middle names
>> Thursday, August 30, 2007 –
photography
This is a beautiful series by Boston photographer Shane Lavalette.
It is appropriately called Middle Names.
quit smoking ... and start reading!
I love these book package designs - all very clever indeed.
No Smoking by Luc Sante - a visual history of the culture of smoking.
Tank Books are tagged as "Tales to Take Your Breath Away" (heh) - they're classics shrunk to fit inside cigarette packs.
Last but not least, this one is not really about smoking, so much as burning... Burning Man: Art in the Desert by A. Leo Nash is a glimspe into the legendary Burning Man festival in Nevada. Sadly this year someone set fire to the Burning Man four days early.
How much does the design of a book affect your decision to buy it? Have you ever bought a book because of it had a unique or 'novelty' design? The design of The Game by Neil Strauss tipped the scales for me (from browse to buy) - it was packaged to look like a bible, complete with golden-edged pages and a red ribbon placeholder - but with gold girlie silhouettes on the front - because it was supposed to be about the 'bible' on how to pick up women.
takin' care of business
These days at Magpie and Cake, we are all about takin' care of business. (Is that song now stuck in your head? Sorry about that.)
Yesterday, there was another another story in the Globe and Mail about women entrepreneurs. This time, it's about Lori Kliman and Heather White, who started the Cupcakes stores in Vancouver. If you have not yet had the pleasure of visiting one of the two Cupcakes locations (with a third opening in North Vancouver's Edgemont Village soon!), let me tell you, they are the most pastel, 1950's kitchen, sugary sweet places you will ever encounter - and that is a good thing. Even if you are not a retro or pastel kinda gal (I'm not), they're still amazing places to visit since the design and styling are so spot-on. This goes for the design of the store itself as well as their baked goods - their cupcakes are adorable and their cakes are pretty pretty pretty - a perfect alternative to the traditional white wedding cake. The cupcakes are incredibly sweet, so if you've got a sweet tooth, beware, you may become addicted.
Cupcakes also gives me the warm fuzzies because the Diva cupcake was part of the first gift I received when I moved to Vancouver five years ago (omg, has it been five years??!). The other part of the gift was a lucky bamboo, which has since doubled in size and is still growing strong.
So congrats to Lori and Heather on all their accomplishments. According to the article, they've had to overcome many financing challenges that arose simply because they are women. That kind of story always surprises me in this day and age. However, I do agree with one of the commenters who mentioned that the Globe should have also interviewed men in the same situation to see if the banks asked about their marital status, too, or if it really is a case of the banks not thinking women can tough it on their own, without a man backing them. Hmm. Read the whole story in the Globe.
PS. The girl in the photo here is our own lil' Magpie and Cake cupcake, Linds. Aww... ;)
the business of craft
Speaking of turning your craft into your day-job, there's a story in today's Globe and Mail about the two young women who quit their jobs in finance when they were just 23 years old (!) to start up ... an apron company!
The pair, each of whom were living with their parents, kept their respective day jobs, but spent their off time researching the basics of starting a small business: how to secure funding, how to register a company, understanding different business structures and, all the while, developing their product idea. They came up with six original designs, all of which were based on fun and interesting colour combinations as well as a design, hand drawn by Wong, that would be turned into silk screens. To give their prototype aprons a professional appearance, they passed their designs on to a local manufacturer to create small batches of each of the six designs.
Four years later, Domistyle now sells their aprons in 140 stores in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. They make aprons in a range of styles, from aprons with fun patterns, to saucy mini-skirt aprons, to aprons with a sash that look a little like a prom dress (this style is now sold out, but proceeds from this one went to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation).
Here are some interesting figures that ran alongside the article:
Start up costs
Initial apron samples: $300
Web site: $2,000
Business cards and stationery: $500
Shopping bags and boxes: $500
Inventory: $10,000
Embroidery machine: $4,000
Laptop: $2,000
TOTAL $19,300
Monthly costs
Inventory: $7,500
Utilities: $500
Trade shows: $2,000
TOTAL $10,000
Number of $39 Funky Dot aprons they need to sell a day to break even: 12
Read the whole story on globeandmail.com.
There seem to be (at least) two different ways these kind of business stories go - either you launch big or you grow organically. These girls, for instance (at least according to this article; the real life story is always more complex) seem to have gone straight from concept to seeking out local manufacturers, getting a line of credit from the bank, and so on. The article says that they began by attending "a few local craft shows, the first of which was Toronto's National Women's Show" - though I wouldn't call that a "local craft show" seeing as it's held at the Convention Centre and a 10' x 10' booth costs a whopping $1595. The other way - the "growing organically" way - would be what most of us in the crafting bloggosphere seem to be doing: open a store on Etsy.com, have tables at (real!) local craft fairs... and eventually the business grows - or it doesn't. I'm not saying one approach is better than the other, and I honestly don't know what way works better.
When should you quit your day-job to concentrate on your craft business? Are you more likely to be successful if you launch right in as a "serious business" or to first earn some cred as an individual craftsperson, and grow your business that way? Would you prefer to make your products by hand or get them manufactured by others - either by hand or by machine? (I think I'd have a hard time transitioning on that front - giving up the hand-made aspect, plus the control of doing it all myself...)
What do you think? I'd love to hear some of your thoughts about starting up a craft business. Read more...
crafty co-workers
Heads up from your cubicles, people. There might be crafters in your office.
A couple of my co-workers in my day-job have are starting up craft side-lines and are selling their wares on Etsy. I wanted to give a shout-out to them here not only because they're super people, but also because they're also super-talented.
Right now, my fave in Clockwork Sheep's shop is the Storm Trooper tote bag (what Storm Trooper doesn't need a purse, right?). As the shop grows, I expect to see lots of fab sewn items for goths and geeks.
Heike Kapp makes some beautiful quilts and wall hangings in a range of styles - from her Tofino quilted wall hanging (The Best Place on Earth!) to her photo transfer quilts. Heike will also have a website up and running soon.
Now if we could only figure out how to make crafting into our day-job instead...
small & big
>> –
video
For years, I've wanted a house hippo...
And now I want a giant sloth.
I sure hope they get along.
etsy OD's on cuteness
>> Friday, August 10, 2007 –
illustration,
screenprint
Hot potato, these are cute! I love the illustrations on these patches made by the fine folks at Etsy Labs. Smiling yarn, a bear in a sweater, a shower of diamonds, ice cream cones and paper airplanes! That is a serious overdose of cuteness. The patches are for sale in the Etsy Labs shop: $2 for 2 patches!
Those happy yarn peeps also pop up on Etsy's bright yellow shipping labels. Hooray for cute drawings.
You can keep tabs on the crafty goings-on at Etsy Labs via their flickr photos or their blog.
food, glorious food
>> Tuesday, August 07, 2007 –
food
Finally, finally, I've found a recipe for broccoli soup. I've tried at least three others to very disappointing results, but not this one. This is one that I can safely add to my list (topped by my favourite, a potato leek soup) of foods I'd make out with. Metaphorically. Literally, I'll just make them a lot and enjoy them every time.
Broccoli soup with cheddar cheese. My alterations:
1) Because putting whipping cream in something seems insane to me, I used a cup and a half (instead of 1 cup) of 5% ("tastes like 10%!") cream instead. I use this for all my soups, and it's great.
2) I don't have oven-proof bowls, so I just sprinkled the cheddar cheese on top of the hot soup - it melts nicely and does the trick.
I also highly recommend making little garlic toasts to dip in this soup. Here's how I like to make that: mince some garlic and mix it with melted butter (1 clove to 1-2 tbsp seems to work. I just eyeball it). Take some French bread, slice it, then brush with the butter-garlic. Broil in oven until golden. So good.
ALSO, I've just discovered popovers. I made them yesterday for an afternoon snack and then today for breakfast. So simple, so delicious. Good with cheese and tomato, too, but I like it best with jam.
how to terrorize your sock monkey
>> Sunday, August 05, 2007 –
photography,
toys
This photo by flickrer, The Rocketeer, made me laugh today.
Turns out it's part of a flickr group called How to Terrorize Your Sock Monkey.
Which is kinda mean, but kinda funny. At least no sock monkeys were hurt in the making of the photos.
I also like this photo. Sadly, then this happens. Poor sock monkey.
a drawing a day
>> –
illustration,
siobhan_project
I bought myself a Moleskine sketchbook. It's my first one - I've always resisted buying one because they're expensive, and I figured they couldn't really be all that much better... right?
Well, so far it's pretty sweet. I love how thick and smooth the paper is. As you can see, I have high expectations of what this new sketchbook will do for me. Heh.
I've set a challenge for myself: I'm going to draw something in my sketchbook every single day for the next month. Partly, I want to make sure I actually use my fancy-pants Moleskine. But mostly, I've fallen out of drawing in the past few months, and really want to get back into it, and get better.
I probably won't post my drawings here everyday, but I figure I'm more likely to stick to my Drawing-A-Day challenge if I tell you about it.
crafty comics
A quick shout-out today to this rad dress made from a freebee conference bag at Comic-Con (pictured on the left).
Of course, it's Comic-Con, where costumes are the norm, so I shouldn't really be surprised that more than one person had this idea. Here's another Comic-Con bag dress! (pictured on the right).
And here's a photo of the original bag in action. Yikes, that is a big bag.
If the bag-to-dress conversion is a little too extreme for your fashion sensibilities, then check out this tutorial instead: how to convert your oooogly conference tote into a stylin' messenger bag.
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