Thay are now ready
http://www.artfire.com/users/heathersdesigns
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
3 hole shuttles NOW AVAILABLE
I recieved enough positive feedback on these
Thay are now ready
http://www.artfire.com/users/heathersdesigns
Thay are now ready
http://www.artfire.com/users/heathersdesigns
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A bit of this & a bit of that
UPDATE on mother in law, she is improving, They sent her back to the nursing home, everytime we try to get info on how she is doing, no one knows its frustrating. This week has been one of those wacky weeks that I can stand to not have again.
We moved our livingroom around on Saturday it was a mess and contained a broken futon which I got so tired of and asked hubby for the millionth time to get it the heck out of here, and well the kids threw all their crap everywhere. Now its a functional area and my new favorite tatting place. I had to shop today so I spent about $30 to make my couch look nice, its also a futon but the kids put a tear in it, I covered it with a bed matress cover thing at first. I think I was in a fallish mood and without even realizing it matches my carpet :) I bought an ordinary pretty brown fitted sheet, 2 pretty green pillows and a pretty green throw which reminds me of the ones my grandma used to have. *sigh* I miss my grandma and my dog especially at times like what I am going through no matter what even if I was wrong they always made me feel better. :'(
And I got new washcloths because kind of like the sock monster, the washcloth monster has wreaked havoc on the supply we usually have or HAD i should say they are in georgous fall colors and I hadent realized that either, I was kind of in a drone-y zombie state while shopping today. Lack of sleep and being upset will do that to ya lol
While shopping I was deciding whether to buy more bubble wrap or not I dont really need anymore YET but when I seen this I had to get it.
We moved our livingroom around on Saturday it was a mess and contained a broken futon which I got so tired of and asked hubby for the millionth time to get it the heck out of here, and well the kids threw all their crap everywhere. Now its a functional area and my new favorite tatting place. I had to shop today so I spent about $30 to make my couch look nice, its also a futon but the kids put a tear in it, I covered it with a bed matress cover thing at first. I think I was in a fallish mood and without even realizing it matches my carpet :) I bought an ordinary pretty brown fitted sheet, 2 pretty green pillows and a pretty green throw which reminds me of the ones my grandma used to have. *sigh* I miss my grandma and my dog especially at times like what I am going through no matter what even if I was wrong they always made me feel better. :'(
And I got new washcloths because kind of like the sock monster, the washcloth monster has wreaked havoc on the supply we usually have or HAD i should say they are in georgous fall colors and I hadent realized that either, I was kind of in a drone-y zombie state while shopping today. Lack of sleep and being upset will do that to ya lol
My table / foot stool / whatever even has some tatting on it... Its one of my designs but for the life of me I cant find the pattern so i may have to re-do this one
See the cute little cherub with the doggie... I love dogs my mom gave me this :D
While shopping I was deciding whether to buy more bubble wrap or not I dont really need anymore YET but when I seen this I had to get it.Fall is beautiful, my favorite time of year but I havent had the energy or mood to go and enjoy it... BUT I will leave you with a beautiful shot I got after they chopped the corn down.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Much to update, PRICING and a prayer request please
First the prayer request: My dear mother in law is in the hospital now battling pneumonia she is 75 years young. It took them about a week to finally get to what was the matter. She is great one day and not very good the next. Keep her in your thoughts for a full and speedy recovery... THANKS
About the pricing of my shuttles:
I had some people tell me my new resin coated shuttles aren't worth what I am charging... I am not good at pricing and if someone makes a comment on the prices of things I tend to make them lower, then I feel I am selling myself short.
YES polymer clay is not THAT expensive and it does go a bit far but lets look beyond the cost of supplies for a moment... You have to figure in alot of factors,
Time: Lets see here I made 4 batches of shuttles allthough I use cutters and templates for my shuttle shapes, it takes time to roll out the clay, cut, stamp, add pretties etc... My shuttles bake for an hour or so on very low heat so you have to figure electrical cost and wear and tear on my toaster oven. I still have to color and add further pretties. Which can take several hours, Seal them with an acrylic sealer outside since its aerosol and it smells icky too. Drying time is needed. Coat them with resin, this takes a long time I worked on this today and it took me about 5 hours to just do what you see pictured in the photo below. I still have to drill the holes, cut the slices, sand and perfect the shuttle, as well as package it in a bag with a piece of sand paper damp absorbing material and little info paper. So far to this point I have put in atleast 35 hours on the 4 batches of shuttles seen below, and there are alot more steps to go.
Now lets just figure 35 hours x $7.25 / hr (minimum wage in pa) = $148.75.. I looked up online about pricing your things and they say not to charge less than $10 per hour of your time if the supplies cost that or more, so that would be more like $350.00 for my time so far. So at this point the 4 batches of shuttles (30 individual shuttles) that would be $11.67 per shuttle and I am no where near finished.
Supplies:
Resin is not cheap as well as the clay alot does go a long way, but this is a very tedious step. As I said clay is not THAT expensive but its not cheap either. Electricity for lights and the toaster oven is not cheap. I use cornstarch so the clay does not stick, glitters, paints, stamps, ink, paper towels, gloves, my drill, sand paper, exacto knives, blades, scissors, punches, papers, glues, micro marbles, stickers, confetti, beads etc... And then you have packaging and postage, bubble wrap, driving to the post office etc...
Next time you think something costs too much, take a moment to think of all the work that goes into an item.
Here is the link on pricing that I spoke of above if you are interested http://www.whatthecraft.com/arts/pricing.htm
Here are the 4 batches post resin coating it will have to dry for another day or so... Before you count and say there arent 30 there there are 50... 20 of them are pendants for my daughter and her friend that they made over the weekend... those were not included in the 5 hour time today...
Here is one of my favorites...
~~~~~~~~~~~
I have been working on my book and I THINK I have all my designs I still have to draw them out and my test tatters are hard at work for me ;)
Here is something that was going to be in the book but I decided to pull it because I was having too much fun and couldnt pick just one I liked best.
The above pieces are for chokers you add a beaded strand or chain or a tatted chain on the p's of the 1st and last chain... Pretty, Simple and the variations are still coming
I did this last night when I was angry I am not sure what it will be but I plan on working on it later
About the pricing of my shuttles:
I had some people tell me my new resin coated shuttles aren't worth what I am charging... I am not good at pricing and if someone makes a comment on the prices of things I tend to make them lower, then I feel I am selling myself short.
YES polymer clay is not THAT expensive and it does go a bit far but lets look beyond the cost of supplies for a moment... You have to figure in alot of factors,
Time: Lets see here I made 4 batches of shuttles allthough I use cutters and templates for my shuttle shapes, it takes time to roll out the clay, cut, stamp, add pretties etc... My shuttles bake for an hour or so on very low heat so you have to figure electrical cost and wear and tear on my toaster oven. I still have to color and add further pretties. Which can take several hours, Seal them with an acrylic sealer outside since its aerosol and it smells icky too. Drying time is needed. Coat them with resin, this takes a long time I worked on this today and it took me about 5 hours to just do what you see pictured in the photo below. I still have to drill the holes, cut the slices, sand and perfect the shuttle, as well as package it in a bag with a piece of sand paper damp absorbing material and little info paper. So far to this point I have put in atleast 35 hours on the 4 batches of shuttles seen below, and there are alot more steps to go.
Now lets just figure 35 hours x $7.25 / hr (minimum wage in pa) = $148.75.. I looked up online about pricing your things and they say not to charge less than $10 per hour of your time if the supplies cost that or more, so that would be more like $350.00 for my time so far. So at this point the 4 batches of shuttles (30 individual shuttles) that would be $11.67 per shuttle and I am no where near finished.
Supplies:
Resin is not cheap as well as the clay alot does go a long way, but this is a very tedious step. As I said clay is not THAT expensive but its not cheap either. Electricity for lights and the toaster oven is not cheap. I use cornstarch so the clay does not stick, glitters, paints, stamps, ink, paper towels, gloves, my drill, sand paper, exacto knives, blades, scissors, punches, papers, glues, micro marbles, stickers, confetti, beads etc... And then you have packaging and postage, bubble wrap, driving to the post office etc...
Next time you think something costs too much, take a moment to think of all the work that goes into an item.
Here is the link on pricing that I spoke of above if you are interested http://www.whatthecraft.com/arts/pricing.htm
Here are the 4 batches post resin coating it will have to dry for another day or so... Before you count and say there arent 30 there there are 50... 20 of them are pendants for my daughter and her friend that they made over the weekend... those were not included in the 5 hour time today...
I have been working on my book and I THINK I have all my designs I still have to draw them out and my test tatters are hard at work for me ;)
Here is something that was going to be in the book but I decided to pull it because I was having too much fun and couldnt pick just one I liked best.
The above pieces are for chokers you add a beaded strand or chain or a tatted chain on the p's of the 1st and last chain... Pretty, Simple and the variations are still coming
I did this last night when I was angry I am not sure what it will be but I plan on working on it later
I have also been pretty down on myself lately with my weight and looks I need to accept myself as I am like everyone else does. I just cant see what others do but I am trying... I did put some make up on and do my hair up a little yesterday I thought it looked nice for awhile, until I looked again... I dont show many pictures of me on here but here is one from yesterday, you know unless I decide to take it away.
BLAH!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
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~TALES~FROM~THE~TAT~BAG~
