Etsy, Pants and High Tea!

 Hi everyone,
I have listed a Hare cloth doll on my etsy site.
MinikinsBySandy
I am determined to make and sell my work.
This is now my job, and I do enjoy the freedom of creating.















I made this a long time ago and I like the quirkiness of the style.  He is 22" long and his ears are 18".
I doubt I will make him again.  At he time I was making a female version and so I will probably sell that and that will be it.

I am in love with Russian Teddy Bears and I want to make this style.  Take a peek at this pintrest page -   Pintrest dressed bears

Today I decided I wanted to dress a bear in pants with pockets.  But it took my brain a little while to work out the pattern to fit the bear. Sewing bits together suddenly created a pair of pants.
I was so pleased with the results.   So I will be working on these type of bears.
After getting over the stress of trying to design the pants, I really enjoyed sewing  them up and I can't wait to finish them.

But I had to go to High Tea this afternoon with my sister! It was so enjoyable.  A glass of champagne to start then a personal 3 tiered tray of delicious delicacies.  And of course a pot of tea in beautiful crockery.

Just to take time out from daily routine.  If you have never taken High Tea, give it a try.

We went to a city hotel and there were no other people taking High Tea  Stamford Adelaide High Tea, so it was very private.  There were people coming in for coffee or beers, but there was plenty of seats in the lounge and people did their own thing.  It was lovely.  We are going to do it as a thing for special birthdays and get togethers with my other sister who is returning to Adelaide after living interstate for 15 years.  So there are a lot of changes happening around me lately.  Its all good .....I think  😏😏😏

Oh, I did a bad thing

I am one of those people who has to unpick 20 rows of knitting if I make a mistake.  I need to do over something if I know an error is there.
So in my determination to fix this face I did a bad thing.....
You see it became obvious to me, the glue had lost its tackiness and when I attached the knit overlay, there were spots of loose fabric.  I had painted the face and already sewn the head to the doll body - twice- but could not stand knowing that the loose fabric was there.  It would create a wrinkle on the face if gently touched.  So I removed the head, pulled out the knit from under the neck and started to prise the fabric from the paperclay mask.  Well, you guessed it ................I tore a hole in the chin.  I was just getting to the loose bit and bang  BIG HOLE.  So the face is ruined. 

LUCKY  I had another head ready for the next doll.  And I can salvage the mask and just glue and paint another face.  They say every cloud has a silver lining, so it is not that bad, but it really was bad, because each face when painted is a little different.  Lets see who I can come up with for the next face.

Well I finally did it!

So here is my first doll listed on Etsy.!!
It has taken me quite a while to stop fussing with her and just get her up on the site.
It seems I joined Etsy in 2011.  That is 7 years ago! Not active for 7 years!
I have made some purchases from Etsy, however, I have to admit I find all this social networking daunting,  There are thousands of sellers out there and I am terrified of being judged or compared. But I really would like to have a doll making business, I think what I make is sweet and unique and could make someone special smile.
The more you do the better you get, and already I can see the improvements I need to make.  Being creative is a blessing and a curse, especially when self doubt creeps in.
I will try a few different doll making styles  -  you know I have tried many different methods!
After working for so many years in many different jobs, I just want to spend my days creating and sewing, not having to answer to anyone and just do my own thing.
I have been supported by a few  keen followers and yet I am shy to comment on others sites.
That has to change or I will be having a very solitary life creating and sewing by myself.

So thank you to all those who look in to see what I am up to and giving me encouragement.
Being a small fish in a big sea means you have to do something to be noticed.  I have plenty of time,
just need the something special to happen.

Stalling.............but not at the market

Oh my, I am so out of touch.  Years ago I started blogging.  I wanted to try it.  I would add photos revamp the layout and just blab to anyone who may have come across my blog. 

Then life happened. 
I have seen some people share way too much information but then some who keep to their blog  theme.  I prefer to just post about my theme subject.  As much as people want to connect I am very aware that the internet is a possible worldwide source but I do not know who is reading my stuff,   Do I really want to share personal stuff with people who do not know me?   I have read negative comments on blogs and Youtube and I would fall apart.  Fear of criticism.  So there is nothing to say about 'life happening', it is just how it is.  You may say there are very supportive people out there who could help and make you feel better.  And that is true, but in the end, noone can give you the feeling of happiness.  Often you do not know you even are in happiness, until you are sad.  Then you have to find your own happiness again.  Anyway....

Next I want to  overcome my fear of failure and criticism and get my stuff onto Etsy.  Here are a couple of pictures as teasers.  It is going to happen.  I just have  a few items to put up.  And I need to connect to some like minded people.  There are a lot of doll and teddy makers out there that I would like to contact.  It is a plan.

My blog needs a spruce up and I have to update sites and links.  There is so much out there in the information highway, it is like starting all over again like years ago.

Well I did it!

Hello to you in Blogland,
Thanks for perservering with me and dropping by. 
Slowly slowly I am starting again - for the upteenth time!
In my last post, I said I just wanted to be happy.  Working had started to drain me and my happiness, you know, work/life balance.....
So.............I quit my job.
I gave 2 weeks notice and Thursday was my last day.

Now I will have heaps of time to make and sell my dolls and bears.
Here are some photos of some I prepared earlier, but did not quite finish.  So the plan is........to finish them and get them onto Etsy.
Let's see how long this actually takes....................
By the way, the little bear is already adopted, he won't be going up for sale.  But there will be some others - more than one!!
Wish me luck................

Where Have I Been?

Hello my dear friends,

Slowy, slowly I am creeping back.  I really want to make a start selling from my Etsy shop. (I would link that, but there is nothing there to look at at the moment).   I have been working on some dolls and bears.  And I just dream about spending my days creating and making and selling my wares.


The reality of life is we need to have money to have a roof over our heads and food on the table.  So everyone at some time in their life finds themselves in this position.  As children, all we want to do is be grown up, so we can eat as many lollies as we want and buy whatever we like.  But there it is, how are you going to be able to buy lollies - you need money - unless you turn to a life of crime!

That being said, you also need a reason to get up in the morning.  I discovered the joy of walking into the sewing room and being greeted by a lovely creation that made me so pleased with myself.

So if you have to get up in the morning to do something, it would be so nice to work on something that gives you great pleasure and satisfaction. Noone can do that for you.  You have to work out what you want to do, and how you are going to get there.  I am at that stage now.  So very gradually I will be starting to do something........
You can see I am making little changes, slowly, slowly......................

New Name ........New Start

Yes I changed my name .........again.  I just keep trying to find my identity.  Let's see if this time I am on the right track.  Just need to get somthing in the shop to sell.  Maybe a teddy.........

That's the way the cookie crumbles

I understand business.  I understand having a brand, a logo, an identity.  I have done my research about being unique but recognisible.  If you have followed me of late, you will know I have not been productive or even sold anything online.  Basically, I know it is a fear of failure.  My nightmare is I proudly send an item to a buyer, and they scrutinise it and decide to send it back because they see a fault in it that I did not.  But I want to sell online.  And very very slowly I have set up an Etsy shop, started on instagram and am trying to keep my blog alive - Facebook is my downfall - I have 48 friends.  Don't laugh.  I am just a bit agaist everyone knowing personal stuff.  But I know Facebook is an excellent way to promote your business.  I know I need social media, but it take ages and ages to keep it up to date.  Well for me anyway.

So here is my dilemma.  As much as I like this name "Little Me Handmade" and I had a real vision for the brand and identity it is with great sadness that I will have to abandon it.
This year a new doll maker has stepped up and is actively selling on Etsy and regularly posts to instagram.  Thast's how I discovered LittleMeClothdolls.

This is a dollmaker in Australia (East Coast - I am Southern Australia) who has chosen a name so close to mine it is obvious there may be confusion.  I don't want to be mistaken for her, and I am sure she does not want to be mistaken for me.   But surely she did a search before she chose her name to see if it was too similar.  Yes, I did have my name first, on Etsy.  But I have not been active.  She is.
She makes cloth dolls and related stuff.  My name is not registered or copyrighted, I just thought it would be a good name for my handmade items and it related to the things I liked when I was little,

To be honest, when I wanted that name and searched, I found a Little Me business, but it was children's clothing - not dolls.
So I thought I could use my name to make dolls and teddies and stuff.
Now there is another dollmaker with the name Little Me.  If it were not dolls that would have been okay.  If it was not Australia, that would have been okay.

So my only option is to find a new name.  It's not that simple.  I don't want my name - it's too ordinary.   So keep your eye on this space.  There will be some changes made.

To sell or not to sell

 s.s

 So here is my dilemma.  I have dolls that I did not sell at the markets and I think I will put them on my Etsy site.
They are just calico (muslin) cloth and felt with safety eyes.






 They are quite cute and easy and quick to make now I have worked out the fastest way to put them together.  I just don't know how Etsy will work.  Some people don't have much traffic or sales, and the reality is that I would be very happy to just make and sell dolls online.  But, but, but will this be a successful venture.  I won't know unless I try.  If you have some experience with Etsy and advice, it would be much appreciated.

This little doll is a vinyl OOAK by doll maker Margaret Leonard here in South Australia.  I purchased this dear little elf at the Hahndorf doll show, but despite how cute he is................I don't want him.  Not at all.  So I will have to sell him too.  I may have to put him on Ebay because I did nto make him and he is not anything like I make, so he is not for my Etsy shop.

This mermaid I made in a class with Pam Grose from Western Australia.  She is about 60cm long with a wire armature and collon lycra skin painted in acrylics.  She is also not my knid of doll.  Learning the techniques was a great experience and Pam Grose had to be the most relaxed and friendly dollmaker I had ever met.  She is amazing and talented and so willing to share what she knows.

So now I just need to make the time to list these items and release them to someone else who will appreciate them.  When I have worked out the listings I will share the links

I may be back .............again .....I think

Hi everyone - anyone who is still watching and waiting.
I have been missing for quite a while.  But life happens and sometimes you have to take a break and regroup and decide what is important and what you need in your life.

I have always tried to keep to subject and always add a photo with my posts.  This time I will just do a "talkie".  Without getting all personal, I will just say that there have been a lot of changes in my life, sort of the rug pulled out from under me stuff.  It was not an illness or an accident, it was just unavoidable change of circumstances which I was unprepared for.

The last 15 years I have happily played around with doll making and working with my husband and having lots of free time to do as I pleased.  Last year our business had to shut down, we sold our house and moved to the country.  Malcolm and I had to find jobs to earn a living and I was miserable.
Well I was miserable but in the midst of all that, I decided I could sell my dolls and teddies at the local market to make some money.  It was my saviour.  Admittedly, I sold my stuff really, really cheap.............really cheap, just to get a sale.  But you have no idea, how wonderful it is for you to make something, put it out for the public to see, and people tell you how clever you are and how beautiful your work is.  Then they give you money for it!!

All the other stall holders are so kind and friendly.  If you are reading this and have ever wondered if you could sell at a market, you must try it. And it is one of those situations where we can all help each other.  My first day it became very windy, and the wind was nearly blowing my tent down.  Wal across from me saw my problem and offered me his side panel to attach to the tent.  He saved the day!  One of the other stall holders fell in love with one of my dolls, and she was the first to buy from me.  That was such a kind gesture for a newbie.

 I have to say, I was so lucky, I just put all my dolls on a display table, put up a few banners and it took me about 10 minutes.  Some of the other stall holders had to arrive and hour earlier to set up because they have so much stuff.  I think because I had a unique item to sell I was accepted very quickly, I was able to work 2 markets if I wanted to, but I kept selling out of stock.  I couldn't make things quick enough, especially the types of dolls I make.  And the teddies I sold were all jointed so it was a lot of work and I really struggled to keep up.  But despite that I loved it.  I would be sewing up teddies or little cardigans while I waited for someone to stop and look.  I never had a day where I did not sell anything, and believe me, it was nerve wracking because I didn't even have the money for the stall site ($20 per day)   - so I had to sell something, and I always did.

I really want to thank each and every person who bought from me, because at that time those purchases literally put bread on the table.  I am truly thankful.

But the reality was that I was not earning enough.  I applied for work locally, but at my age I am starting to be overlooked for the younger ones.  It is not supposed to be like that and many would deny it, but I know my age was a factor.  I did not even get to the interview stage.  So I tried a long shot and found work 2 days a week back in the city.  We were living one and a half hours drive from the city, but I could do that just 2 days a week.  Long story short, I got more days work and I could not do the markets and the travel back and forth became a nightmare - Malcolm also had work in the city.  So we made the decision to come back to Adelaide and start all over again.  I am still working 4 days a week, and no time for dolls or bears or markets ............but I have to nuture the creative side of me, and I am going to start making again.  I have my etsy shop and I will be setting up sales very soon.  My ultimate plan is to get back to making and selling (on line) and then if I am on the right track, give up my day job.  I don't know how long it will take me, but I am going to try.
Wish me luck