Tag: tags

First Product Labels Ever

I am slowly, surely, finally working towards the opening of my Etsy shop. Now that we are moved and relatively settled and the blur of the past year is settling into some kind of calm, I’m getting myself into a schedule of work so that production is happening on a regular basis. Then to apply for craft fairs. Then to take over the world one burp pad at a time, ha! It’s anticipated change, terrifying, procrastination-inducing and  new. Time at last to dig in.

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And part of that prep is tagging and labelling, so I ordered my first-ever product labels. Lovely, half-inch cotton twill fold-over labels with my round pocket-watch-ish spiral logo. Went without words to keep it small. Which might end up being a rookie marketing mistake, but I just like them so much as they are, simple. But I was torn, maybe I’ll try the whole worded Pocket Alchemy logo next time. Opinions about and experiences with labelling are most welcome, please.

And they arrived yesterday! In time for my whole Friday child-free work day. I ordered them from a lovely gal I sourced on Etsy, a working mom herself who does short-run custom labels, and I’m delighted. You can check her out at Green Beans N String. And now to stitch some of those labels in …

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding!

Yes. There are 3 “weddings” in the title. Not a mistake.Whew! On June 30th I was so honoured to act as Matron of Honour for my dear friend Jen’s wedding on Toronto Island. It was an exquisite, homemade, 100 mile wedding that went without a hitch. I made fun kits for the kids in attendance. I made the bags out of fabric that Jen had collected in Nigeria, hot glued the first initial of each kid on his or her bag with Scrabble letters (which I LOVE for crafting!) and stuffed them with snacks and age-appropriate toys, games and activities.

Then on July 1st, in addition to celebrating our nation’s birthday (O Canada, oh my!) we attended the wedding of another dear, dancerly friend. It was held in Dancemakers Studio theatre in Toronto, which was converted into a beautiful space for an afternoon cocktail wedding.

I helped plan and execute the decorations for this one, we tried to stay with the Canada theme without getting cheesy and I think we did well! We cut out hundreds of cream and white maples leaves and doves to hang from the theatre’s grid. I think the effect was magical as hoped!

I designed and made little red and white felt bags that got stuffed with custom-ordered M&M’s in red and shimmer pearl. And the tags were stamped with a maple leaf stamp I’d used for my own wedding invitations almost 9 years ago!

Lastly, I was so honoured to be asked to make a wedding dress for a dancer I’ve costumed a few times in the past. She’s a gorgeous woman and knew just the dress she wanted, a copy and formalized version of a dress she already had, a very vintage 50s looking piece. I am so proud of how it came out but will superstitiously only include a couple of details here til after the July 8th wedding, which is, of course, still to come!

And now I’m hittin’ the road Jack, making my way across the vast space between Toronto and Edmonton. I’ll be posting a series of interviews with amazing woman artists and entrepreneurs in the stead of my usual Rearview Fridays, so watch for that to start this week. And I’ll post some Road Reports as I’m able. Happy summer days all, may there be much long laziness.

Bonus shot: deliciously tired and dirty 10-month-old feet after all the wedding madness …

Man-gifts and tag progress

April has been rife with birthdays among our family and friends. Including my husband Adam’s. We’ve been together for 11 years now, so while he’s easy to buy for in some ways (scotch is a good go-to), the creative lady in me always tries to do or get something crafty and handmade for him, something special and unique, unpredictable. I’ve made flannel pants with a cool basketball print, knitted iPod cases, sewed an amp cover and so on. But honestly, I find man gifts tough. I was stumped and running out of time this year, so I perused Etsy! I found a fantastic blacksmith named Benjamin Westbrook, and his shop hammeronsteel, who forges lovely, simple, rough-hewn bottle openers. Amazing! I was sold! And Adam loves it (hurray, victory!) so I had to share in case anyone else out there is struggling for an awesome man gift.

I got the opener personalized with Adam’s last name and the dates of our boys birth. It’ll be a keeper at the cottage in the summer for long lazy days full of sweaty beer bottles, dirty, content kids and that true far-from-the-city quiet that’s not really quiet at all!  Sigh.

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I continue to work towards opening an Etsy shop of my own with a projected opening date of August this year. I’m waiting to build up some stock, get my tagging and mailing and tracking, etc all organised so I can hit the ground running, and do some fall craft fairs too. Also to spend Gene’s whole first year without a bunch of hard deadlines since I have the grace of a maternity leave.

That said, I got an order for my, ahem, awesome Burp Pads from a friend and I thought I’d take the opportunity to design and make some product tags when I sent her order out. Here they are drying from being stamped. I had to go with a pocket shape of course!

I used clear labels to put the product info on the back of the tag. It’s my first time using them and I am in love, they look so clean and profesh!

And lastly, I made little Lavender Ravioli Sachets to include in my orders as a thank you. Lavender feels like the right choice with baby things, so calming and great for keeping clothes and linens fresh. Even acts as a natural moth repellant!

One thing that I love about receiving orders from Etsy craftspeople is that often they will toss in a memento or small sample of another product. It’s memorable and sweet and I love the neighbourly feel it gives as a recipient. So I’m going to join the ranks, and it’s a great way to use the ends of flannel that I hate to toss!