100 Sales!

I just made my 100th Margravine sale on Etsy!

It's taken while to accomplish, but with the help of a nice little uptick in sales since Christmas, I've gotten there and it's pretty cool.

I'm notoriously terrible at self-promotion, but this milestone might be the boost I need to get myself in gear. I really hav eto get the Margravine website back up and running and post regular updates, as well as order some new business cards and maybe even look into some wholesale opportunities. I'm finding it really difficult right now to balance life & work, so anything beyond the day-to-day life-maintenance stuff just seems so huge and daunting. But I'm really hoping that a slight shift in my schedule and priorities might help to free up a little more time in my day for my little baby of a business.

Another nice thing that happened in the Margravine world is that a super nice customer wrote a lovely blog post featuring one of my scarves!

Melody looks so chic and stylish! It's always awesome to see your handmade stuff looking so great out in the wild.

Here are some new(ish) things that I've been working on lately:

Small pom-pom keychains

As well as large ones

And sweater chains made with some tiny pom poms fastened to clips

I love making new stuff and have some more ideas brewing. I'm going to Europe in a couple weeks (more on this soon), and I'm hoping my trip inspires me even more to create some exciting new things over the summer!

update! - margravine.com

I've been poking at it here and there for the past couple of weeks and I'm finally happy to announce that margravine.com is now live!

It's nice to finally have a proper site! The old blogger site redirects to the new site, since that's the address that is printed on all of my biz cards [Note to self: time for new biz cards!]. Seems like an okay solution for the moment, at least :)

Post-BBB

The Bazaar Bizarre Boston has finally come and gone which means - I can sleep again! I can sit for five minutes without thinking to myself "there really is something I should be doing instead of sitting here for five minutes"! I can remember to eat meals and drink water! It's a beautiful thing.

But seriously, I'm both sad and relieved that it's over. I always spend the week after the BBB with that "I feel like I've forgotten something important..." sensation. Also, every year I feel like I can't participate in the Christmas season until after the fair is over because there's just no time. The tree gets decorated in haste one weeknight and all my gifts are purchased in the week before the 25th.

It sounds like i'm complaining, but I'm really not. I love the craziness of the BBB and to be honest, I like the challenge of finding a balance. I'd be so bored otherwise!

The actual fair went really well. I did a general wrap-up over here on the BBB blog, but on a personal level, I had a pretty good day. I did better this year than last on several levels and I definitely had some really amazing customers. I love the people who see something of mine and their eyes light up and you can tell that they instantly connect with your work and that they "get" what you're trying to do. I think I've talked about this before, but you know what I mean? It's such a great feeling and what keeps me coming back for more.

source

I'm already looking forward to next year! :)

Free Shipping @ MARGRAVINE - Black Friday thru Cyber Monday

I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving with family and friends!

I'm taking part in the madness that is Black Friday by offering FREE SHIPPING today through Cyber Monday at the MARGRAVINE Etsy shop.

The offer is good on domestic orders only and ends 11/26/2012 at midnight EST. Happy Holidays!

Goodbye, Have Fun in LA, and Be Good

I'm really excited - I just stopped by the post office and my first chiffon bow is now on its way to L.A.!

When I first decided to make these, I was a bit worried that maybe they were a little too basic. But then I thought, you know? Basic is good. Every time I make one of my collars I kind of obsess over the chiffon tie part, and so I really thought it would work well on its own and I think I was right.

My philosophy lately is to just create items that I really enjoy and believe that they will eventually find their audience. It's much more satisfying than trying to guess what other people would want to buy and becoming frustrated when the items don't catch on like you'd hoped, or trying to stay on top of trends that might not necessarily be your style, just for the sake of making a sale.

I much prefer the idea of creating something that I really love and then finding a connection with someone else (no matter how brief!) who "gets it". It's such a great feeling. And I know that I really love these because it was a little difficult for me to say goodbye to it when I was packing it up. It's kind of a funny thing to get attached to the things you make but hey, it happens (and it's good motivation to keep creating).

Anyway, next on my to-do list is to finish making these scarves in some other colors. Colors! Yes, really. I'm looking forward to having some burgundy, pink, and purple in my Etsy shop :)

fashion's night out boston 2012

last night was the annual international event fashion's night out.

i celebrated here in boston by walking around newbury street / copley mall / prudential center for a little bit with megan, sarah, and marissa, and showing some of my MARGRAVINE stuff at a pop-up shop at the copley society of art.

i was a little disappointed to see that a lot of the stores in the copley and prudential malls didn't seem to be celebrating this year like they did last year. last year we stumbled upon a lot of cool little treats - tiffany's had a photo booth and fancy chocolates topped with real gold, dior and many other shops had glasses of champagne, saks had lemony cocktails and pinkberry samples, a VIP lounge and a dj, but i didn't see any of those things this year. a couple of times i caught myself thinking "did i get the date wrong or something?". the only consistent thing i noticed this year was the fashion show in the center of the copley mall (with a special VIP only area), but i didn't have time to stick around for that.

i walked back over to the pop-up shop where i stayed until 9PM with my faux fur cowls and collars and chatted with people checking out all the local designers who had set up there.

i had a spot next to laura of pansy maiden, who, along with her incredibly well-made and gorgeous bags, kept me company for the duration! it was really crowded (and warm) until around 8:30, then everyone packed up promptly at 9 and that was that.

i didn't sell anything, sadly, but i did give out a few business cards and even signed up one gentleman for the bazaar bizarre boston mailing list via my iphone haha. an organizer's work is never done!

when i left, i had to carry a huge bag full of all my merch and display stuff. i didn't really feel like walking around and dodging the crowds on newbury street with my giant cargo, so i just went home.

all in all, it was much different from last year for lots of reasons, but still pretty fun. maybe next year i'll attend in NYC?

goals

wow - i really suck at updating! i don't even know why - i'm always thinking about stuff, i just never sit down and write about it. bleh.

i feel really all over the place lately and i'm trying to pull everything together into some sort of well-working system. so far, it's...um... not working. but! i've got some half-baked BIG goals that i'm flirting with, and so that's pretty exciting.

GOALS 2K12 (varying degrees of possible-ness)

• the color run (already signed up)
• the jimmy fund walk
• host a eurovision party
• visit friends in nyc (overdue)
• host a fashion documentary viewing night
• take a calligraphy class here http://www.theabbeystudio.com/
• and maybe one here http://www.calligraphyboston.com/
• expand the margravine line
• new stationery project?
• do a craft fair in a faraway land (oh my god $$$)
• conquer the C25K program (i'm two workouts in! TWELVE workouts in!! [1 june 2012])
• save money AKA stop spending money
• move (probably 2K13)
• not be a spinster (ugh)
• do more personal art
• eat out on at least 3 boston patios during the summer
• figure out what to do with my hair
• find some new music

i keep struggling between keeping goals/things to myself so that they are an awesome surprise accomplishment when i've completed them, and blabbing about everything so that i feel held accountable to complete them. it's a weird line to walk.

anyway, that list is in no way complete, but it feels good to write those things down. onward!

the gold and the beautiful part 2

i used to not be that into gold, always favoring silver whenever given the choice. i'm not sure what happened, but recently it's as though i can't get enough of gold. i want gold, glittery everything! 

the gold and the beautiful part 2 by frauleinberlin featuring gold jewelry

speaking of gold and glittery, i have an upcoming semi-secret project that i'm hoping will get this golden bug out of my system. either that, or it will make it worse!