, so when the first person came to purchase, I was taken by surprise and struggled a bit to get it prepared quickly.

But I learnt from that and prepared my packaging so when people bought, it was in and out quickly. I also gained a whole lot more confidence in speaking to customers. I am still quite shy but today helped me a bit.

I also experienced a bit of criticism for my work. Near the end of the market, this guy commented on one of my frames saying, "THAT's $50?!". I didn't hear what he said at the time though. I thought he was reading the name that was in the frame, which was "Joshua" but when he left, my boyfriend, who was standing closer to the guy, told me what he said. I was hurt a little bit by it but I always knew that this kind of stuff would happen. When you put yourself out there like that, especially with art or design, you are bound to face criticism. Everyone has their own idea of what great art/design is and it's worth.

When I was studying my BA of Design (Visual Communications), one of the most significant questions was, "how much to charge for freelance work?" And the answer to it always was, how much do you value your time? I hated it. I hated it because I value my time more than money so it was hard to decide.

The prices I chose for my frames have been researched and are actually cheaper than the others. Also, it's not like these frame come cheap! They are quite expensive.

Other than that, today was awesome. I'm still quite hyped from the market. It'll be so great if things just kept getting better. If not, I'll just keep at it.

Below is the frame that was criticised.

Thank you.

Regards,
Naz
facebook.com/tigermousedesign

Create Creativity

Hey Everyone!

So this Sunday will be my first time to hold a stall at the Kirribilli Art and Craft market. I'm pretty excited but also nervous because I am holding quite a lot of hope in this market. I know I shouldn't but I can't help it. I have an awesome friend who is helping me along with this and she is also holding a stall there. She runs Her Macarons and makes the best tasting macarons.. no lie. I ALWAYS buy from her whenever I go to a market she holds a stall - even if I make no sales, I just have to buy from her.

I am going to expand on my products. I have already picked out some supplies and am just waiting on the true total cost and hopefully within the next week or two you will see some new products.

This is a really difficult journey and can sometimes be heartbreaking but you have to stay strong. It's like they say, if you don't work for your dreams, you will end up working for someone else's.

Below is a name portrait I made. While I made this, all I had in mind was what would I like if I were a little girl? And I just kept thinking of all the things I loved such as glitter, shine, colours, pink.. pretty things! So I hope this frame/style frame will find a good home one day, or even better, many homes because I really do believe that little girls would love to have this in their room.

Last, my give away was great. Got to use my app to choose the winners. Only one winner has not replied to me with their address so I am waiting until 12pm tomorrow, Friday otherwise I will have to draw another winner. Hopefully they reply asap!

Thank you.

Regards,
Naz
facebook.com/tigermousedesign

Paperwork and Volunteering are Fun

Hey Everyone!

For the past week I have been so busy and stressing a little, particularly with registering my business name. I was applying as a wholesaler on a couple of sites and they replied asking me for my ABN details and a copy of my business name registration. My business name wasn't registered so I applied. Fortunately I was able to apply online at the ASIC website. Before, you had to download forms and mail them, maybe email, I can't remember.

I had to wait a week for my name to be accepted because it was similar to another business so they have to do a manual check. I think it's different enough to differentiate easily between the two though so it shouldn't be a future problem. Plus, I'm pretty sure we do completely different things.

I think it was quite coincidental when I received my approval for the business name as well because a few minutes before that, I was looking up other names and checking their availability. I am so happy and relieved that I no longer have to worry about that anymore!

A few days ago I volunteered myself in this little auction thing, which is hosted by Pint Size Books. It involves me donating a product or two and a prize. As far as I know, I am supposed to make an album for this event of products I am willing to sell at a much cheaper price. Those who buy things gets an entry into a competition to win some thing/s and I will need to donate a prize into that. I hope that's how it works! If you would like to check it, visit here. So I will be needing to think of what I can give.

I also have volunteered myself in contributing to this online magazine. I just need to send some photographs to be used and I have plenty of those!

On September 1st, I will be attending Dreamers Markets. This will be the first time they will be holding this event so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I have high hopes for it because they only accept handmade type businesses and the applicants usually have to be the designer and creator.

My give away is going really well so far! I received a really great response and my likes on my page has been slowly increasing. I also noticed that the likes, comments, etc has also increased.

So excited and happy to be kept busy! Below are a few of the things I have made this week.

Thank you.

Regards,
Naz
facebook.com/tigermousedesign

Give Away Rush

Hey Everyone!

Yesterday I started a little give away on my Facebook page - Tigermouse Design. I was pretty excited about it and when people started entering, I felt pretty awesome. Then I started thinking about how great it feels to give things away for free. A few minutes ago, I just gave away a couple of my frames and three Scrabble pendant necklaces as donations to a fundraising event and it felt pretty good. In return for this they have been promoting me and I have been getting quite a few 'likes' on my Facebook page through them.

I am enjoying what I am doing. While it would be so freaking awesome if I could sell heaps of my stuff, I am pretty happy just sharing my work around.

I made another frame today. It's a black and white version but I will be making coloured versions as well.

Thank you.

Regards,
Naz
facebook.com/tigermousedesign

Crafting for Life

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by. This blog will showcase my adventures in the crafting world. It hasn't been an easy journey, (not everything worth it is!) but I have been enjoying every moment of it!

I started some time in February and made Scrabble pendant jewellery to sell. I held my first market in western Sydney and it was a pretty good experience thanks to some awesome friends. I held a few more in the west and even introduced a new line of things to sell. These are paper craft portraits. I met a few nice stall holders along the way who filled me with advice on things like stall presentation, suppliers and the best markets to go to. I (slowly) realised that I needed to change my location of markets because I struggled with selling. And now you find me here. I am a small and struggling business and I will never give up! I have had this dream of having my own business since I was in highschool, maybe earlier.

Below are a few images of what I (try to) sell.

This blog will describe my journey as honest as possible. I hope you tag along and join the ride! It could get bumpy! <3

Thank you.

Regards,
Naz
facebook.com/tigermousedesign