Big News!!!

Sorry it has taken so long for me to write this much anticipated post, but I was kinda hoping that I'd have a climax to this story a little sooner.

I've been making these little hair clips out of vintage scraps of material and buttons for quite a while now, occasionally mixing it up by using lace instead of fabric, and that is how I came by the idea to make my own fascinator for race day. The pile of clips has slowly been getting larger and larger, and as I don't often wear hair clips they have just been sitting in an old make up case in my wardrobe completely untouched this whole time. I've often thought about selling them, but then I have argued that the price of market stalls would outweigh my earnings and I don't have enough stock to make an impressive-looking stall anyway, but over the last few months while I have been on the pension and have had so much time on my hands, my craft projects have become more diverse and more frequent.

First off, I started sewing again.

Then, I started this blog.

Then, I started to crochet necklaces (I will be posting about this extremely soon, I promise)

Then, something amazing happened! A craft co-operative opened up a store in Evans Head, my hometown! The shop is called The Corner Store and it is filled with wonderful handmade goods. There are currently 12 members of the co-operative and my big news is...

I've joined it!

Freshly printed labels! (how exciting!)

I went to their monthly meeting the other day and sent samples of my work to the shop for them to look at before they evaluated whether or not I would be a valuable addition to their team and my products would fit in with the products already in the shop. I bribed them just a little bit with loaning them my peek-a-boo dolls to use as mannequins in the shop, and finally it has happened - my membership has been approved!

For me to be accepted into the co-op all the members had to approve me, with no objections. Most of these ladies are mature, sophisticated crafters who have been doing this for an extremely long time, and here I am - a nineteen year old who mucks around without patterns on her sewing machine knocking up things she hopes will fit someone. Needless to say, I was extremely nervous about this, and eager for them to make their decision!

Are there any craft co-ops where you live, and would you consider becoming a part of one? I think they are a great idea.

For the price of a small joining fee and 20% commission coming out of your sold products to run the shop (electricity, rent and insurance) you can have your products on display all the time, just waiting for customers to buy them! It certainly works out much better than paying for market stalls and market insurance, and you only have to volunteer one day a month at The Corner Store, rather than spending every Sunday at the markets!