How You Can Help!

For the past 11 months our income has fallen way short of our monthly outgoings, a situation that has been on and off for the past six years. Recently both Stewart and I have got part time jobs (can you believe I have been working in the cafe for two months already!) and the difference between what comes in and what goes out has narrowed but it's still a bit of a juggling act. I'm not complaining, it is what it is, but it does mean that my 'art career' if that's what you can call it is more than just a hobby. I don't do it just for fun (although it is fun) it is my work. The teaching is well paid but unfortunately it is sporadic and not reliable as often classes don't meet the required numbers and then they don't run. And selling stuff is really difficult which is why this past week I have taken part in the JustaCard indie week on Instagram.

 

Photo: Joanne Hawker

The idea is to encourage people to shop small, local and independent this Christmas to support all us little independent businesses struggling to make a living. The campaign arose after a gallery owner was overheard to say that if everyone who had come into the gallery and admired the work, had bought just one card, then they wouldn't have had to close down. One card is the price of a coffee, and these last couple of months have really opened my eyes as to how much people spend on coffee!

Of course, you may not always want to buy stuff but there are so many other ways in which you can support small businesses. Most of us don't have a huge budget for marketing and rely on social media to spread the word about what we do. So getting people engaged is crucial as search algorithms alone do not work. So what can you do?

1. LIKE posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as this shows someone is engaging.

2. Better still, leave a COMMENT. Tell someone if you like something, ask a question and start a dialogue. Just say something nice... it really does make our day!

3. SHARE a post, linking back to the maker. This is the most powerful thing you can do as it helps reach a whole new audience. 

Just these three steps can make all the difference but you can also subscribe to newsletters - I have a button to subscribe to mine on my sidebar, where I share upcoming classes, sometimes I have discounts in my Etsy shop and I generally let people know what I'm up to. Then share these newsletters with like minded friends, again it is reaching a new audience. When you buy something on Etsy and love it, then post to social media, link back to the maker and leave a glowing review. Each of these small steps really do help.

I had been planning a post about this for some time but thank you Joanne Hawker for helping me put it into words!

And you can find me on Facebook as Gina Ferrari Textile Art and on Instagram as Gina Ferrari Art. I'm also on Twitter occasionally and the link is on my sidebar. So if you don't already, please follow me on these platforms.

Of course while it is lovely if you do all these things it is even better when someone buys something and so I'm am trying hard to keep my Etsy shop stocked up. There are several tutorials that can be purchased as downloadable PDFs available so you can make your own gifts. It is whole other blogpost about charging for tutorials and rather than make this too long you might want to read this post by Dolly Henry but I think anyone who sells tutorials comes across those people who expect something for nothing. I recently posted about these crackers on Facebook and had a message from someone saying how much she loved them and asking for details of how to make them. I sent back the link to my shop where the tutorial is available for £5 (It would cost £35 or more to come to a day class with me to learn how to make these) Not a word of reply, not even a thanks but no thanks... and certainly no purchase! It can be quite soul destroying, as though we are trying to cheat people out of their money.

There are also some physical items for sale including one or two of these hoops that have escaped the dog's shenanigans (although there are PDFs to make these too)

And this week I have been making angels for the Christmas tree... because it really is only four and half weeks away!

They take a ridiculously long time to make for what they are but I do love making them.

And I guess that is why we do what we do... it's certainly not to get rich quick!

There are only three available at the moment (free postage in the UK) but I hope to be adding more next week.

Now my little rant is over, enjoy the rest of your weekend... I'm off to make some more angels!

Cracking Crackers

Every so often I am reminded that teaching textiles and machine embroidery is what I do in addition to making the occasional cake or two. This week has been my last week teaching this term and as always in my weekly class we've been doing some seasonal makes and I was reminded of these crackers we made a couple of years ago.

Which in turn reminded me of my sadly neglected Etsy Shop and I decided it was time for a little update.

So please forgive the fact that this is a blog post devoted entirely to me selling stuff... but a girl's got to make a living you know

I've updated all the patterns in my Etsy shop but these little crackers are particulary suited to this time of year... although personally I think pretty crackers and fairy lights should be obligatory all year long... but that's just me! They are simple to make with a basic knowledge of free machine embroidery, although if your free machine embroidery skills are in need of a refresher I have a comprehensive DVD available too. Just £10 with free p&p in the UK. Send me an email if you want details.  It makes a great Christmas gift for those hard to buy for "stitchy" friends!

And as an added incentive, if you put in the code BLACKFRIDAY at the checkout of my Etsy shop, you'll get 10% off between now and next Monday, available on all patterns and anything else I might pop in for sale before the weekend (okay, I'm being wildly optimistic here but humour me)

 

Normal service will be resumed on this blog (i.e endless cake) very soon... but do check out my shop in the meantime! Thank you!

Day Seven :: Rockin' Robin

These little robins were destined for the Christmas market yesterday...

 

 

But they never quite made it because they never got finished... I didn't think that one and a half robins would really made much of a display.

 

The second one got finished yesterday afternoon and the rest remain in pieces... ah well... another market, another time or maybe they'll end up as presents... or on my tree. Who knows!

 

I was going to write up a little tutorial for making them to go with this post. But hey, you're all clever people. It's a bit of felt, a piece of cord and a few embroidery stitches so I know you can all work this out for yourselves. You don't need my help! Which is just as well, as I've run out of time due to a late night partying and then out for lunch with friends today.

 

But, as promised,  I have got around to picking out a winner of my cracker giveaway... names in a hat... and the winner is Amy of Love Made My Home. Well done Amy! Sorry the rest of you didn't win but of course you could always make your own... pattern is available HERE!

 

Now if you'll excuse me, it's an early night for me!

Day Two :: Gina's Crackers*

* Thank you to Isobel for the title of this post... take it whichever way you will but I know what my family think!

 

 

My cracker giveaway on Facebook was a success... and my likes soared to over 1000. I was just a little bit excited but then it doesn't take much!

 

So I got to thinking that it would be good to have a tutorial for people to make their own because much as I would have loved to give a cracker to all my "likes" I wasn't too keen on the idea of making 1000 crackers.

 

For the best part of three days, in every spare moment I have stitched, photographed (in appalling light), written, edited and edited again until I've ended up with something that I hope can be understood.

 

And finally I have loaded it all into my Etsy shop and it is available HERE!

 

It requires a basic knowledge of free machine embroidery although I think it could easily be adapted so that it could be finished off with normal sewing and a bit of hand stitching.

 

And for those of you not on Facebook, I have decided to give another cracker away but this time to my blog followers. All you have do do is leave a comment on this post and on Sunday (Day Seven) I will pick out a name at random. So if you are a Facebook fan and a blog follower I guess you have a second chance!

 

See you tomorrow!

Day One :: A Calendar

It has become a bit of a tradition that I do a  daily post in December in the lead up to Christmas... if you can call four years a tradition. A blog style advent calendar if you like. The past month has been so busy that I wasn't going to do it this year but I couldn't help myself... so here we go, against my better judgement, with Day One and our real advent calendar is up.... as it was in 2010,  2011, 2012 and 2013. I wasn't going to bother with the real calendar this year either but my 25 year old child was looking a little disappointed. So here it is again with its little chocolate filled bags.

 

 

And if you pop back tomorrow I'm hoping I'll have the Cracker tutorial ready. Just a couple more photos to take if it manages to get light which it doesn't seem to have done all day today.

 

And of course, if you are feeling crackers festive enough to join me in a daily count down to Christmas, let me know and I'll add a link to your blog. See you tomorrow!

 

Also joining in... Sandy

It's a Cracker

This in an unashamedly festive post today (yes I know it is not even December yet) and while I'm being unashamed, it's a bit self promotional too! I made this sparkly pair of crackers a couple of weeks ago as a special end of term project for my weekly machine embroidery class... but I shall come to these in a little while...

 

 

 As a self employed artist/embroidery tutor marketing and promotion are just as important as actually doing and making stuff. At times I stuggle just to keep up with the game never mind staying ahead of it but I do quite like using Facebook because it is a great way of sharing images and it is pretty much instant, unlike writing a blog post which takes a bit of planning.

 

I'm aware it's not everyones cup of tea but used carefully it can be a great way of getting stuff out there. Facebook users will know that there are personal pages or profiles where you can have "friends". I have one of these and although I never put very much personal stuff on there I do still limit my friends to people I actually know or have met... so please don't take it personally if you have ever sent me a friend request that I have ignored! But there are also business pages where you have "likes" and these are open for anyone to like... and I have one of these too!

Gina Ferrari Textile Art

 

What is a mystery to me is how some artists have thousands of "likes" or followers and others, like me, not so many. So I tried a bit of a promotion last week and put some of these cracker photos on my page with an offer of a giveaway to one of my page likers... plus a request that if people felt like it they could share it on their pages too. Hooray... overnight I gained about 50 new followers (or likes).

 

Yesterday my class finished their crackers...

 

And the results were absolutely stunning... all so shiny and sparkly...

 

And all so different... don't you just love these pastel colours?

 

And so I put up these photos on Facebok yesterday with a reminder that I would be giving a cracker away on 1st December, and again overnight as if by magic, my likes increased from 875 to 920.

 

 

And I got to thinking how excited I would be if my "likes" actually reached 1000 by 1st December, so I'm letting you, my blog readers know. All you have to do is click on the link on my sidebar that says "Like my Facebook Page" and you could stand a chance of winning one of these sparkly decorative crackers pictured below... it might only be a 1 in 1000 chance but but you have to be in to win! And remember... do feel free to share!

 

And for those of you not on Facebook or not lucky enough to win I was also thinking of writing up a tutorial for making these and possibly selling the PDF in my Etsy shop*... just in time for Christmas. What do you think? Worth the effort?

 

And while I'm feeling festive... the first batch of mince pies were made yesterday. A little reward for those clever students for making such beautiful crackers! Would it be nice if I could share a mincepie with you too for reading this far!

 

* In response to Erica's comment - yes, several years ago there was an article on making crackers in Stitch magazine by Carol Colman  which gave me the idea for making crackers but  I have devised the method for making these myself. Any tutorial would be my own work.