Looking Ahead to 2014

Like so many at this time of year, I am looking back on the year while simultaneously looking forward to the next one.  I can certainly say 2013 was not a bad year at all, but of course I'd love for 2014 to be even better!  I have a list of things to do over the next week or so and one of them I've been thinking most about is goals for my business for 2014.  At this point, I only have one specific goal so far; a modest one of that.  I plan to gain a wholesale account every month, as well as increase my general retail online presence.  SEO is so complicated, and Google seems to change things up as soon as my rankings improve.  This is also at the same time as Facebook decreasing the organic views of business pages posts in hopes to push business to "boost" their ads for more views, which for a small business is tough.  So obviously I need to come up with some more ways to increase online visibility.  I do think that Pinterest is going to be the way to go in 2014, and now that I am improving my product pictures, it only makes sense to increase my business use of Pinterest.  The picture with this post is my latest edit.  I think I will have to re-photograph my products (ugh....) to finalize this current edit to get the lighting very even, but I think this current version is the way to go.



Latest edit of my American Moose New Baby Bib at Bourgeois Baby.  You can find it via my website link above or to the right.

On a personal note, I don't typically do the traditional resolutions.  But I do aim for more positive actions that are realistic to my day to day life.  For instance, I hope to read more.  I love reading, have always loved reading, so much that it was my source of calming anxiety when I was dealing with a troublesome husband and struggling with postpartum depression.  But as those things improved (thankfully), I let the reading every night for a minimum of 30 minutes before bed slip.  Combine that with night time being my only work time now that Vera doesn't nap anymore (I still am not over this transition- it sucks!!), and I think I may have read 2 books this whole year.  Before, I was 2 books a month!  I have so many excellent books on my shelf, not to mention a growing list on my notes app on my phone, that I need to pick it up quickly.

Is there anything special you are doing?

Well, I'm Wrong! (Something my husband doesn't hear often)

My last post went on and on about license character infringement and how it relates to the handcrafted small business person.  If you haven't read it, go and do that now.

This past weekend I was doing a local event with Bourgeois Baby and had the pleasure of meeting Stacey of Three Monkeys Cloth Diapers (check out her stuff....SO CUTE!) and we chatted about licensed character products.  Her understanding of using licensed characters in clothing, cloth diapers, etc, was completely different than mine.  She said that so long as you don't name the product the licensed name, then you are fine.  I really wasn't buying it, although I had seen items on Etsy like "Cat in the Hat Inspired Shirt" or whatever. I needed to research this more myself.

Tonight I was digging around the internet and found this page about the use of licensed fabric.  So it seems that it is totally fine to sell items made from licensed fabric.  I found the Tabberone website every interesting on various topics, and got a chuckle of their comments on the Uninformed Mavens of Etsy.

And I will say it again- I was wrong.  At least as far as it goes with fabrics.  As much as I like Hello Kitty, don't expect her to show up on my business website.  But it does open up possibilities for other things in the future.

License Infringement

Because I had been on Etsy (with an entirely different product than what I do with Bourgeois Baby) years ago- shortly after Etsy was just initially gaining some momentum on the internet- I had been very aware of a lot of the no-no's small handcraft businesses were doing.  These things, for whatever reason, stuck with me- not because I was doing them- but because I was surprised other people were.

A huge legal no-no is selling product using licensed images or characters by other companies.  And you see it all the time.  It drives me bat shit crazy, actually, for several reasons. But before I go on, what is considered licensed images or characters?  Think Disney characters (from the originals all the way to movie characters in Pixar films), Sanrio's Hello Kitty, Thomas and Friends, etc.  Large corporations own the sole rights to these characters and do sell certain rights for other manufacturers to make merchandise, they do legally pursue companies who use these characters without permission.  And I can tell you that virtually no small handcrafted business can afford the licensing fees.  Many of these small handcrafters buy their materials retail, which does mean they can buy things with these images legally- but for personal use only.  Making another product with these licensed images and then selling them for a profit is illegal.  And these companies have come down on small business people on Etsy and the like.

Here's a very common example I often see: A small business owner makes little girls hair accessories.  A big seller are the Hello Kitty hair bows and barrettes.  And of course they sell well!  Hello Kitty is very popular, the ribbon with her image is readily available almost anywhere you can buy ribbon, and the person making them shops at her local chain craft store.  Each bow may cost her less than a dollar in ribbon, and factoring in labor, etc, she charges around $5 per hair bow or clip.  No biggie, right?

Ya, it is to Sanrio!  I'd imagine that all they need to do is have their legal team write up an official cease and desist letter- but they could potentially sue for license infringement and fees on sold products to date.  This will crush a small business.

So- besides the fact that this is a no-no for the reasons states above- I have problems with it beyond that.  Here are those reasons:

• It makes other handcrafted businesses look cheesy when, in fact, there is nothing cheesy or cheap about handcrafted products.  Handcrafted products are a labor of love.  Detail and care was put into EACH item made.  For instance, every fabric layer, every stitch, every label....you name the part of any of my products- has been painstakingly cut, sewn, pressed, packaged, etc by my own hands.  Other than a sewing machine- there is human touch and work put into every piece.  I take huge pride in this, and when I see handcrafted using materials that are not legit to resell- it is so irritating!
• It makes handcrafted business owners look uneducated.  When you started a small business, didn't you do research first?  Did you look up laws pertaining your items, read different forums to get an idea of your market?  I am always surprised to see that some people do next to nothing to set up selling their wares and think that is all there is to it.  I did months of research, learning all sorts of retail and wholesale aspects of small business, not to mention as much legal stuff I could get my hands on.  Why would I put all the blood, sweat, and tears into this endeavor to have it threatened by some legal snafu?
• It provides no individual creativity.  When I think of handcrafted- no matter the type of product- I think of some type of creative angle to it.  Coming up with products using someone else's (or company's) image or character really isn't that difficult.
• It may hurt your competitors.  Now, when anyone (including myself) starts a business of any kind- we want to be the best.  We want to be THE place for the widget or whatever it is you sell.  Of course, other people sell widgets, too, and we want to outsell them.  That is business in a capitalist society, after all.  But I do think handcrafted is special.  The market we sell to is much smaller than traditional retail.  However, there is a place for all of us.  I really do believe that. Handcrafted often has something different to offer.  But when the business next to you is selling similar items but with these very popular images- what do people go to?  They go to the familiar.  And buying the illegal, licensed product hurts the handcrafted business who has the very cute hair bow with a kitty image that is not Hello Kitty.  And when the familiar licensed image is sold as "handcrafted", the real handcrafted original item gets the shaft.  These businesses may think they are helping the handcrafted movement because they are moving product made by them with illegal images and therefore getting handcrafted into more people's hands, they are really doing a disservice to handcrafted business in general.

 

I recently exhibited at the Boston Christmas Festival.  I loved it.  It was busy, but I got to meet lots of talented artisans and handcrafters.  Bourgeois Baby products had made their way into more markets than the southern NH area (even Germany and Iceland!!).  It was my first year there, and as part of the application process, I had to prove my worthiness to be in their show.  So it was disheartening to me to see these types of products in some of the booths.

Of course, I don't go telling the people who sell these items all of this.  I don't feel it would be proper etiquette of me to introduce myself, my business, and then follow it up with "By the way, you know that selling these Hello Kitty hair bows are illegal, right?"  Perhaps they really don't know....but I also don't want to make any business enemies. 

I guess this is why blogs are a good thing- I can just vent it all out here.  And as far as my Hello Kitty example- I am just using that one as it seems to be the easiest to make the point.  I am not writing this post with any specific business or person in mind- there are so many of them out there I don't actually remember any by name.

And on that note- /vent.  Much happier to have gotten that out!

For an update on this post, go here.

Well, Efff Me Today. And *Thank You.

I'm not even sure that I have a theme for topic for this post other than I am just typing to vent.  Today was a shitty day, and although many of my days are frustrating (hello, 2 year old!), most of them do not leave me wanting to cry.

Today I had plans to teach a knitting class.  I've taught others to knit before, and as a little side money I decided to teach a few Saturdays before the holidays.  It would be some extra cash for Christmas presents for Vera as I prefer not to use our credit cards.  So I was very excited that 6 people signed up!  Wahoo!

My class design is meant for the ultimate beginner.  I even provide the supplies.  Prior to the class I purchased the supplies for 6 people (with the thought that maybe 1 or 2 might no show, but I could just return the stuff), then went to the classroom to set up.

Start time begins, and no one is there.  Ok, fine, people these days tend to find it acceptable to be a few minutes late (I don't, but I have noticed this trend).

 Fifteen minutes go by. Still, not a soul.  Now I know that even if someone shows up that it will be an abbreviated class because my parents are watching Vera and they both showed up very cranky for different reasons.  It was made pretty clear that having to take several hours out of their afternoon was bothersome.  I felt pressured to make sure I got home quickly.

So about 30 minutes has passed and I admit defeat.  I pack everything up and head out to return all the supplies.  Which, mind you, takes an entire 30 minutes in itself because the computer system at the store was not recognizing a few items and therefore not giving the proper return amount.

WTF.

I walked out really wanting to cry.  Really. This isn't a feeling that I feel often, I'm not a big crier at all, actually, but this really was like a punch to the gut.  Perhaps I was being sensitive to this massive no-show to my class as in the last few weeks I've also been feeling worn out in my ability to mother an independent toddler who listens to no one and finds it hilarious to give her mother the hardest time about everything.

Actually, there are days I feel abused by my own child.  I hate to say that, as it seems so dramatic, but I'm drained and defeated and not sure what the right move is in parenting a little girl who has such a strong personality. 

And then, after dinner Vera asked to have her milk time.  This is a bedtime routine we have- something that we never broke from infancy basically because I didn't want to.  We sit together in a special rocking chair and read books together as she drinks some milk.  We cuddle and now that the weather is cool we snuggle under a blanket together.  It's a wonderful time, maybe more so for me because it is the one time of day she is fairly calm, quiet, and seemingly appreciative of the love I give her. 

Tonight, we start this early.  But she requested, and how can I say no to this?  Once her milk is poured, she immediately starts yelling at me to pick her up, although for reasons I can't quite remember outside of having had things to put away, etc, and I don't pick her up right away.  She nearly has a fit, flopping herself on the floor over me not picking her up RIGHT THEN.  This is coming from the same girl who not long before came up to my supper plate and tossed all my food off onto the floor and continued to smoosh all the food as quickly as she could when I was attempting to correct her.  This is the same girl who, when sternly told NO to something while I was cooking, hit me.  And the same girl who came and ripped a magazine out of my hands and proceeded to rip out the pages not long before that.

But I don't pick her up right away.  I do the things I need to do.  It take 20 seconds, if that.  She is still yelling, "Nooooo!" until the second I say, "Okay, now you can come up to Mom".  And Vera comes up into my lap, and faces me.  She rests her head down, places her arm around me.  She hugs me.  We stayed that for a few minutes.  Both of us instantly calm and we cuddle.  It was the bright spot of my day.  She finished her milk and asks to brush her teeth and go "na-nights".

Of course, getting her into pajamas was another shit show, but I guess I can't expect miracles.

And as far as the 6 students who no showed me, you can shove it.  That is the nicest way I can put it to a bunch of people who feel their time is more important than mine.

*Sarcasm.

Intermission

Why, yes, I have no spare time on my hands.  I really don't.  You wouldn't know it, but I don't.  I am prepping for a big expo that is just in 3 weeks, and tonight I decided to mess around on the computer.

Enjoy.

Pin Test: Print On Fabric With Your Home Printer

I was so pleased that this little trick actually worked without a hitch! 

For several months I've noticed a few different pins on Pinterest that link to tutorials on printing on fabric with your home printer.  At first I just passed over these, thinking how is this possible, but with a few very large expositions that Bourgeois Baby will be at this fall and winter I have been busy making infinity scarves as a booth attraction.  The problem is that they need labels, as per FTC regulation, and my label company requires a fairly large minimum.  These scarves are solely a booth attraction item, and not something that I plan on carrying via the BB website (unless there is a big draw to them) so I don't plan on making a lot.  Therefore, I don't want to invest a lot in tags.

Enter the print on fabric idea.  I scoured Pinterest and read through a few tutorials.  They are all pretty simple.  Choose a fabric, attach it to a thick paper, run it through the printer.

And yes, it really was that simple!!

Here is a picture of my first run through of labels for my infinity scarves:

Here is EXACTLY what I used:
-One sheet cardstock (67lb weight)
-Quilt basting spray
-Basic cotton woven fabric in white
-Home printer with black ink (I have a HP Photosmart 5520)

Here is what I did:
-First, I sprayed the cardstock generously with the basting spray.
-Second, I laid the cotton fabric over the cardstock, and smoothed it as best as possible.
-Third, trimmed the fabric to be flush with the cardstock.  I let it dry (not long at all- maybe 15 minutes to be safe)
-Last- ran it through my printer as I would any other paper!

And, it came out perfectly!  The ink is printed crisply onto the fabric.  Then I cut them to size, using pinking sheers to help them from fraying, and easily sewed them to my scarves.  Here you will see that I also did a sheet of these on a tea colored cotton muslin, which I actually like better than the white cotton woven.

Here are some tips that I came across, as well as some concerns that I read others had about this method:

-Black printer ink works very well for long term application.  Color printer inks seem to fade with washing.
-One way of increasing the life of these tags, soak the finished product in white vinegar and let dry.
-There are products to help in printing on fabric, including a fabric prep solution called Bubble Jet Set.  I haven't used it, but if you are really worried that your printed fabric will fade or wash out completely then this might be worth a try.  I would imagine it might be worth using if you plan on printing something like a picture or a monogram that would be the centerpiece of your project.

Of all the things I've tried on Pinterest, this by far was the easiest!  And what a money saver!  Is this something you've tried? What did you print?

I Am a Selfish, Money-Sucking NICU Mom. A Reply to the commenters of Radiolab's 23 weeks, 6 days.

Listen to this podcast:


Wow. Wow.

  I was in the car when I first caught this. I listen to Radiolab fairly often, but because I was out and about while this was airing, I had to go back and listen to what I missed. A very moving story. And then I went and read the comments to this podcast, and well...I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the vitriol. The politicization of prematurity.  The insertion of the abortion debate (WTF??).  The viewpoint of selfishness on the part of the parents.

You know what I say to that? You. Have. No. Fucking. Clue.

Yes, premature birth and subsequent NICU care is expensive. The ongoing care beyond the NICU can also be quite expensive, especially for the infants who have disability due to their prematurity. But I venture to guess it probably is no more expensive than an adult with chronic illness like diabetes- or even worse- a progressive neurological disease that will ultimately kill you like ALS or Parkinson's. I've never come across an argument that we should not care for those adults because of the cost. It would seem inhumane, frankly, to say that those people should just be left "out of the system" to fend for themselves and their disability.

Many premature infants are not expected to be premature. About 50% of premature births are of unknown reasons. Vera's birth falls into that category. My water broke, I went into labor, she was born hours later at 31 weeks. There was nothing I did because I was selfish that led to this. There was nothing I could do to prevent it, at least at this point in medical history.

As far as criticizing the parents in the podcast of what they did for their baby and how they read the baby's responses...well, go look above. 

When you have an infant in the NICU, you  are helpless.  All of the things you would normally be doing if you were a new parent of a full term infant is not happening for you.  And so you adapt by doing what you can- which is cuddling (kangaroo care), pumping your milk, and providing whatever comfort you can.  Because of the premature neurological system these babies have, continuous holding, talking, and doing what you would normally do for a full term infant are not "allowed" because it can actually cause them stress.

So- what I did frequently when I was allowed to hold or touch Vera was either tuck her into my cleavage but unable to pat or stroke or rub her as your instinct as a comforting mom would typically do, or I would stand leaning against her heat and humidity controlled incubator with my hands through the port holes while placing one hand firmly on her head and the other cupping her butt.  Applying gentle pressure.  Because that was all her body could handle.  I also spent more time "cuddling" up with a hospital grade breast pump.  Again, because many times that was all I could do to be a useful mom.  Reading or singing quietly was often done in the NICU by parents.  I never did, as I just talked to her about day to day stuff.

And even though we couldn't do all the things we wished for in a normal newborn, Vera did respond to us as her parents.  When Mark did Kangaroo care with her, her heart rate slowed.  When she kangaroo'ed with me, she never had dips in her oxygen levels.  When we talked and she was awake, she would follow the voice and look up at us.  She didn't do this with the nurses or even other family.

I would have done anything I could have to prevented this so she would not have suffered (and yes, I do think she suffered as she did endure painful procedures and care to keep her alive). As far as selfish- I think the notion of wanting to be a parent is the furthest from being selfish.  Being a parent, no matter when the child is born or how conceived is not a selfish job.  There is NOTHING selfish in what I do everyday as a mom.  If calling wanting to put a person in this world that will be raised surround by love and kindness in their family, and allowing them to become an independent, intelligent, creative, kind human being is selfish...well then, sure.  I was selfish.

Before Vera's birth, I knew the NICU was not an easy place.  As a nurse, I had cared for many NICU parents of varying gestational ages.  I knew that they were on a rough road.  I knew that the care their infant(s) were receiving was expensive.  I knew that they may be facing a long, tough path of disability for as long as they all lived.  I also realized that there is a wide gray line between viability and non-viability, which medical science keeps pushing.  In hindsight, I can say that my thoughts on it were just matter of fact, not any true empathy because I just didn't truly get it.  Becoming a mom has really taught me that you just don't know what it is like to walk in anyone else's shoes unless you've experienced it yourself firsthand.

May all those who feel preemies, especially those near that gray line, are left to suffer because their parents are selfish and a financial drain on the system NEVER have to experience a NICU first hand.  I don't think they would be able to walk in with their generalizations worn proudly on their sleeves if they were staring down at their fragile newborn.

So go ahead and call me a selfish, money-sucking NICU mom.  It was worth it.  And should some of my health care expenses go up because there are preemies out there that need medical care, then so be it.  Even disabled, those children have something to contribute.